Hollywood Sitcoms and Their Depiction of UFOs and Aliens

As superstar actor Keanu Reeves stars in the remake of 1951's The Day The Earth Stood Still, America is once again preoccupied with space aliens visiting our humble little backwater planet. It's not just the movies which have tackled UFOs or flying saucers from outer space. Many of America's most beloved Hollywood classic sitcoms have also dealt with the subject quite humorously.

Here are just a few hit sitcoms which have featured flying saucers and aliens prominently in the plot of an episode.

I Love Lucy - "Lucy Is Envious"

Lucy and Ethel's latest zany scheme involves dressing up as space aliens.

The girls engage in a paid publicity stunt for a sci-fi movie - 'Women From Mars.' They must "abduct" an Earthman from atop the Empire State Building. The costumes, complete with floppy alien antennae, are outlandishly funny, as is their wild laughter and Martian "gibberish" the two wacky pals spout as they put on the show. Perhaps the funniest spacey line is when Lucy says to Ethel "It's a moo moo!"

The Honeymooners - "The Man From Space"

To win a Raccoon Lodge costume party, Ralph dresses up as "The Man From Space!"

After both pal o mine Ed Norton (Art Carney) and wife Alice turn down Ralph's request to borrow money for a costume, he makes do by slapping together a monstrosity with things around the house. Complete with aluminum pot for a spacey helmet, his crazy costume looks like a kitchen exploded. When Norton sees super sized Ralph dressed in his costume he states, "I thought we were being invaded by Sherman Tanks!" Interestingly, it's said that in real life Jackie Gleason was fascinated by UFOs - was this his way of expressing that love in his comedy?

The Brady Bunch - "Out Of This World"

Greg punks Peter and Bobby into believing they're backyard is being visited by UFOs. When the two younger Brady brothers snap photos causing their father to call in a military adviser, Greg admits to the practical joke.

Real life astronaut James McDevitt guests on the show. He's one of a select few NASA astronauts to have reported seeing a UFO while on a mission - Gemini 4 which launched in 1965.

Happy Days - "My Favorite Orkan"

The great and cool Fonz (Henry Winkler) meets his match in Mork - an alien visitor from deep space.

Robin Williams portrayed the wacky alien Mork with the energized finger and his greeting Nanu Nanu - which leaked into pop culture usage albeit briefly. The character proved so popular, he was spun-off into his own show Mork & Mindy, starring co-star Pam Dawber as earthling Mindy.

Mork & Mindy

Stand-up comic and actor Robin Williams earned his alien antennae from playing Mork on Happy Days, and then moved into his own hit sitcom.

The producers updated the show chronologically and set the location as Boulder, Colorado. Mork would get into all sorts of weird and wild situations, while Mindy did her best to look after him and eventually the two fell in love and had a baby in comedian, played by Jonathan Winters - who being "older" than his parents was just passed off as the weirdness of Orkan biology.

Honorable Mentions

My Favorite Martian

Bill Bixby and Ray Walston starred in this 1963 CBS sitcom. Bixby's character helps a stranded Martian (Walston) get along by passing him off as Uncle Martin.

The Greatest American Hero

Technically this wasn't a sitcom - however the actors played it for laughs.

William Katt starred as zany high school teacher Ralph opposite serious federal agent Robert Culp as they tried to use a "gift" from an alien race. The generous aliens give Ralph a "super suit" - which allows him to fly, have super strength, become invisible and renders him pretty much invulnerable. The big problem is Ralph loses the suit's instruction manual.

3rd Rock From The Sun

This Emmy award winning sitcom saw John Lithgow and Jane Curtain star as alien and Earth woman respectively. Lithgow played a space being masquerading as a college professor. William "Captain Kirk" Shatner himself played The Big Giant Head - the head alien.