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Star Trek and pop culture

Over the years, Star Trek's position as a cultural icon has resulted in many parodies and pop culture references of it on other television shows and movies. While some have been subtle tip-of-the-hat references, others have been complete copies, with the intention to reference Star Trek. Additionally, many small acknowledgments may not warrant inclusion, such as the use of the TOS transporter sound for various shrink rays, teleporters, etc. on SpongeBob SquarePants.

Advertising[]

Animal Friends Pet Insurance[]

SS Enterpaws in UK Animal Friends ad

The S.S. Enterpaws

In 2018, UK pet insurer Animal Friends released a thirty-second animated television advertisement promoting their insurance policies, during which a number of talking cats and dogs are floating in space dressed in spacesuits while tethered to a dog bone-shaped spaceship named "S.S. Enterpaws". [1] [2]

Bell Canada[]

A 2024 ad featured Bell's TV service as travelling at the speed of light in a ship resembling a Starfleet ship, with their adversaries only able to muster the much slower "cable speed".

Cheer[]

Possibly the earliest Star Trek-themed commercial ever, Procter & Gamble released a television ad for their laundry detergent Cheer in 1969, depicting an alien character, resembling Spock and wearing a costume similar to an original Klingon uniform, beaming into an average American home. He shows a young mother how to clean her children's clothes perfectly by using Cheer, then beams away. The ad features Gerald Fried's fight theme from "Amok Time", as well as the turbolift, transporter, and red alert sound effects from Star Trek: The Original Series, and a soundbite of Spock taken from "Space Seed", claiming that "Superior ability breeds superior ambition". [3]

Cheerios[]

In 1987, Cheerios cereals released a television ad as part of a promotional campaign in which contestants could win a walk-on part on the new Star Trek: The Next Generation series. The ad depicted a child walking in to the bridge of the Enterprise-D and sitting down to the operations station, taking out the ship to warp. [4] The ad was filmed on 21 August 1987 on the bridge set at Paramount Stage 6. [5]

Cineplex[]

Popcorn bags are decorated with famous movie quotes, including "Resistance is futile" and "KHAAAAAAAN!".

Commodore[]

In 1982, William Shatner appeared in a commercial for the Commodore VIC-20 computer, in which he beams into the scene reminiscent of the transporter. [6]

DirecTV[]

In 2006, broadcast satellite service company DirecTV released a television ad starring William Shatner, recreating his role from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, intercut with actual scenes from the movie. Shatner – as Kirk – claims that such a "big screen TV" like the main viewscreen of the Enterprise deserves true HD quality broadcast, and settling for cable would be "illogical". To Spock's curious look, he asks, "Can't I use that line?" [7]

General Electric[]

See General Electric

Gucci[]

For their Winter 2017 campaign, Italian luxury fashion company Gucci released an online video ad heavily inspired by 1960s science fiction, including an emphasis on Star Trek: The Original Series. The ad featured a recreation of the Enterprise bridge and transporter room, as well as a scene filmed at Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park. Besides Star Trek, the ad also referenced Forbidden Planet, Lost in Space, and Space: 1999. [8]

Heineken[]

In 1974, Dutch beer company Heineken created a billboard ad depicting an illustrated version of Spock drinking a glass of Heineken, which revives his drooping ears, turning them back to pointing upwards. The last of the three comic blocks adds the caption "Illogical", complete with the slogan "Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach".

The concept was the brainchild of copywriter Tony Brignull, who originally wanted to photograph Leonard Nimoy for the ad, but eventually, when they couldn't locate Nimoy, they decided to create an illustration instead. Nimoy himself didn't even know about the existence of the ad until Henry Fonda asked him during a dinner, how much did they pay him for it. Nimoy, furious that Paramount Pictures didn't pay any royalties to him for his likeness, sued the studio, and later used this matter as a bargaining position during contract negotiations for Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Nimoy agreed to look at the script if the case was settled, and an hour after receiving the check, the script arrived to his house. [9] [10]

Ikea[]

A 2012 Ikea commercial depicts a customer who believes she's semi-shoplifting when she checks her receipt and sees the low sale prices she's been charged. Music from TOS: "Amok Time" is used for her mad dash to her "getaway car".

KFC[]

In 2006, Kentucky Fried Chicken released a television ad recreating Star Trek: The Original Series via a combination of live actors and CGI. In the ad, the Enterprise bumps into a KFC restaurant in space, and Captain Kirk orders a redshirt crewmember to beam down and bring food to the crew. [11]

McDonalds[]

To advertise the new Yakki burger, McDonalds Japan created a 4D Star Trek parody in which "Spock", "Uhura", and "Kirk" discover a planet made up of the burger. [12]

MCI[]

In the early 1990s, the MCI Inc. telecommunications company released a television ad featuring the entire main cast of Star Trek: The Original Series, along with Jonathan Frakes, connected to each other on phone by creating a "family phone circle" offered by MCI. [13]

Oldsmobile[]

In 1989, Oldsmobile released a television commercial featuring Melanie Shatner and her father, William Shatner. Melanie says her father drives a starship, so it's natural for her to drive "something space age", adding that the new Oldsmobile Cutlass is "for the Next Generation". Then, her father beams to the passenger seat, and the two embark on a – literally – stellar drive. [14]

In 1991, Oldsmobile released another commercial, this time with Leonard Nimoy and his daughter, Julie Nimoy. Julie is driving through a futuristic landscape in an Oldsmobile convertible, while Nimoy beams in, and then beams out of the passenger seat. [15] Future popular comic book artist Alex Ross drew a pitch sketch of both Nimoys in Vulcan makeup, but feared doing this would make Leonard reconsider.

Pizza Hut[]

In the early 1990s, Pizza Hut released a television commercial featuring a group of Klingons from a Bird-of-Prey transporting down to a Pizza Hut restaurant, wreaking havoc there, promoting a line of Star Trek: The Next Generation toys available to their menu. The commercial featured the name of the company in Klingonese as "Triqqa Pli'c". [16]

Powergen[]

During the early 1990s, UK power company Powergen released a Star Trek themed television ad promoting the sale of shares in the company. Actors William Shatner and James Doohan appeared as James T. Kirk and Montgomery Scott, respectively. The engineering and transporter room sets of the USS Enterprise-D were also used to represent the interior of the USS Enterprise-A. [17] [18] [19]

Samsung[]

In 2013, Samsung released a series of commercials to advertise their new Galaxy Gear wristwatch/phone device using clips from popular live-action shows, movies and cartoons such as Get Smart!, Dick Tracy, Predator and Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Both commercials show off the wrist communicator worn by Kirk in Star Trek: The Motion Picture with the first one using a clip from the movie.

Space Channel[]

In the early 2000s, Space Channel, which were broadcasting all (then) five live-action Star Trek series at the same time, made a television ad, depicting a man asking an elderly woman to sign his petition to stop the airing of "all this Star Trek". The woman calls his son, who's dressed in full Klingon attire, and hearing what the man is petitioning for, knocks him out. Then, his mother, speaking to him in Klingonese, tells him to go to his quarters. [20]

Spence Diamonds[]

A radio spot makes reference to transporters and Star Trek.

SpongeBob SquarePants[]

There are 3 tracks in the show called "Star Trekkers 1" "Star Trekkers 2" and "Star Trekkers 3" composed by Steve Martson.

UPC Broadband[]

In 2007, the Hungarian branch of UPC Broadband telecommunications company released a series of television and print ads starring popular comedian András Szőke as "Captain Szőke", dressed up to an uniform and hairstyle similar to Spock, coming up with different futuristic gadgets in each ad, which turn out to be completely useless and never function. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]

VHS Wien[]

In 2015, the Austrian language school, VHS Wien released a television ad featuring two Klingons riding a tram in Vienna. When an inspector approaches them to ask for their tickets, they laugh in her face and tell her to speak to them in Klingonese. However, as it turns out, she is fluent in their language and orders them to show her their tickets or get off. [26]

Walmart[]

The original USS Enterprise, as depicted in Star Trek: Discovery, appears for a few seconds in Walmart's 2020 Superbowl ad titled "Famous Visitors". [27]

Western Airlines[]

In 1985, Western Airlines released a television ad featuring William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy traveling together on a plane, apparently on vacation. Nimoy tells Shatner that someone asked him why he's not driving the plane, to which he replied, "I'm not the captain". Then, a stewardess rolls in a cake resembling a volcano, to which Nimoy asks "Why does that look familiar?" Shatner says "'Cause we've been there", apparently referring to the Genesis planet. [28]

In a longer version of the commercial – apparently intended for cross-promotion – Nimoy reveals to Shatner that they are, in fact, on their way to filming Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home in San Francisco. He also reveals that the film will include time travel, and that it will be released on Christmas 1986, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Star Trek. He gives Shatner a copy of the script, Shatner then – via the intercom – orders the pilot to go to warp speed, because they need to hurry. [29]

Xfinity[]

In 2014, Xfinity cable, internet and phone service company released an ad for the annual Superbowl, featuring Zachary Quinto as Spock and Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov, beaming down to an Xfinity office and fascinated by the hi-tech broadcast technology they find there. After realizing that they're "really in the future", they beam away, taking an entire desk full of mobile phones and accesBysories with them. [30]

Other ads[]

  • Two commercials for the Samsung Galaxy Gear watch showed off various wrist-mounted devices from popular franchises, Star Trek one of them.
  • A commercial for Kure 5-56 rustproofing spray uses images from Into Darkness. [31]
  • In 2015, a print ad for the job search website Workopolis made use of Spock's image to make a point about including hobbies on your resume.
  • In 2013, a television commercial advertising Twizzlers licorice by The Hershey Company utilized an image of the USS Enterprise made of licorice candy, to suggest that their product is a good movie snack. The commercial showed the Enterprise shooting photon torpedoes portrayed as strawberries. [32]
  • In 2016, a Superbowl ad for Mexican avocados featured Andorians among the aliens taking a tour of a museum. [33]

Conventions[]

Hick Trek[]

Produced by ATOZ Films in the 1980s, this white-trash parody of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan played at conventions for years until a "Special Edition" version, with added effects, was released on video in 1999. In the film, the Redneck Federation Starship RSS Bovine battles spacefaring cats.

Internet[]

Video parodies and pop culture references that originated online. Web comics can be found under pictorial literature.

Achievement Hunter[]

Achievement Hunter, a part of the company Rooster Teeth, tends to do Let's Plays of various video games. One installment had two of their prominent members, Michael Jones and Ryan Haywood, play Bandai Namco's Star Trek, getting confused as to who was playing who, and referring to themselves as "Spock-Kirk" and "Kirk-Spock". During the game, Ryan does question the game's lack of reasoning for seemingly constantly killing Vulcans left and right. Later installments have them mock the Gorn.

Another episode features Star Trek: Bridge Crew, bringing back Michael and Ryan alongside Jeremy Dooley and Achievement Hunter creator and Rooster Teeth co-creator Geoff Ramsay. They do this twice, once as advertising with Ubisoft and again on their own. During their second run, they end up participating in the Kobayashi Maru scenario and give their answer to it - rescuing as many people, fighting off the Klingons doing so, then warping out when their shields fall.

The Angry Video Game Nerd[]

In one of his online episodes, "The Nerd" reviews several Star Trek games. The episode opens with a parody of The Original Series intro with a Nintendo Entertainment System flying through space like the Enterprise and Alexander Courage's theme played on electric guitar. The Nerd, dressed for the occasion, reviews Star Trek: The Motion Picture on the Vectrex Arcade System, Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator on the Atari 2600 and ColecoVision and Star Trek: 25th Anniversary on the NES. Features of the episode include the Nerd having a fight with a Klingon and meeting a Metron. As a reference to Project Genesis, the Nerd offered the Klingon a Sega Genesis.

Atop The Fourth Wall[]

Atop The Fourth Wall is a popular YouTube channel created by Lewis Lovhaug, who portrays Linkara, a comic book reviewer.

The series has reviewed numerous comic adaptations of the Star Trek movie series, many of the franchise’s iconic crossovers and even an issue of the Gold Key comic series.

When reviewing these comics, Linkara will usually don a Starfleet uniform to get into the mood. As well, whenever a length of time is devoted to Star Trek media, a unique opening plays that homages the intros from the late-90s Star Trek shows, featuring his ship, the Comicron-1. He will also don Starfleet uniforms when reviewing these episodes.

Two of the series' running gags hail from the reviews of these comics: whenever the Marvel villain Kang the Conqueror is involved, he will reference Star Trek: The Next Generation - X-Men: Second Contact where the super villain grew to giant size to battle the USS Enterprise-E and mentions of presidential figures will lead to him referencing "The Legacy of Lazarus", which introduced Anton York, who identified himself as the 45th President of the United States.

The Babylon Bee[]

The Baylon Bee is an online Christian news satire site.

The article "Church Installs Transporter To Teleport Worship Band Onto Stage During Closing Prayer" references Pavel Chekov's line "I can do zat", and the church's name is "Discovery" Church. The worship leader is called "James Archer".

Another article claims that Captain Picard was suspended from Twitter for saying he only sees four lights. [34].

A November, 2021 article claims Anthony Fauci said "Individual Rights Are Not As Important As The Needs Of The Borg Collective" and depicts Fauci wearing Borg implants.

Confused Matthew[]

Confused Matthew is an online film review website (and YouTube channel), in which the titular owner reviews films he considers bad (films which make him "confused"). A self-proclaimed Star Trek fan, Matthew often deals with various incarnations of the franchise he considers the worst, especially Star Trek Generations, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek: Voyager. He also made a recap of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which he gave a positive review.

Dragon Ball Z Abridged[]

Dragon Ball Z Abridged is a web series created by Team Four Star, using episodes from the popular Japanese anime action/adventure series Dragon Ball Z to create a humorous variation of the iconic series.

During the Namek Saga, the official language of the Namekian people is Klingonese. In one scene, Dende calls Frieza a petaQ, which the overlord doesn't realize that he was just called a "douche". Later on, Piccolo encounters the dying Nail, who talks to him in that language (also calling him a petaQ), causing Piccolo to think he's been beaten so badly he can't speak straight.

Everything Wrong With...[]

A YouTube channel named CinemaSins [35] specializes in making videos concerning the listing of various inconsistencies in films, including continuity errors, mistakes in logic, lack of rational explanation, etc. Currently the channel features a video for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond.

Hitler Rants[]

The popular meme video featuring Adolf Hitler (played by Bruno Ganz) from the 2004 German movie Der Untergang (Downfall), subtitled with humorous English text to create videos of him reacting with anger to various things, was used several occasions in connection with Star Trek. Videos of Hitler outraged by Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek: Discovery exist, as well as two recuts in which Hitler (commanding the Enterprise) fights Khan Noonien Singh on board the Reliant (from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan). There is another Hitler vs. Khan video titled "Star Reich: The Wrath of Hitler", and a sequel titled "Star Reich: The Return of the Borg".

Honest Trailers[]

The YouTube channel Screen Junkies [36] has a series of shorts called "Honest Trailers", cut together and narrated like true movie trailers, but depicting the subjected films in a satirical way. There is an "Honest Trailer" for Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness, as well as an "Honest TV Trailer" for Star Trek: The Next Generation.

How It Should Have Ended[]

How It Should Have Ended is a self-explanatory series of short animated film parodies. Both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness have their own entries, and Benedict Cumberbatch's version of Khan is a regular character in the Villain Pub sub-series.

The Nostalgia Critic[]

The Nostalgia Critic (also known as That Guy With the Glasses and Channel Awesome) is a popular Youtube channel, created and run by Doug Walker, who usually reviews films as his "Nostalgia Critic" alter ego.

Walker called January 2012 Star Trek Month and reviewed all of the odd numbered films for the entire month.

"To Boldly Flee" was a special done to celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Nostalgia Critic. The special consists of parodies of various sci-fi franchises including Star Trek, Metal Gear, Star Wars, and Battlefield Earth.

The ending to Walker's review of Scooby-Doo: The Movie (featuring Frank Welker as the voice of Scooby-Doo) is a parody of the last scene of "All Good Things...".

In the review of Scooby-Doo!: The Mystery Begins (featuring Daniel Riordan, and again, the voice of Frank Welker), Walker claims that slightly changing Scooby's "Right here" catchphrase is like if Spock would say, "Live Long and Succeed in Material Terms or Be Financially Successful". He also does the Vulcan salute and an image of Spock from "Amok Time" is seen.

In the review of The Master of Disguise, which co-stars Brent Spiner as the film's main villain, Walker calls the character "Data" at one point, but then he corrects himself that "it's Evil Data, so Lore". (The film also features Erick Avari in the cast.)

In his review of Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, Walker plays Kirk's famous "Khaaaaan" yell when Ricardo Montalban (playing Grandpa) appears, and later mentions Montalban's "plastic chest" from The Wrath of Khan.

In his review of Fantastic Four (2005), Walker calls Jessica Alba's character "Seven of Fine" at one point. In the same review, commenting on a scene, Walker says "I haven't seen a more inappropriate usage of underwear since Star Trek Into Darkness."

In the review of Jaws: The Revenge (directed by Joseph Sargent), a clip of Data from "Phantasms" can be briefly seen. A short clip of Data talking to Spot from "A Fistful of Datas" can be seen in Walker's review of Jurassic Park III (featuring Linda Park).

In his review of Clockstoppers (directed by Jonathan Frakes and featuring Gina Hecht), Walker says that the film was directed by "Will Riker himself", who was also the director of "easily the best Star Trek: Next Gen movie" (Star Trek: First Contact). Later, he comments the director's cameo in a scene, saying that Frakes is shaking his head, "Meh, I wanted some Borg eye gauging in this movie", and a brief clip from First Contact is shown.

In the review of Small Soldiers (featuring Kirsten Dunst, Dick Miller, Robert Picardo, Frank Langella, Wendy Schaal, and Michael McKean, and a score by Jerry Goldsmith), Walker comments on Picardo's appearance that he should just start every performance with "Please state the cinematic emergency". Later in the review, a short clip from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan can be seen, with McCoy telling Spock, "You're not going in there", which mirrors a line from the reviewed film.

In his review of Event Horizon (featuring Jason Isaacs), Walker claims that "Star Trek had like five episodes where they hallucinated stuff and they always had a logical conclusion for it", and an image from "Shore Leave" is shown. Later in the review, Walker says that the final fist fight between Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill would be much funnier with Star Trek fight music, and he puts Gerald Fried's "The Ancient Battle/2nd Kroykah" theme from "Amok Time" to accompany the scene.

In his review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie, reacting to the name of the alien planet the Rangers visit, Walker says "Come on, you could find more convincing names in a Star Trek word jumble".

In the review of Battlefield Earth, Walker calls the alien Psychlos "Klingon Jamaican Clowns".

In his review of Starship Troopers (featuring Dina Meyer, Clancy Brown, Brenda Strong, Julianna McCarthy, Bruce Gray, Christopher Curry, Brian Tochi, and a score by Basil Poledouris), Walker comments on the military funeral of Dizzy Flores (Meyer) by paraphrasing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: "Of all the souls, I've ever encountered, she rocked the most in the sack".

In the review of BloodRayne (starring Kristanna S. Loken), Walker compares Michael Madsen's acting to that of William Shatner, and a picture of Shatner from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is shown.

In the review of Blade (featuring Judson Scott), an image of Data from Star Trek Generations can be seen when the film's title character makes the same "Yess! Mmm!" gesture Data did when the Duras sisters' Bird-of-Prey was blown up.

In his review of Mission: Impossible II (co-written by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga, photographed by Jeffrey L. Kimball, and featuring effects work by Richard Yuricich), Walker edits some shots of Spock appearing in levitation boots at El Capitan from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier into the scene of Tom Cruise climbing a mountain. Later, he claims that the original Mission: Impossible series "had Spock in it", referring to Leonard Nimoy's role as Paris on the show.

The Star Trek: The Original Series communicator sound effect can be heard in Walker's review of The Purge, when he looks into a security camera.

In the review of the animated film The Christmas Tree, Walker claims that a character came into a scene so quietly, like if she'd "just beamed herself into the room", and then the Star Trek: The Next Generation transporter sound effect is heard, accompanied by some light effects.

In the review of The Exorcist II: The Heretic (co-starring Louise Fletcher), Walker says "Very well, set phasers to crisp". Later in the review, commenting a scene, he says Regan (Linda Blair) is "doing a mind meld with [Fletcher's] goodies".

In his review of The Search for Santa Paws (starring Richard Riehle, Diedrich Bader, and Bill Cobbs), Walker claims that Disney's extensive "Air Bud cinematic universe" is "the Star Trek of epic puppy sagas".

In the review of Santa Clause 3: Escape Clause, which co-stars Michael Dorn as the Sandman, Walker comments "a bat'leth would've been lovingly welcomed" when the character magically puts people asleep, and an image of Dorn as Worf from TNG: "Birthright, Part II" can be seen. In the "First Viewing" video for the film, Walker's brother, Rob does an impression of Dorn, delivering Worf's famous line from TNG: "Qpid": "I must protest, sir, I am not a Merry Man!".

In the review of The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (co-starring Joan Collins), Walker comments on a scene featuring John Cho as a valet, as "Harold and Sulu Park a Car".

In the review of X-Men, starring Patrick Stewart, Walker mocks Stewart's voice and accent by saying "Mutation... the final frontier". The film also starred Famke Janssen and Rebecca Romijn, and was directed by Bryan Singer.

In the review of Con Air, Walker struggles to pronounce Colm Meaney's last name. After a point, he rather gives up and calls him "O'Brien". Besides Meaney, the film also featured Landry Allbright in the cast.

In the review of Independence Day: Resurgence, referring to Brent Spiner reprising his role from the first film, Walker says he'd rather have him return in this than in Star Trek: Picard, and an image of Data from "Remembrance" is shown.

In his review of The Terminator (with Paul Winfield, Earl Boen, Dick Miller, and Brian Thompson), Walker compares Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton)'s hairstyle and outfit to those of Gillian Taylor (Catherine Hicks) in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and an image of the character is shown.

In the review of Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (co-starring William Sadler and Roy Brocksmith), Walker mentions the Star Trek Vasquez Rocks connection in the film. (See: Star Trek parodies and pop culture references (film))

In his review of Mulan II (featuring the voices of George Takei, Frank Welker, Brian Tochi, and Keone Young), Walker comments on a scene in which Takei's character (First Ancestor) is complaining that Mushu "thinks he's the Emperor" as "It's like working with Shatner all over again". Later, when the Ancestor calls Mushu a "lazy lounge lizard", Walker says: "Something I tell Shatner a lot".

In the review of the animated film Cats Don't Dance, featuring the voices of Scott Bakula, Rene Auberjonois, John Rhys-Davies, and Frank Welker, Walker says "Captain Archer is a good singer", and later does an impression: "Ensign, set a course for smooth".

In the review of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (featuring the voices of Jean Simmons and Lanei Chapman), Walker comments that before being able to do an emotional scene about death, a movie "has to practice with a few spots and bumpers", and an image from Spock's death scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is shown, along with Bubba's death scene in Forrest Gump.

In his review of the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers, which featured the voices of David Coburn, LeVar Burton, Whoopi Goldberg, Dean Stockwell, Frank Welker, Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, and Clyde Kusatsu, Walker says, "I'm gonna let Geordi from Star Trek tell you" the story, before playing the series opening with narration by Burton.

In the review of Doomsday Machine, Walker comes up with a number of porn titles for the film, which include "Voyage of the Starship Booby-Prize". Later, during a very lengthy scene, Walker spoofs Kirk's famous "Khaaaan!" yell from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, shouting "Cuuuuuuuuuuut!".

Star Trek Nemesis appeared on Walker's list of films that "I like but everyone else hates".

Spock's death scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan took the second place on Walker's list of the "Top 11 Saddest Movie Moments".

Walker also did a mini-review of Star Trek as his alter ego "Chester A. Bum".

Dr. Tran[]

Summer Splash[]

A Dr. Tran doll says "Beverly, can I see you in my ready room."

Google Calendar[]

Google Calendar [37] uses stardates based upon the ideas of Andrew Main. [38] Each day covers 5.00 stardates; 10,000 stardates (2,000 days) make up an "issue". Issue numbers are prefixed in brackets. TOS was issue [19], [0]0000 was January 4, 2162, (when he speculated the Federation was founded) and issue [-28] started in 2008.

Jandrew Edits[]

Jan Van Den Hemel and Andrew Hussie re-edit clips from TNG with comedic results. The series is currently hosted on Van Den Hemel's YouTube account. [39]

Picard memes[]

A popular internet meme has people posting a picture of Jean-Luc Picard of Picard facepalming in response to a statement perceived to be idiotic, frustrating, or otherwise missing the mark.

The most common picture was taken from the episode "Deja Q" (in which it was a response to Q), although other variants exist, including a (slightly modified) image from "A Matter of Perspective" that shows William T. Riker next to Picard, also facepalming, and an image from "The Offspring", that shows Picard doing the "double facepalm".

Another slightly less common meme shows a picture of a frustrated Picard. This image, taken from "Ménage à Troi" (where Picard was not annoyed but rather poetically courting Lwaxana Troi), is usually accompanied by a caption about a frustrating issue, often starting with the phrase "what the fuck" or a variant thereof.

Vreenak meme[]

A picture of Vreenak from the episode "In the Pale Moonlight" holding up a Cardassian data rod and declaring the recording on it a fake is used.

La Forge meme[]

A variation of the "Can't see shit" meme, it features a screenshot of La Forge with the appropriate caption.

RiffTrax[]

Former Mystery Science Theater 3000 co-stars Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy recorded audio commentary tracks mocking Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations, and Star Trek. The commentaries were made available as an Internet-only download through Nelson's RiffTrax service.

Spock meme[]

A variation of the "Can't see shit" meme, a caption accompanies a picture of Spock wearing a visor from the episode "Is There in Truth No Beauty?".

External links[]

MA Men[]

A series of short comedy sketches by Funny Or Die spoofing the TV show Mad Men by transplanting it into present-day South Boston.

In MA Men 2, Campbell suggests that Leonard Nimoy should replace the late Michael Vale as the Dunkin Donuts spokesman while pointing at an autographed promotional photo of Spock and Kirk on the wall.

Pitch Meetings[]

A series of short comedy sketches by online film site Screen Rant features comedian Ryan George playing dual roles as a Hollywood producer and a writer who tries to sell him his script, mocking the pitching process of well-known movies. George made a Pitch Meeting for Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond. [40] [41] [42]

SCP Foundation[]

  • On SCP Foundation, a site describing all kinds of anomalous items and creatures held in containment by the titular organization, one of the objects (SCP-261) is a vending machine which unpredictably dispenses a large variety of weird food and drink. One such item was a cup of tea, Earl Grey, hot which could only be referred to as tea, Earl Grey, hot (and which was stated not to be a very good copy of the real tea, Earl Grey, hot at that.)

Stan Lee's World of Heroes[]

Stan Lee's World of Heroes is a YouTube channel founded by former Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee. An episode of the cartoon Bad Days, published April 8, 2013, parodied J.J. Abrams's Star Trek films. James T. Kirk steps onto the bridge, only to be blinded by lens flares and switches them off. He is beamed down with Spock, McCoy, and a terrified redshirt by Scott, who resembles Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead. While on the planet, Kirk sleeps with a grotesque gargantuan alien, angering her father. The struggling duo are beamed back aboard, where Kirk switches the lens flares back on, blinding the alien father so Spock may nerve pinch it. [43]

Starship Edsel[]

An improvised satire. [44] [45]

Star Track[]

Star Track: Idomo, [46] formerly Star Track: The Next Hesitation, is a web series that takes a satirical approach to expanding on the Star Trek universe. Produced in Montreal, Quebec, it is one of the only known Star Trek fan films to be produced regularly in Canada. Episodes are released at a rate of one per year.

Star Trek (France)[]

Comité de la Claque is a French group who began on the web. In 2012, the channel France 4 TV broadcast their parody on the Comité du Ciné show, on January 27th before the start of prime time: Video of Comité du Ciné: Star Trek.

Steam Trek[]

Steam Trek [47] is an online parody of the original Star Trek. The premise is a conception of how the original Star Trek might have been produced by George Melies, a hundred years ago, at the dawn of silent films. The "distant future" is taken to be 1980, and the USS Isambard is steam-powered with coal fuel.

Stone Trek[]

Stone Trek [48] is an online animated parody of the original Star Trek. The premise is basically a Star Trek/The Flintstones mashup, featuring a 1960s-styled laugh track and Hanna-Barbera sound effects. The series follows the adventures of the crew of the USS Magnetize. The show keeps count of how many redshirts end up getting killed in the episodes. The show also parodied the plot of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, with the Magnetize having to save Queen Armadillo from the Fashion Police. The all seven episodes feature the voice talent of Star Trek video game voice actor Walter Fields.

Star Truc(k)[]

Star Truc(k) [49] is a French parody of the original Star Trek.

TNG Recuts[]

General Grin (also known as "Major Grin" and "Admiral Grin") is an Israeli YouTube channel owner, who specializes in making skillful and creative recuts of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, making comedic segments (often dealing with highly sexual-themed adult humor) out of the otherwise serious material. His channel currently features more than three-hundred recut videos, as well as other humorous material, including "Episode-in-Brief" shorts and cuts of various Trek crews watching the trailer of Star Trek, horrified or angered by what they see.

Up The Enterprise[]

An overdubbed parody of Star Trek: Enterprise. A ninety-second trailer [50] and the "pilot" were released. [51]

WatchMojo[]

The popular entertainment and pop culture website WatchMojo.com specializes in creating various top ten lists of best (or worst) films, actors, characters, music videos, etc., presented in video form via YouTube. Several of WatchMojo's lists include Star Trek films and episodes.

  • Top 10 Times Star Trek Was Way Ahead of Its Time:
    • #1: Multicultural and Multiracial Represenation
    • #2: Gender Equality
    • #3: Cell Phones
    • #4: Gender Identity
    • #5: Personal Computers
    • #6: Breaking Interracial Taboos
    • #7: Automatic Doors
    • #8: Video Calling
    • #9: Flat / Big Screen TVs
    • #10: Universal translators
    • Honorable mentions: Holodeck, Replicators (3D Printing), Audio Interfaces
  • Top 3 Things You Missed in the Star Trek: Discovery Premiere:
    • #1: The REAL Number One
    • #2: Hatred of Klingons
    • #3: The Holographic Communications

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series[]

In the episode "Card Wars" of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, the characters make frequent references to the Star Wars series, prompting Tristen Taylor to ask, "What's with all the Star Trek quotes?" The episode "The Worst of Both Worlds" opened with a re-dubbed version of the recap from "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II".

Theater[]

Klingon Tamburlaine[]

In 2019, the Los Angeles based theater company School of Night premiered their show in the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival. The show is a creation from Christopher Marlowe’s medieval pageant of will, war and conquest re-imagined as epic sci-fi spectacle. Tragedy! Romance! Mighty verse! Great battles waged on land and in space! Honor and glory! Qapla'! Klingon Tamburlaine is an unofficial fan production adapted from Christopher Marlowe's Tamburlaine the Great, Parts I and II. During its run, the show gained a large amount of attention throughout the Los Angeles community. It won several awards, including the Encore Producers' Award and the Pick of the Fringe Award. Klingon Tamburlaine was offered a three week run in October and November at The Complex Hollywood Theater.

External links[]

Video games[]

Asura's Wrath[]

During the fight against the final boss of the game, Chakravartin, the boss may sometimes say "Resistance is futile".

Back to the Future: The Game[]

Episode 1 of Back to the Future: The Game has Marty pretending to be from the patent office in order to get a younger version of Emmett Brown (resident of 1931) to build a rocket drill. He threatens to award the patent to a Dr. McCoy if Emmett doesn't produce immediate results. The game also features voice work from Christopher Lloyd (reprising his role as the older Emmett Brown) and Roger L. Jackson. Coincidentally, the elder Doc Brown during his stay in 1931, takes the alias Carl Sagan.

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition[]

A halberd bears the name "The Chesley Crusher", with its description reading "First wielded by the much-maligned Ensign Chesley of the first exploratory fleet of Waterdeep […]".

Digimon Story: Hackers Memory[]

One of the nicknames the character Chitose gives the player character Keisuke is "Redshirt", given his "unimportant" and "background" appearance.

Duke Nukem 3D[]

  • The level "Warp Factor" is a homage to the USS Enterprise-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
  • The level "Tiberius Station" is named after James T. Kirk.
  • The "dnscotty" cheat code for level select may be a reference to Montgomery Scott.
  • In the Duke Caribbean: Life's a Beach expansion pack, Duke uses a boat called the Kobayashi Maru to get around the islands.

Fallout series[]

Final Fantasy games[]

The first airship the player acquires in the video games Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV is called Enterprise. In Final Fantasy IX, a NPC, if asked about potions that a player is seeking, will reply "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker. Ask someone else!" In Final Fantasy XIV, a shipwrecked vessel is named the Kobayashi Maru.

FTL: Faster Than Light[]

  • There is an achievement called No Redshirts Here (obtained by making it to the final sector without losing any crew members).
  • The names of several other achievements are Star Trek references.

Heretic[]

  • The "engage" cheat code for level select may be a reference to "engaging" the warp drive.

HoboWars[]

In the MMORPG HoboWars, the player may come across an old man while exploring the Hoburbs. The man tells the player his stories, but they're really taken from various TV shows, including Star Trek: The Next Generation ("The Best of Both Worlds"). He then rewards the player for listening.

You sit and listen to the old man's stories for a little while before you realize he's just recounting episodes of Cheers, Happy Days, and The Beverly Hillbillies. You start to get a little uncomfortable when he starts retelling what sounds suspiciously like an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Old Man: ...And that's how we escaped the Borg ship and rescued the captain. Oh, look at the time! Buffy is about to come on! Well, let me get you a little something for spending some time with an old man.

The player is also able to buy a phaser from the Hoburbia pawn shop.

Jet Set Willy II: The Final Frontier[]

The sequel to the 1984 original, this platform game expands on the original with a new area wracked with references.

Aside from the obvious reference in the title:

  • The rooms making up the spaceship area can be seen to form a suspiciously Enterprise-looking shape if you fill out the Cartography Room.
  • Go right from this area, and the next room you reach is called "NCC-1501".
  • Continuing to the right and up will take you (eventually) to "The TROUBLE with TRIBBLES is...", which requires leaping over a variety of furry blobs to traverse.
  • Heading left will get you to "Beam Me Down Spotty", a teleport room that will either take you back to The Bathroom (the game's start point) or a planetary surface, its last room being named (naturally) "Beam Me Up Spotty".

Kathy Rain[]

In this point-and-click adventure game set in 1995, the hacker Dave is at odds with IT-supervisor Clyde for several reasons, including Clyde thinking that TNG is superior to TOS.

Little Big Planet[]

In LBP II, one of the levels has characters flying around in a craft called "Big Spaceship" which resembles the Enterprise only with a Sackboy head instead of the saucer section.

In the introduction to LBP III, the narrator tells players that they "have been and will always be welcome to Little Big Planet", a reference to Spock's dying speech. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan).

NFL 2016[]

In Madden NFL 16, one option in Franchise mode enables you to rebuild your team's stadium. When presented with a futuristic looking design as one of the options, one of the fan social media reactions includes "#beammeup", indicating their approval of the design.

Mass Effect[]

In one confrontation, Commander Shepard tells a krogan soldier that the ruins they're in are collapsing around them and will kill them all. The krogan responds, "Yes! Exhilarating, isn't it?", a direct reference to Kruge's response to Kirk's similar concern in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

Also, the game featured Marina Sirtis, Armin Shimerman, Keith Szarabajka, Dwight Schultz, Gary Anthony Williams, Grey DeLisle and Carolyn Seymour in various roles, as well as Jennifer Hale as the female version of Commander Shepard, Raphael Sbarge and Kimberly Brooks as Aliance squadmates Kaiden Alenko and Ashley Williams, and Fred Tatasciore as one the main antagonists, Saren Arterius. In Mass Effect 2, Michael Dorn lends his voice to a krogan, a species with a warrior mentality similar to Klingons named Gatatog Uvenk and D.C. Douglas voiced the geth squadmate Legion. In Mass Effect 3, Troy Baker voiced Cerberus assassin Kai Leng and the DLC "Omega" featured Sumalee Montano as turian squadmate Nyreen Kandros and Brian George as Cerberus general Oleg Petrovsky.

Neil Ross provided the narration voice for the primary entries of the series' in-game Codex, a collection of background and worldbuilding information accessible by the player.

The asari race were created to fill the "green alien girls" trope, which was made popular by Star Trek: The Original Series.

Engineer Gregory Adams may be a nod to Star Trek. In The Original Series episode "Dagger of the Mind", Dr. Tristan Adams runs the Tantalus Penal Colony. Here, Adams oversees the SSV Normandy's experimental Tantalus Drive Core. He is also voiced by Roger L. Jackson.

Coincidentally, the commanding officer at the beginning of the game is named David Anderson.

In the DLC "Bring Down the Sky", the slogans found at X57 Radio reference Star Trek and Babylon 5. One of them, "When Your World is Hollow, We Help You Touch the Sky" is a reference to the TOS episode "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", about a hollow asteroid serving as a generation ship for a group of colonists that is inadvertently set on a course to impact a human colony.

In Mass Effect 2, when Commander Shepard visits a bar on the Citadel, his/her response to an alien drink served is "This is… it's green?". Similar lines are said about beverages in the episodes "By Any Other Name" and "Relics".

Being a Scottish engineer, Kenneth Donnelly on the Normandy SR-2 is commonly thought to be a reference to Montgomery Scott.

Both Mordin Solus, the salarian scientist on board the Normandy, and Data are humorously portrayed as enjoying, as well as singing, songs by the British composers Gilbert and Sullivan.

The Citadel features advertisement for a production of William Shakespeare's Hamlet performed entirely by a cast of elcor, a race who speak in a slow, flat monotone that they prefix all their dialog with non-elcor with an emotive statement to clarify their tone. At the end of the ads, an elcor spokesperson says, "Insincere endorsement: You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have heard him in the voice of elcor." This is a refence to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country when Chancellor Gorkon said "You haven't experienced Shakespeare until you have read it in the original Klingon."

Minecraft[]

The splash screen includes a random quote selected from a list that includes several sourced from Star Trek, including "Engage", "Khaaaaaaaaan!", and "Not as cool as Spock!", which is a correction of an earlier phrase which (obviously mistakenly) implied that Minecraft was "Cooler than Spock!"

For teleporting over 100 blocks with an ender pearl in Minecraft, players receive the advancement "Beam me up.". The advancement for using the Nether to travel 7 kilometers in the Overworld is called "Subspace Bubble," a reference to the subspace field used to travel at warp. (One block in the Nether is equivalent to eight in the Overworld, allowing for much faster travel.) Holding a dragon egg unlocks the advancement "The Next Generation," which may be referencing Star Trek: The Next Generation, and entering an End city unlocks the advancement "The City at the End of the Game," which may be a reference to the TOS episode "The City at the Edge of Forever".

Additionally, among the many languages the game is available in is Klingon.

Mortal Kombat games[]

In Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, Captain Marvel tells Superman, Deathstroke the Terminator, and the Joker that their enemy is called Dark Kahn. Joker replies with a Kirk-like "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!" with appropriate echoes. When Joker is finished, Deathstroke promptly tells him to shut up.

In Mortal Kombat 11, if the player chooses Shao Kahn with Johnny Cage as an announcer, Cage will say "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!". The game featured Cary-Hiroyuki, who reprised his role of Shang Tsung from the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn as Cetrion, Jennifer Hale as Kronika, Vanessa Marshall as Sheeva, Kari Wahlgren as Kitana and Mileena, Phil LaMarr as Kotal Kahn, Chris Cox as the Terminator and Peter Weller reprising his role of RoboCop, with the latter two appearing as guest characters in the game.

In Mortal Kombat 1, when Johnny Cage clashes with Sub-Zero, one of the possible comments has Sub-Zero mention that "Revenge is a dish best served cold" with Johnny replying "It is very cold in space" in the same infliction as Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Orion Trail[]

The PC game Orion Trail features numerous references to the series and is based around killing "redshirts" on away missions. References include place names such as "the Gates of McFadden" and achievement names such as "He's dead, Jim."

Orwell: Ignorance is Strength[]

The game Orwell: Ignorance is Strength features a character, who calls himself "Captain of starship USS Voyager" in social media and also has a picture of himself dressed in a uniform similar to Spock's, giving the Vulcan salute.

Quest for Glory 2[]

In the Quest for Glory 2 introduction, the Enterprise-D is clearly seen in the sky and warps away seconds later.

Ratchet & Clank games[]

  • Near the beginning of A Crack in Time, when Ratchet enters the Zoni temple alone, Qwark will say "Operation Red Shirt is a go".
  • The game Full Frontal Assault starts with Qwark saying the following line: "Captain's log. Stardate... uh, let's call it Wednesday."

RuneScape[]

  • Log entries for the player-owned port mini-game begin with "Captain's log, Runedate..."
  • Players can also name their ships Enterprise or Defiant (from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).
  • The character Auguste (from the "Enlightened Journey" quest) was modeled after Jean-Luc Picard.
  • The Bork boss is a reference to the Borg; some of the monsters summoned by him will shout phrases like "We are the collective!" and "Resistance is futile!"

Roblox[]

A virtual "hair" was released on the site's catalog called "Trecky Hair" for a users "Robloxian" avatar. This hair closely resembles a typical haircut that many Starfleet officers had on the Original Series.

Rogue Galaxy[]

A late chapter in the PS2 game Rogue Galaxy is entitled "All Good Things..."

Secret of Monkey Island[]

The lookout character says "Hey, I'm a lookout, not a bodyguard."

SpongeBob games[]

In the PS2 game SpongeBob: the Battle for Bikini Bottom, the mermalair level's boss is named Prawn. Dialogue with Mermaidman and Prawn leads Mermaidman to drop to his knees and yell, "PRAAAAAAAAAAAWN!!!" and is even true to the angle from the movie.

Skate[]

In Skate 3, when you set your gesture to "Nerd", your skater will do Vulcan salute on both hands just like Spock.

StarCraft[]

A possible unit selection reply for a Terran medic is "state the nature of your medical emergency". In one of the humorous taunts, the medic can say "He's dead, Jim".

The sixth humourous taunt of the Protoss corsair is: "Zefram Cochrane, is that you?".

Intentionally or not, the Protoss arbiter has quotes, supposedly in the Khalani language, that are commonly heard as "Duras?" (when selected) and "Gowron!" (when ordered to move or attack).

Star Control: Origins[]

One of the planets around the star Wolf 359 is named Locutus.

Star Fox 64[]

The boss of the Sector X area makes continual references to the whereabouts of its creator, not unlike V'Ger in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Star Fox Assault[]

The game's main villains, the Aparoids, share many similarities with the Borg. Both races see themselves as the pinnacle of evolution, seek to "perfect" other life forms through forced assimilation, and are led by a queen. The Aparoids are an insectoid race, much like the original concept for the Borg.

Star Wars games[]

A side quest in the video game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is called "The Trouble with Gizka", a possible reference to "The Trouble with Tribbles" (the gizka share the tribbles' considerable ability of rapid reproduction). The game also shares many aesthetic similarities to Star Trek and other non-Star Wars sci-fi.

Surviving Mars[]

Surviving Mars is a video game based on Mars colonization. One of the "mysteries" is called "Inner light" and features a quote from that episode by Jean-Luc Picard underneath the title.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time[]

The eight level of the game (the ninth in the SNES platform version) is titled: Starbase: Where No Turtle Has Gone Before. The level is set in the future (the year 2100) and features enemies using transporters.

Total War: Warhammer II[]

Several of the random lord names are those of Star Trek characters: Vorta names for high elves, Romulan names for dark elves, and Jem'Hadar names for Lizardmen. Lizardmen lords also have skills called "Obedience Brings Victory" and "Honored Elder", again referencing the Jem'Hadar.

Unreal games[]

In Unreal 2: The Awakening, Aida is stated to be a master of three-dimensional chess. A board identical to those seen in Star Trek is present in her quarters.

World of Warcraft[]

The various teleporter operators in WoW are named after Star Trek engineers: "Scooty" (Scotty), "Jhordy Lapforge" (Geordi La Forge), and "Smiles O'Byron" (Miles O'Brien, or possibly his mirror counterpart "Smiley")

Other parodies and references[]

USS Enterprise nanomodel

Micrometer-scale USS Enterprise

Proto Trekkie Monster - Avenue Q

The original Trekkie Monster designed to parody Cookie Monster for Avenue Q.

  • The first Trekkie Monster was designed to parody Cookie Monster for Avenue Q, given pointy ears, black hair, green fur, and a blue Star Trek shirt. The puppet was later redesigned to avoid copyright issues with Paramount, also as a resort for the Muppety appearance, diminishing the Star Trek fandom.[52]
  • In 2003, Takayuki Hoshino and Shinji Matsui of the Himeji Institute of Technology created a one-billionth scale 8.8-micrometer-long USS Enterprise replica, utilizing a 30 kV Ga+ focused-ion-beam CVD using phenanthrene gas. Titled Nano Trek, it was imaged with a ion microscope. [53]
  • Stand up comics have also been known to reference Star Trek as part of their acts. Bill Bailey has pointed out how his microphone makes him look like a Klingon motivational speaker, and Eddie Izzard has a routine of how the crew of the Enterprise could defeat enemies with different phaser settings. Two such examples are the "depression", and "I've left the oven on" settings.
  • At the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on 30 October 2010, Jon Stewart used the imaginary threat of "corbomite" in bottled water to illustrate how media figures (personified by Stephen Colbert) create and magnify fears in the public. "You just got scared by something that is not real," Stewart said. After explaining the reference to "The Corbomite Maneuver", Stewart and Colbert briefly discussed Uhura's incongruous uniform in that episode. [54] [55]
  • In 2013, the American Internal Revenue Service became embroiled in a scandal when it transpired that they had produced a Star Trek-themed instructional video, considered to be an example of wasteful spending. The video showed a mission of the Enterprise-Y to the planet Notax, which threatened to descend into chaos due to noncompliance with the tax code. It also featured a Spock parody. US$60,000 was reported to have been spent on this video and another one based on Gilligan's Island, although the latter video did not get nearly as much media attention. Perhaps even more disturbing than the spending ethics, the video showed the characters wearing TNG-era uniforms while being set on a Constitution-class bridge.
IBM one nanometer USS Enterprise

Nanometer-scale USS Enterprise

  • In 2013, IBM nanophysicists created Star Trek logos and USS Enterprise and Vulcan salute images created from the manipulation of individual atoms. Imaged at a nanometer-long scale, atoms were supercooled to -268C and magnified 100 million times using a scanning tunneling microscope. These images were later used for the Star Trek Into Darkness mobile app. [56]
  • A Canadian cultural phenomenon had fans turning the face of Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the Canadian five-dollar note into Spock. This practice was widely reported to have seen an uptick after the death of Leonard Nimoy in 2015, and was referred to as "Spocking".
  • In the distributed computing community, the act of installing a client on someone else's computer is sometimes referred to as "borging" (similar to how the Borg assimilates other species' technology for the collective's benefit).
  • The Los Angeles street artist Mr. Brainwash made several Star Trek-related artworks, including one in which he put Marilyn Monroe's hair on Spock (part of a series where he put the hair on a number of famous people).
  • A baseball pitch known as the (Vulcan changeup) is one in which the fingers are split like the "live long and prosper" sign.
  • During the Canadian federal election campaign in 2015, someone parodied Liberal party candidates' intense campaign posters by putting a picture of a bug-eyed Gowron on a spoof poster, ostensibly running in the riding of "Qo'noS-Praxis-Verdun". [57]
  • In 2015, angry neighbors compared Mohamed Hadid's ostentatious hillside mansion to the starship Enterprise, saying it looked as though the ship had landed there. [58]
  • In 2016, Rihanna launched a line of sunglasses, in collaboration with French fashion label Dior that were inspired by Geordi La Forge's VISOR. [59]
  • In 2016, a Guelph, Ontario city councilor said that their city was more likely to get a Star Trek transporter than a high-speed rail line. [60]
  • In 2016, the National Labor Relations Board used Spock and the plot of "Amok Time" to clarify a point about labor law. [61]

Heaven's Gate[]

The Heaven's Gate religious group, founded in the early '70s and mostly remembered for their tragic mass suicide in 1997, were widely reported to be influenced by Star Trek, and even sensationalized as a Star Trek religion. The group was steeped in general science fiction themes, notably Star Trek, (although shows like The X-Files and Stargate were also associated with them). Notably, they characterized themselves as an "away team" working on Earth. In a 1993 advertisement in USA Today, they likewise described Jesus Christ as the captain in an away team from the Kingdom of God on Earth. In this statement, they also indicated a belief that they were going to depart to the true Kingdom of God on the true Enterprise. The wide-ranging belief statement furthermore talked about their moral prime directive. [62] The allusions to Star Trek in this advertisement were later confirmed to be intentional. [63] The group's website also confirmed their terminology regarding a captain and admiral to be inspired by Star Trek. [64]

Another manifest, "E.T. Speaks: UFO's / Space aliens / Reboot civilization" which was posted to a number of Usenet groups, was sometimes rebranded "The Real Q - An E.T. Speaks out" for Usenet communities with a sci-fi fan audience.

Building on the away team theme, their life routine, in which they were given "assignments" and wore spandex uniform-like light clothing, was further compared to Star Trek in the press. They were also known to recruit at Star Trek conventions. [65]

The member known as Jwnody ended her exit video preceding the mass suicide by saying "thirty-nine to beam up".

Among the members of the cult, and deaths in the 1997 mass suicide, was Nichelle Nichols's brother Thomas Nichols.

"I'm a doctor, not a..."[]

Dr. Leonard McCoy's signature phrase "I'm a doctor, not a..." occurs in several parodies and homages to Star Trek:

  • Dr. McCoy (as played by Dan Aykroyd): "I'm a doctor, not a tailor, dammit." ("The Last Voyage of the Enterprise")
  • Dr. McCoy (as played by Phil Hartman in response to William Shatner (as Kirk) stating someone needs medical attention): "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a - oh, sure!" ("Star Trek V: The Restaurant Enterprise")
  • Doctor Cottle: "I'm a doctor, not a Viper pilot!" (Battlestar Galactica)
  • Tolin Dorden: "I'm a medic, not a soldier!" (Gaunt's Ghosts)
  • DeForest Kelley: "I'm not a doctor, I'm a convicted murderer." (Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In)
  • DeForest Kelley: "How should I know? I'm an actor, not a doctor." (a commercial for Trivial Pursuit)
  • Star Trek t-shirt: "Dammit Jim, I'm not a doctor, I just play one on TV" [66]
  • Dr. Helena Russell: "I'm a doctor, John, not a miracle worker!" (Space: 1999)
  • Wreck-Gar: "I'm a doctor, not a forklift." (Transformers)
  • HK-47: "Dammit master, I am an assassin droid, not a dictionary!" (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic)
  • Todo 360: "I am a techno-service droid, not a butler droid!" (Star Wars: The Clone Wars)
  • Ace Ventura: "For God sake, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a pool man." (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective)
  • Malaka: "Dammit man, I'm a doctor, not an English teacher!" (Dragonball Abridged; episode 12)
  • Dr. Carson Beckett: "I'm a medical doctor, not a bloody fighter pilot!" (Stargate Atlantis)
  • Dr. Doppler: "Dang it, Jim, I'm an astronomer, not a doctor! I mean, I am a doctor, but I'm not that kind of doctor." (Treasure Planet)
  • Will Smith (to William Shatner): "Dammit, Jim, I'm a black boy from Philly, not a doctor!" (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
  • Zoolander's father: "Dammit, Derek, I'm a coal miner, not a professional film or television actor." (Zoolander)
  • McCoy: "Forget it. I'm a doctor, not a patsy." (Family Guy)
  • William Shatner: "Dammit, I'm a doctor, not a... oh!" (Saturday Night Live)
  • Leotard Buns McCorduroy: "Dammit Gym, I'm a doctor not a... on my way sir!" Sev Trek currently available at Star Trek Minutiae
  • Nita: "Sker', I'm a wizard, not an engineer!" (Wizards at War)
  • On the TV series Unfabulous, Principal Brandywine uses lines that follow the pattern of, "This is school [or name of a school-related object or place], not a/an/the [event, time, place or object unrelated to school]!", or "You're a middle school student, not [a famous person who does what the student is doing]!", or "I'm a middle school principal, not a doctor [or other jobs outside school]!"
  • An elderly man, when inquired about potions: "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker. Ask someone else!" (Final Fantasy IX)
  • Marvin (the manic depressive robot in the motion picture of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) after being told to "freeze", states: "I'm a robot, not a refrigerator."
  • In the animated TV series X-Men: Evolution episode 7, "Storm", a mutant with weather altering powers, says "I'm a weather witch, not a snowplough!"
  • Stranded with four others on a deserted planet in "a Donner party situation," McCoy says, "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a–" then is interrupted by the others saying "–a cannibal, yes, we know, we know." McCoy then lowers his head and asks himself, "Am I really that predictable?" (Robot Chicken)
  • At one point in the Nintendo Wii video game Trauma Center: New Blood, surgeon Valerie Blaylock says "We're doctors, not diplomats!"
  • In Spider-Man 3, when asked about the mysterious black substance shown him, Peter Parker's science professor remarks, "What do you want me to do? I'm a physicist, not a biologist."
  • On the television series Eleventh Hour episode 11 Dr. Jacob Hood, trapped with his handler in a freezer remarks, "I'm a scientist not MacGyver, shoot the door".
  • Dr. McCoy (voiced by Frank Welker): "Darn it Yakko, I'm a doctor not a magician." (Animaniacs)
  • Robot running soda fountain: "I am a robot, not a miracle worker." (SpongeBob SquarePants)
  • Miss Tutweiller: "I am an educator, not a warden!" (The Suite Life on Deck)
  • Dr. Valsh, in response to Phil Wenneck's request for directions: "I'm a doctor, not a tour guide." (The Hangover)
  • Fred: "I'm not a resistance fighter, I'm a doctor." (V: The Final Battle)
  • Taran: "I'm a warrior, not a pig keeper." (The Black Cauldron)
  • Tailor "I'm a clothier, not a doctor." (Schlock Mercenary)
  • Jean Valjean: "This is a factory, not a circus!"" (Les Misérables)
  • Doctor Preston: "I'm a doctor, not a dealer." (Fallout 3)
  • Ambassador Dennis Crocker: "Damn it, I'm an ambassador, not a doctor!" (Fallout: New Vegas)
  • In a sketch depicting every episode of Star Trek, by comedy group the Frantics, McCoy says, "I'm a doctor, not a physician."
  • In the "Do No Harm" episode of Lost, during a flashback, Jack Shephard confides in his father before his wedding that he is having difficulty writing his vows, to which Christian Shephard responds with "you're a doctor, not a writer." This is a reference to the famous catch phrase of Doctor McCoy.
  • Gordon Freeman: "I'm a doctor, not a... normal doctor!" (Freeman's Mind)
  • Beerus: "I'm a Destroyer God, not a babysitter!" (Dragon Ball Super: Broly)
  • Centorea Shianus: "I'm a knight, not a packhorse." (Monster Musume)

See also[]

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