
Lieutenant and security officer Sally-played by Kristen Johnston, also known as Lexi Featherston who fell out of a window in the penultimate episode of Sex and the City-is a highly-decorated combat specialist and military and the sole woman of the group. In his role, he is forced to go through the trials of puberty and public school in order to provide a deeper understanding of what makes humans tick. In his first major role, a baby-faced teenaged Joseph Gordon-Levitt inversely plays the family’s oldest and wisest member as Tommy, the Information Officer. After an already rich career in film and drama, Lithgow added nuance to his role as the pompously incompetent commander-in-chief who takes up a job teaching confounded college students as a masters-level physics professor at the local Pendleton University, located in the fictional town of Rutherford. In the never-ending marathon that quarantine has become, it is high time to revisit such an otherworldly series.Īt the center of the family unit is Dick Solomon, the group’s high commander played by John Lithgow. With all this in mind, it begs the question of how a show with near universal acclaim can feel virtually erased from the classic sitcom canon. 3rd Rock also featured a strong cast composed of both legends and fledging stars, along with a wealth of comedic possibilities inspired by the show’s central premise when writing solely about the human experience you’ll basically never run out of material. The show was created by veteran show writers Bonnie and Terry Turner, the husband-and-wife duo responsible for some of comedy’s funniest moments on the likes of Saturday Night Live, Roseanne, and That 70s Show. Over the show’s original run of 139 episodes through May 2001, 3rd Rock accumulated a glut of awards including eight Emmys, two SAG awards, and two Golden Globes for the strength of its writing, cast, and the tender humanity that drives the series. Running for an impressive six seasons on NBC when it debuted 25 years ago on January 9, 1996, 3rd Rock followed the lives of four aliens sent to Earth on a mission to find the essence of the human experience, posing as best they could as a typical family in suburban Ohio.
#Third rock from the sun origin of phrase tv
Come relive your TV past with us, or discover what should be your next binge watch below:įew sitcoms in history have garnered such acclaim-only to be virtually forgotten about-as 3rd Rock from the Sun.
#Third rock from the sun origin of phrase series
Editor’s Note: Welcome to our TV Rewind column! The Paste writers are diving into the streaming catalogue to discuss some of our favorite classic series as well as great shows we’re watching for the first time.
