FRIEND's Frasier, Seinfeld, Larry Sanders, Caroline In The City, Roseanne, Ellen, Cybill... you might think there's a limit to the number of American sitcoms we're willing to take, but think again - the next wave is already arriving, and its spearhead is Third Rock From The Sun, the most successful new sitcom on US television. In fact, we should be relieved that the latest hit show from the States is not another loft-living, cappuccino-frothing Friends clone, but a genuinely funny fantasy comedy.
Third Rock From The Sun is markedly different from its competitors in that, at - least notionally, it's a sci-fi sitcom. Here's the deal: four aliens arrive on our small, insignificant planet (the third rock of the title) to do a spot of research on earthling behaviour. Assuming human form, they set up home in a small Ohio college town and settle into suburban life. The twist is that their new bodies don't completely conform with their true alien identities: the bosomy blonde Sally (Kristen Johnstun), for example, was a male military expert on her home planet.
Tommy, the oldest member of the group, finds himself trapped in the hormonal war zone that is American pubescence, forced by his uncontrollable urges into a gaping obsession with the high school girls' volleyball team. The leader of the group, Dick (John Lithgow) is innocently fascinated by the weird social rituals of the place, a fascination that regularly gets him into trouble. Finding a teaching job with the third-rate local college, he becomes obsessed with his colleague Dr Mary Albright (Jane Curtin, formerly of Kate And Allie). The weakest link in the chain is Harry (French Stewart), the kind of drooling idiot character beloved of American movies and television programmes at the moment.
It takes chutzpah to name your cast Tom, Dick, Harry and Sally, but Third Rock From The Sun develops its admirably ridiculous premise with breezy self- confidence and good humour. Most of the best gags are about gender roles and sexuality, as the oddball four explore the unexpected highways and byways of the human body, and the curious social rituals which accompany them. Sally, especially, has many of the best scenes as she explores the implications of her statuesque physique with military ruthlessness ("Why did I have to be the woman?" she demands in the first show. "Because you lost," is the matter-of-fact answer). It takes quite a while for her to get the hang (literally) of her breasts, while her confusion of orgasms and sneezes leads to some unfortunate misunderstandings.
There's nothing particularly new about alien sitcoms - Mork And Mindy immediately springs to mind. But M & M, lets face it, was cringe-makingly cheesy, with Robin Williams at his infantile worst. If anything, Third Rock's real antecedents are early 1960s shows such as The Addams Family and Bewitched, poking gentle fun at suburbia through outsiders' eyes. The difference is in the overtly sexual themes of the new corned American sitcoms have been steadily getting raunchier over the last few years (although the networks still shy away from the explicit sex and drugs of British shows such as Absolutely Fabulous). Third Rock moves that process on a few more notches, causing edginess among the notoriously nervous prime-time advertisers in the States ("Goodbye Mr Hymen!" bellows Sally when she reckons she's finally going to dispense with her despised virginity). If Seinfeld, currently the most popular comedy in America, can devote most of an episode to a stringalong gag about masturbation (an appropriate subject for such a self-obsessed, self referential show), then everyone else is allowed to follow suit.
At its best, though, Third Rock approaches the brilliant absurdity of the best sitcom of them all - The Simpsons. The alien theme allows the scriptwriters to push the envelope of reality in a way denied to the otherwise excellent Frasier.
The really inspired decision, however, is the cashing of Lithgow in the anchor role. A criminally under-used movie actor whose main forte in recent years has been playing creepy bad guys in unimpressive thrillers, he has a wide-eyed, guileless charm that provides a perfect central focus for the more extreme gags and flights of fantasy.
AS IS the way with these things, you can catch Third Rock either the BBC or on Network 2, with the Irish channel several weeks ahead. But many viewers may only have noticed the show since it started 10 days ago on BBC 2. The BBC is more enthusiastic about its sitcoms than RTE, and Third Rock has been flagged heavily as part of its comedy wars with Channel 4.
Meanwhile, Network 2 has the show tucked away late on Saturday night, at a time when most folks are either doing other things or watching late-night movies. Tonight, Third Rock clashes with Fatal attraction on ITV, but don't let Glenn Close and a dead rabbit keep you away from what promises to be the cult show of this winter's schedules.
