THE HYPE FROM MILKY WAY TO GREAT WHITE WAY FOR JOHN LITHGOW, END OF ``3RD ROCK'' MEANS START OF NEW PROJECTS, INCLUDING A MUSICAL.

Tonight, those wacky aliens finally say goodbye to ``3rd Rock From the Sun'' for good - or, at least, until a future generation does a movie remake of the popular NBC sitcom.

John Lithgow, who's won three Emmy awards for playing the slapstick spacefolk's volatile leader over the past six seasons, has mixed emotions about the end of a series even he sometimes seemed embarrassed to be part of.

``We end it in a blaze of glory,'' Lithgow says in that mellifluous voice that may just as easily contain sarcasm as not. ``It was 138 episodes, laughing all the way. I must say the feeling is melancholy; we really did love it all the way up to the end. But I am on to the next, and quite excited about my next big project.''

And he's not even talking about last weekend's No. 1 box-office draw ``Shrek,'' the computer-animated fairy tale feature in which the self-described ``tall and ungainly'' Lithgow provides the voice for the piece's undersize villain, the overcompensating Lord Farquaad.

That one required three years, off and on, in an isolated sound booth, recording disembodied snatches of Farquaad's dialogue.

``I must tell you, it never made any sense to me while I was recording it,'' Lithgow admits. ``It's all so fragmentary . . . They would explain things to me, but I never really understood. It is a strange and isolating experience; you're on a big soundstage, but you're inside this tiny, soundproof booth and all the creative personnel is behind a big glass. They're watching and responding to you, but you can't hear them. So you'll see them laugh at your lines, but they laugh in silence. It's very peculiar.''

The project Lithgow is looking forward to casts him as a different kind of venal tyrant: JJ Hunsecker, the vicious New York gossip columnist immortalized by Burt Lancaster in the corrosive 1950s cult film ``Sweet Smell of Success.'' Lithgow begins rehearsals in the fall for a Broadway musical based on the film, with book by John Guare (``Six Degrees of Separation''), music by Marvin Hamlisch and direction by Nicholas Hytner (``Miss Saigon'').

``Isn't that cool?'' Lithgow enthuses. ``It's so exciting, I did it in workshop last summer. As a matter of fact, it would have happened much earlier if it wasn't for my commitment to '3rd Rock'; they have been waiting for me to come free.''

We should all be so happy about losing our day job.

- Bob Strauss

Have a groovy summer ... see you in the fall

Another day, another season finale: And tonight, it's ``That '70s Show,'' which hinges on the fate of the relationship between Everyteen Eric (Topher Grace) and no-nonsense Donna (Laura Prepon). Eric, smitten through and through, bestows upon Donna a ``promise ring,'' a pre-engagement engagement ring (sentimental softie that he is, he buys it cheap, with some pot). Donna, a sensible modern sort of gal, has aspirations beyond being a housewife, so where does that leave Eric?

The show has gotten to the point where much of the humor is character-based - we know the tics and quirks and anxieties of the group so well that a mere suggestion of a provocation is enough to induce laughs from the studio audience. On the other hand, that can come at the expense of actual humor-based humor - Hyde (Danny Materson) is always going to have a snide comment for Jackie (Mila Kunis) and Kelso's (Ashton Kutcher) relationship woes, and that can sometimes result in lazy writing.

Still, ``That '70s Show'' is a fairly affectionate evocation of its era, which saves its real nostalgia for its honest portrayal of teen life. But is there anyone besides me who's had it with those stupid interstitial shots of the gang bouncing up and down and squinching up their faces all goofylike? How drunk do they have to get the actors to do that stuff? ``That '70s Show'' calls it quits - for this season, that is - tonight at 8 on Fox (Channel 11).

- David Kronke

FAMILY BUSINESS: There's a buzz about Nikka Costa.

A platinum seller in Europe and South America, the Tokyo-born, Los Angeles-raised singer's album, ``Everybody Got Their Something'' (Cheeba/Virgin), is frequently heard on KCRW-FM's (89.9) influential ``Morning Becomes Eclectic.''

The record, in stores today, is a mixed bag of '70s funk, rock-era psychedelia and alterna-chick soul. The 28-year-old Costa has been around the biz her whole life; her dad, Don Costa, was one of Frank Sinatra's arrangers during the Reprise years in the '60s and '70s.

Costa's gutsy wail was a surprise hit at the recent Coachella festival.

Also in stores today are albums from Whiskeytown, Staind, Jane Monheit and Mark Eitzel.

- Fred Shuster

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) John Lithgow, right, and the rest of the cast of ``3rd Rock From the Sun'' - clockwise from bottom left, Jane Curtin, French Stewart, Kristin Johnston and Joseph Gordon-Levitt - drive into the sitcom sunset tonight.

(2) The cast of ``That '70s Show'' - clockwise from left, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Mila Kunis, Wilmer Valderrama, Laura Prepon and Topher Grace- boogies on in tonight's season finale.

(3) no caption (Nikka Costa cd cover)