John Lithgow Said the ‘3rd Rock From the Sun’ Scripts Had the Perfect Combination of ‘Smart’ and ‘Stupid’
3rd Rock from the Sun was a popular NBC sitcom in the ’90s. Viewers loved the out-there plotlines and hilarious performances from the lead actors. John Lithgow, one of the show’s stars, recently explained why the show was so funny and successful.
‘3rd Rock from the Sun’s hilarious alien family
The sitcom followed the lives of four aliens as they studied life on Earth. The aliens, played by Lithgow, Kristen Johnston, French Stewart, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, experience workplace spats, high school drama, and romantic relationships, learning more about humanity as they interact with those around them.
The show was hugely popular, largely due to the lead actors’ great performances. But the writing staff also deserves some of the credit. Lithgow recently talked to GQ about how talented the writers were and why the show was so successful.
John Lithgow credits ‘3rd Rock from the Sun’ writers for show’s success
“The writing staff was so incredible,” the actor marveled. “They were so smart. They had such a great combination of smart and stupid in their humor. It was just this pendulum swing that went back and forth. A lot of them had come out of The Simpsons.”
The 76-year-old continued, “Families would watch these together and the kids would love it for one reason, and the grownups would love it for a totally different reason, but they would laugh at the same jokes.”
Fans and critics agree with Lithgow’s assessment of 3rd Rock from the Sun’s humor. The show has many fans, even though it stopped airing in 2001.
Fans and critics still love ‘3rd Rock from the Sun’
In an article celebrating the 25th anniversary of the show’s premiere, Paste Magazine wrote:
“Aliens have long been used as a plot point for sitcoms, just look at shows like Mork & Mindy or Alf. There is a natural humor in seeing how these foreign characters adjust to the intricacies of the life we are born into, learning the social cues and expectations the audience takes for granted. But the show creators are also able to poke holes into the facade that perhaps all our unwritten social cues do not come naturally to everyone.”
They continued, “Furthermore, 3rd Rock differentiates itself from those other extraterrestrial shows by focusing on the family’s observations of how weird human life is, instead of a group of humans trying to figure out the foreign behaviors of one rogue alien. In other words, 3rd Rock asks us to look inward.”
Paste also wrote about how 3rd Rock from the Sun’s humor has aged, saying, “A lot of sitcoms, especially those made up until about five years ago really, do not tend to age well with the rapidly evolving ideas as to what constitutes satire and what is a social blindspot. But under the guise of a group of people with no knowledge of the implied structures that shape society, 3rd Rock was often apt to use social gaffes for a teaching moment that shows how bizarre they really are. These tropes are used to say ‘this is what not to do,’ because the family truly doesn’t know any better.”
Even though the show hasn’t aired a new episode in over 20 years, 3rd Rock from the Sun is still a beloved sitcom that often airs in reruns or on streaming services. The funny tales of the bizarre alien family navigating the world are still as hilarious today as they were then, all due to the humor and intelligence brought to the scripts.
