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== Core Regulars ==
 
===Dr. Dick Solomon===
[[File:Dick_6397.png|frame]]
'''Dr. Dick Solomon''' ([[John Lithgow]]) - High Commander of the aliens. Played by Lithgow as a [[Large Ham]], Dick is an [[Insufferable Genius]] when it comes to science and a [[Ted Baxter]] when it comes to everything else. He is in love with and married Mary Albright [[Single-Target Sexuality|and Mary Albright alone]] whether [[Dogged Nice Guy|she likes it or not]]. [[Bunny Ears Lawyer|His Earth job is as a physics professor.]]
* [[Comically Missing the Point]]: Doesn't understand sarcasm or lying very well.
** An example would be when Mary compared his family to [[The Addams Family]]. Dick assumed she meant second president John Adams. When she states that wasn't what she meant, Dick thinks she meant John Quincy Adams and becomes enraged that she would compare his family to "that freakshow".
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* [[What Does She See in Him?|What Does He See In Her?]]: The other aliens hate Mary and don't understand what Dick's obsession with her is. As the series progressed their opinion of her as a person softened, but they still hated the idea of the two of them together.
 
===Sally Solomon===
[[File:Sally3_8132.png|frame]]
'''Sally Solomon''' (Kristen Johnston) - Security Officer and Dick's "sister". A [[Hot Amazon]] who didn't like being "[[The Chick|The Woman]]" at first, but eventually discovered that being a [[Hello, Nurse!|six-foot-tall blonde bombshell]] has [[Femme Fatale|its advantages]]. Works as the Solomons' homemaker despite being a [[Lethal Chef]].
* [[Action Girl]]
* [[Ax Crazy]]: Borders on this at times, such as when her role as the security officer would require having to kill someone deemed a threat to the mission. Her solution to stop an auditor from discovering they're aliens was to snap his neck, and then the necks of everyone they encounter on the way home.
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* [[Their First Time]]: People are shocked to learn that someone of Sally's looks only recently lost her virginity to someone like Don.
 
===Tommy Solomon===
[[File:Tommy4_9549.png|frame]]
'''Tommy Solomon''' ([[Joseph Gordon-Levitt]]) - Information Officer and Dick's "son", who is [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]], but got stuck at [[Compulsory School Age]]. He was in [[High School]] for most of the series, but he eventually graduated and went to college, at which point he was more-or-less demoted to [[Recurring Character]].
* [[Did Not Get the Girl]]: Actually, he ''did'' get the girl. But Sally misconstrued Alissa's thoughts on graduation to her wanting to break up with Tommy, so she told her that ''he'' was breaking up with ''her''. He had two chances to get back with Alissa afterwards, and blew both of them. The first, Tommy wound up telling everyone at graduation in his valedictorian speech about how they made out on her parents bed. The second, he tried to sacrifice Alissa to save himself when it appeared that there was some maniac brandishing a power tool in Alissa's backyard. It was Sally and Harry pulling some hair-brained scheme to push the two back together again.
* [[Grumpy Old Man]]: Tommy's actually the oldest of the aliens, and quite pissed that he's in a young body subjected to raging hormones.
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* [[Only Sane Man]]: Among a quartet made up of a [[Ted Baxter]], a [[Hot Amazon]], and a [[Too Dumb to Live]] [[Kavorka Man]].
 
===Harry Solomon===
[[File:Harry2_5760.png|frame]]
'''Harry Solomon''' (French Stewart) - Dick's "brother", Harry is the "transmitter" with which they contact the Home Planet. A [[The Ditz|ditzy]], [[Chick Magnet]] and all-round [[Wacky Guy]] who [[Eyes Always Shut|never seems to open his eyes all the way]].
* [[The Casanova]]: He's easily the oddest of the aliens, yet he has had the most relationships with gorgeous women who could easily do better than him.
** His romantic interests have included Vicki Dubcek, Nina, an alien played by Cindy Crawford, a body builder policewoman named Janice, and in the last episode we find out that for the entire show he'd secretly been with {{spoiler|Mrs. Dubcek}}.
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* [[Too Dumb to Live]]
 
===Dr. Mary Albright-Solomon===
[[File:Mary6_2542.png|frame]]
'''Dr. Mary Albright-Solomon''' ([[Jane Curtin]]) - Dick's (initially reluctant) Earthling love interest and sometimes later wife and an anthropology professor at his college. She is a neurotic [[Christmas Cake]] who was a [[Good Bad Girl]] in [[I Was Quite a Looker|her younger days]], a fact which Dick seemed to be oblivious of in earlier episodes.
* [[Bottle Fairy]]: Borders on this. She's known at the local supermarket as the "White Zinfandel Lady".
** Actually came in handy, as this rendered her immune to the drugged wine given to her by Charlotte from "Alien Hunter". Of course, it didn't help when she knocked Mary out with the gnome.
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* [[What Does She See in Him?]]: Her relationship with Dick.
 
===Kyle Albright===
[[File:Kyle4_6524.png|frame]]
'''Kyle Albright''' (Ryan Gosling) - Mary's illegitimate teenage son and Tommy's lifelong best friend and later step-brother. A [[Street Smart]] A [[Only Sane Man]] whose [[Book Dumb]] kid gots some neurotic sense of humour after he had a more reconnection with him.▼
 
▲'''Kyle Albright''' (Ryan Gosling) - Mary's illegitimate teenage son and Tommy's lifelong best friend and later step-brother. A [[Street Smart]] A [[Only Sane Man]] whose [[Book Dumb]] kid gots some neurotic sense of humour after he had a more reconnection with him.
 
* [[Control Freak]]: Became one in the later episodes.
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== [[Promotion to Opening Titles|Promoted To Opening Titles]] In Season Three ==
 
===Nina Campbell===
'''Nina Campbell''' (Simbi Khali) - A [[Sassy Black Woman]] who works as Dick and Mary's [[Sassy Secretary]] and as a student in Dick's class. Naturally spends most of any given episode being a [[Deadpan Snarker]].
* [[Only Sane Man]]: Whenever dealing with Mary and Dick.
* [[Pet the Dog]]: Nina normally seems to hold Dick in contempt (not entirely without reason, it must be said), but there are some moments when she makes it clear that she doesn't actually hate him.
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* [[Will They or Won't They?]]: Nina and Rodney, they [[Relationship Upgrade|hook-up for real]] around the show's first six seasons in the series, After five years of being together they became engaged in the two-part series finale.
 
===Rodney Carrington===
'''Rodney Carrington''' (Carl Anthony Payne II) - A more postal office worker, who is the object of Nina's affections also works as Dick and Mary's straight man. In most episodes spends most of the time having a [[Badbutt]].
* [[Breaking the Fourth Wall]]: Rodney has one of those in several episodes.
* [[Catch Phrase]]: "You Lookin' good",
* [[Relationship Upgrade]]: Nina and Rodney once towards the show's first six seasons, and in the final episode, they became engaged.
 
===Officer Don Orville===
'''Officer Don Orville''' (Wayne Knight) - A portly, dim-witted cop with an overblown image of himself as an enforcer of justice. Sally is likeminded in her desire for harsh discipline and finds him incredibly attractive. Don is clueless as to [[I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me|why such a gorgeous woman is interested in him]], but is more than happy to go along with it.
* [[Bad Cop, Incompetent Cop]]
* [[Chivalrous Pervert]]: Told people that he and Sally had sex tons of times before they actually did. Don took offense when Sally asked if he told anyone after they did, at which he replied "of course not! What kind of heel do you think I am?"
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* [[Only Sane Man]]
 
===Mrs. Mamie Dubcek===
'''Mrs. Mamie Dubcek''' (Elmarie Wendel) - The Solomons' eccentric [[Landlord|landlady]] who [[Really Gets Around]], chain smokes and has had a number of former husbands.
* [[Catch Phrase]]: "Lovely (insert word), very ''nice''."
* [[Drop-In Character]]: Justified by her being their landlady
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== Supporting Cast ==
 
===Dr. Judith Draper===
'''Dr. Judith Draper''' (Ileen Getz) - A fellow professor known for her monotone and sarcasm.
* [[Annoying Laugh]]
* [[Conspiracy Theorist]]: One-time occurrence. Once thought the ladies room had a hidden camera and dismantled the ceiling tiles looking for it.
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* [[The Stoic]].
 
===Dr. Vincent Strudwick===
'''Dr. Vincent Strudwick''' (Ron West) - An [[Ascended Extra]] (almost literally) who became Dick's [[Sitcom Arch Nemesis]] towards the show's end.
 
===August Leffler===
'''August Leffler''' (Shay Astar) - [[The Snark Knight]] and Tommy's first girlfriend. She became increasingly elitist and hypocritical as the show went on, eventually becoming [[The Scrappy]] in some viewers' eyes.
* [[Characterization Marches On]]: As the show went on she gradually became more stuck-up and hypocritical, until she finally broke up with Tommy after she admitted that she was cheating on him.
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]
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* [[Pet the Dog]]: Wrote a rather scathing review of Alissa's performance in the high school play, but told Tommy (the editor of the school paper at the time) that she would understand if he didn't print it since Alissa was his girlfriend.<ref>Reference to Jedediah Leland's scathing review of Susan Alexander in ''[[Citizen Kane]]'', which this plotline was a [[Whole-Plot Reference]] to.</ref>
 
===Alissa Strudwick===
'''Alissa Strudwick''' (Larisa Oleynik) - Tommy's second girlfriend. Your basic [[Girl Next Door]] and the daughter of Vincent Strudwick, making her and Tommy [[Star-Crossed Lovers]]. Interestingly enough, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Larisa Oleynik also dated each other in ''[[10 Things I Hate About You]]''.
 
===Chris Johnson===
'''Chris Johnson''' (Omari Hardwick) - Nina's handsome quarterback boyfriend and the son of Tony Johnson, making him and Nina [[Star-Crossed Lovers]]. Interestingly enough, Simbi Khali and Omari Hardwick also dated each other for a short time.
* [[Love Triangle]]: Between Nina, Chris and Rodney in all episodes.
 
===Leon===
'''Leon''' (Ian Lithgow) - The [[Butt Monkey]] of Dick's class. Ian Lithgow is John Lithgow's [[Real Life Relative|Real Life Son]].
 
===Bug Pollone===
'''Bug Pollone''' (David DeLuise) - Another student and [[The Slacker]].
* [[Real Life Relative]]: His father is played by Dom DeLuise, who is David's father in real life.
 
===Aubrey Pitman===
'''Aubrey Pitman''' (Chris Hogan) - Bug's [[Heterosexual Life Partners|Heterosexual Life Partner]].
 
===Caryn===
'''Caryn''' (Danielle Nicolet) - [[The Heart]] of Dick's class and occasionally a [[Soapbox Sadie]].
* [[Phrase Catcher]]: "Oh shut up, Caryn."
 
== Recurring Characters ==
 
===Vicki Dubcek===
'''Vicki Dubcek''' (Jan Hooks) - The skanky white-trash daughter of Mrs. Dubcek and Harry's on-off girlfriend. She repeatedly fails to understand that Mary is [[Not That Kind of Doctor]] and has a Southern accent for some reason<ref>This is Jan Hooks' natural accent and she hardly ever plays a character without it.</ref>. Ultimately, she ended up being Queen of the Universe. Don't ask.
* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: Her conversations with Harry will usually begin to sound like they're in a porno. Their first sexual encounter happened on Thanksgiving, on Mrs. Dubcek's kitchen counter and involved Harry wearing a turkey carcass on his head.
* [[Large Ham]]: After she becomes the Big Giant Head's wife, but even then she had plenty of moments.
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* [[Psycho Ex-Girlfriend]]: Becomes one as a [[Compressed Vice]] in "The Big Giant Head Returns Again". She seems to [[Character Development|get over Harry at the end of the episode]], but it was her last appearance on the show anyway.
 
===Big Giant Head===
'''Big Giant Head''' ([[William Shatner]]) - The aliens' [[Evil Overlord]]. [[The Ghost]] for most of the series, but he eventually showed up as an [[Adam Westing]] Shatner. On Earth, he goes by the alias "[[Character Name Alias|Stone Phillips]]", the name of an [[NBC]] reporter at the time of the show's run.
* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]
* [[Luke, I Am Your Father]]: How ''else'' could Dick have netted this job?
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* [[Pointy-Haired Boss]]
 
===Dr. Liam Neesam===
'''Dr. Liam Neesam''' (John Cleese) - An evil alien [[Always Someone Better|way better than Dick]] who briefly worked at Dick's college as a biology professor.
* [[Everything's Better with Monkeys]]: In his second appearance, he came back to Earth with plans to turn everyone into monkeys in order to turn it into an amusement park, "Planet Monkey World". Dick winds up turning Liam into a chimpanzee in order to stop him. Unfortunately, Mary saw the whole thing, and this leads to Dick admitted he's an alien.
* [[Evil Is Petty]]: Was originally sent to blow up Earth. Why? We're blocking his home planet's view.
 
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