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3rd Rock From The Sun - General Discussion

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in 3rd Rock From The Sun

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smilestar

smilestar

Starting watching this on Netflix from the beginning.  Watching Season 4 now. I had seen reruns on TV here and there, but man, this show is great!

 

I love Dick, he's my favourite.  John Lithgow is such an amazing actor.

 

Any of you have any favourite episodes?  I think mine is the one where Dick and Sally switch bodies in Season 4.  They play each other so well.

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cleo

cleo

I've been doing a rewatch and am on season 5. I think it's a great show, and really has held up well over time. I'm no good at picking favourite episodes, but I really like all the supporting characters- Tommy and Sally. Love Sally and Don, the landlady, Jan Hooks. I didn't really like the eps where William Shatner appeared. Just finished an episode that had Ana Gasteyer. Funny seeing her and Jane Curtin together. Loved drunk Mary, and Mary's family. Dick was probably my least favourite character.

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Trace

Trace

I have set my DVR to record the show once I realized 2 back to back episodes air during the wee hours of Sunday morning. Re-watching first thing Sunday morning has been awesome.  I love all the characters, but John Lithgow is such a scenery chewer, he cracks me up. Watching these aliens learning to deal with being in human bodies is hysterical. One of the episodes I watched upon waking this morning was Dick learning about discrimination. He had a bad fall, ended up in a wheelchair and realized how much handicapped people deal with. Started out a total whiner, ended up an advocate.

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Browncoat

Browncoat

I love the one where they all have colds or the flu or whatever it is.  John Lithgow and the box of Kleenex is priceless, as is Kristen Johnston when her character sneezes for the first time.  Harry asks, "What was that?" and she replies, "I don't know, but I want another one!"

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TheLastKidPicked

TheLastKidPicked

On 7/24/2016 at 3:40 PM, Trace said:

I love all the characters, but John Lithgow is such a scenery chewer, he cracks me up.

And that's what I love about John Lithgow.  It's like he knows that no matter how over the top he plays the character, the better it will be.  Just imagine those times he looks in the mirror, and say it with me:

"Oh, my God. . .  I'm GORGEOUS!

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TheLastKidPicked

TheLastKidPicked

On 9/30/2015 at 8:22 AM, smilestar said:

Any of you have any favourite episodes?  I think mine is the one where Dick and Sally switch bodies in Season 4.  They play each other so well.

And this is where the writers do a great job of fleshing out (see what I did there?) the differences between men and women.  And it was brilliant to have the aliens not realize that Sally was considered beautiful here on earth.  It reminds me of when Sally couldn't believe she could be with Don, because she thought that he was so handsome that he was out of her league.

So here's this beautiful girl, talking to Don, who was by comparison a shlub.  And she thinks that she is the unattractive one in the relationship:

"Don, it would never work-- somebody who looks like ME, dating someone who looks like YOU." 

And of course, he is thinking the opposite of what she meant.  Puts the whole idea of attractiveness on its head.

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Athena

Athena

19 hours ago, TheLastKidPicked said:

And of course, he is thinking the opposite of what she meant.  Puts the whole idea of attractiveness on its head.

One of the things I liked about the show was how subversive it could be especially with Sally's character. She was very different than other women in sitcoms at the time. 

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TheLastKidPicked

TheLastKidPicked

13 hours ago, OoogleEyes said:

I watched this when it originally aired in the nineties. I'm just watching it's all over again now. So this is really a funny funny show. It is held up very well. 

In a way, its even better that they did this show back then.  Aliens trying to explore the world was a great show for the nineties.  Today, they would just google everything, and the series would be over in one episode.

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Aja

Aja

Just jumping in here because I'm currently watching this whole series on Amazon Prime. It was one of those shows that, while it was airing, I thought it was hilarious, but I never actively sought to watch it for some reason. I hereby revise my opinion: this show was BRILLIANT. GENIUS. GOLD. MUST-SEE. I haven't caught this many belly laughs from a traditional sitcom since Fawlty Towers, I don't think!

What they do with Sally's character is particularly amazing, I agree. (From the pilot: "That brings up a very good question. Why am I the woman?" Dick: "Because you lost.") There was an ep I watched recently where Sally gets mistaken for trans and doesn't realize it until the guy sees her naked at the end and is shocked that she's a woman. I know the 90s wasn't exactly the 50s or anything, but that was still pretty edgy! Kristen Johnston was pure magic in that role, with her effortless fluidity from hardcore warrior and weapons expert to being obsessed with shoes and staring at the phone waiting for a man to call her.

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TheLastKidPicked

TheLastKidPicked

On 3/22/2019 at 12:46 PM, Aja said:

What they do with Sally's character is particularly amazing, I agree. (From the pilot: "That brings up a very good question. Why am I the woman?" Dick: "Because you lost.")

That's where the writers did a great job of poking fun of our society from the viewpoint of a group on the outside looking in.

On 3/22/2019 at 12:46 PM, Aja said:

I haven't caught this many belly laughs from a traditional sitcom since Fawlty Towers.

The humor is similar in that after the punch line, you think the scene is over but there is one more ridiculous line that gets you laughing again.

In the episode where Tommy and Dick  (Why are we named Tom, Dick, and Harry?)  Dick and Tommy buy stock in a company and then go charging down there like they own the place.  It is hilarious as they strut down the halls firing everybody.  Of course, security guards show up to kick them out, but that's not before they sneak an extra line in on you:

"Why do you pay two security guards?  Fire them both, and just pay one really big one!"

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Annber03

Annber03

(edited)

Was watching a marathon of the show on the Laff channel today and came to find this thread. I don't know that I remember seeing it with any regularity when it originally aired, but I've caught the reruns whenever they've popped up on various TV channels over the years, and my family's been working on getting the series on DVD as well. Suffice to say I agree with the general consensus here-this show is absolutely hysterical. The cast was perfect, and I loved the show's observations and jokes about humans in general :). I also get a kick out of how many jokes and innuendos and such that they were able to sneak past the censors :p. The advantage of having characters who can so easily misinterpret what somebody says to or about them, hee. 

Regarding the discussion about Lithgow and Johnson, one thing I love about them is how they each make great use of how tall they are, both as part of their characters and as part of the comedy in general. It makes the physical stuff they do all the funnier as a result-one reason of many why that episode where Dick and Sally swap bodies works so well. 

I'm also impressed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt-here's this kid working with veteran actors like Lithgow and Curtin and he holds his own quite nicely in his scenes with them. It's fun to watch him grow up on this show :D. 

And the chemistry between Dick and Mary, and Sally and Don, was wonderful. For as goofy and bizarre as both relationships could often be, I love that each couple also got to have some genuinely sweet and touching moments as well. 

Just such a fun series, and I'm glad that it's still got a nice little following out there. 

Edited by Annber03
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Lifesabeach

Lifesabeach

I didn’t have Netflix until recently so missed the run there.  Now I am rewatching on Pluto, very frustrating, lots of buffering and freezing.  I thought this was so funny in the original run but also really enjoying it these days.  And thanks to a TBI it’s all ‘brand new to me’.  🥴. All the actors and writers are so talented.  Seeing Vickie makes me sad that she is no longer here to share her great comedic talent.

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TheLastKidPicked

TheLastKidPicked

On 6/23/2019 at 10:31 PM, Annber03 said:

I don't know that I remember seeing it with any regularity when it originally aired, but I've caught the reruns whenever they've popped up on various TV channels over the years, and my family's been working on getting the series on DVD as well. 

Reading your comment made me realize-- This is one of those shows that I never really appreciated when it was on originally.  Now I'm hooked and actively look for it in reruns.  It really holds up well.

 

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TheLastKidPicked

TheLastKidPicked

(edited)

@VCRTracking Thank you for posting those.

At first, it was a little sad to see John Lithgow looking older and his line about "It was so long ago."

Then, he came to life and was the same great, energetic and fun loving man we all love to see.  And as they are telling stories and laughing, John Lithgow says,

"I think I'm going to live an extra ten years because of all the laughter."

 

 

Edited by TheLastKidPicked
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ctlady

ctlady

After watching Twilight Zone: The Movie, I had to go on YouTube and find the clip of William Shatner's appearance as The Supreme Big Head.  Him getting off the plane drunk and saying, "I looked out the window and saw something on the wing of the plane" to which Dick replied, "The same thing happened to me!" was an awesome homage to the roles they played in both the original and remake of Terror At 20,000 Feet.

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Annber03

Annber03

That was a great moment :D. I remember they did a few nods to some of Lithgow's past roles - there was the one where Dick referenced the "rock and roll" speech from Footloose:

The specific scene that leads to that speech starts at about 1:12 in, but the whole clip's fun to watch :). 

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EtheltoTillie

EtheltoTillie

(edited)

I never watched this in original run.  Why oh why?  

I caught it for the first time this evening randomly in the middle of the night on IFC, when I decided to scroll away from my usual Frazier and Cheers. What comedy gold. now I have a whole new series to catch up on!  IFC apparently shows a block of episodes then switches to other shows for a couple of days.  But I will check out Prime for streaming. 

Edited by EtheltoTillie
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andromeda331

andromeda331

On 10/4/2022 at 4:51 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

I never watched this in original run.  Why oh why?  

I caught it for the first time this evening randomly in the middle of the night on IFC, when I decided to scroll away from my usual Frazier and Cheers. What comedy gold. now I have a whole new series to catch up on!  IFC apparently shows a block of episodes then switches to other shows for a couple of days.  But I will check out Prime for streaming. 

I'm glad you like the show. It's one of my favorites because it's so funny.

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Dimity

Dimity

(edited)

How did I miss this show in first run??  Just started watching it and the first episode had me howling.  Funny line after funny line. 

Quote

Dr. Dick Solomon: Leon, of course it's wrong! The odds against you're being right are... staggering! You have a great advantage, you know the outcome. You will be wrong. Don't fear it, embrace your wrongness!

Quote

Dr. Mary Albright: You have an impressive résumé.

Dr. Dick Solomon: I *am* the high commander.

Not many sitcoms hit the ground running the way this one has, IME.  Halfway through the first season right now and it's so nice to have a "new" show to look forward to!

Edited by Dimity
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Annber03

Annber03

So glad you're enjoying it! You're in for a treat, so many more great episodes and hilarious moments coming up :D. This show was so much fun and the cast was just perfection together. 

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SoMuchTV

SoMuchTV

4 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

I love how Dick has the same students year after year. That being one of the reasons why Tommy didn't want to go to school there.

And one of the students ("Leon") was John Lithgow's real life son.  I always enjoyed that.

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