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3rd Rock from the Sun

3rd Rock from the Sun is an Emmy Award-winning American sitcom that aired from 1996 until 2001 on NBC. The show is about a group of extraterrestrials on an expedition of what they consider to be the least important planet, Earth (the "3rd Rock" from the Sun), while posing as a human "family" of four, to observe human beings. Reruns currently air in the United States on TV Land.

"As many intelligent people know, aliens are all around us. This is a story of a band of four such explorers. In order to blend in, they have assumed human form. This is the High Commander [Dick]. He has assembled an elite team of experts: A decorated military officer [Sally], a seasoned intelligence specialist [Tommy] and, well, they had an extra seat [Harry]."[2]

The premise of the show revolves around an extraterrestrial research expedition attempting to live as a "normal" human family in the fictional city of Rutherford, Ohio, where they live in a loft apartment. Humor was principally derived from the aliens' attempts to study human society and, because of their living as humans themselves while on Earth, to understand the human condition. In later episodes, they became more accustomed to Earth and often seemed to be more interested in their human lives than in their mission. The episode "Dick's Big Giant Headache" insinuates that this may be due to the effect the frailty of the human condition has on them.

Dick Solomon (played by John Lithgow), the High Commander and leader of the expedition, is the family provider, and takes a position as a physics professor at Pendelton State University. Information officer Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has been given the body of a teenager and is forced to enroll in high school (later college), leaving security officer Sally (Kristen Johnston) and communications officer Harry (French Stewart) to spend their lives as thirty somethings hanging out at home and bouncing through short-term jobs.

The family often communicates with their off-world (and usually unseen) boss, The Big Giant Head, who apparently only got the job by kissing "The Big Giant Butt." When in human form, the Big Giant Head (William Shatner) is an arrogant, alcoholic sexual predator. His orders are received by Harry, who unexpectedly (and often in inconvenient circumstances) stands erect, his arms stiff (acting as the antenna), and proclaims: "Incoming message from the Big Giant Head."