3rd Rock from the Sun

From left to right: John Lithgow as Dick, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (top) as Tommy, Jane Curtin (bottom) as Mary, Kristen Johnston as Sally, and French Stewart as Harry

• John Lithgow as Dick Solomon
• Kristen Johnston as Sally Solomon
• French Stewart as Harry Solomon
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tommy Solomon
• Jane Curtin as Mary Albright
• Simbi Khali as Nina Campbell (seasons 3–6, recurring previously)
• Elmarie Wendel as Mamie Dubcek (seasons 3–6, recurring previously)
• Wayne Knight as Officer Don Orville (seasons 3–6, recurring previously)

• David DeLuise as Bug Pollone, one of Dick's students
• Ian Lithgow as Leon, one of Dick's students
• Danielle Nicolet as Caryn, one of Dick's students
• Chris Hogan as Aubrey Pitman, one of Dick's students
• Ileen Getz as Dr. Judith Draper, professor at Pendelton and colleague of Mary
• Shay Astar as August Leffler, Tommy's first girlfriend (seasons 1–3, sparsely appears in seasons 3 and 4)
• Larisa Oleynik as Alissa Strudwick, Tommy's second girlfriend (seasons 4–6)
• Ron West as Dr. Vincent Strudwick, Alissa's father and rival to Dick (seasons 2–6)
• William Shatner as The Big Giant Head, the aliens' boss
• Jan Hooks as Vicki Dubcek, daughter of Ms. Dubcek, Harry's on-and-off girlfriend and later the wife of the Big Giant Head and the mother of his child
• John Cleese as Dr. Liam Neesam, a professor who briefly has a relationship with Mary, and is later revealed to be an evil alien (seasons 3 and 6)
• Chyna as Janice, a muscular female police officer who is briefly Harry's girlfriend
• Michael Milhoan as Coach Strickland, a high school physical education teacher at Tommy's high school

The show's opening theme music, composed by Ben Vaughn, was originally a 1950s-style rock-and-roll instrumental piece for the first four seasons; 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 a big band cover of the theme, performed by the group Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and was only used during that season. For the sixth and final season, the original theme returned and a modern jazz underline version of the theme was used for two episodes.

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.

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.[1] ABC Family aired reruns between 2002 and 2006. Reruns of the series aired on TV Land from 2008 through 2010. In the fall of 2010, ReelzChannel began airing the series. The series made its debut on digital broadcast network Laff on July 16, 2018, until May 16, 2021, when it moved to IFC as well on Cozi TV beginning July 18.

In Italy, this series aired on Italia 1 under the name Una 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 channel RTM's TV2 in the 12:30 am time slot on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

In the United Kingdom, the series originally aired on BBC Two from 1996 to 2002,[2] and ITV2 later reran the entire series from 2005 to 2006. It has since rerun on Comedy Central, Channel 4,[3] and 5Star.

In the fall of 2011, Canada's TVTropolis 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,[4] and was removed again exactly two years later. The series also was available to stream on Hulu.[5]

The series was available to stream in the United States on Amazon Prime Video, FilmRise, Hoopla, Tubi,[6] Pluto TV, Crackle,[7] Vudu,[8] IMDb TV[9] and Peacock,[10] but has since been removed from all streaming networks and is now only available on Philo.[11]

In the UK, as of 2022, the full series is available on Sky Go and Channel 4.[12]

Anchor Bay Entertainment released all six seasons of 3rd 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 released 3rd 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.

† – denotes a reissued set
‡ – denotes a limited edition set

John Lithgow

In 1997, 3rd Rock won the most Primetime Emmy Awards (five from eight nominations) for a television series:

• 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 — Outstanding Lead Actor — Comedy Series — John Lithgow
• 1997, 1998, 1999 — Outstanding Supporting Actress — Comedy Series — Kristen Johnston
• 1996, 1997 — Outstanding Hairstyling for a Series — Pixie Schwartz
• 1996 — Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series — James Burrows
• 1998 — Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series — Terry Hughes
• 1997 — Outstanding Special Visual Effects — Glen Bennett, Visual Effects Artists; Patrick Shearn, Visual Effects Supervisor; Chris Staves, Visual Effects Artists
• 1997, 1999, 2000 — Outstanding Sound Mixing — Comedy Series
• 1998 — Outstanding Sound Mixing — Comedy Series — "A Nightmare on Dick Street"
• 1997, 1998 — Outstanding Costume Design — Series — Melina Root
• 1997, 1998 — Outstanding Comedy Series
• 1997 — Outstanding Choreography — Marguerite Derricks
• 1998 — Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series — Jan Hooks as Vicki Dubcek
• 1998 — Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series — John Cleese as Dr. Neesam
• 1999, 2000 — Outstanding Multicamera Picture Editing for a Series
• 1999 — Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series — Kathy Bates as Charlotte Everly and Laurie Metcalf as Jennifer
• 1999 — Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series — William Shatner as the Big Giant Head
• 2000 — Outstanding Cinematography for a Multicamera 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 are 3rd Rock and my dear family."[55]

Golden Globe Awards

• 1997 — Best Actor in a Television Comedy or Musical — John Lithgow

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• 1996, 1997 — Best Male Actor — Comedy Series — John Lithgow