Dr. Richard Solomon, usually known as Dick Solomon, is a character played by John Lithgow in the late 90's NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. Solomon is the High Commander of a highly trained alien unit, sent to Earth by their leader, The Big Giant Head. His crew is made up of Sally Solomon (played by Kristen Johnston), Harry Solomon (played by French Stewart), and Tommy Solomon (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt). In the first episode, "Brains and Eggs", Dick states that he has made a home of a "third rate planet, has a job at a third rate university, and now we are looking at a third floor apartment."
| Dick Solomon | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Brains and Eggs" |
| Last appearance | "The Thing That Wouldn't Die: Part 2" |
| Created by | Bonnie and Terry Turner |
| Portrayed by | John Lithgow (Kristen Johnston in "Two-Faced Dick") |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Extraterrestrial |
| Gender | Male (in human form) |
| Title | "The High Commander" |
| Occupation | High Commander/physics professor |
| Family | Big Giant Head (father) Vicki Dubcek (stepmother) Eric Travis Dubcek (stepbrother) |
Work
Dick works at Pendelton State University as a professor of physics, and shares an office with Dr. Mary Albright (played by Jane Curtin) of the Anthropology Department. In the first episode the office is green with various pictures and certificates adorning the wall; after this, however, the office is antique white with tribal masks featured, presumably from Albright's anthropological digs (later it is found that she simply "bought them at airports"). Dick often uses his class, oddly enough the same throughout all six seasons, to gain a better understanding of humanity by assigning arbitrary essays on which their grade depends.
Love life
Throughout the course of the series, Dick maintains a tense love-hate relationship with Mary Albright. At times they are together, whilst at others Mary quite clearly disfavors Dick. At one point, at the end of the second season, Dick and Mary are to be married as the other Solomons (Sally, Harry, and Tommy) return to the home planet.
At one point, Dick discovers what he calls the "freedom" of casual sex. He has sex with the recently divorced mother of a student (Bug) when she is in on holiday, not knowing who she is. Dick realizes the identity of his partner when, as he frequently does, he relates his sexual experience to his class. At the end of the episode, Bug's father walks into Dick's office in a fedora flanked by two brutes who seem to have a connection to the mob.
In season four's episode five, "What's Love Got to Do, Got to Do with Dick," Dick is forced to share his office with Dr. Jennifer Ravelli (played by Laurie Metcalf, best known as Jackie Harris on Roseanne), a professor of Comparative Literature from Harvard for whom Dick coins the caustic appellation "Professor McBitch." Dick enjoys the free-hearted literary genius of his new office partner and develops a crush; however, due to his lack of familiarity with relationships, he assumes he is in love and seeks permission from Mary Albright to "see other people" and it is granted. The quirks that attracted Dick soon become a nuisance, bringing a quick end to their relationship, but not before Dick attempts to use Mary's new jealousy to gain "quantity time as well as quality time."