3rd Rock from the Sun

Dick's Big Giant Headache (1) - S4-E23

Trivia: When the Solomons meet the Big Giant Head at the airport and ask how his flight was, he says that it was horrible because when he looked out the airplane window, he saw something on the wing of the plane. Dick responds that the same thing happened to him. William Shatner appeared in the 1960's Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" in which a gremlin tried to destroy the wing of a plane. John Lithgow appeared in "Twilight Zone: The Movie" playing the same character in the same situation.

Dick on a Roll - S3-E12

Trivia: Dick is never seen walking in this episode and is only in an upright position when he moves from the chair in the lounge room to the wheelchair in the opening scene. This is because John Lithgow hurt his ankle playing tennis, and the episode was written to allow him to be in a wheelchair for the entire episode.

Douglasac

Trivia: Leon is played by John Lithgow's real life son, Ian Lithgow. Although he is often portrayed as a somewhat dim-witted college student, Ian had already graduated from Harvard (like his father) prior to the series starting.

Bishop73

B.D.O.C. - S6-E7

Trivia: The title of this episode is an initialism for "Big Dick on Campus." Although numerous episodes of this series had titles that were double entendres, the network censors apparently felt this one was a little too risqué.

Phaneron

Indecent Dick - S4-E8

Trivia: When Don and Dick are lamenting about their respective girlfriends posing nude for photos, they unwittingly recite some of the chorus lyrics to the song "Centerfold" by the J. Geils Band. A portion of the song can also be heard during one of the episode's transitional animatics.

Phaneron

Dick the Vote - S2-E6

Trivia: Al Franken appears in this episode as a slimy politician. Franken would become a politician later in life, serving as a United States Senator for Minnesota. He ended up resigning in 2018 after photos surfaced of him on a USO tour pretending to grope the breasts of radio host Leeann Tweeden while she was asleep.

Phaneron

Trivia: One of the reasons John Lithgow agreed to star in this show was because he wanted to have something to do other than playing "cornball villains."

Phaneron

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Dick, Who's Coming to Dinner - S5-E6

Dick: Does anyone remember why we all decided to be white?
Harry: Oh, um, I went with white ‘cause I thought it'd be a little cooler in the summer.
Tommy: Well don't you remember, Dick? All the television signals that we picked up in outer space were filled with white people.
Sally: Oh, except for that, uh, that black nerd with the hiked-up pants and the oversized glasses. What was his name?
Tommy: Bryant Gumbel.
Sally: Right.

Phaneron

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Dick and Taxes - S4-E12

Question: When Mary asks Dick what he expected for not paying his taxes when he learns he owes thousands to the IRS, he responds with, "I certainly didn't expect my girlfriend to wear my ass as a snowshoe!" I'm not sure I have ever understood this joke. What is the meaning behind it?

Phaneron

Answer: The writers often have Dick respond to Mary with a retort that he thinks is in the common vernacular but makes a mistake in wording that is often funny. Dick seems to be imputing a criticism from Mary and responds with a corruption of the more common "I'm going to wear your ass like a hat!" I doubt it has anything to do with owing taxes. Probably just one of the writers assuming a common regional phrase would be universally recognized.

That makes total sense. I always interpreted it as perhaps snowshoes are an expensive item, and given that he was blaming Mary for his newfound financial woes, he was equating her living off his generosity and used snowshoeing as a metaphor.

Phaneron

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