Star Trek
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Star Trek was a 20th & 21st Century phenomenon created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960's. It was a landmark show in that it was the first science fiction television show to market itself to adults, not just children. Known for its social themes, it masked current social commentary in sci-fi storylines. The Original Series, as it later was called, spawned a series of movies and four spin-offs.[1] In the 2200s, the cast reunited for musical specials, with the exception of Scotty who was replaced by a character named Welshie.
Philip J. Fry is a fan of the series and its spin-offs, but Star Trek is banned from Earth by the 31st Century. The show was banned after the Star Trek Wars. By the 23rd Century, Star Trek fandom had evolved to a full-blown religion. As country after country fell under its influence, world leaders felt threatened by its power. And so, Trekkies were executed in the manner most befitting virgins, by being thrown into a volcano. The original 79 episodes and 6 movies (along with the blooper reel where the door doesn't close all the way) were sent into space and dumped onto the forbidden world, Omega III.
In the 28th Century, the heads of the original cast, except for Leonard Nimoy, took off into space because the people of Earth no longer appreciated them. Sometime beforehand, the tapes of Star Trek fell into the hands of Melllvar. Melllvar also found the ship that contained the heads of the original cast members. He gave them back their bodies and made them recreate episodes of the show. [2]
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[edit] References
- Many of the music and sound effects, especially the automatic doors, from various episodes are taken from Star Trek.
[edit] Season 1
- Fry's narration is a parody of the opening narration that appeared in both Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) and Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG). The "Space: The Final Frontier..." becomes "Space: It seems to go on and on forever...".
"Love's Labours Lost in Space"
- Zapp Brannigan is introduced in this episode. He is a broad parody of Captain James T. Kirk.
- Brannigan's Law is the DOOP equivalent to Starfleet's Prime Directive.
- In DS9: "If Wishes Were Horses", baseball is revealed to be a nearly extinct sport in the Star Trek universe. One could extrapolate it could turn into something like blernsball by the 31st Century.
- Star Trek has a history of leaders not being what they seem, such as in TOS: "The Return of the Archons".
- The title is a reference to A Fistful of Dollars and which was in turn changed to "Fistful of Datas" in TNG's sixth season.
- Moving large objects is also tackled in TNG: "Deja Q".
[edit] Season 2
- DOOP is explicitly compared to the United Federation of Planets (even though Star Trek is considered taboo). Also, the "Neutral Zone" in which its headquarters are located may be a reference to the Neutral Zone between the Romulans and the Federation.
- When the Planet Express Ship comes into the new station, a riff on the theme of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9) can be heard.
- The laser Zapp uses to cut the ribbon has settings of "Stun", "Kill" and "Hyperdeath™", a reference to phasers from the Star Trek universe.
"Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?"
- The entire episode, particularly the ritual arena combat between Fry and Zoidberg, has close correlations with TOS: "Amok Time".
- When Zoidberg asks Amy to take the rubber bands off his claws (in a somewhat sexy manner), Amy's retort is "Fool me 7 times, shame on you. Fool me 8 or more times, shame on me." This line is a reference to a line in TOS: "Friday's Child".
- The national anthem of Decapod 10 is the same music heard during the fight scene between Kirk and Spock from "Amok Time".
- Several elements in this episode, such as Decapodian mating season and the ritualistic battle to the death also mirror plot details from that particular Star Trek episode. Also the traditional Vulcan weapon used in the kal-if-fee, the ahn-woon, is shown as one of the weapons Fry can choose from.
- Claw-Plach also sounds a lot like "Qa'pla", the Klingon word for "Success."
- Flexo's Goatee is a parody of TOS: "Mirror, Mirror" where the Spock from a parallel universe has a beard.
- Captain Muskie's introduction music is a musical cue from the Original Series. His appearance and chair are based on that of Christopher Pike from "The Menagerie" parts I and II.
- It is revealed that the Planet Express ship moves in a manner similar to Trek's warp drives.
- The Professor shows Cubert a Universal Translator device, which unfortunately only translates to an "incomprehensible, dead language". Cubert says hello to the translator to test it, to which the translator responds, "Bonjour!" This could imply that the French language no longer exists in the Futurama timeline (despite being used on several occasions). Many Trek fans have wondered why French Captain Jean-Luc Picard sounds so unequivocally British.
- Bender's announcement that "in the event of an emergency, my ass can be used as a flotation device" is a reference to the movie Star Trek: Insurrection, in which Data says "in the event of a water landing, I have been designed to serve as a flotation device" upon resurfacing in a lake.
- The title references TOS: "The Trouble With Tribbles", in which it is discovered that the trouble with tribbles is their astronomical reproductive rate.
- Roddenberries are a reference to creator Gene Roddenberry.
- Nichelle Nichols has a cameo as herself.
- Gangs of savage children and adolescents are found throughout science fiction, including TOS: "Miri".
[edit] Season 3
- The Femputer is similar in appearance to Landru from TOS: "Return of the Archons".
- One could argue that the Trill symbionts are parasites that make their hosts better.
- In DS9: "One Little Ship", a runabout is reduced in size and features miniature versions of several cast members.
- Leela's logical paradox mirrors that which Captain Kirk puts to the alternate Mr. Spock in TOS: "Mirror, Mirror".
"The Day the Earth Stood Stupid"
- "The Civilization of Space Rome," one of the planets Hermes says was destroyed, could be a reference to TOS: "Bread and Circuses".
- The film Star Trek: The Pepsi Generation is nominated for an Oscar; this is a reference to the Star Trek fan film, Star Trek: The Pepsi Generation. It is also more simply references Star Trek: The Next Generation and a famous marketing campaign by Pepsico.
- Music remiscent of the theme to Star Trek is heard as Zapp and Kif's ship, the Nimbus, is onscreen.
- Bender lands at "Fisherman's Worf", renamed after the Star Trek: The Next Generation character Worf.
- There is an OldTREK-vs-NewTREK.web chat room. Two Trekkies are (illegally) arguing whether TOS or TNG is the better series. The TOS fan claims Kirk could kick Picard's ass. The TNG fan argues that at least Picard could admit he was bald.
- In DS9: "If Wishes Were Horses", baseball is revealed to be a nearly extinct sport in the Star Trek universe. One could extrapolate it could turn into something like blernsball by the 31st Century.
- The Blernsball Hall of Fame exhibit to honor "players who broke the various color barriers", shows a green alien, a purple alien, and the half black and half white alien from TOS: "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield".
- According to DS9: "Little Green Men", Quark and other Ferengi are responsible for the crash in Roswell, NM.
- This:
Bender: But why would God think in binary? Unless ... you're not God, but the remains of a computerised space probe that collided with God.
references Star Trek: The Motion Picture, in which a massive and powerful, albeit emotionally immature alien intelligence, was found to be human technology that had been found, modified with extremely advanced technology, and sent back.
"God": That seems probable. - Star Trek V: The Final Frontier posits the concept of a being godlike in power that is nonetheless not God as humans conceive of it, i.e. not the creator of the universe, nor in fact good.
[edit] Season 4
- The HoloShed (and its frequent malfunctions turning holograms "real") are parodies of the holodeck from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Among the holographs who become rampant are Professor Moriarty, Attila the Hun, Jack the Ripper and an evil version of Abraham Lincoln.
- Professor Moriarty actually "came alive" in TNG: "Elementary, My Dear Data".
- TOS: "Wolf in the Fold" purports Jack the Ripper was an evil alien entity.
- TOS: "The Savage Curtain" features aliens pitting some of history's most iconic heroes (including Lincoln) against its most hated villains (including Genghis Khan, but not Attila the Hun).
- The sick bay scene is a parody of that from Star Trek: The Original Series, complete with sound effects. The sign references a creature from the series called a Horta, which gives severe acid burns. The sick bay's doctor is an obvious parody of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, and is named "Veins" in a deleted scene.
- The computer on the Warden's desk appears similar to the personal computers used in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- On Embassy Row, Zoidberg runs past the Neutral Planet embassy, the Klingon Embassy, and the Globetrotter Homeworld Embassy.
"Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles"
- The plot of TNG: "Rascals" includes several members of the Enterprise-D crew reverting to younger versions of themselves.
"Where No Fan Has Gone Before"
- This episode included voice cameos by the stars of the Original Series, except two. DeForest Kelley, had already passed away before the episode was made. James Doohan refused to appear as Scotty, which is why they replaced him with Welshie.
- Jonathan Frakes has a cameo as himself.
- Fry's casket is jettisoned into space in a similar fashion to Spock's in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
- In arguably the worst episode of The Original Series, "Spock's Brain", the crew spends the entire episode searching for Mr. Spock's brain which has been stolen by aliens.
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ [Trek] Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki
- ↑ "Where No Fan Has Gone Before"
