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.
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.
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.
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.[2]
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. [3]
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.
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.
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. [6]
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". [7]
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. [8]
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. [10]
In 2016, the National Labor Relations Board used Spock and the plot of "Amok Time" to clarify a point about labor law. [11]
In 2025, a court cited "Ode to Spot" from TNG: "Schisms" when ruling on whether an AI could be granted authorship of artwork. [12]
A 2018 Polaris Slingshot car with custom modifications in tribute to Star Trek: Discovery was put up for auction. [13]
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. [14] The allusions to Star Trek in this advertisement were later confirmed to be intentional. [15] The group's website also confirmed their terminology regarding a captain and admiral to be inspired by Star Trek. [16]
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. [17]
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.
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")
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)
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)
