3rd Rock from the Sun
Dr. Solomon's Traveling Alien Show (2)
TV Flash files “Dr. Solomon's Traveling Alien Show (2)” as a desk essential hour — 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996–2001) on NBC, season 4, episode 1, aired 1998-09-23, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E01: listed hour 74 of 139 in the 3rd Rock from the Sun guide, first listed hour of season 4. It aired 1998-09-23 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Eat, Drink, Dick, Mary (1)” (S03E27). Next is “Power Mad Dick” (S04E02).
Essential hour: “Dr. Solomon's Traveling Alien Show (2)”. Dr. Solomon's Traveling Alien Show: farce as touring act, the unit still studying bureaucracy like a planet.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Harry has been kidnapped and the Solomons try to find him, a task that is complicated by the fact that Dick is literally losing his mind.
Viewer FAQ
Where does Dr. Solomon's Traveling Alien Show (2) sit in the 3rd Rock from the Sun guide?
S04E01 is listed hour 74 of 139 — first listed hour of season 4, season 4 episode 1.
When did 3rd Rock from the Sun S04E01 air?
Dr. Solomon's Traveling Alien Show (2) aired 1998-09-23 and is listed at 30 minutes.
What is the premise?
Aliens infiltrate Earth by posing as a human family and struggle with human emotions, customs, and Ohio bureaucracy.
In the series
Why this series still plays
An alien high commander and his unit pose as an Ohio family to study Earth — then get wrecked by emotions, bureaucracy, and Jane Curtin. John Lithgow goes fully operatic; Johnston, Stewart, and a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt match him. Bonnie and Terry Turner's high-concept farce with Olympic physical commitment. They came to observe; they stayed to flail.
The look is an Ohio family that does not know how to wear a human face. An alien high commander and his unit pose as Earth people to study the planet — then get wrecked by emotions, bureaucracy, and Jane Curtin's skeptical professor. Bonnie and Terry Turner's NBC farce premiered January 9, 1996 and let John Lithgow go fully operatic while Kristen Johnston, French Stewart, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt filled out the mission. Physical comedy met anthropological satire without losing multi-cam clarity. Six seasons…
Filed against
- John Lithgow as Dick Solomon
John Lithgow went fully operatic as Dick Solomon on 3rd Rock from the Sun — an alien high commander posing as an Ohio family man, then wrecked by emotions, bureaucracy, and Jane Curtin. Johnston, Stewart, and a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt…
- Jane Curtin as Mary Albright
Jane Curtin’s deadpan outlasted three decades of network weather — Saturday Night Live’s original-class frost, Kate & Allie’s Greenwich Village restart opposite Susan Saint James, and 3rd Rock from the Sun’s earthly straight woman to…
- Kristen Johnston as Sally Solomon
Kristen Johnston's Sally Solomon matched John Lithgow's operatic alien farce on 3rd Rock from the Sun — an Ohio family that is a high-command unit wrecked by emotions and Jane Curtin. High-concept sitcom with bruises. TV Flash marks her…
- French Stewart as Harry Solomon
French Stewart played Harry Solomon on 3rd Rock from the Sun — an alien unit posing as an Ohio family, John Lithgow going operatic, Bonnie and Terry Turner's high-concept farce wrecked by emotions and bureaucracy. TV Flash files him as…
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tommy Solomon
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tommy Solomon made 3rd Rock from the Sun a teenager who was not — alien unit posing as an Ohio family, Lithgow fully operatic, Johnston and Stewart matching him, Bonnie and Terry Turner’s high-concept farce.…