3rd Rock from the Sun - Underrated Sitcom

admin

Retired Administrator
I think 3rd Rock is probably one of the sitcoms I think is mostunderrated, having watched repeats of it on ITV2, I think its an absoultely brilliant show, really witty and unique, and it certainly brings up some of the odd things humans do - for example what do aliens make of football, hugging and love! Coincidentally its also made by Linwood Bloomer, the same person who created MITM. What do people think about the show, is it underrated? I know J. is a massive Sci-Fi fan, how does this go down with you?
 

NeCoHo

Retired Mod
I like this show, and I agree, it is under-rated. what else can I say? um... why I like it? Aliens! :)
 

tjpeople

Site Administrator
Staff member
You can see the link between mitm and 3rd rock the disfunctional family and the styles of humor.
 

Emrysgirl

New member
I've only watched it in reruns so I don't know anything about it's original popularity etc. The earlier eps are pretty funny...but they ran out of ideas after a while. I can't stand John Lithgov (except as Farquad of course:D) but, all of the other actors are really talented.
 

Wemboy

New member
From what i remember watching it the first time around, it started good and then went downhill. I think this is because when the show started out the humour came from the fact that they were continually discovering new things about Earth, having to adapt their way of life and fit in. Also it threw up some of the weird social norms that govern human behaviour; what we think of as "normal" was impossible for the aliens to understand. For instance, Dick trying to get to grips with rules on dating.

But as the seasons went by the family became more like your average dysfunctional family, and there weren't so many new experiences for them to try and learn from. So it lost it's uniqueness. I've watched a few of the old episodes on ITV2 and they hold up well, still really funny and original. But I tend to automatically switch off if it's a newer episode.

By the way, has anyone else got the book of the series, called "The Official Report on Earth, by High Commander Dick Solomon"? I found it the other day when i was clearing out some old books. It's actually really funny, full of the shows originality and charm, worth buying if you see it in a second hand shop or on ebay or something.
 
I agree with Wemboy, earlier series were far better, as the series continued the quality and the humour become of a lesser quality, I think like many sitcoms it ended to late. This is also why I feel that we, as viewers are lucky that MITM will need to end, as otherwise, storylines could become tired and less amusing. However, referring back to the topic in hand, although 3rd rock from the sun was certainly underated, I feel that in the UK, it became a fairly popular show gathering a (term I really disagree with based on the BBC's frequent use of it on their website) cult following, although its popularity was not aided by ITV's scheduling. I belive it was far less successful and popular in the US- Im basing thhis on the fact that the DVD's were released in the UK before being released in the US.
 

Squeaky Yugi

New member
I used to love that show so much. I feel shameful though. I watched many of the early episodes, and couldn't figure out that they were aliens until it was explicitly said in the 2-parter where they have their first dreams. It's funny when I think about it.
 
D

Deleted member 1693

Guest
I'm also very surprised I haven't seen this series...

I have to go movie/TV/game shopping soon. ^^
 

AlexTheMartian

New member
I watched this seris a lot, it aired on NBC I think. It was shown as reruns even up to a few years ago (I forget what network, on UPN or FOX)

It is a good show.
 
Top