Officer Don Orville

Officer Donald 'Don' Leslie Orville is a fictional character in the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. He is portrayed by Wayne Knight and works as a Police Sergeant in the fictional town of Rutherford, Ohio, though he is consistently referred to as "Officer" throughout the series, much like real-world Police Sergeants and others are referred to as Officer by lay-persons, despite their actual rank. The character is first introduced to the series l... more

Officer Donald 'Don' Leslie Orville is a fictional character in the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun. He is portrayed by Wayne Knight and works as a Police Sergeant in the fictional town of Rutherford, Ohio, though he is consistently referred to as "Officer" throughout the series, much like real-world Police Sergeants and others are referred to as Officer by lay-persons, despite their actual rank. The character is first introduced to the series late in the first season, in the episode Assault with a Deadly Dick, in which the Solomon family go to the police for help after they fall victim to crime. Knight portrayed both Don and his more-iconic Newman character from fellow NBC show Seinfeld during the first three years of 3rd Rock's run. Although Don works as a police officer and later sergeant throughout the series, he is often shown to be somewhat incompetent, for example, in The Physics of Being Dick he lets Dick interrogate a criminal with him, despite it being highly illegal. Also,... less