"3rd rock" is basically a fish-out-of-water comedy
about a group of aliens
who come to earth
to sort of spend a little time there and get to know people,
and it's sort of more of a science trip.
Along the way they decide they're having a great time, so they stay.
So that's the basic premise.
But I think the show, more or less,
is not so much about being alien.
It's about being human.
I think that's what's engaging about it,
that and the fact that I think it's just unabashedly goofy.
I think it's just good fun.
It is what it is,
and it's...
it's just blatantly idiotic,
you know, which is what we're striving for.
You know what? He got the job
because on the home planet he knew somebody.
And so, basically, they just dragged him along,
thinking he had no purpose,
but, basically, he's got a microchip in his head that's a transmitter.
So anytime they need to get back in touch with the home planet,
they go through him.
So basically, his purpose is he's a big walkie-talkie.
Gosh, you know, I honestly don't know.
I think-- I think maybe--
this is my justification, anyway, because he's an idiot
and it's been hard to hook him up with love scenarios.
But I think what we're going to go with is that...
Harry's successful in these relationships
because he is exactly who he is.
Whenever he's--
if he's, you know, at dinner
and he wants to eat with his fingers, he'll eat with his fingers.
If he thinks you smell great, he'll tell you you smell great.
And if he wants you, he'll just jump on you.
There's no pretense.
He's not tipping his cards ever.
I mean, it's just out--
oh, I...
it's the most fun you can have with your pants on,
to be in this ensemble.
It just really is.
It's a lot of people who have come from the theater.
Everybody sort of knows each other's moves now.
Once we all figured out what we were and how we work together,
it just sort of took off from there.
It's great fun.
It's like a great big playground,
and we all just sort of goof off.
And you can try anything.
If you're brave enough to try it, then...
if it works, people will just-- yeah, it's in.
Well, there's a substantial amount that gets improved in
during the course of the week.
Fortunately, we start with a really strong script, to begin with.
So, you know-- and our writers are very open to us
being able to tweak and do something,
depending on what the blocking is like,
'cause the script can read great , but once you get on your feet,
sometimes you run into little problems and you have to tweak and adjust.
It's great because nobody goes on an ego trip saying,
"no! Please use my words exactly."
The rule is: if it's funny, it's in. If it's not, it's out.
And so,
everybody just sort of tries to figure out
what the best way to convey the story is
and go with that.
Oh, wow. You know, I love show night.
I just, you know-- the table reads are fun
because everybody sort of goes full throttle,
but during the middle
to later part of the week,
sometimes you've done it so much
that you start forgetting what the jokes are about,
or you lose track of what it is.
And the minute you get an audience back in front of you,
you just know what to do again, you remember,
"this is fresh. They've never seen it before."
It all pays off in the most wonderful way,
and there's this energy we get from our audience
that is-- I've never felt anything like it.
They're here 'cause they really want to be here.
It's like a big circus.
I've got a few of 'em.
I love the 3-d episode just because
the scope of it was electrifying
and we had a lot of fun making it.
There were like this great episode
with these tiny little movies encased in it.
I thought that that one was stellar.
Me personally, I enjoy it when Jan hooks comes on the show.
One of my favorite scenes was
the thanksgiving show where I end up having sex with Jan hooks
on her mother's coffee table
with a turkey carcass on my head, you know,
which, I think, really shows--
that's kind of our show at its best as far as I'm concerned.
That's when it's-- you know, when it's utterly shocking.
We had this scene where we're feeding a baby,
and the baby keeps spitting back at us.
So finally the payoff is that I take this big mouthful of food
and blow it back at the baby.
There's something really shocking about it to an audience.
You think about it, and, you know, it's funny,
but it's like, "he just spit in a baby's face."
That's like, you know-- that's shocking.
And joey couldn't keep it together,
and it ended up in the show. That's one of my favorites.
- Hey! He likes it. - Oh!
Maybe not.
- Huh?
Suddenly it's not quite so funny when I do it,
now, is it?
- What? - It's a baby.
Yeah, you know, I think a lot of times they come up,
and I get hugged a lot by strangers now,
you know, just because it's a goofball in a furry coat.
He's not hurting anybody.
It's sort of their first instinct.
So now I've taken to embracing strangers on the street.
But I think sometimes my actual voice comes out,
and it seems sort of disembodied, especially to children.
I don't think they ever know what to think about it.
It's-- it can be a little bit jarring.
And as a result of doing it,
now all the movie offers I get are like, you know,
"Mr. Idiot."
You know, "the Mr. Idiot show."
So, you know-- which is fine.
I'm perfectly content, you know,
to take a ride on the idiot train.
But... but, uh...
I think that's probably the main thing.