Saturday Night Live

Saturday Night Live , or SNL for short, has parodied Star Trek many times over the years in addition to appearances by many Trek actors (Joe Piscopo, Charles Rocket and Sarah Silverman have been part of the cast, William Shatner, Patrick Stewart - whose opening monologue was a laughably inaccurate "tribute" to TOS - Teri Garr, Malcolm McDowell, Sally Kellerman, Brandon Tartikoff, Ed Begley, Jr., John Larroquette, Corbin Bernsen, Kirstie Alley, Christian Slater, Jason Alexander, Kelsey Grammer, Teri Hatcher, Dwayne Johnson, Kirsten Dunst, and Winona Ryder have hosted - Michael McKean was both - and Jane Wiedlin's band The Go-Gos, Tom Morello's band Rage Against The Machine, McKean's movie band Spinal Tap and Vanessa Williams have appeared as musical guests, as have Roy Orbison and The Beastie Boys, whose music has been played by Trek characters).

Sketches

"The Last Voyage of the Enterprise"

John Belushi gives the Vulcan salute

SNL first featured a Star Trek parody in 1976 entitled "The Last Voyage of the Enterprise". It starred John Belushi as Captain Kirk, Chevy Chase as Spock, and Dan Aykroyd as Dr. McCoy. The Enterprise is pursued through space by a 20th century automobile, "owned by a company that manufactured cookies" (NBC). A passenger from the vehicle (played by host Elliott Gould) boards the Enterprise and informs the actors that Star Trek has been canceled.

• "Most peculiar, captain. I can only assume that they possess some sort of weapon's deactivator, in which case I shall merely render him unconscious with my famous Vulcan nerve pinch." - Chevy Chase as Spock.
• "I don't believe it! God!!! Everybody I know loves the show when I see the show, huh? I have a contract! I have a contract! I want my... Where's my ears? I want my ears back! I want my ears back!" - Chevy Chase (as Spock)
• "I'm a doctor, not a tailor, dammit." - Dan Aykroyd (as Dr. McCoy) [a parody of McCoy's famous phase "I'm a doctor, not a..."]
• "Live long and prosper... Promise!" - John Belushi (as James T. Kirk) [NOTE: This is the quote depicted in the photo at right; it references Shatner's Promise margarine ads, which aired around the time the sketch was made.]

"Star Trek V: The Restaurant Enterprise"

Another parody was done in 1986 when William Shatner hosted. The Enterprise is bought by the Marriott corporation and turned into a seafood restaurant. The crew is threatened when Khan brings a health inspector to the restaurant, though Kirk resolves the situation by slipping the inspector a bribe. Shatner, of course, played Kirk, Kevin Nealon played Spock, Phil Hartman played McCoy, Victoria Jackson played Janice Rand (now a waitress instead of a yeoman) and Dana Carvey played Khan and voiced Scotty.

Perhaps the most memorable exchange is this one:

Kirk: "Dr. McCoy, this man needs medical attention."

McCoy: "Damnit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a— oh, sure."

Another memorable quote is as follows:

Spock: "I find it curious Captain, that Khan was betrayed by the very health inspector he employed."

Kirk: "Never underestimate the power of Human greed, Mr. Spock."

McCoy: "What he's saying is that perhaps there are limitations to your vaunted Vulcan logic."

Spock: "Dr. McCoy, would you do me the very great honor of eating my shorts?"

McCoy: "What?!"

Kirk: "Why Spock, I believe you're becoming more human every time! Mr. Chekov, full revolve!"

"Get a Life!" sketch

William Shatner on SNL

William Shatner on SNL

The most infamous Star Trek sketch was also featured during Shatner's appearance on the show. Not so much a parody, it featured Shatner as the guest of honor at a Star Trek convention. After being asked a barrage of trivial questions by the audience, Shatner finally berates them to "get a life!", telling them it was only a TV show. After finishing his rant (and being reminded of his contractual obligations by the convention manager) Shatner quickly explains the rant was a reenactment of the "evil" Captain Kirk from "The Enemy Within".

The scene apparently caused some fans to believe these were his true feeling for Star Trek fans, though he has assured them it was only a sketch. The sketch did, however, inspire the title for his book Get a Life!

In the intro to this edition of SNL, Shatner quipped that he hopes the Trekkies out there have a sense of humor or "I'm in deep trouble!"

• See: Get A Life!

Star Trek Democrats

The cold open of the March 14, 1992 episode did a combined parody of Trekkies and American Presidential campaigns, as the remaining Democratic candidates, former California governor Jerry Brown (Dana Carvey), former Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas (Al Franken), and Bill Clinton (Phil Hartman), visit a Star Trek convention, hoping to sway the audience (led by Chris Farley and Mike Myers) to support them by telling them what great fans they are - but when told that Leonard Nimoy has endorsed Tsongas, Clinton breaks into a rage, screaming "He no better than Shatner!!!" and breaking the podium.

"Love Boat: The Next Generation"

File:LBTNGPicard&Data.jpg

Patrick Stewart and Rob Schneider

Yet another was done in 1994, when Patrick Stewart hosted, in a skit called "Love Boat: The Next Generation" (parodying both TNG and The Love Boat). Essentially, it involved the USS Enterprise-D crew running the "Galaxy-class Cruiseship Pacific Princess". (The sketch involved a model of the Enterprise-D with a model cruise ship as part of the saucer section.) Stewart, of course, played Captain Picard, Chris Farley played Riker, Rob Schneider played Data, Phil Hartman played Worf, Tim Meadows played La Forge (although he acts more like the character of Isaac from The Love Boat, with his catchphrase, "outta sight!" a double entendre towards La Forge's blindness), Julia Sweeney as Deanna Troi, Ellen Cleghorne as Guinan (acting more like Whoopi Goldberg than the character), Melanie Hutsell as regular "Love Boat" guest star Charo, Al Franken as Tog the Ferengi (Charo's estranged boyfriend), Adam Sandler as David Brenner and David Spade as Joan Rivers. Instead of Dr. Crusher, however, the sketch featured a cameo by actor Bernie Kopell, reprising his role as Dr. Adam Bricker from The Love Boat.

Rescue 911 spoof

Another semi-parody, also aired in 1994 involved a spoof of Rescue 911 which was hosted by William Shatner at the time. Michael McKean played Patrick Stewart, filling in for Shatner. Host Roseanne plays a 911 operator who keeps blowing off callers. The sketch also features a brief appearance and the end of the sketch by Tim Meadows as Geordi.

As sort of a running gag, SNL production designer Akira Yoshimura played Sulu in all the above Trek parodies.

Weekend Update appearance

On the May 9, 2009 episode, Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto appeared on the Weekend Update segment of SNL. They tried to explain that the new film fit flawlessly into Star Trek canon, though two Trekkies in the audience (one wearing a red TOS-uniform shirt with commander's stripes, the other a t-shirt with McCoy and Uhura and fake Vulcan ears) are clearly skeptical. Quinto, for instance, mentioned that the movie took the time to explain the origins of the Kolinahr ceremony as it is connected to the fascinating pon farr marriage ritual. Finally, however, after Pine attempts to explain how the transporter uses the Heisenberg compensator, just as previous Trek transporters did, but is unable to pronounce "Heisenberg", they admitted they actually had no idea what they were talking about. They also mentioned having been harassed by angry fans and having received threats in a language they could not decipher - either Vulcan or Hebrew. Quinto mentioned having found decapitated action figures in his mailbox every morning, and Chris Pine complained about having received notes tied to rocks that were thrown at his windows, but only scratching them, not breaking them, since they didn't throw hard enough - all of which has resulted in death stares from the insulted Trekkies. Finally, they simply express hope that these fans will still come to see the movie.

In the background, a rather familiar voice assures the two that "they will come", and Leonard Nimoy appears - at which point the two previously angered Trekkies are visibly overcome with joy (combining Vulcan salutes with a rather un-Vulcanlike display of emotion) - and states that in time Chris Pine will be accepted as equal to the original Kirk, while Zachary Quinto will be viewed as "slightly less" than equal to the original Spock, but "ultimately OK". Nimoy attempts to assure Quinto that fans will like the movie because to not like it would not be "illogical" as host Seth Meyers suggests (having interrupted Nimoy, beaming at the idea of beating Spock himself to the logic-based punchline), but rather "would make them dickheads" - a sentiment that, coming from their hero, the Trekkies in the audience heartily accept. The appearance ends with Nimoy, Pine, and Meyers doing the Vulcan salute.

External link

• Saturday Night Live at Wikipedia