Product Description

3rd Rock from the Sun, which has earned 31 Emmy nominations,is an inspired half-hour comedy series farcically dealing with the human condition. It was created by Bonnie Turner and Terry Turner in association with Carsey-Werner Productions, LLC for NBC-TV. Set in the fictional city of Rutherford, Ohio, this gentle-hearted series stars John Lithgow as the High Commander of an investigative team sent to Earth on a mission to learn everything about humans and their so-called advanced cilvilization.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2614 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-07-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English, Hungarian
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 442 minutes

Amazon.com
In the irreverent tradition of My Favorite Martian and Mork and Mindy, Bonnie and Terry Turner (That ‘70s Show) created 3rd Rock From the Sun. Launched in 1996 as a midseason replacement, the alien comedy ran for six seasons, garnering 31 Emmy nominations and eight wins, including three for John Lithgow and two for Kristen Johnston.

In the pilot ("Brains and Eggs"), four extra-terrestrials suddenly materialize in the college town of Rutherford, Ohio. Disguised as humans, they dub themselves the Solomons. They are Dick (Lithgow), Sally (Johnston), Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Harry (French Stewart). On the surface, Dick is a physics professor and Tommy is his hormonally challenged 14-year-old son. In reality, Dick is the high commander, Tommy (who's actually the oldest) is the senior information officer, Sally (who's actually a man) is the lieutenant, and squinty-eyed Harry is the transmitter/receiver. The humans in their lives include Dick's colleague--and object of his affections--Mary (Jane Curtin, Kate and Allie), secretary Nina (Simbi Khali), and landlady Mrs. Dubcek (Elmarie Wendel). The first season also introduces Officer Don (Wayne Knight, Seinfeld), who will appear more often in future seasons.

There were 20 episodes in the first year. In each, the Solomons learn something new about the human condition. In the debut, it’s feelings. Dick finds them silly, until he realizes how essential they are--you can't be fully human without them. Then there's sportsmanship ("Green-Eyed Dick"), mortality ("Body & Soul & Dick"), and so on. Guest stars include Harry's dream girl, Martha Stewart ("Post-Nasal Dick"), The Gilmore Girls’ Lauren Graham ("Dick's First Birthday"), and Newsradio’s Phil Hartman ("Lonely Dick"). After the show’s demise, the cast would move on to other ventures, most notably Broadway hit Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for the versatile Lithgow and independent drama Mysterious Skin for the grown-up Gordon-Levitt. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Customer Reviews

3rd Rock Edited
This is a tough one to write for me. I loved 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN and was eagerly awaiting its release on DVD. Needless to say I grapped it the day it hit stores and popped it in that night. Within a few minutes my anticipation turned to frustration as I knew something was wrong. Not believing what I wasn't seeing, I dug through boxes to find my VHS copies of the first season and sure enough, the episodes on the DVD set are the syndicated versions...which means anywhere from 2 to 4 minutes are trimmed per episode. Take that out of a 22 or 23 minute running time and you get an idea of how much has been taken away.
I've been a huge supporter of Anchor Bay for years now, so I am even more let down and even more angry but this insult. Releasing cut DVD's is unacceptable and with no notice given on the packing, it also strikes me as a deceitful business practice. This may well be all they were given by Casey-Werner, as I've now discovered that THE COSBY SHOW S1 & the upcoming ROSEANNE S1 also feature the edited, syndicated versions but if this is what they are going to release, they owe to consumers & fans of those shows to let people know they are not getting the entire, uncut episodes.
For those of you who don't care that you are spending your money on a imcomplete product, clearly this isn't for you but for those of you who do care about wanting the see the entire episodes as they first appeared on their intial broadcasts, beware of this set.

Wise up people!
From DVDVerdict:

"So in case you've been living under a rock or have just returned from a sojourn to the stars, the major grumble against this otherwise well-constructed presentation is the fact that the episodes presented here are the shortened syndication versions. Yes, a tidy two minutes have been surgically excised from each episode, rendering this set about as appealing as home-made VHS copies (unless those would be first-run, non-edited episodes). Anchor Bay isn't readily 'fessing up to this injurious insult and is even fudging this fact with misleading box text reading, "...these 20 full-length episodes..." Lie! This is fast becoming the bane of long-awaited TV-on-DVD releases. Anchor Bay has some explaining to do and reparations to make before the release of the Season Two set, slated for October 25, 2005. However, this seems to be the studio's sole official response to the unacceptable situation:

"The issue that exists is the originally aired episodes vs. syndicated episodes. We were only permitted to distribute the syndicated version of the series, which is what is on the DVD. Carsey-Werner (the licensor of the series) maintains the rights to the originally aired broadcast & it is their decision whether or not those will ever be released. If we are ever able to secure these rights from them, we will certainly do so."-Anchor Bay

That's fine, but clearly Anchor Bay is reticent to be so forthcoming in their release notes, knowing this situation will not sit well with impassioned collectors and will surely impact sell-through rates. I wonder what Dick might have to say about this unscrupulous human trickery?"

So if you keep buying this s*** they'll keep giving us this shortened s***!

A Hilarious Sci-Fi Comedy!
When a group of four extraterrestrial aliens assumed human form in order to study humanity, the results were hilarious on NBC's 1996-2001 sitcom "3rd Rock from the Sun". The unrelated travelling extraterrestrial foursome takes up residence in the fictional Midwestern college town of Rutherford, Ohio. The "High Commander" (John Lithgow) takes on the identity of a father and college physics professor named Dick Solomon. The "Security Officer" (Kristen Johnston) takes on the female identity of Dick's sister Sally. The "Information Officer" (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) takes on the identify of Dick's son Tommy. The fourth alien (French Stewart) takes on the identity of Dick's brother Harry. Having never experienced life as human beings, the alien foursome quickly find that dealing with strange human feelings and senses can be very challenging. This was especially true for Sally, who, as a woman, experiences a greater array of emotions. Then, there's the human woman that inadvertently captures Dick's heart: a college professor by the name of Dr. Mary Margaret Albright (Jane Curtain). Dick falls madly in love with Mary, who for a long time has little interest in Dick's advances and thinks that Dick is a bit odd. Then there's Dick's human secretary Nina Campbell (Simbi Khali), who also thinks he's very odd. Other humans that the Solomon's frequently interact with are their eccentric landlady Mrs. Dubcek (Elmarie Wendel) and Police Officer Donald 'Don' Orville (Wayne Knight). Don becomes quite infatuated with Sally. Other humans that Dick interacts with frequently are the students in his physics classes. As regularly appearing guest actors, these include Leon (Ian Lithgow, John Lithgow's son), Bug Pollone (David DeLuise, the son of Dom DeLuise), Aubrey Pitman (Chris Hogan), Caryn (Danielle Nicolet) and Judith Draper (Ileen Getz).

The first season of "3rd Rock from the Sun" features the following 20 episodes:

1. "Brains and Eggs" (series premiere). Dick's infatuation with Mary begins while Harry & Sally learn cooking from Mrs. Dubcek.

2. "Post-Nasal Dick" (featuring a cameo appearance by Martha Stewart). The Solomons experience their first case of human sickness: a cold.

3. "Dick's First Birthday". When Dick has to provide his birthday to Nina for records, the Solomons learn a lesson about age.

4. "Dick Is From Mars, Sally Is From Venus". Tommy has to attend high school while Sally bemoans the differences between men & women.

5. "Dick, Smoker". Dick takes up smoking.

6. "Green-Eyed Dick". Dick gets jealous of a former boyfriend of Mary; Tommy adopts a stray dog.

7. "Lonely Dick". Dick bemoans Mary when she goes on vacation while Harry & Sally experiment with skin-care products.

8. "Body & Soul & Dick". Dick has to give an eulogy while Tommy neglects his female friend August (Shay Astar).

9. "Ab-Dick-ted". Mary's brother Roy (Bronson Pinchot ) claims he was once abducted by aliens.

10. "Truth or Dick". Dick attends a faculty meeting for Mary that harms her reputation. Harry & Sally want drivers licenses and Tommy discovers the mall.

11. "The Art of Dick". Dick & Harry take up painting while Sally takes over a bake sale.

12. "Frozen Dick". Mary gets stuck with Dick in a vehicle during a snowstorm.

13. "Angry Dick". The Solomons try to befriend their next-door neighbors.

14. "The Dicks They Are A-Changin'". Issues over Dick's past makes Mary think he's a former 1960's activist that she once knew.

15. "I Enjoy Being A Dick". Dick dons a dress to attend Mary's women-only study group while Sarry & Harry get jobs at a restaurant.

16. "Dick Like Me". The Solomons discover that they have no roots like everyone else.

17. "Assault With A Deadly Dick". Sally meets Officer Don when their home is broken into.

18. "Father Knows Dick". Harry finds out that he has the aliens' communication device in his head.

19. "Selfish Dick". Harry & Tommy pretend to work at a hospital, inspired by TV medical programs.

20. "See Dick Run (1)". Just when Mary agrees to date Dick, a replacement Dick arrives and he means business!

Overall, I rate the first season of "3rd Rock from the Sun" with a resounding 5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend it.