History YMMV / ThirdRockFromTheSun

** The two-part dream episode "A Nightmare on Dick Street". Creator/JosephGordonLevitt trapped in a nightmare world and desperately trying to escape? [[Film/{{Inception}} Surely, nothing like that will ever be seen again]].
** In the series finale, Mary begins suspecting that Dick is not all he seems to be when she witnesses him [[ItMakesSenseInContext turning Liam into a chimpanzee]]. When discussing all of Dick's weird tendencies to her office mates, they tell her that they have long suspected Dick of being a serial killer. [[Series/{{Dexter}} Yeah, as if a serial killer would ever look like John Lithgow]].
** Harry ran for the Rutherford City Council Film/{{district 9}}, in "Dick the Vote".

** In the "Dick'll Take Manhattan" two-part episode, Tommy doing ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' looks like an amusingly authentic sketch which could've appeared in the episode when Creator/JosephGordonLevitt eventually hosted.
** In "Tom, Dick, and Mary," Harry, now having become smarter and bolder due to not watching TV on Dick's orders, suggests he and Sally sleep together, since they're not actually brother and sister, and are just pretending. Twenty-three years later, on an episode of ''Series/{{Mom}}'', their characters do end up having a romance.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The racism episode "Dick, Who's Coming to Dinner?".

%%* {{Anvilicious}}: The racism episode "Dick, Who's Coming to Dinner?".

%%** The main theme.

%%* {{Squick}}: The revelation in the finale, that Harry has been involved with both Dubcecks.

* {{Squick}}: The revelation in the finale, that Harry has been involved with both Dubcecks.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The racism episode "Dick, Who's Coming to Dinner?".

** The main theme.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: At least according to Sally's brief third season boyfriend Seth.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: As the cast expanded in Season 5, the theme song was rearranged to become a longer trumpet-driven swing number. Fans didn't like this so, in Season 6, the show went back to the original guitar-driven surf-style theme and slightly extended it.

* IdiotPlot: There are numerous plots where the problems/misunderstandings would be solved quickly if only some more specific language was used. Of course, if that was the case, [[RuleOfFunny things wouldn't be nearly as funny]]. It also should be mentioned that the idiot plot is justified for this show, since the Solomons are learning Earth culture and of course wouldn't know about many facets of humanity.

** In one episode, Sally comments that, "I just can't get used to [[Film/JamesBond Bond]] being played by anybody but Creator/TimothyDalton." At the time this aired, Dalton was widely seen as an inferior Bond, so Sally viewing him as the definitive Bond was a joke all by itself. Nowadays, Dalton's tenure as Bond is regarded much more positively.

* MemeticMutation: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpdy8CPk6-8 INCOMING MESSAGE FROM THE BIG GIANT HEAD!]]

** In the series finale, Mary begins suspecting that Dick is not all he seems to be when she witnesses him [[ItMakesSenseInContext turning Liam into a chimpanzee]]. When discussing all of Dick's weird tendencies to her office mates, they tell her that they have long suspected Dick of being a serial killer. [[Series/{{Dexter}} Yeah, like John Lithgow would ever play a serial killer]].

* TheScrappy: Tommy's first girlfriend, August. Manipulative, selfish, snooty, StrawFeminist, and all-around bitch who broke up with Tommy due to his "immaturity", ''after'' [[YourCheatingHeart being caught cheating on him]] and lying about it to his face. [[note]] Though in fairness, [[JerkassHasAPoint she does note how Tommy lusted after his glee club teacher and pursued another girl while they were together.]][[/note]] The 'manipulative' part can't be underscored enough; some of the things she does during their relationship border on emotional abuse.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** The main theme.
** Harry's DreamSequence musical number, "Life Has Been Good To Me" by Music/RandyNewman. He's not a bad singer, surprisingly.
** The "Mission Song" from the last moments of the series finale, made all the better by the entire quartet actually knowing how to sing and harmonize reasonably well. Also counts as a Crowning Moment of Funny, Heartwarming, and Awesome.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** In "Hotel Dick," Dick, Sally and Harry were all horrified after they watched a movie about killer aliens and feared humans really believed they were capable of such carnage. Come "Alien Hunter," Dick almost has his head cut open by a woman who thinks he's capable of doing exactly the kind of harm the aliens from that movie do. Meaning Dick and the others had a more of a right to be scared than they thought.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The racism episode.
* AuthorsSavingThrow: As the cast expanded in season 5, the theme song was rearranged to become a longer trumpet-driven swing number. Fans didn't like this so in season 6 the show went back to the theme's original guitar-driven surf style and slightly extended it.

** Then there's this.
--> '''Dick''': Nina please, we're talking about prejudice here, something you know nothing about. \\
'''Nina''': I'm black. \\
'''Dick''': Oh, right. ''[grabs a Post-It note and begins writing]'' "Nina...is...black." ''[slaps the note on her chest and turns back around]''

* [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Crowning Moment of Funny]]: [[Funny/ThirdRockFromTheSun Has its own page]].
* [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Crowning Music Of Awesome]]: The main theme. Also Harry's DreamSequence Musical Number, "Life Has Been Good To Me" by Music/RandyNewman. He's not a bad singer, surprisingly.
** The "Mission Song" from the last moments of the final episode is all of these, made all the better by the entire quartet actually knowing how to sing and harmonize reasonably well. Also counts as a Crowning Moment of Funny, Heartwarming, and Awesome.
* FanPreferredCouple: Harry/Nina. One episode demonstrated their potential, but they broke up before they ever got together due to a OneDialogueTwoConversations misunderstanding.

** During one episode, Dick comments that Easter Island was a practical joke that got out of hand. Many listeners will simply associate this joke with the massive stone heads and laugh, but a person who has read about the ecological and societal collapse resulting from overuse of natural resources due to moai construction will understand the "got out of hand" differently.

** When Sally gets a tomato plant and becomes obsessed with him, she names him Jeremy, claiming that she originally wanted to call it "Lycopersicon Esculentum," but that sounded too snotty. That sounds like alien TechnoBabble, but is actually the scientific name for tomatoes.

** The dream episode. Joseph-Gordon Levitt trapped in a nightmare world and desperately trying to escape? [[Film/{{Inception}} Surely nothing like that will ever be seen again]].

** Harry ran for the Rutherford City Council Film/{{district 9}}, in "Dick The Vote".
** In "The Dicks They Are A-Changin" (originally aired in 1996), Dick looks at a CD and remarks "Such primitive technology. I wonder if the people on this planet will ever discover the superior sound of vinyl". Vinyl would go through a major revival in the 2010s, with several people unironically claiming that it sounds superior to [=CDs=].
** In "Dick the Vote", Don wonders if the Solomons are Amish. In the season 6 episode "Mary Loves Scoochie (Part 1)", Sally and Harry become Amish.
** Dick once [[DidISayThatOutLoud blurted out to his class]] that Earth would be destroyed by a meteor in 2015. Looks like we're good.
** In the "Dick'll Take Manhattan" two-part episode, Tommy doing Series/SaturdayNightLive looks like an amusingly authentic sketch which could've appeared in the episode when Joseph Gordon-Levitt eventually hosted.
** In "Alone Together, Torn Apart" Harry, now having become smarter & bolder due to not watching TV, suggests he and Sally sleep together, since they're not actually brother and sister and are just pretending. Twenty three years later, on an episode of ''Series/{{Mom}}'', their characters do end up having a romance.
* HollywoodHomely: In "Dick and the Single Girl", a frumpy physicist falls for Dick. Nina says that only a complete lunatic would be attracted to her. She's played by Creator/ChristineBaranski.
* IdiotPlot: There are numerous plots where the problems/misunderstandings would be solved quickly if only some more specific language was used. Of course, if that was the case, [[RuleOfFunny things wouldn't be nearly as funny.]] It also should be mentioned that the idiot plot is justified for this show, since the Solomons are learning Earth culture and of course wouldn't know about many facets of humanity.

* TheScrappy: Tommy's first girlfriend, August. Manipulative, selfish, snooty, StrawFeminist and all-around bitch who broke up with Tommy due to his "immaturity", ''after'' [[YourCheatingHeart being caught cheating on him]] and lying about it to his face. [[note]] Though in fairness, [[JerkassHasAPoint she does note how Tommy lusted after his teacher and pursued another girl while they were together.]][[/note]] The 'manipulative' part can't be underscored enough; some of the things she does during their relationship border on emotional abuse.
* SeasonalRot: Rising star Creator/JosephGordonLevitt settling into a recurring role in season 6 coincided with the episode plots getting significantly DenserAndWackier. Coupled with frequent time slot changes, it was no surprise when the show never made it to a seventh season.
* StrawmanHasAPoint: When Dick is called for jury duty, he's entirely gung-ho about the process until he learns the defendant is someone he's met. The case is iron clad and he's completely guilty and Dick knows it, but Dick can't bear to send someone he knows to jail, and have him know Dick in turn. Dick even uses the words "now he has a face" to explain why it bothers him. He's still an idiot, but he sees the defendant as a person and not just a criminal to be convicted.

* TakeThatScrappy: August gets her comeuppance. After they break up Tommy convinces everyone that he dumped her which constantly gets thrown in her face.

-->'''August (leaving in a huff):''' Your son is impossible.
-->'''Dick:''' And you're a pain in the ass; you're ''made'' for each other!
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: In season 1, the Solomons discover that their last name means that they can easily pass for a Jewish family. They never wind up committing to Jewish culture, however, and they abandon it by season 2, beginning to celebrate Christmas.
* TrueArtIsAngsty: at least according to Sally's brief third season boyfriend Seth.
* TheWoobie: Alissa was very sweet and approachable (so long as you don't get her near a hockey game) and deserved better than InnocentlyInsensitive Tommy.

* [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Crowning Music Of Awesome]]: The main theme. Also Harry's DreamSequence Musical Number, "Life Has Been Good To Me." He's not a bad singer, surprisingly.

** In "Alone Together, Torn Apart" Harry, now having become smarter due to not watching TV, suggests he and Sally sleep together since they're not actually brother and sister and are just pretending. Years later, in a 2020 episode of Series/{{Mom}}, their characters do hook up briefly.

* TheScrappy: Tommy's first girlfriend, August. Manipulative, selfish, snooty, StrawFeminist and all-around bitch who broke up with Tommy due to his "immaturity", ''after'' [[YourCheatingHeart being caught cheating on him]] and lying about it to his face. The 'manipulative' part can't be underscored enough; some of the things she does during their relationship border on emotional abuse.

** In "The Dicks They Are A-Changin" (originally aired in 1996), Dick looks at a CD and remarks "Such primitive technology. I wonder if the people on this planet will ever discover the superior sound of vinyl". Vinyl would go through a major revival in the 2010s, with several people unironically vouching for its superior sound.