| 3rd Rock from the Sun | |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 139(list of episodes) |
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| Camera setup | Film;Multi-camera |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company | The Carsey-Werner Company |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC |
| Release | January 9, 1996 (1996-01-09) – May 22, 2001 (2001-05-22) |
3rd Rock from the Sun is an American televisionsitcom created byBonnie and Terry Turner, which originally aired from January 9, 1996, to May 22, 2001, onNBC. The show is about fourextraterrestrials who are on an expedition to Earth, the third planet from the Sun, which they consider to be a very insignificant planet. The extraterrestrials pose as a human family to observe the behavior of human beings. The series was produced byThe Carsey-Werner Company.
The show premiered three years after the filmConeheads, which was also written by the Turners, and featured a similar premise of extraterrestrials arriving on Earth and assimilating into American society.
The premise of the show revolves around an extraterrestrial research expedition hailing from a planet in abarred spiral galaxy on theCepheus-Draco border attempting to live as a normal human family in the fictional city of Rutherford,Ohio, said to be 52 mi (84 km) outside ofCleveland, where they live in anattic apartment. The show's humor is principally derived from the aliens' attempts to studyhuman society and understand thehuman 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 ofanthropology 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 aphysics professor at Pendelton (with Lithgow's eldest sonIan playing Leon, one of his less-successful students). Information officer and oldest member of the crewTommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has been given the body of ateenager and is forced to enroll in high school (later college), leaving security officerSally (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, theBig Giant Head, who when he finally visits Earth, is played byWilliam 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!"
The show's opening theme music for the first four seasons was composed byBen Vaughn, as a 1950's styleinstrumental 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 abig band version of the theme, performed by the groupBig 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.
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.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | Rank | Rating | ||
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| First released | Last released | |||||
| 1 | 20 | January 9, 1996 (1996-01-09) | May 21, 1996 (1996-05-21) | 22 | 12.1 | |
| 2 | 26 | September 22, 1996 (1996-09-22) | May 18, 1997 (1997-05-18) | 27 | 10.8 | |
| 3 | 27 | September 24, 1997 (1997-09-24) | May 20, 1998 (1998-05-20) | 44 | 8.5 | |
| 4 | 24 | September 23, 1998 (1998-09-23) | May 25, 1999 (1999-05-25) | 74 | 6.9 | |
| 5 | 22 | September 21, 1999 (1999-09-21) | May 23, 2000 (2000-05-23) | 75 | 6.0 | |
| 6 | 20 | October 24, 2000 (2000-10-24) | May 22, 2001 (2001-05-22) | 87 | 5.6 | |
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.[2]ABC Family aired reruns between 2002 and 2006. Reruns of the series aired onTV Land from 2008 through 2010. In the fall of 2010,ReelzChannel began airing the series. The series made its debut on digital broadcast networkLaff on July 16, 2018, until May 16, 2021, when it moved toIFC. It aired onCozi TV from July 18, 2021, to July 6, 2024.
In Italy, this series aired onItalia 1 under the nameUna 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 channelRTM's TV2 in the 12:30 am time slot on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
In the United Kingdom, the series originally aired onBBC Two from 1996 to 2002,[3] andITV2 later reran the entire series from 2005 to 2006. It has since rerun onComedy Central,Channel 4,[4] and5Star.
In the fall of 2011, Canada'sTVTropolis cable channel began airing the show, and featured a long weekend marathon run of episodes.
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,[5] and was removed again exactly two years later. The series also was available to stream onHulu.[6]
The series was available to stream in the United States onAmazon Prime Video,FilmRise,Tubi,[7]Pluto TV,Crackle,[8]Vudu,[9]IMDb TV[10] andPeacock,[11],Hoopla and through television providers carryingIFC 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 onSky Go andChannel 4.[12]
In Australia, as of 2024, the full series is available onStan.
Anchor Bay Entertainment released all six seasons of3rd Rock from the Sun on DVD for the first time in 2005–2006.[13][14][15][16][17][18] 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.[19] They have subsequently re-released seasons 1–4. These releases contain the unedited, original broadcast versions of the episodes.[20][21]Seasons 5 and 6 were re-released on January 8, 2013.[22][23][24]
On May 14, 2013, Mill Creek released3rd Rock from the Sun – The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.[25]
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.
| Season | Release date | Features | ||
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| Region 1 (Anchor Bay) | Region 2 (Network) | Region 4 (Magna) | ||
| Season 1 | July 26, 2005[26] | May 17, 2004 | November 9, 2005[27] |
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| Season 2 | October 25, 2005[28] | June 21, 2004 | November 9, 2005[29] |
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| Season 3 | February 21, 2006[30] | August 30, 2004 | February 9, 2006[31] |
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| Season 4 | May 2, 2006[32] | October 25, 2004 | July 5, 2006[33] |
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| Season 5 | August 15, 2006[34] | January 24, 2005 | February 7, 2007[35] |
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| Season 6 | November 14, 2006[36] | January 24, 2005 | February 7, 2007[37] |
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| Seasons 1–6 | N/a | October 25, 2004[38] | N/a |
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| Season | Release date | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region 1 (Mill Creek) | Region 2 (Network) | Region 4 (Beyond Home) | |
| Season 1 | September 13, 2011[39] | November 3, 2008 | November 15, 2010[40] |
| Season 2 | September 13, 2011[39] | November 3, 2008 | November 15, 2010[41] |
| Season 3 | April 3, 2012[39] | November 3, 2008 | November 15, 2010[42] |
| Season 4 | April 3, 2012[39] | November 3, 2008 | November 15, 2010[43] |
| Season 5 | January 8, 2013[39] | November 3, 2008 | November 15, 2010[44] |
| Season 6 | January 8, 2013[39] | November 3, 2008 | November 15, 2010[45] |
| Seasons 1–6 | May 14, 2013[39] | November 3, 2008 | November 18, 2010[46] |
| 8 June 2012[47](†) | |||
| April 1, 2015[48](‡) | |||
† – denotes a reissued set
‡ – denotes a limited edition set
| Season | TV season | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1995–1996 | 22[49] | |
| 2 | 1996–1997 | 28[50] | |
| 3 | 1997–1998 | 44[51] | |
| 4 | 1998–1999 | 77[52] | |
| 5 | 1999–2000 | 82[53] | |
| 6 | 2000–2001 | 89[54] | |
In 1997,3rd Rock won the mostPrimetime Emmy Awards (five from eight nominations) for a television 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 are3rd Rock and my dear family."[55]
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 ofKatie Couric written by Harry, and Sally's version of aCosmo 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 of3rd Rock, a foreword written by John Lithgow himself is included in which he explains how he was abducted by the3rd 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".
