Eric Forman was written out before the final season of That '70s Show because Topher Grace chose to leave the series to focus on his film career. In the show, Eric goes to Africa to teach for a year after graduating and later returns briefly for the finale.

What the show did

  • Eric is a main character for the first seven seasons.
  • In the season 7 finale, he leaves for Africa.
  • Season 8 mostly continues without him, and the series brings him back at the end for a farewell.

Fan theory vs canon

There’s also a popular fan theory that Eric was in a coma after the “Tornado Prom” episode and that the later seasons were his imagination, but that is not canon. The later spinoff That ’90s Show shows Eric alive and well, which confirms that the coma/death idea is just a theory.

Why people ask about it

His absence was a big deal because the show leaned heavily on him as the central character, so the final season felt very different without him.

TL;DR: Eric didn’t die or disappear in canon — he left for Africa, and Topher Grace stepped away from the show to pursue movies.