Vulture Festival 2021 played host to the first-ever cast reunion of 3rd Rock from the Sun. John Lithgow, French Stewart, Kristen Johnston and Joseph Gordon-Levitt got together to share memories and a few surprises.
3rd Rock from the Sun is so underrated. It deserves to be ranked up there with other great sitcoms like Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier, The Simpsons, Fresh Prince, The Office, Parks and Rec, Community, Brooklyn Nine Nine, etc. It's so funny and clever and it's a shame that it's not a more well known sitcom nowadays
John Lithgow actually does seem 'other worldly.' No one else could do what he does, and never break character for an instant! Kristen Johnson is wonderful...then and now in 'Mom'.
You're absolutely right! This show, the writers and actors should be studied by script writers and network executives for inspiration. There aren't many television shows worth watching and rarely sitcoms that actually make me literally laugh out loud. Everything about this show is golden!
So agree with you! When he got up on stage so warmly welcomed and being one of my favorite characters from the show and seeing how welcomed he was by everyone else up there really is beautiful. I'm probably going to start the series over again for maybe the 4th run through for me because it's definitely my favorite sitcom and definitely a top 5 spot for my favorite shows.. the writing and execution never skipped a beat all the way up to the finale.
willjohnboy it’s those RU-vid algorithms. Usually I think of something, read comments that are similar and end up not commenting. This time, I was so taken with Lithgows reaction I had to comment.
John Lithgow is just timeless. He’s looked the same for decades, he can play any type of character. I hope he has many, many more years in show business ahead of him.
Before I ever watched it, I wondered about him doing comedy. But he absolutely nailed the role. Poor Jane Curtin could barely suppress her laughter every episode.
One that absolutely stunned me was how, when the group greeted Shatner at the airport, he remarked at seeing the goblin on the wing of the airplane during the flight. And Dick responds, "Yes, wasn't that weird?" And Shatner had played that character on The Twilight Zone the TV show, and John had played the same character on The Twilight Zone, the movie. I was breathless at the brilliance of that.
The line was even funnier than that, Sally:"How was your trip, sir??" Head:"Horrifying!! I looked out the window and there was something on the wing of the plane!!" Dick:"The same thing happened to me!"
Joseph Gordon levy is one of the biggest stars right now but the humility, generosity and kindness of his energy is so awesome. It’s rare to see that in cast shows where some of the cast have more celebrity than others.
1. Joseph Gordon-Levitt 2. Your English is horrible.... 3. John Lithgow is by far the lead character in this show... his acting is amazing and his range is stupendous.... and all the languages he speaks, even just for one scene, are almost perfectly pronounced.... it's sad that less talented actors get a bigger break because they are more attractive....
@@SpArX0110 How about get over yourself with this display of bitterness. This person spelled his last name wrong, big whoop. No need to use inaccurate descriptors such as "horrible English." And Plus, No one said John wasn't amazing.
I just love these people! Still watching 3rd Rock in 2021 and it STILL makes me laugh out loud! Some shows get dated after a time, but not 3rd Rock. The writing, and these actors' comic timing were pure genius!
Favorite scene: Mary comes back after being gone for awhile. Dick is overjoyed that she's back and it turns to "slow motion." John, Jane, and Simbi acting out that slow motion scene was brilliance!! It is so funny and majorly impressive!!
When Dick keeps parking in Mary's parking spot. She complained to him, and reminded him that she had the red Volvo, Dick blushes and says " oh Mary that's so personal "
My favorite scene was when Shatner & Lithgow we're talking about a little creature on the wing of the plane & then nobody else saw it. Was a great reference to Twilight Zone, that they both played in the show and movie respectively. 😂
Don and Sally could have went on to have a spin off show. Their pairing was so unexpected and their scenes were absolutely hilarious. Whomever decided that they could sense the others presence before actually seeing each other is ingenious. Everything about this show was golden.
They could totally do a series of specials where the cast returned to Earth in present day. Having to wear older versions of their human selves so as to not rouse suspicion. Dick goes on the hunt for Mary (because that is the real reason they have come back, though he's told the crew otherwise) in the hopes that she can remember him again. Sally coming to terms with being a cougar, Tommy not understanding why he's not "down with the kids" anymore, Harry getting caught up in fake news and possibly becoming a viral social media star just because of the way he is. There's so much they could fit into a set of 45 minute specials that - with the right people writing - could really give the fans something awesome to look back on. :)
Stone Phillips Jr, the lovechild of BG Head and Vicki Dubchek wants to visit his birthplace on Earth, and build a bigger, badder version of Monkeyworld -- (Or a BIG GIANT WALL, or something crassly commercial like that). The gang has to find him and stop him (and solve global warming in the process) before some alien hunters dissect him and sell the story to Fox News. Also, they want to look up old friends and catch up on soap operas. Don Orville would have some lowly job as a security guard as a big box store until Sally finds him and recruits him to help the investigation (but not before inspiring him, seducing him and revealing she always was a space alien). . August Leffler will be a crusading journalist trying to expose the evil oligarchy financing Stone Phillips' empire -- completely unaware of his alien provenance. Nina would be Dean of Students at Pendleton, while Vincent Strudwick would be Pendleton's president. Neither would know about Mary Albright's whereabouts -- only that Mary is off doing undercover fieldwork with some secretive scientology-like cult. Turns out that Stone Phillips Jr. gets all confused and builds Monkeyworld inside a videogame simulation. The old gang is chased by debt collectors who are looking for someone to pay for the astronomical credit card bill from Season 6. At some point there has to be a shot of a lovelorn Don staring into space and wondering where Sally is now. Other things I'd like to see: one of them getting a messed up body and have to trade it several times, Mary's sister Renata (aka Megan Mullaly) has to be visited to provide clues about Mary's whereabouts, Transistor Harry needs to get hacked by either Russians or some unknown band of aliens, Tommy gets Internet famous by accident and tries unsuccessfully to gain more followers, Sally has to team up with Don to find Stone Jr. until they find him locked up in a room playing a massively multiplayer online game version of Earth (aka "Monkeyworld Planet") leaving it unclear which is the simulation and which is the reality. Gosh, I could write 5 episodes in no time. You could never recover the original magic of the 3 camera show with live audience, but a one camera show would still work -- and you wouldn't need to create a conceit of aliens learning about X; all you really need are catching up with old characters and being surprised at how things have changed in a mere 20 years...
One of my all-time favorite shows! I’ve been binging it the last few months, and it’s been the perfect comfort food during such a crazy time on this planet. I hope these actors all know how much laughter they brought to all of us, and will continue to bring to us forever in syndication! ❤️
Amen, Erin. This is one of my favorite shows of all time, as well. I am having a blast watching this show in re-runs. There has never been a show like this one.
i watch all 6 seasons at least once a year, i binge as well :D. and i agree how its a comfort food, anytime i feel sick i watch it, it makes me feel better.
I was raised on this wonderful show. I'm autistic, so I think in hindsight I loved it so much because metaphorically I myself was an alien socially, and it allowed me to escape from that and laugh, even if for only 30 minutes a week every Sunday night, which was when it aired here in Australia. Plus, the rest of my family also got that chance as we watched it together most weeks. (Nonetheless, as an adult I still consider it so intelligent, relatable and entertaining because the Solomons may have been aliens but they were actually no more socially inept than the human characters.) I thank everybody who ever worked on it, for the memories and the timeless laughs.
The episode where Sally realized the ground hamburger she was mixing with her hands; was cow & she screams bloody murder, I laugh to this day just thinking about it! Good times!
Better yet, a reunion movie that sees the Salomon family reunite to save our world from The Big Giant's Big Giant Evil Son by rebooting the Earth. It would not only save our world but re-introduce new versions of The Salomon family(I know, new actors but they'd still be our much loved aliens). The movie's plot would be like INFINITY WAR but relegated to only a single 2hr streaming movie.
Agree it would be nice to briefly bring them back. Maybe just a 2 hour movie for them to check in on things and in the end they decide it's much too nutty for them to ever live here again. I like the Tik Tok idea, maybe marveling at Uber and making friends with the driver, ordering food from your phone and of course ordering too much and gaining weight, believing everything they read on the internet, and getting scared because there is evidence surfacing that aliens are here on earth...only to discover that it's THEM people have been seeing! Then Tommy and Harry have to fess up that they were joy riding all this time!! Just some thoughts without making things too political. This would be intended for laughs not groans.
@@rscats67 I'm just afraid that they caught lightning in a bottle when they did the show and it would be hard to re-capture that again and don't want to see a lame version of 3rd Rock.
I haven't seen 30 seconds of that show since it went off the air but there is one line I will never forget. Kristen Johnston: "When I punch someone in the nose, I'm aiming for the back of the head."
THIS. We've wanted this for 20 years and never needed it more than now. I saw John Lithgow at the Cowan Center in 2011 and he is hilarious. Always naturally "on". LOVE this show. Big time nostalgia.
So glad they brought up the leather pants bit as that is hands down my favorite. John plays it SO straight and Jane just not being able to keep it together kills me. Even after Jane starts laughing and John has moved into the hallway and sets his pose and move which gets Jane all over again. Just too much.
I enjoyed this show but my hubby enjoyed it even more . . . when the show was starting and the music came on he would crank up the volume all the way so the rest of family would know he was watching it. So funny!
I loved this reunion. This show holds up so well. It’s just as funny today as it was back in its day. There’s really no dated references, just great comedy that’s timeless.
I saw Kristen's pic on her social media of the 4 of them and I needed to binge the entire series and that's just what I did over the last couple weeks. And then stumble upon this. Thanks!
This is wonderful! I'm 77 and it is my favorite show of all time. I don't even watch TV anymore. There's nothing that interests me and the commercials are never ending.
Such a delight to happen upon this, particularly since I have recently been watching episode after episode on IFC. Certainly one of the most under-rated sitcoms ever. It now dawns on me that John Lithgow's portrayal of Dick Solomon is possibly the most brilliant I've ever seen for any sitcom comedic actor; such amazing comic talent. Until he took on this role who knew that he could be so fuckin' funny (quite similar to Leslie Nielsen prior to Airplane & Naked Gun; dramatic actors who turned out to be absolutely fantastic when cast in comic roles).
Hands down my favourite show of all time. It felt like it was my own because Nobody I knew watched it. That actually made it more special to me and this reunion just brings back those feelings. I never even watched much tv but this show just struck a nerve with me.
FINALLY! An awesome INTERVIEWER. You can tell she did her research;she’s a fanatic. And is present (customizing the flow based on their responses). Thx U!
I would have loved to have seen French suddenly pop out of his chair & say "Incoming message from the Big Giant Head" & Bill Shatner comes on the projector screen as another surprise guest for the audience. Good to see them together again now, sooner than later, because you can never know when your time is up.
Third rock took me back to my childhood in how I would arrange my life so I could be sure to be at home when the show would be on. As silly as it could be, there was always the knowledge that this show was levels above everything else that was on. The writing fit the players perfectly and it just felt so incredibly smart. God, it was good! Thanks all, it really felt like a gift.
THE most underrated TV show of the past 30 years, period. I remember reading an analysis of how that happened, a few years ago, about the network changing the day and time of the show having had such an impact on ratings. Also, one had to have watched the show from the first episodes to truly understand the show; this was a critical problem with attracting new viewers (e.g., knowing that Sally was really a man and a warrior, knowing that JG-L was really an old man, etc.).
I recently discovered the reruns of 3rd Rock ... to utter joy. I'd forgotten how awesome and fun this show was. The cast was perfection! I love that I stumbled on this interview. I have been in awe of John Lithgow since he portrayed Roberta in "The World According to Garp" WAY back in 1982. Jane Curtin too, always underrated in my opinion. Brilliant, ALL of them!
It’s made my day finding this interview . It’s so great seeing our favourite cast members again .Plus I’m impressed with the interviewer . She had obviously done her homework and was a fan of the show .
This was just glorious from start to finish. Thank you so much for staging and posting this beautiful reunion. The love between these actors is just so palpable. The moments where John Lithgow isn't sure whether to refer to Joseph as Joey or Joe; Joseph and French having a spontaneous hug; the delight when Wayne Knight enters the stage; especially from John Lithgow; and the sublimely talented and spirited Kristen Johnston who was the revelation for me when the series first aired back in 1995. Great moderator and questions. Honestly I could have spent a weekend with these people. I love how this is the first time they have been in a room together in 20 years; and they slip right back into their affinity. Great stuff. One of the best reunion shows I have seen.
My wife is a comedy snob. Her favorite comedies are Third Rock from the Sun and Wings, both totally underrated imo. Btw: we both love Ghosts and have recently discovered the Canadian Corner Gas. Love them all.
I love John Lithgow's voice, bless him he couldn't be anything else but a comedian. His voice is actually so cute and makes me smile when i hear it. He'll always be Dick to me ❤
3rd Rock from the Sun was the Ultimate Comedy Show!!! I just watched the entire TV Series on Tubi-TV. This Show Never Grows Old to Watch. Even in 2021. "1" question I wanted to know was... How did French keep his eyelids that way in every episode? & How did that come about for French's character to look like he did by closing his eyes that way? Would love an answer from French or the Superb Writers of this Fabulous Show.
This was such a good interview! And the cast is so lovely and funny! When Joe and French hugged, it was beautiful! I had forgotten how much I love that show so I'm going to have to start a rewatch with my kid.
One of the best reunions i have seen. But it would have been great to see Simbi! She was integral, and wonderful as Nina! These people are so great, as was 3rd Rock.
So enjoyable! The interviewer was well prepared and asked questions that excited the cast to answer. She was animated without ever overstepping her role. T.V. nerd heaven and a nice break from reality.
It's interviews like this, is why RU-vid excites, if they ever make a remake or continue 3rd rock, I would love to be in it in any way, honestly I emailed nbc lol, honestly I did after watching this. Everyone else should email so they make one more season!!!
Such an amazing cast of wonderful actors. I'm going to have to go back and rewatch the series after this. It's such a good show. It's almost sad that there will never be another one like it. I mean, How the hell could there be?
My favourite comedy sitcom. So great to see them all together after so long.... nice reunion 👏. I still re-watch the whole series on & off, funny and entertaining. How nice if they would do a new Part 2 😍
