The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise

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Actor John Belushi made fun of the way William Shatner played character Captain Kirk (Shatner shown in the picture) from Star Trek: The Original Series.[1]

"The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise" is a comedy routine. It was first shown during episode 22 of the first season of Saturday Night Live on May 29, 1976. The routine is twelve minutes long. It was written by Michael O'Donoghue consulting with actor John Belushi. They included a realistic model of the USS Enterprise bridge from the TV show Star Trek. Dress rehearsal was hard. The writer was not sure if Belushi would be able to do a good parody of William Shatner's performance as Captain Kirk. The routine was a success. O'Donoghue immediately congratulated Belushi after his performance.[2]

The sketch became an instant classic hit among Star Trek fans and science fiction fans. The 1977 book Saturday Night Live included a copy of a note from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry where he called the comedic bit "delicious".[3][4] The routine was released on a 1985 Saturday Night Live videotape that combined The Best of John Belushi. It was released again with the same title in DVD format in 2011.

Reviews[change | change source]

In his book Metapop, author Michael Dunne called the comedic bit one of the most famous scenes from Saturday Night Live.[5] The Chicago Sun-Times called it a really intelligent parody of Star Trek.[2] Huffpost TV called it one of "the most famous parodies" of Star Trek.[6] The A.V. Club said the sketch was really well-done comedy.[7]

The New Yorker movie critic Anthony Lane wrote that Belushi did a perfect acting job.[8] The Hollywood Reporter interviewed Tom Hanks and Elliott Gould in 2015. Gould called the sketch a favorite. Hanks said it was one of the top five best of all time.[9] Rolling Stone ranked every Saturday Night Live cast member by talent in 2015, and John Belushi was placed at number one. Rolling Stone said the Captain Kirk parody was one of Belushi's best.[10]

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ Pascale, Anthony (May 29, 2010). "Flashback to May 29, 1976 – Watch SNL's "The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise" Skit". TrekMovie.com. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jevens, Darel (October 16, 2005). "The un-'wired' Belushi". Chicago Sun-Times.
  3. ↑ Chaires, Robert H.; Chilton, Bradley Stewart, eds. (2004). Star Trek Visions of Law and Justice. Law, Crime and Corrections. University of North Texas Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0966808025.
  4. ↑ Joseph, Paul; Carton, Sharon (1992). "The Law of the Federation: Images of Law, Lawyers, and the Legal System in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'". Toledo Law Review. 24: 43.
  5. ↑ Dunne, Michael (1992). Metapop: Self-referentiality in Contemporary American Popular Culture. Studies in Popular Culture. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0878055487.
  6. ↑ Keller, Richard (July 18, 2008). "Star Trek: the television parodies – VIDEOS". Huffpost TV. Archived from the original on October 8, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  7. ↑ Dyess-Nugent, Phil (October 20, 2013). "'Buck Henry'/'Elliott Gould'". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on February 19, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  8. ↑ Lane, Anthony (May 20, 2013). "The Current Cinema: Only Human – 'Star Trek Into Darkness' and 'Stories We Tell.'". The New Yorker. Vol. 89, no. 14. ISSN 0028-792X. OCLC 320541675. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  9. ↑ Hunt, Stacey Wilson (February 11, 2015). "'SNL' Five-Timers Club: Justin Timberlake, Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks Share Wild and Crazy Tales of TV's Toughest Gig". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 10, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  10. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (February 11, 2015). "'Saturday Night Live': All 141 Cast Members Ranked - 1. John Belushi". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.

Other websites[change | change source]

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