NBC's aliens go quietly into that good space

After five years and 139 episodes, "3rd Rock From the Sun" will depart the NBC galaxy with a one-hour special at 7 p.m. Tuesday (Channel 41). It will go quietly. In recent years "3rd Rock" hasn't been blessed with the best ratings or time slots. Critics have all but forgotten it. But I haven't. I always liked "3rd Rock," every last predictable madcap moment of it. Every week the Solomons of outer space would try to mimic the ways of earthlings (collecting Beanie Babies, making whoopee). Every week, like sociologists on speed, they'd get hopelessly addicted to their newfound custom. In the finale, earthling Mary (Jane Curtin) finally suspects that Dick (John Lithgow) isn't who he's claimed to be all these years. For no good reason at all, other than the song is apt, Elvis Costello shows up to sing "Fly Me to the Moon." If the story lines were rote, the performances were never mailed in. Lithgow and Kristen Johnson won five Emmys between them. The Smithsonian ought to ask for that Roaring '20s fur coat that French Stewart wore, rain or shine, on the show. Unlike a lot of sitcoms whose punchlines you can see coming down the street, the jokes on "3rd Rock" hit your blind side, or came at you rapid-fire. As someone once said of New Yorker cartoons, they were always the same, always hilarious. Like a metaphor for the aliens' own rootlessness, "3rd Rock" never found a home. NBC changed its place on the schedule 17 times, a record. That it lasted this long is a testimony to the quality of the cast - which also included Joseph Gordon-Levitt and "Seinfeld" foil Wayne Knight - and the brilliant simplicity of the show's concept. A comedy that fared much better over time, "The Drew Carey Show," wraps up its sixth season with a one-hour episode at 8 p.m. Wednesday on ABC. As with most "Drew Carey" shows this season, the story line is too half-baked and convoluted to recap. Let's just say the mental-health system is involved, and not all who work in that profession will be amused at the depiction. But that's the breaks with "Drew Carey," which over the years has specialized in caricature and over-the-top story lines. A reality show it isn't. What it continues to be is one of TV's top comedies with a wonderfully weird cast and a skewed sensibility unlike any other sitcom on the air. "Spin City," the now-unfunny urban sitcom, airs its hourlong season finale at 7 p.m. Wednesday on ABC (Channel 9). However, in a cruel miscarriage of justice, this show is coming back next season. That ABC was forced to renew an out-of-gas wheezer like "Spin City" says a lot about the network's bench strength. What was once a snappy, fast-paced comedy is running knee-deep in oatmeal. In the finale, rubbery-faced Richard Kind gets to shout out the same punch line six times; it's funny the first three times. What's really killing "Spin City" are the two stars, Charlie Sheen and Heather Locklips, I mean Locklear. Locklear wasn't so bad during her first season on "Spin City," but that's because she got to play opposite Michael J. Fox, who could tease bubbles out of tap water. When Fox departed, and his place was taken by Sheen, who has no comedic timing at all, the resulting vacuum sucked all life out of the show. This week the mayor (Barry Bostwick) is recognized by a homeless man who was his archrival at prep school. And golly, there may be some shenanigans going on between Heather and Charlie. They're going to have to try harder than that to keep this thing from becoming the next "Mad About You" (poster child for good shows gone bad). You can reach Aaron Barnhart through the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com. @ART CAPTION:Elvis Costello (left) interacts with French Stewart in the last "3rd Rock From the Sun." NBC sends the show off for good Tuesday night. @ART:Photo (color) @ART CREDIT:NBC >>>