Once again the venerable NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live has taken on Star Trek. Last night’s episode featured a sketch poking fun at the latest Star Trek prequel on Paramount+.
SNL: Starcharter Andromeda
NBC describes the “Star Trek spinoff” thusly:
In this Star Trek prequel, a spaceship’s crew has a hard time dealing with two dramatic crewmates (Carey Mulligan, Mikey Day).
It features guest host Carey Mulligan and SNL’s Carey Day as two entitled rich kids “from a small expensive Starfleet Academy” who don’t cope well when the ship “USS Andromeda” faces a crisis. The sketch also takes a swipe at Paramount+ branding.
SNL has a long history with Trek
It’s been a few years since SNL has taken on the Star Trek franchise. Over 46 seasons the series has done around a dozen Star Trek-related spoofs, including some featuring actual stars from the Trek franchise. The first sketch titled “The Last Voyage of the Enterprise” is a classic from SNL’s first season, featuring the late John Belushi as Captain Kirk, Chevy Chase as Mr. Spock, and Dan Aykroyd as Dr. McCoy as they face their greatest threat… cancellation by NBC.
The most recent SNL Trek sketch came four years ago when Chris Pine hosted, playing a dancing Captain Kirk in a “lost episode” of Star Trek. Eagle-eyed fans will spot SNL production designer Akira Yoshimura as Sulu in both sketches
Find more fun Great Star Trek Links.
Well. This was funny. But. A little truth there to a spoiled generation. Lol. The Airlock was the best part. He he.
Agreed. The acting was better than I would have expected as well.
It’s Carey Mulligan, for God’s sake.
The guy to her left in the Youtube thumbnail put in the best performance. Sorry, don’t know his name.
Mikey Day
I’ve watched the clip a few more times. He does a great job.
And also perhaps to Star Trek fans ;)
The network that has Peacock as their streamer can’t criticize Paramount+ branding 😂
Nimbus III resident… share your pain, and gain strength from the sharing.
Well, good peacock to you too.
Shockingly, the spoof uniforms were better than the real Discovery season 1-3 uniforms (I’m referring to the uniforms most of the SNL bridge crew wore, not the TNG-style uniforms the two snowflakes sported).
I actually am not sure if the joke was intentional, but there were about 4 or more uniform designs in the one scene. Either they were short on “sci-fi”/Trek spoof uniforms, or they were poking fun at the indecision of Trek, especially modern Trek, in sticking with a design. I counted the following:
-Captain wearing kind of a take on the TWOK-TUC movie uniforms. Different color but has the breast flap.
-A more DS9-ish and later TNG movie uniform, with a grey shoulder but blue tunic, and colored undershirt.
-A classic TNG styled uniform that the snowflakes are wearing.
-A TOS style uniform worn by at least one alien crewmember in the background.
-A lower cut neckline uniform, worn by one of the female officers, thats maybe somewhat evocative of Counselor Troi’s earlier duds
Intentional joke or unintentional costuming shortages? You decide.
I’m gonna go with the intention, it is hilariousss to me how many uniforms Starfleet sports at a given time. I finally finished Lower Decks, and I just found it so odd that Titan has the Dominion War style uniforms while Cerritos has the newer seeming yet more TNG era throwback marching band uniforms
I’m going with unintentional. I don’t believe for one second the SNL writers know that much about Trek. They don’t know that much about anything, actually.
SNL been spoofing the franchise for decades, usually get details right
I think it was intentional, given the “cleavage” uniform evocative of Troi. That one seemed to be produced specifically for the actress.
I think you are all giving too much credit to SNL. They haven’t been clever enough to notice any of that lately.
You need your eyes checked.
Just not very funny and the humor didn’t really relate to Star Trek like past skits have.
Agreed, felt they spent more money for less effect than past skits.
Well, it was a parody of snowflake culture more than Star Trek. Star Trek just happened to be the context.
Snowflake culture? what is that?
Snowflake culture: younger generation that get offended too easily. I have three on them in my house. It’s funny how true this skit was. I have been accused of a “toxic culture” and “gaslighting” when I am just being a normal parent. Boy do I wish I had an airlock in my house sometimes.
This made me laugh. Thanks.
Feel bad for you VZX. I guess I should feel lucky in that my kid has never exhibited that silliness. At least to me!
Maybe they are onto something and your “old ways” are in fact toxic and damaging and you should try to understand and respect your children? Prince Philip was a “normal parent” too, and he was vicious. He went to a “normal school” where the children were beat within an inch of their lives. To them, perfectly “normal.” In fact, quite damaging. I’m not accusing you of any of that, but when someone says you’re being toxic, it’s worth a listen, not a put-down for being a “snowflake.” That’s called…gaslighting.
That’s not what gaslighting is. Words have meanings.
+1. The word “gaslighting” is being thrown out so casually it’s lost all meaning. And accusing VZX of Prince Philip levels of “viciousness” is a Grand Canyon-sized leap of logic. Dollars to donuts that his kids aren’t at Gordonstoun.
As a person who has been gaslighted, I have to say….that’s not gaslighting.
I think that is what they were trying to do but it just wasn’t funny. Such things are easily spoofable and SNL writers had yet another fail. Friends of mine have pointed out to me funnier things on TWITTER!
Well… given that in Discovery there was much more melodrama between characters, and it was all about emotion (hurt emotion was even literally driving the whole 3rd season) I would argue that the choice of a setting in a modern Star Trek environment was not accidental.
Excellent point.
It’s also a very good advert to raise awareness of Paramount+, even though it is making fun of it.
The old Belushi one was easily the best of the three. It wasn’t the first season’s best work but it wasn’t too bad. The three clips are a good indication of how bad the show has gotten over the years.
A reminder to not take any of this too seriously.
I wonder if this is the SNL version of advertorial – i.e. they were paid to include this.
Highly unlikely, as SNL is owned by NBC (Disney), which is a competitor of Paramount (ViacomCBS).
It just shows the extent to which Discovery and the other current Star Trek shows have, and have not, entered the zeitgeist. The parody has almost nothing that’s specific to Discovery; it feels as much like ‘90s Trek as anything else. The reference points are just, “Hey, there’s a bunch of new Star Trek shows on Paramount+. You know what Star Trek is like.”
Ummm, NBC is Universal; Disney has ABC.
But yes, point taken. Another casualty of short seasons?
Clearly that’s not the case. :::head shake::: Come on, man.
It’s funny that you use the “come on, man”. That’s a certain person’s go to when they are confused or know they are caught in a falsehood or other such untruth. It’s a tell. Like another person’s Joker cackle.
It’s actually not. That’s not at all what the phrase means. Come on, man.
Sorry, but it is his tell. So you using that phrase, even if it wasn’t your intent, completely torpedoes your own posts.
Terrifyingly accurate….
Chris Pine’s Shatner is terrific.
The Gen Z jokes in this week’s sketch were pretty standard — I think slightly clueless, self-absorbed 18-20-somethings have been part of every generation (not the norm, but not unusual)..
“slightly clueless, self-absorbed 18-20-somethings” have indeed been part of every post-war generation. Just… not to this degree. Even Boomers drove consumerism as a youth culture purely through numbers, but they “knew their place” — aside from protesting being killed in a pointless war.
I actually am not sure if the joke was intentional, but there were about 4 or more uniform designs in the one scene. Either they were short on “sci-fi”/Trek spoof uniforms, or they were poking fun at the indecision of Trek, especially modern Trek, in sticking with a design. I counted the following:
-Captain wearing kind of a take on the TWOK-TUC movie uniforms. Different color but has the breast flap.
-A more DS9-ish and later TNG movie uniform, with a grey shoulder but blue tunic, and colored undershirt.
-A classic TNG styled uniform that the snowflakes are wearing.
-A TOS style uniform worn by at least one alien crewmember in the background.
-A lower cut neckline uniform, worn by one of the female officers, thats maybe somewhat evocative of Counselor Troi’s earlier duds
Intentional joke or unintentional costuming shortages? You decide.
I stopped watching SNL some 6 years ago now. When it got to the point where there were ZERO laughs the entire show (even weekend update stopped getting at least ONE laugh). I did watch two episodes about 4 years ago to see if they got better. There was one funny sketch in the two. An “Under the Dome” parody. But everything else was just groan inducing. The above sketch just cements in my head that my decision to abandon this once good show was indeed the correct one.
SNL is is showing its age.
I stopped watching around season 3 (1977?) Season one was magical and it really swept nation back in the day when most of us received three TV stations. I’m sure I missed some good stuff since then but I hardly laugh when I watch SNL skits these days. This Trek skit wasn’t too bad and I did laugh.
Actually SNL had been unfunny for years already by the time I stopped watching it. To be honest, the only reason I kept watching it was out of respect for what it once was. But even that had limits.
Accurate. Perfect example of spoilt, entitled kids who don’t know a days hard work, unlike their forefathers who sweat blood to put food on the table. Airlock indeed!
Ok Boomer…
Targeting sites set on Discovery! lol. Well done, SNL….and on point!!
Ok, that wasn’t laugh-out-loud hilarious, but I suspect those actively complaining about it “not being funny” are just sore because it touched a nerve & comes across as a personal attack. Subjecting the red shirts to some red pills. Surprisingly based.