Time to stuff the archives here at Shared Darkness? You bet. Ergo this DVD review of the second season of 3rd Rock From the Sun, originally penned last fall for IGN:

Hatched by Bonnie and Terry Turner, a husband-and-wife team who wrote first for Saturday Night Live and then penned the Wayne’s World movies alongside Mike Myers, 3rd Rock From the Sun
was birthed in 1996 as a midseason replacement series for NBC. Told
from the skewed and frequently quite confused point-of-view of an alien
clan posing as Earthlings, the series was always sort of the redheaded
stepchild of its comedy-dominated parent network, laboring in the
collective shadow of higher-rated fare like Friends and more erudite, critically beloved shows like Frasier. Nonetheless, its mix of broad slapstick and self-analytical, joke-based
humor proved a winning, diversionary combination with audiences, and
propelled the series to a number of surprising Emmy nominations and
victories — most notably for its remade star, John Lithgow.

Known mostly as a heavy in film (who can forget his stern “thou shalt not dance” admonitions in Footloose?),
Lithgow is gloriously silly as mission commander and family patriarch
Dick Solomon, who takes his family’s name when it’s glimpsed on a
passing truck after the group’s arrival in small-town Ohio. (Yes,
there’s plenty of expense had at said name, and most episodes in fact
work it into the title, e.g. “Dick Jokes,” “Much Ado About Dick,” “Dick
and the Single Girl.”) Broadway belle Kristen Johnston is “eldest
daughter” Sally Solomon, and if she seems like a tomboy it’s because
“she” is really an otherworldly he. This twist gives the series plenty
of creative license with gender issues, sexual identity and body switch
comedy, particularly as Sally strings along enamored local policeman
Don (Seinfeld‘s Wayne Knight), at first obliviously and then more consciously, whenever she needs or wants something.

Rounding out the main quartet are the squinty-eyed French Stewart as
the clueless, doddering Harry Solomon; and teenager Tommy (Joseph
Gordon-Levitt, who’s gone on to good things with Mysterious Skin),
who is actually the oldest in alien years, as the group’s information
officer. His worldly but still confused grappling with human
adolescence also provides strong opportunities for comedy of opposites.

After a debut season rich in the comedic mania of quotidian scenarios, 3rd Rock From the Sun‘s
sophomore run delves a bit further into character, both via those that
are a part of the Solomons’ life on a consistent basis and through a
motley assortment of one-off guest stars. Dick assumes the role of a
college psychics professor (though not a very good one), and strikes up
an on-again-off-again relationship with exasperated anthropology
professor Dr. Mary Albright (Jane Curtin). The latter roster includes
Jay Leno, Dennis Rodman, the recently outed George Takei, Al Franken,
Jan Hooks, Mark Hamill, Christine Baranski and more.

It’s here that I, personally, would have preferred a little more
open-format adventurousness, applying the skewed alien perspective to a
broader canvas. Yet 3rd Rock From the Sun
was always at its core a very conventional familial sitcom about
exasperation with circumstance and the frailty of communication — those
universal, intergalactic bugaboos. While I would never characterize 3rd Rock From the Sun as particularly cerebral, it did have a fairly strong joke ratio and informed sensibility if you bought into the concept. The strength of the show really exists in its pitch-perfect casting and
the ability of the series’ writers to play to the strong suit of its
players, as in episodes like “I Brake For Dick” (having hit a chipmunk
in his car, Dick grapples with the arbitrary manner in which humans
treat animals), “Same Old Song and Dick” (Dick frets over the
disappearance of spontaneity from his relationship with Mary) and
“Proud Dick” (after Harry loses his memory, horror ensues when he
continually rediscovers that he lives with aliens).

Distributor Anchor Bay’s treatment of the series is more than hospitable. The picture on these full-frame presentations is fairly solid, with no
problems with grain or compression. There is perhaps a bit of attrition
in color — some episodes of this color-bright series don’t seem as
crisp and eye-popping as I recall them — but nothing that mortally
wounds your enjoyment of the show. The show’s set design is, again, so colorfully cluttered that,
particularly on episodes like “Big Angry Virgin From Outer Space” and
“Will Work For Dick,” you get a pleasant sense of depth of frame
missing in many modern day sitcoms. Especially effective and
impressive, too, are the presentations of two 3-D episodes, whose
filmic quality shines through. A Dolby digital stereo track is the only audio offering on this set,
and while it’s a competent one, committed audiophiles will perhaps be
left wanting something more robust. Problem is, while there isn’t much
dynamism, there’s not much to affect — 3rd Rock From the Sun
is a dialogue-driven series, with large amounts of visual cue humor but
a paucity of non-verbal cues. It does have the capacity to sound a bit
tinny at times (particularly in its few forays outside of studio
setting), but should only bother true aural sticklers.

Alongside all 26 second season episodes, bonus features on this
attractively packaged, four-disc set include a pair of 3-D glasses for
the aforementioned special episodes (in which Dick and his alien brood
experience the discombobulation of human dreams for the first time) and
a nice, 14-page insert booklet that includes substantial episodic
recaps and funny interstitial gleanings from the aliens’ points-of-view
(“Five Rules on Fitting in Among the Humans,” “How to Select Your
Morning Breakfast Cereal,” “Sally’s Guide to Earth Hair,” etc.). Heck,
the set even talks: press a noted if slightly finicky button on the
front and you’ll hear Dick Solomon exclaim, “You’re a winner!”

As far as the disc supplemental material is concerned, seasonal
highlights are a bit redundant, but a blooper reel and
behind-the-scenes footage are nice inclusions. Additionally, each
episode includes a separately selectable preview (typically the end
bumper, vacuumed free of credits, from the previous show), which is a
nice touch. The highlight to the set, though, is probably a new interview with
Lithgow, in which the gracious, humble star recounts his experience
with the show, from its ambush, breakfast meeting pitch (“I consciously
remember the thought, ‘What’s the best possible way for me to politely
tell them no?'” he recalls) to his cast mates to specifics having to do
with the second season, and in particular those 3-D episodes. While
writer-producer audio commentaries are missing, it’s hard to otherwise
imagine a more complete set in terms of qualitative extras. For the original review from IGN, with a lot more clutter and still absolutely no pictures, click here. B+ (Show) B+ (Disc)