Once again we take a look at Star Trek in the zeitgeist. This week a Great Links favorite, The Big Bang Theory, returned for a new Season, with tons of Star Trek fun. We have details below, plus ISS Astronauts talking to Vulcans, the return of "THIS IS A DISASTER!", Starships as Anime characters, and much more, including the latest Trek ref on Colbert Report.
Big Bang Treks Again (and Again)
The nerds at the CBS Sitcom Big Bang Theory kicked off their third season this week, and of course they started off with some Trek references. The set up for the episode was that the gang had just come back from an arctic science expedition, where they had all grown huge beards. All except Sheldon, who grew a very Mirror Spock-looking beard which was no accident according to a tweet by show co-creator Bill Prady. In addition the episode had multiple references to Shelden’s "Vulcan hearing". And there was even a reference to the new Star Trek movie, see the clip by clicking on the image below (opens new window)
CLICK IMAGE to see Star Trek movie reference on BBT
And that is just part of the links between Trek and Big Bang for the week. This week Wil Wheaton is actually shooting his guest spot on the nerdy show. He has been tweeting and blogging about it as well. No details on the episode, but over the weekend exec producer Prady sent out the following request via Twitter:
Klingons — need an mp3 file with correct pronunciation of: bortaS bIr jablu’DI’ reH QaQqu’ nay’
He later tweeted that he got it worked out. Prady also, by request, posted this pic today from the writers room:
Spock keeps an eye on the BBT writers
Space Station Opens A Channel With Vulcan
Yesterday NASA and the Canadian Space Agency held a very special event in Vulcan. That is the town of Vulcan, Alberta, Canada, where they gathered more than 700 students for a live Q&A with astronauts on the International Space Station. And of course, they couldn’t help themselves but make a reference to Star Trek’s Vulcans. Here is an excerpt from a report on the event from The Calgary Herald
"To all the students, we encourage you to dream dreams, build an educational foundation under your dreams, and who knows, some day your dreams may come true," Thirsk told students during the 20-minute live broadcast that was also transmitted to schools across the province.
With a wry smile, Thirsk added, "live long and prosper" as his fellow astronauts Frank DeWinne, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott made the iconic Star Trek Vulcan hand sign while floating behind him.
Vulcans talk to space station
This Is A Disaster: The Column – takes a look at Trek sequel
If you have been with TrekMovie for a while, you may remember back in 2008 when that in the comments section on an article about a Star Trek Cake, one of the community members made a sarcastic post opening with "THIS IS A DISASTER", as a mock nitpick post. Unfortunately some in the media mistook that for a real comment, and used it to make fun of Star Trek fans, including the site io9. Since then "THIS IS A DISASTER" has been a bit of a meme here at TrekMovie, with fans poking fun at their nitpicky selves, but over at io9, they have turned it into a regular "This is a Disaster!" column, mostly full of sarcastic Photoshopped images based on the latest news. One of the things this week’s column deals with, is the news that JJ Abrams is looking to do a modern allegory for the
next Star Trek movie, possibly dealing with torture. Here is what they came up with…
The next Trek – it’s a disaster!
Images of the Week: Starships as Anime characters
Singapore anime fan and blogger Jonathan Wong asks the question, "What if Starships were Anime characters?". And he answered the question with some anime/ship hybrids from Star Wars and the new Star Trek movie.
Did this need to be done?
More Linkies:
Here are some more Star Trek related links from the last week
- io9, who just love to do lists, cite Trek in a couple of their latest: "Best Robot Bodies To Load Your Body Into" and "10 Best Space Cases"
- Speaking of lists, the scores for Motion Picture and Wrath of Khan are both on Total SciFi’s list of Best Scores, but Star Wars tops the list
- Last Thursday, Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report had another subtle Trek reference in segment about mind reading soldiers, using an image of Deanna Troi
Loved the Big Bang Theory Trek reference.
i never heard CBS Sitcom Big Bang Theory kicked off their third season this week? it was on tv or what?
And I thought the Narada was sexy before….
I loved the Trek references in Big Bang Theory. I especially loved it when Penny mentioned the new Star Trek movie. It was a great episode!
As soon as I saw Sheldon’s Mirror-Spock beard, I knew EXACTLY what it was from! That show would be funny even without the Trek references, but of course that just makes it funnier!
And clearly I’m showing my nerdish leanings, but I kind of thought Mirror-Spock-bearded-Sheldon was cute!
Please, please ,please, let’s all get together and outlaw this anime s@#t! That crap is poorly drawn, stupid dung. Childish garbage, let the asians keep that junk and quit spending your money on it!!!
I feel Sheldon’s pain, though not too strongly, since I’m going to see Star Trek for the 6th time in IMAX this weekend. BWAHAHAHA, suffer!!
Stephen Colbert is a stupid bastard but anything involving Deanna Troi is good.
The Japanese never fail to amaze me. And that’s not always a good thing.
I hope the next Trek movie is NOT about torture. Torture plot lines are incredibly numerous and it would be hard to top BSG with a better one. Let’s move on. Besides Pike was tortured in the last movie and I got it: bad guys torture.
How about a movie where, for the first time, a planet’s inhabitant’s have to act together in a selfless manner to overcome an environmental catastrophe? Just a thought. Ok, please don’t start fighting over whether climate change is the result of human activity! ;-) Lol.
I heard promo for other CBS shows, and I keep my ears open for ads for BBT…. I throught it started next week…..
I would still like to see James Crawley from Phase 2 do an episode of BBT. That episode would write it self..
Those anime starships are hilarious.
anyone want to get their hands on the enterprises “ample nacelles,” pardon the engineering parlance
Sheldon, you are the lucky one.
I wish I have not see JJ’s Nightmare named star trek (only in name).
It is odd that the BBT writers have the “nerd” characters miss the new film.
yes, they were on arctic science expedition (great way of not talking about the new film on the show), but why not have them see the new film before coming home (especially the character of Sheldon who seems like he would go right after the arctic science expedition).
I don’t think BBT will have references of the new movie in the future or one of the characters (more likely Sheldon) not like the new film.
the other side:
http://villageidiotsavant.blogspot.com/2009/05/bright-and-shiny-crap.html
This is NOT a disaster! The Narada is TOTALLY HOT!
The Enterprise is just cute.
Out of fairness, the Star Wars anime people look just as bad, if not worse.
Hmmm … maybe I should start watching Big Bang Theory.
Wow, so much anger from Trek fans toward anime/manga. I’m surprised considering how much the Japanese otaku love Trek. Star Trek references in anime date back all the way to the early-to-mid eighties with easter eggs in episodes of ‘The Dirty Pair’ and other shows.
Why can’t fans of one thing be fans of other things?
Anime is fun!
So happy that Big Bang Theory is back!
The Big Bang Theory is the best! Maybe JJ will go on a future episode? I also thought of Spock in the Mirror Episode when I saw Sheldon’s beard :o)
The Narada chick’s dress is freakin’ awesome. xD
8. izmunuti…
‘How about a movie where, for the first time, a planet’s inhabitant’s have to act together in a selfless manner to overcome an environmental catastrophe? Just a thought.’
Yeah and a bad one, too. People surely pay money to see THAT.
‘[…] I got it: bad guys torture.’
Bad guys AND Americans. It hurts to look into the mirror, doesn’t it?
I’m with Al Ghouti…
A movie where, for the first time, a planet’s inhabitant’s have to act together in a selfless manner to overcome an environmental catastrophe? I’m in it for the epic space battles, that’s all.
While the new movie was fun, I’d be happy if the next movie had more plot and less senseless action (i.e. stuck in the coolant pipes). But then again, I’m just an old guy who actually likes intricate plots and subplots and not just watching people run around trying to save themselves/team/world/universe from distruction for two hours.
Love BBT. I put the kids to bed early so the wife and I could watch the season premiere.
If you have not seen “Big Bang Theory”… get off your tuckus. I started getting the episodes via Netflix a few weeks ago and have been laughing my head off. It is fantastic.
The animefied ships are nice. :o
I like those anime ships….they’re exciting.
Gotta say the anime Narada is hot.
Come to think of it, anime Narada gives off a Blackarachnia-esque vibe.
io9.com has stolen our meme – THIS IS A DISASTER!!!!!
(now I feel like some cake… mmmm… continuity-inaccurate cake….)
BTW, # 16 Barking Alien – not all of us hate anime!
So JJ is thinking the American kind of not letting you get your 8 hours a night of sleep or the kind the bad guys have done, remember the be-heading’s, with removing tongues and poping eye balls out of their heads. If you want the American kind just get married. the other kind is the real stuff.
But remember with tech toys you can make them experience so gory stuff. If they do the gory stuff then your going down the path that Gene Roddenberry would have never even let to think of let alone right a sentence about on his paper with his money.
Gene did not want the thought of War, or really any harm to be tought of for his beautiful world of the future. And he hoped that humanity would grow out of those evils and become friends and pals. He visioned the Klingons (aka Russians) doing all the evil pain and harm to civilians. And federation people where like the military so they were willing to give their life up to protect the Happy homemakers.
I know some will want to talk horror and pain, but Gene would not have liked it and as Gene would say, please mature or go play in your sand box with your plastic G.I. Joe’s because you do not belong here or is that way of thinking or desired here.
That has been a summary of the 4 stories I’ve herd or read about Gene’s dislike for Evil and Horror in his works. But he did portray things like that but only as cartoon like acts.
I hope people express how Gene would have reacted to the inclusion of horror and pain in what he created. So please forward the dislike of those ideas by what the Great Bird of the Galaxy would have said and felt.
I know that may sound like a Liberal voice but thats how I feel Gene would have felt. Just ask Shatner, Nimoy, Coon or anyone that was around him when not at work.
As for Anime to me it seems like childish, but it can present many creative thoughts and visions that can open up closed minds to new ways of thinking.
It still makes me think that the presentation is ment for younger child like minds, but I guess thats the side effect of never really getting into them as a kid. Comic books were that way with me also, but I have read some just not many.
Anime reminds me of the soulless “Pokemon” cartoons and games my kids obsess over, and “Speed Racer,” which I watched as a kid.
The animation is clearly aimed at very young children: Those sensitive big shiny eyes are there simply to make the characters less threatening to pre-teens and toddlers.
I guess it’s become a “style” in itself these days. But, in my opinion, if we’re going to celebrate dead animation styles, let’s go back to Chuck Jones and the old WB cartoons (Bugs/Daffy, etc). THAT was quality.
#29—“So JJ is thinking the American kind of not letting you get your 8 hours a night of sleep or the kind the bad guys have done, remember the be-heading’s, with removing tongues and poping eye balls out of their heads. If you want the American kind just get married. the other kind is the real stuff.”
As much as it is would seem difficult to argue that position, as obviously Justice-Department approved interrogation tactics in the war on terror are not what generally comes to most people’s minds when they hear the term “torture”, there were also actions carried out which were NOT approved by the JD, such as threatening terror suspects with a power drill or staging mock executions. Such acts are beneath our nation’s professed values…whether the suspects are US citizens or otherwise.
I think it’s dangerous to get into “degrees of torture”. As a combat veteran United States Marine, I find such actions to be shameful…and using the excuse that “well, the bad guys are doing it” doesn’t fly with this leatherneck.
By all means, eradicate their financial and logistical infastructures, and kill as many of them as possible on the battlefield (as unconventional as it is)…for those who are willing to be taken prisoner, gather evidence *without* torture, try them by military tribunal and convict them of conspiracy, mass murder, etc., sentence them to visit Allah, let them exhaust their appeals, and then fill them full of lethal chemicals or subject them to a firing squad (like the German soldiers committing acts of terror out of uniform in the Ardennes Forest in 1944). With those for whom enough evidence is not present, release them and keep tabs on them until they screw up again, and then kill them too…
As for a Star Trek allegory regarding torture, we’ve already seen that as far back as the 2nd and 3rd seasons of TOS…but if the writers can come up with something which will actually propel those on both sides of the issue to ask questions of their own beliefs (the sign of a truly good Star Trek allegory), then by all means…
Just tell me a good story. But don’t insult my intelligence by preaching to me or imposing one factional political belief or another upon me as an audience member. A good allegory recognizes the merits of both sides of an issue and presents them equitably, allowing the audience to draw its own conclusions, or hopefully, gain a better understanding of a differing point of view.
#31—“…let’s go back to Chuck Jones and the old WB cartoons (Bugs/Daffy, etc). THAT was quality.”
You said a mouthful there! I agree.
I like anime . I collect DVD’s and statues from several anime series. Those hybrid starship/anime girls are pretty creative.
Please no environmental issues in the next film. I’m sick of being hit over the head with it: in film, TV, the news, and (as a teacher) the curriculum. There are other issues in the world today, including ones that traditional Trek wouldn’t touch with the proverbial ten-foot barge pole such as religion (yes I know a lot was done in DS9, and very well). Other issues could be the problem of fading powers US/UK/Russia (not so much fading as new guys coming through) finding a place in a changing world (I know this was touched on in ST6), Immigration (the single BIG DEAL of our time whether you are in the US, EU, or UK – OK, I’m British but separatist), economic collapse…I could go on.
I have stated in previous posts that I believe that Roddenberry’s vision can shine through brightest when his universe is up the proverbial creek without the proverbial paddle, and that’s what I want to see.
God, I haven’t seen Chloe the psychic in FOREVER! lmao
C’mon, anime is LAME! And the above “ships” are the lamest yet!
I think those anime starship girls broke my brain.
I’m still deciding whether that’s in a good way or not. :)
@6, 31: I’m don’t really like anime at all, but I wouldn’t single-handedly dismiss it either.
I’d guess it’s like rap, or country music, or Impressionism, or any other form of expression: it can encompass everything from total brilliance to utter crap.
I’m totally digging the animeified Narada, but the Enterprise one just doesn’t seem to fit. I guess it makes sense, since the Enterprise was a new ship and all, it still doesn’t jive with me.
But I do hope that the next movie doesn’t do torture or anything like that. Why not have the crew get caught in the middle of some big event where the lines between good and bad are blurred?
I love Big Bang Theory! I love all the Star Trek and other geeky references.
If they do an environmental subplot, it should somehow get Carol Marcus involved and her early projects that evolve into project Genesis. Some one a week or so mentioned Protomatter. Perhaps we learn in the next movie that protomatter is used in many things until a severe accident leads to a rescue mission that Enterprise takes part in and leads to the substance being banned?
Kawaiiprise! ^_^