at age six, he starred in several made-for-television films. in 1991, he played both david collins and daniel collins in the "dark shadows" 1991 television series, and appeared in the movie "a river runs through it" . during 1992–93, he played in "the powers that be", a sitcom starring john forsythe, as a clever young boy named pierce van horne. also in 1992, he portrayed gregory kingsley in the made-for-tv film "switching parents", based on kingsley's real life case of "divorcing" his parents. in 1994, he starred in the disney film "angels in the outfield" as an orphan who sees angels. in 1996, he began playing tommy solomon on the sitcom "3rd rock from the sun". the series ran for six seasons. the "san francisco chronicle" noted that gordon-levitt was a "jewish kid playing an extraterrestrial pretending to be a jewish kid". during the 1990s, he was frequently featured in teenage magazines. he also made an appearance on "that '70s show" in 1998 as buddy, a gay teenager who assumes his friend (main character eric forman) is gay as well, in the episode "eric's buddy".