3rd Rock from the Sun

Overview

The premise of the show revolves around an extraterrestrial research expedition hailing from a planet in a barred spiral galaxy on the Cepheus-Draco border attempting to live as a normal human family in the fictional city of Rutherford, Ohio, said to be 52 mi outside of Cleveland, where they live in an attic apartment. The show's humor is principally derived from the aliens' attempts to study human society and understand the human condition, while living as humans on Earth, reflecting on human life from the perspective of aliens. Most of the episodes are named after the protagonist, Dick. In later episodes, they have become more accustomed to Earth and are often more interested in their human lives than in their mission.

The show also takes humor from its mirroring of all human anthropological expeditions and their assumptions of superiority to the "natives", as well as their inability to distinguish themselves from the natives. Dr. Mary Albright (Jane Curtin) is a professor of anthropology at fictional Pendelton State University, and many of the issues with which the four aliens struggle appear in her conversation and work. Furthermore, these four alien researchers end up looking approximately like joyriders as they get drawn increasingly further into human life.

Dick Solomon (John Lithgow), the High Commander and leader of the expedition, is the family provider and a physics professor at Pendelton (with Lithgow's eldest son Ian playing Leon, one of his less-successful students). Information officer and oldest member of the crew Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has been given the body of a teenager and is forced to enroll in high school (later college), leaving security officer Sally (Kristen Johnston) and "the one with the transmitter in his head", Harry (French Stewart), to spend their lives as 20-somethings hanging out at home and bouncing through short-term jobs. The show also involves their relationships with humans, mostly their love interests.

The family often communicates through Harry with their off-world (and usually unseen) boss, the Big Giant Head, who when he finally visits Earth, is played by William Shatner. Harry unexpectedly (and often in inconvenient circumstances) stands up, his arms stiff (acting as the antenna), and proclaims: "Incoming message from the Big Giant Head!"

Cast

Main article: List of 3rd Rock from the Sun characters

Main characters

• John Lithgow as Dick Solomon
• Kristen Johnston as Sally Solomon
• French Stewart as Harry Solomon
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tommy Solomon
• Jane Curtin as Mary Albright
• Simbi Khali as Nina Campbell (seasons 3–6, recurring previously)
• Elmarie Wendel as Mamie Dubcek (seasons 3–6, recurring previously)
• Wayne Knight as Officer Don Orville (seasons 3–6, recurring previously)

Recurring characters

• David DeLuise as Bug Pollone, one of Dick's students
• Ian Lithgow as Leon, one of Dick's students
• Danielle Nicolet as Caryn, one of Dick's students
• Chris Hogan as Aubrey Pitman, one of Dick's students
• Ileen Getz as Dr. Judith Draper, professor at Pendelton and colleague of Mary
• Shay Astar as August Leffler, Tommy's first girlfriend (seasons 1–3, sparsely appears in seasons 3 and 4)
• Larisa Oleynik as Alissa Strudwick, Tommy's second girlfriend (seasons 4–6)
• Ron West as Dr. Vincent Strudwick, Alissa's father and rival to Dick (seasons 2–6)
• William Shatner as The Big Giant Head, the aliens' boss
• Jan Hooks as Vicki Dubcek, daughter of Ms. Dubcek, Harry's on-and-off girlfriend and later the wife of the Big Giant Head and the mother of his child
• John Cleese as Dr. Liam Neesam, a professor who briefly has a relationship with Mary, and is later revealed to be an evil alien (seasons 3 and 6)
• Chyna as Janice, a muscular female police officer who is briefly Harry's girlfriend
• Michael Milhoan as Coach Strickland, a high school physical education teacher at Tommy's high school

Production

Theme music

The show's opening theme music for the first four seasons was composed by Ben Vaughn, as a 1950's style instrumental rock piece. The theme was extended slightly in season three, when Simbi Khali, Elmarie Wendel, and Wayne Knight were officially made series regulars and added to the opening credits. During season one, James Earl Jones provided a voice introduction describing the crew. For Christmas episodes, jingle bells were added to the theme. The only major change to the theme was in season five, when the original Ben Vaughn version was replaced by a big band version of the theme, performed by the group Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and was only used during that season. For the sixth and final season, the original theme returned other than two episodes that used a modern jazz version of the song.

Title sequence

The opening title sequence, which was produced by the London graphic design firm SVC Television, opens with computerized shots of planets and celestial bodies, some either with the planets dancing or moving in warp speed. It opens and closes with a shot of Earth (which at the open is where the show's title logo appears, after a sunburst appears on the side of Earth). For the sixth and final season only, the typeface of the cast and creators' names was altered.

Episodes

Main article: List of 3rd Rock from the Sun episodes

Broadcast

Syndication

In the United States, the series is distributed for syndication by Carsey-Werner Distribution, and entered broadcast syndication in September 1999, where it continued until the fall of 2004, when the show moved into limited-run barter syndication, where it remained until 2016; The Program Exchange handled distribution for Carsey-Werner. ABC Family aired reruns between 2002 and 2006. Reruns of the series aired on TV Land from 2008 through 2010. In the fall of 2010, ReelzChannel began airing the series. The series made its debut on digital broadcast network Laff on July 16, 2018, until May 16, 2021, when it moved to IFC. It aired on Cozi TV from July 18, 2021, to July 6, 2024.

In Italy, this series aired on Italia 1 under the name Una famiglia del terzo tipo (A family of the third kind) in 1999.

This series rerun is now also aired on Malaysia's national broadcast TV channel RTM's TV2 in the 12:30 am time slot on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

In the United Kingdom, the series originally aired on BBC Two from 1996 to 2002, and ITV2 later reran the entire series from 2005 to 2006. It has since rerun on Comedy Central, Channel 4, and 5Star.

In the fall of 2011, Canada's TVTropolis cable channel began airing the show, and featured a long weekend marathon run of episodes.

Streaming

Netflix made the complete series available online in March 2011. It was removed several months later in the fall of 2011, but returned on March 15, 2015, and was removed again exactly two years later. The series also was available to stream on Hulu.

The series was available to stream in the United States on Amazon Prime Video, FilmRise, Tubi, Pluto TV, Crackle, Vudu, IMDb TV and Peacock,, Hoopla and through television providers carrying IFC on demand, but is not currently available outside of purchase as of 2026.

In the United Kingdom, as of 2024, the full series is available on Sky Go and Channel 4.

In Australia, as of 2024, the full series is available on Stan.

Home media

Anchor Bay Entertainment released all six seasons of 3rd Rock from the Sun on DVD for the first time in 2005–2006. Seasons 1 & 2 contain the edited, syndicated versions of the episodes instead of the original broadcast versions. As of 2010, these releases have been discontinued and are out of print. On these DVDs, the bloopers segments (on the last disc of each season) are in 16:9 format, indicating the series may have been filmed in 16:9 format.

On May 4, 2011, Mill Creek Entertainment announced they had acquired the rights to re-release the series on DVD in Region 1. They have subsequently re-released seasons 1–4. These releases contain the unedited, original broadcast versions of the episodes. Seasons 5 and 6 were re-released on January 8, 2013.

On May 14, 2013, Mill Creek released 3rd Rock from the Sun – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.

Network DVD released all six seasons on DVD in the UK. While seasons 1–4 feature unedited versions of the episodes, seasons five and six feature syndicated, edited episodes. Network re-released the series in 2008 in an individual set and a complete collection.

Magna Home Entertainment released all six seasons on DVD in Australia between 2005 and 2007. These releases have been discontinued and are now out of print. Beyond Home Entertainment re-released the entire series in 2010.

† – denotes a reissued set

‡ – denotes a limited edition set

Reception

Nielsen rankings

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by 3rd Rock from the Sun

In 1997, 3rd Rock won the most Primetime Emmy Awards (five from eight nominations) for a television series:

• 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 — Outstanding Lead Actor — Comedy Series — John Lithgow
• 1997, 1998, 1999 — Outstanding Supporting Actress — Comedy Series — Kristen Johnston
• 1996, 1997 — Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series — Pixie Schwartz
• 1996 — Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series — James Burrows
• 1998 — Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series — Terry Hughes
• 1997 — Outstanding Special Visual Effects — Glen Bennett, Visual Effects Artists; Patrick Shearn, Visual Effects Supervisor; Chris Staves, Visual Effects Artists
• 1997, 1999, 2000 — Outstanding Sound Mixing — Comedy Series
• 1998 — Outstanding Sound Mixing — Comedy Series — "A Nightmare on Dick Street"
• 1997, 1998 — Outstanding Costume Design — Series — Melina Root
• 1997, 1998 — Outstanding Comedy Series
• 1997 — Outstanding Choreography — Marguerite Derricks
• 1998 — Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series — Jan Hooks as Vicki Dubcek
• 1998 — Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series — John Cleese as Dr. Neesam
• 1999, 2000 — Outstanding Multicamera Picture Editing for a Series
• 1999 — Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series — Kathy Bates as Charlotte Everly and Laurie Metcalf as Jennifer
• 1999 — Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series — William Shatner as the Big Giant Head
• 2000 — Outstanding Cinematography for a Multicamera Series

John Lithgow received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for each year the show was broadcast, winning the Emmy in 1996, 1997, and 1999. Accepting the 1999 award, he said, "Many wonderful things have happened to me in my life, but the two best are 3rd Rock and my dear family."

Golden Globe Awards

• 1997 — Best Actor in a Television Comedy or Musical — John Lithgow Screen Actors Guild Awards
• 1996, 1997 — Best Male Actor — Comedy Series — John Lithgow

Other media

A tie-in book, 3rd Rock from the Sun: The Official Report on Earth, was released in 1997. It is essentially a report of the Solomons' findings during their stay on Earth. Primarily a source of humor, the book includes such features as "What to do if you encounter Jell-O", a fan biography of Katie Couric written by Harry, and Sally's version of a Cosmo quiz. Portions of the book are included in the booklets inside each season set of the series.

Despite the report's being set within the fictional world of 3rd Rock, a foreword written by John Lithgow himself is included in which he explains how he was abducted by the 3rd Rock producers and forced to work on their production. A Post-it note is attached to the foreword, apparently written by Dick Solomon, stating he does not know why the foreword is there, but that Lithgow is an Earth actor who appeared in "some helicopter movie".

References

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