Ramble On

Also Known As:	Promise Ring Redux
Original Airdate:	November 12, 2002
Writer:	Philip Stark
Director:	David Trainer

Eric's and Donna's relationship is strained when she buys him a gaudy, ugly ring that he hates on sight. And Fez applies for a job at the DMV with surprising results.

Donna presents Eric with a large, shiny, gaudy, ugly ring. It's a gift, she says, to sympolize how far they've come. Eric's in shock; he's never seen anything so ugly. Red thinks the ring's atrocious and orders Eric to take it off. It makes him look like a fruity magician. Kitty, who's now manifesting all the symptoms of menopause, thinks it's sweet. Kelso and Hyde have a field day giving Eric grief about the ring, but Fez thinks it's fabulous. Fez is on his way to a job interview at the DMV. He tells Eric the ring is hypnotic, as if it has superpowers. Kelso says he'd like to see the lame-o superhero who would wear that ring. A fantasy sequence follows in which Eric is Superman and the rest of the gang are other superheros. Batman (Kelso) says that clearly Superman has been brainwashed and forced to wear a hideously ugly ring. Red in an Evil Nemesis outfit appears but stops an invasion to stare at the ugly ring. Eric decides the ring has to come off. Jackie takes the opportunity to inform Donna that Eric hates the ring. Donna's shocked; she thinks the ring is beautiful. Fez is at his interview at the DMV. Nina, the interviewer, isn't impressed that Fez's last job was as Dancer Number Three in the school production of "My Fair Lady." Eric is freaking out, because the ring is lost and Donna's coming over. He thought he left it in the basement. Donna confronts Eric with what Jackie told her. When Eric confesses that the ring is lost, Donna can't believe it. He lost the symbol of how much Donna loves and respects him. She storms out. Later she tells Hyde and Kelso that she can't believe that Eric thinks the ring is ugly. Plenty of classy men wear rings-Wayne Newton, the Pope. Fez's interview is really going badly until Nina sees the ring he's wearing. It's Eric's lost ring, and Nina thinks it's gorgeous. Fez may have no qualifications, but he's hired. Fez returns the ring to Eric, and Eric shows Hyde the horrible ring and asks what Donna could have been thinking. Hyde points out that it isn't surprising at all. Look at her dad, and remember that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. It dawns on Eric that she never had a chance. Donna has bad taste! When he tells Donna what he thinks, she suggests that maybe he's the one with bad taste. They remember the promise ring and decide that they're both bad with rings. If they get married, maybe they should exchange buckets of chicken.

Nominated for Outstanding Costumes for a Series (2003 Emmy Awards)
Melina Root (costume designer)
Johnny Foam (costume supervisor)

"Me And Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul
"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" by Steely Dan
"Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty