3rd Rock from the Sun: The Complete Series

I love this series. So glad I could still own it on DVD and they play on a US DVD player.

They are basically giving these DVDs away for $22. I love this show, and you can't beat a cast that includes an original SNL cast member, Ivana Humpalot, Robin, Newman and Johnny Go Go too. This is a classic situation comedy with the predicatable antics and sticky situations that you would expect done so beautifully well that it has some new life. It is a really funny show that is adult enough to be engaging, but mild enough for all but the youngest audiences. Frequent guest appearances by some great stars (Phil Hartman and WIlliam Shatner, among others) make this collection of all 6 seasons a real winner. I will note that it is true that there is some editing and formatting in this set. You will not get the full 1 hour pilot (let's face it, pilots suck anyway) or the entirety of each episode in the last couple of seasons. That being said, the content included is great, and it is such light fare that is largely episodic (no overarching plots episode to episode) that the lost material, though worthy, is not greatly missed. If you are a purist, or a completionist, or just a plain nut, you have to buy them as individual seasons and pay up. I wasn't bothered, and I am a real fan of the show. Also, the packaging is cheap as well, but with a little care and attention the discs should not come to any harm with ordinary use. I have not had the set long, and I have not watched it all the way through yet, so I will update the review if my opinion on this changes.

I love Saturday Night Live and even though I sometimes heard "Jane, you ignorant slut!" pursuant to the Point/Counterpoint segment with Jane Curtin and Dan Aykroyd, I found Jane, one of the original cast members, really funny. John Lithgow has hosted and just last season, Joseph Gordon-Levitt did as well. We've loved Joseph in everything we've seen him in, particularly Premium Rush and Inception. I haven't seen Kirsten Johnston again but French Stewart is still doing his squint-eyed misanthropic character as Chef Rudy on the TV show Mom. I formally purchased this set for my hubby's birthday...of course it was at least as much for me. My son is home for spring break now and we've been watching it every night. He remembers it from when he was little. Who will ever forget the 4 aliens' astonishment at landing in human bodies where egads! you can't turn your head around enough to lick your back?? Or Dick dying his hair black, admiring himself in the mirror and exclaiming "you're GORGEOUS!!"??? I love the blast from the past bit parts with people like Jane Lynch and it's cool to be reminded from the credits that John Lithgow's son Ian plays doofus student Leon. The special features are so fun too. I highly recommend this set...good price for all 6 seasons too.

The over all talent of the cast sells this one. With a basic Sci Fi premise there are none of the gimmicks or special effects inherent in the concept. No space ships. No weird weapons or machines. No magical abilities. You get the idea that this group of geeks are what they say they are because of how they behave. That's all. And they are hilarious. It's a brilliantly done, timeless comedy.

This series really defines "over the top." Every actor involved knows how to "go big" in their performances, and they do it very, very often, usually to hilarious results. The general premise of the show is that this team of alien observers, being new to life on earth, is totally ignorant of all our strange little customs, and this tends to lead to them being fearful, hurtful, generally weird, and/or downright crazy. It usually works well, from a comic standpoint, although the individual plot turns sometimes feel quite forced. Still, all in all, this show is a whole lot of fun, and for the price (currently $25), it's an excellent value. I should say something about the packaging and the extras and such. The packaging is awfully cheap -- it's one giant case with a sort of "frame" inside, which contains a bunch of paper sleeves, which hold the discs. Several of the discs arrived with very noticeable scratches on them; they all play fine (for now, at least), but it's easy to imagine that other customers might be less lucky in that regard. As for extras, they're pretty inconsistent. The first two or three seasons are pretty decent, with bloopers and a couple featurettes, along with little "best of" compilations (which aren't really worthwhile, but they are there). One of those seasons, either the 2nd or the 3rd, also contains several commentary tracks by French Stewart and a couple of the writers. The latter three seasons are much lighter on the special features though, and basically only offer blooper reels (which are great, but still, more would be nice). More importantly, the entire set supposedly contains only syndication edits, rather than the full, original broadcast versions of each episode. I wouldn't know, as I didn't watch the series during its original run, but other reviewers guarantee that there are things missing. And the latter three seasons even go so far as to do away with the "tag" scenes that ran during the credits. So, overall, for such a low price, this is still a very nice value, but there are also some major caveats to the set. You get what you pay for, as they say. So, perfectionists should perhaps wait and hold out hope for a more thorough release sometime in the future. I'd wager, though, that this is all we're going to get.

Once in a while, a TV series will catch lightning in a bottle, with an interesting premise, intelligent writing, and a stellar cast. "3rd Rock From The Sun" was one of those series. Extraterrestrial Dick Solomon, the High Commander (John Lithgow) is a narcissistic man-child, who revels in the sensations of human experiences. While not as outlandish as Mork from Ork (Robin Williams), John Lithgow played his part of the oddball with no inhibitions to perfection. Sally Solomon, Security Officer (Kristen Johnston) is a male extraterrestrial in female human form. And what a form! Kristen's beauty is only exceeded by her comedic abilities. Tommy Solomon, Information Officer/Intelligence Expert (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is the oldest member of the so-called family, inhabiting the youngest human body. Joseph literally grew up on the show, and went on to become a movie star. Harry Solomon, Intergalactic Transmitter (French Stewart), who looks at the world through half-closed eyes, is not the brightest team member. In reality, French Stewart is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, proving that it helps to be smart to play dumb convincingly. Rounding out the cast are Dick's girlfriend, Dr. Mary Albright (Jane Curtin), Sally's boyfriend, Officer Don Orville (Wayne Knight), Dick and Mary's assistant Nina Campbell (Simbi Khali), and Dick's landlady, Mrs. Mamie Dubcek (Elmarie Wendel). An impressive roster of great guest stars include William Shatner as the Big Giant Head, George Takei as himself, John Cleese as Dr. Liam Neesam, Jan Hooks as Vicki Dubcek, Elaine Stritch as Martha Albright, Harry Morgan as Professor Suter, Laurie Metcalf as Professor Jennifer Ravelli, Roseanne Barr as Janet, Phil Hartman as Phillip, Cindy Crawford as Mascha, and Elvis Costello as himself. It felt like, just as these lovable aliens became close friends, they had to return to their home planet. Watching this series reminded me of how much they are missed, and how wonderful the show was. While not the greatest packaging, the individual discs are in cardboard sleeves with protective lining. All of the discs played without any glitches or imperfections. In fact, the colors were sharp and vibrant, and the audio was clear. Bonus features include interviews, audio commentaries, bloopers, highlight reels, and a brief alternate ending to the final episode. I definitely recommend purchasing this budget-priced box set.

The series 3rd Rock From the Sun is great fun - well done farce laid over sharp social commentary - but you probably already know that. But the "Plus Alpha" in the deal was the delivery time. Since I live in Japan, and the box set was being shipped from the US, the 10 to 15 day delivery sounded reasonable. But it didn't come then. In fact, it came after only five days. Total surprise. Of course, the packaging leaves a little to be desired. Cardboard sleeves, each one containing two discs. Skimpy and cheap. But the discs were - are - in perfect shape, so no harm, no foul, and no stars deducted. Overall, a very good experience.

I never watched the series while it was in production and I was hesitant when a friend offered to let me see his. he only had the 1st 3 seasons so after watching the first episode it became necessary for me to get the rest of the series. This is NOT a pc program. If that is important to you then you need to find something else. I haven't watched all the episodes yet, but I've found the ones I've watched to be hilarious and a little telling about how people who had no idea about normal human behavior would react to things we take for granted. It also gives a little insight about how people who are learning English interpret some of the things we say. If you like the humor of Monty Python or Marty Feldman, this is a worthy successor.

I had almost forgotten how funny this series is and how many innuendo jokes they had - obviously a lot slipped me by in the days of watching it at 6pm on bbc2! - but literally find myself bursting out laughing when I didn't expect to. Excellent cast, brilliant script - and you get used to the canned laughter bits, usually because you are laughing before they are. The boxset Is a single large plastic dvd case and each disk is piled up inside in its own little black paper disk sleeve - very cute and a good idea for so many disks - not the usual layout of a boxset but I quite like it. It is region 1 so you have to have a 'region free / region zero/ multiregion' player if using in the UK. Sometimes the picture looks a little quirky (America's NTSC format vs UK's PAL format) but its easy to ignore as it is when American shows are shown on tv and they seem as if the image has been 'sped up' The show itself is hilarious - an alien investigative team has headed to earth in order to understand life here and report back to their home planet - many episodes are funny as they discover new things and get the wrong end of the stick and try to fit in - John Lithgow is great as Dr Dick Solomon - Alien high commander, very over the top and obsessed with Dr Albright Kristen Johnson is fantastic as Sally - 2nd in command, weapons expert, and alien man in a human woman's body! love it! French Stewart is Harry - He kind of tagged along for the ride and is the 'oddball' in the family, method of contact with the Big Giant Head (their alien boss) Joseph Gordon Levitt is Tommy - the oldest alien being trapped inside a teenager during puberty - has always been an excellent actor! so funny! The characters all have their own love interests and it's pretty much them trying to get on with their everyday lives, and finding it is a lot harder than they thought - being an alien race of advanced intelligence - they still get so many things wrong, and their discovered humanity makes them even more lovable! Lots of innuendo and hidden adult comedy which had sailed over my head at 11 years old has made it even better now I'm a bit older! love it! give it a go if you like witty humour without the swearing.

The show is as great as I remember. Perfect ensemble comedy, and rather more slapstick than I expected. Only negative is that the box requires a region-free DVD player in Europe and Amazon should have been clearer at indicating this.

Brilliantly written, Hilarious!!

I enjoyed ALL the episodes! Favourites? Nope - they were all ridiculous (in a funny way!!) I miss having comedies like this in our current time… I guess times have really changed. 🥺

That's a very funny series, all the actors are great, it's very well written. I recommend this to everyone, anyone can enjoy it.