Star Trek Convention - Saturday Night Live

[@lukematthews1442]

"Get a life!" *_sees how much people will pay for autographs_* "Star Trek means so much to me! It's so inspiring! I love you all!"

[@Ozymandias1]

This skit really pissed off Trekkers back then. Of course the next year they got Star Trek: The Next Generation so they soon forgot about this.

[@AliFareedMC]

​@Ozymandias1 😂😂😂😂 Speaking of nerds short span of attention lol

[@christhorton6512]

Classic. I saw this when it first aired and I laughed my head off. And yes, I was an avid Trekkie at the time and went to conventions. This is funny because it is not too far from the truth!

[@JiFan]

Haha omg.. you actually went?? I am a hardcore trekkie but the worst is simply spending $50 on a Spock figure.. Well, two pieces xD

[@ProjectFlashlight612]

Appropriate for this subject

[@LadyVoldemort]

I wish something like these happen in my small city. 😅 I'd like to meet some local fellow weirdos...

[@christopherthorkon3997]

I went to some conventions and quite frankly not far from the truth. Like you, I saw it when it first aired and I laughed my head off.

[@tonywebster8582]

@@LadyVoldemort Star trek conventions, like porn conventions happen regularly.

[@BladeRunner-td8be]

Never missed a show as a kid. Out of all the T.V. shows I watched in my life of 63 years, Star Trek had the most impact and influence in my life. Even though he was reading from cue cards, Shatner's performance was top-notch here. Dana's feel for what his character should be like is fine tuned and hilarious. He is playing a pre-adolescent and pulling it off brilliantly at his age then of 31 years. Fun sketch. Cheers

[@daniel-vn4ql]

You can tell shatner meant every word of what he said.

[@D.D.-ud9zt]

It shocking how many people aren't realizing this was a satirical show. Almost certainly there was truth in how he felt if he wrote that material himself, but I'm sure it was only partly that abrasive.

[@justiceriser8970]

​@D.D.-ud9zt I think some of the sketch were actually made by the host themselves

[@Yaris510]

"Move out of your parents' basements" - nice to see Shatner, a famously pompous actor, sending himself up in this brilliant (and savage) sketch (and I speak as a huge fan of Star Trek, the original series)

[@JiFan]

Hahaha.. "He's dead, Jim!" would be an awesome single

[@Voy2378]

Warp 11 has song called It's Dead Jim

[@SHaughom]

Warp11 is awesome and very underrated. 🔊

[@FlyinZX10R]

I’ve met William Shatner, (handshake), rode with george takei in an elevator at a Star Trek convention, talked with majel Barrett at a convention. Also met Michael Dorn and hung out with him where I worked in the aviation field. He was volunteering his time to fly a doctor and nurse around to help kids with cancer. He didn’t want to talk Star Trek too much but when I mentioned I knew some of the aircraft he owned etc (i saw him on discovery wings) he became the most friendly person. I was showing him one of our very expensive private jets. We were sitting in the cockpit together and in my mind I was imagining we were on board a shuttle together. I waved to him as I was helping guide his plane out and he gave me the old style romulan chest salute. So I got a little Star Trek out of it lol

[@smithryansmith]

This skit was actually the mainstream origin of the insults "get a life" and "move out of your parents' basement". They later became commonplace but both basically started here.

[@ExiledStardust]

Nah. Both were common before this skit aired.

[@smithryansmith]

@@ExiledStardust thats why I said "mainstream"

[@Mike--Oxmall]

Thats completely made up, kids were saying it years before then.

[@smithryansmith]

@@Mike--Oxmall cite your source.

[@Mike--Oxmall]

@@smithryansmith Being old, also after googling its been in the dictionary since at least 1983.

[@M1tjakaramazov]

Love it how he shows him the Contract, and he immediately changes his tune… 😂

[@ArbyRadio]

Interesting that you can see Dana Carvey beginning to make the base of the character Garth here, with almost the exact voice and feel for the way the character would eventually be. This episode was filmed in December of '86, while the Garth character appears for the first time just over a year later, in '89. Just add the blonde wig, grunge look and some drum sticks and he's there!

[@berczigabor]

"This episode was filmed in December of '86, while the Garth character appears for the first time just over a year later, in '89" - I'm wondering which two of those three years were banned to make that life span only over a year long

[@liverman9000]

Garth was also based on his brother who could apparently fix anything

[@mustafa1name]

@@berczigabor No Stairway. Denied

[@mikomikomiko3947]

Our fandom forefathers, I salute them.

[@zsedcftglkjh]

Best skit on SNL. They've done some good ones that have come close, but this is the best in my opinion.

[@goutvols103]

Maybe but the one where Dan Aykroyd played Jimmy Carter at Three Mile Island was great.

[@josefdubisar5115]

That's totally brilliant. I love Shatner, there's just something about that man.

[@ComicBookGuy420]

As someone who attended more than a few conventions before it became so mainstream, this is accurate

[@BerMaster5000]

Actually "The Enemy Within" was episode 5 and in that very same episode the "Evil" Kirk was too animal-like for such an intricate speech. They more likely meant to reference episode 33 Mirror, Mirror (or 34 if you count "The Cage")

[@willscomix]

The Skeptical Nerd In episode 2F09 when Itchy plays Scratchy's skeleton like a xylophone, he strikes the same rib twice in succession, yet he produces two clearly different tones. I mean, what are we to believe, that this is some sort of a magic xylophone or something? Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder.

[@BerMaster5000]

Will Neill Haha, you know us too well...

[@KrystalLake]

The Skeptical Nerd -- Right now, I love you like Nurse Chapel loves Spock: In an illogical human way that is surely unrequited. You are awesome.

[@BerMaster5000]

Krystal Lake Thank you. You have, indeed, made my day.

[@foolishswami3186]

The Skeptical Nerd GET A FUCKING LIFE.

[@MarvinFalz]

Shatner knows how to do comedy.

[@commentfreely5443]

what was the combination?

[@tonywebster8582]

He sure does!

[@TheBayzent]

He is like this IRL.

[@hannibalburgers477]

He was hilarious in Loaded Weapon

[@ComicBookGuy420]

@@hannibalburgers477 and sinister, yet somehow funny on the Indian Detective

[@ThomasTVP]

One of the greatest SNL skits ever.

[@michaelmuldowney8]

“That Mare had a foal” ? 35 years on still one on SNL funniest show sketches..

[@dougmaclennan8654]

Kevin Nealon. The number of horses on the ranch. The questioning and reaction from him. In my Top 5 All Time for the show.

[@Iomhar]

There actually EXISTS a single with a song He's Dead Jim on it.

[@blueskybelyr]

What's funny is that Star Trek basically started the concept of a collective 'fandom', and today conventions for every type of media rake in billions every year. 'Nerd culture' is so mainstream now. I get this is a skit but it threw so many people under the bus that run the entertainment industry now.

[@Chase_1734]

Funny thing is, this is exactly how William Shatner viewed the fandom and still does

[@prodevus]

@@Chase_1734 Didn’t he change his mind later? He wrote a whole book about feeling guilty about this skit.

[@Chase_1734]

@@prodevus didn’t actually know that so maybe, yeah

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

I think when Shatner learned that half the nerds in basements he was calling out actually work in places like NASA or silicon valley, he may have twigged that the Trekkies are the ones building the world... In the Federations image... :)

[@limitlesssky3050]

@@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV nerds that work in NASA and Silicon Valley don't live in someone's basement except their own. And they probably work their asses off in college instead of wasting their time and money on conventions.

[@Holdington]

Finally on youtube!

[@H76Pro]

Shatner is the best!

[@themysteriouscatperson9483]

polite critique The jealousy thing, that’s fine, probably true, but the funeral thing wasn’t his fault, he was doing a charity thing, there’s were no flights, literally what was he supposed to do, beam there?

[@passiton3801]

Brill, that was so close to the truth. Live long an prosper!......

[@daveshaw2342]

The brilliant william shatner

[@whiskeredcrocodile]

I'm one of those people who gives my colleagues a Vulcan salute when leaving work. Every day. Nobody gets it 😆

[@jamessolly3030]

I personally think this was one of the best sketches they ever did!

[@keithoakes7648]

I know this was just a very good comedy sketch & it has me in stitches every time I see it, but I can't help but wonder if he has ever felt like saying that for real at one of those conventions? What he said about trekkies & their obsession with the show is probably very close to the truth. I like Star Trek as much as anyone else, but it is just a TV show, not a way of life! The late Leonard Nimoy even stated that many of fans at these conventions are a bit "out there". Either way, William Shatner was great in this & it's good to see someone who is able to poke fun at himself. I know he loves his fans really, so that added to the amusement.

[@foljs5858]

+Keith Oakes """but I can't help but wonder if he has ever felt like saying that for real at one of those conventions?""" You wonder that? Of course he has. He is an actor, he played a role. He could not give less fucks for Star Trek 20 and 30 years after if not for the money involved.

[@StalKalle]

True. But he changed his mind about that later and became a big fans himself in later years.

[@jasonmullinder]

I find myself being put off things I really enjoy by listening to other fans, be it TV, movies, movies or books. The little inside group things just turns into reminders of religious groups and cults I got caught up in

[@tonywebster8582]

@@StalKalle He wouldn't turn up at a convention, if he wasn't paid.

[@jenshep1720]

part of that is that people who just genuinely like a show didnt travel to conventions back then, just the people who were way too much into it did. what also has to be remembered is, that back then it was still pretty common to shame people for being nerds, while today its mainstream. meaning, the actors perception of the fans at these conventions might have been negatively colored because of biases that existed at the time, regardless of whether the people at these conventions were actually "a bit out there" or not.

[@dannydaw59]

The guy running the convention probably said you won't get paid until you apologize.

[@jesuslovesyou4398]

I felt sorry for Jon Lovitz. He had never kissed a girl

[@tonywebster8582]

Excuse me this is his first trip out of his basement. Chicks hate dark places.

[@pattykuvshin]

Trekkies are my favorite kind of nerd 😊😘❤

[@didierradio]

When I first saw this, 20 years ago (online), somehow I didnt hear the laughing or I do not know, but I remember exactly, I thought it was real and that Bill Shatner is quite mean :DDDD

[@zakksscifilogs7458]

I thought it was real too, til just now

[@thetruth7614]

His is exactly what Kirk would think.

[@Priestofgoddess]

Even more about our society in general and our politicians specifically.

[@kikik.6118]

Shattner got it nailed! ^^

[@sknfmsmr]

He's talking directly to us. Ouch. Now i'm offended. But fortunately i know how to cheer up I'll watch TOS again

[@Super_Cool_Guy]

*He has a point you know !!* 😅

[@stevenbaxter9099]

William shatner biting the hand that feeds

[@jjakes5589]

I found that very amusing. I never realised for many years that his capabilities as an actor went so far into comedy. The much later life and very popular series he was in on TV was the first time i heard of his comedy.

[@BenWillock]

Pfft, "Errand of Mercy" was episode 26, not episode 51. Boy, I really hope someone got fired for that blunder.

[@Charon.1]

Wellll, don't start a trivia war you can't win. The host says she was turned into a cube and crushed, which is what happens in the actual episode 51, "By Any Other Name". So my guess is, they did their proper research, but then swapped the title for another one that was less clunky to say. I'm not a virgin, I swear!

[@wMTF2]

4:04 To ALL the Star Wars fans who send death threats to the cast and crew of the new movies.

[@herbertontop]

can you stfu disney fucked star wars in the ass that’s why i’m watching star trek

[@Friendlyneighborhoodguy]

Yes I hate the new star wars actors

[@Black-White-BW1]

@@Friendlyneighborhoodguy 😂 but seriously death treats aren’t cool.

[@TokyoXtreme]

They aren’t sending death threats, but we are meant to think they did.

[@MarcZERO1980]

On the Itchy and Scratchy CD-ROM, is there a way out of the dungeon without using the wizard key?

[@Charon.1]

"What the hell are you talking about?"

[@eitanp1]

Star trek was never just another show ❤

[@benjaminjohnspencer1864]

Jim Downey over the PA in the beginning announcing DeForest Kelley’s book :) and Shatner making fun of himself by changing his tune after looking at the money he gets for appearing at the convention. Classic stuff

[@MuttleyVonErich00]

Hands up if you're here becauase of Rod Roddenberry being in the news this week feeling salty.

[@mjspice100]

I haven’t seen this for a long time but it’s as funny now as ever. It’s no secret that some of the principle actors had a love/hate relationship with Star Trek, they found themselves unemployable and type cast after the series ended. James Doohan for instance kept finding himself being cast as a Scotsman, he had a talent for mimicking accents but they only wanted a Scotsman. They were quite unprepared for the cult status of the show (which was essentially a short lived low budget production) and the devotion of the fans, they grew to like and embrace it, of course they were paid for appearances, why not? They have to live. James Doohan acknowledged that Star Trek gave him opportunities that he wouldn’t have otherwise had and was quite touched when fans said they went into engineering because of Scotty. So I’m sure they must’ve gone through the “go get a life phase” but they learned to live with it and eventually to live it...

[@limitlesssky3050]

Well I am sure for the first half of their lives, they think Star Trek is just a short lived low budget low rating science fiction show, so to see some of the fans to be so obsessed over such a short lived show probably irks them.

[@davegoldspink5354]

😂🤣😂 Totally spot on simply a bunch of sad individuals. 😂🤣😂👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 Got to love William Shatner “GET A LIFE”

[@JJ-jt4ji]

A true classic

[@andrewomahony9260]

The part where the producer is shoving the contract in his face is priceless :D:D

[@Irishgirl7]

Brilliant!!

[@misscalming166]

I’d kill to go to a Star Trek convention bro trekkies are like an elusive rare species now bruh

[@HansDelbruck53]

That must be Shatner's fluffiest toupee. I'll bet even Alan Brady didn't have that one in his collection.

[@The.Last.Guitar.Hero.]

This is why Shatner is a legend doing stuff like this

[@paulrichter2863]

I’ve watched this sketch enough times that I know that the episode he was re-enacting was “The Enemy Within”.

[@jomon723]

RIP Phil 💖

[@arnelarboleda2870]

Is this always played in every star trek convention? You know as a disclaimer.

[@WASPdaddy]

sense of humour,... nice :) dont tell him I have everything released on VHS, what do I do with it all??? Time for Ebay i think...

[@ruthcarter1360]

Is there any intelligent life forms out there? Warp speed. Beam me up. Captain Kirk to bridge "get a Life" cracked me up...🤣💫✨👽👽

[@Knickerson]

It took a while but studio finally cashed in on the fandom and Hollywood learned their lesson. From Comic-Con to Marvel Studios to Comic-Con to Disney to Comic-Con

[@pedropinheiroaugusto3220]

"GET A LIFE!"

[@samuelbarber4154]

Just to nerd out here, Enemy Within was episode 6.

[@kesjoffe1212]

Pretty sure Enemy Within was episode 5, but even if he got the name of the episode (Mirror, Mirror) right, that was episode 33, not 37. Wow, I really do sound like I should have been in that skit.

[@JSYBen]

The irony of all this is that the SNL writers who wrote this speech for Shatner were probably the biggest Star Trek nerds there ever were. So as much as Star Trek fans were pissed off at the time about this, it was friendly fire at the end of the day :D

[@mmarzett]

It's just a TV show, damnit! It's just a TV SHOW!

[@Sledgeh101]

My mom used to tell me "Get out of your parent's basement and grow the hell up!". Thanks, mom...

[@jpgrumbach8562]

'There is a whole world out there'. Now after ca. 70 years tv not true anymore. Just a recycled reality. But besides, the best treatment about conventions might be 'galaxy quest'.

[@brendankeenanFF]

Top 3 all time for SNL.

[@andrewsmactips]

Yes, you in the back. Yeah, what’s the deal with that Rocket Man song you did?

[@dcarter3921]

Spot on ;)

[@PlumbobMillionaire]

Still better than The Big Bang Theory

[@JiFan]

Defo! That pretentious POS could never even compare in intellect to the TOS!

[@fruitcake4t]

which wouldn't be hard

[@ProjectFlashlight612]

The Bataan Death March was better than The Big Bang Theory

[@darrengriffin8609]

Bill Shatner was in The Big Bang theory. So screw you nerds. 🖕

[@notsure1277]

A memorable skit worth rewatching regularly over the years. But if he had really been impersonating Captain Kirk, then he would have stood his ground and hit them with the "no blah blah blah" speech...and walked out.

[@cloverfield911]

Galaxy Quest

[@jadentrez]

SNL also did a good send up of Game of Thrones fans.

[@lordomiotek]

i wish we couldve seen mcoys hit single

[@Alex-oc5ug]

Harry potter at 4.38🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@reneastle8447]

Robert Smigel and Jon Vitti wrote this sketch.

[@misscalming166]

Shatner like- apologised for this skit or another, cause without the fans/cons he’d probably be homeless- bro was living in a truck after Star Trek got cancelled lol. Also I’ve heard an array of personal experiences meeting him and he’s 92 going to cons to this day and taking the time to talk to fans so he really does seem to care to some extent.

[@migliorstore4780]

Hey, boys! Go make some difference somewhere and leave me alone!

[@TeternalGIone]

LOL

[@willgillies5670]

"it was By Any Other Name, not Errand of Mercy!" I say with no hint of self awareness, Star Trek fanboy trying to correct a SNL sketch about weirdess of Star Trek fanboy!

[@scottyunitedboy2925]

This might be the actual moment where any future criticism of Shatner becomes irrelevant and he ascends to cultural icon status

[@zeke1mikey1]

There hasn't been a true ST Convention in more than 20 years!

[@jesuslovesyou4398]

What does "I Grock Spock" mean?

[@notsure1277]

Grok is a reference to a Heinlein novel.

[@EveryoneWhoUsesThisTV]

He's wearing my Grok spock T-shirt!! Nice!

[@fastestcat]

Its so funny to me that no one mentions ""Galaxy Quest" which clearly must stem from that SNL skit?

[@midnightlumina7]

"Touch Grass"

[@himwiththehair8118]

Did this air before or after Galaxy Quest came out?

[@TokyoJoe703]

04:05

[@ideas5663]

Hilarious...

[@b3r3n12]

that cut like a bat'leth..

[@michaelsadlo4632]

Great Bill Shatner, he have really alot of Humor, he was joking about hisself, he really play himself, i adore Star Trek, i am a hardcore Trekkie, but what he said its true, its just a TV Show, the nerds there at this kind of conventions are to fanatic and analize every scenes of TOS, they cannot return in reality, Star Trek Universe with all spin offs, except DISCO, is wonderful and i love it, i have so much merchendise, uniforms, ship models, Phasers,.... But after i watch a Star Trek movie or a TV Show, i turn off the TV and be back in the real World. Young people and older Trekkies too, live and enjoy your life, never forget Star Trek, i will never forget it, its a part of my life, but just a part, there are alot of Real topics and problems at daily life, Star Trek is a wonderful Sifi fairy tail, but its just a fairy tale, when the TV Show is over, i think a little bit about it, but then i return back to reality. Thanks alot for uploading, its super funny, Bill was much younger that time, nice to see him. Live long and prosper 🖖 Regards from Vienna, Austria 🇦🇹

[@vadl9947]

hes right

[@Jefff72]

Us Star Wars nerds are not like that. We are cool because we are in tune with the Force. "Pulls out plastic lightsaber." jk

[@vilentman111]

This hurt me

[@Terkzorr]

What is a funny sketch here is reality on those Minecraft conventions today...

[@IntyMichael]

Every generation has it's own nerds.

[@cakestalker]

There are Minecraft conventions?

[@IntyMichael]

There are conventions for everything and everyone nowadays. :-)

[@tonywebster8582]

@@IntyMichael Including porn ones!

[@questomontisanto4745]

Haha is that the dude from Wayne's World? Can't remember his name for the life of me...

[@SpectacularLeigh]

+Questo Montisanto yeah dude, it is. I hope this satisfied your query from a month ago.

[@Scorp308]

Dana Carvey aka Garth.

[@labanyadatta251]

that's Dana Carvey

[@Boahemaa]

so SNL said it before Bill Maher! This is the truth!

[@misterpeachy2213]

It’s sad how SNL comedy isn’t like the SNL comedy that was back in the “80s” and “90s” because of how comedy is these days 😞

[@huongtranthanh5608]

did dana carvey fail the spock salute

[@serpenthydra]

Methinks the promoter reminded Shatner of his fee...

[@noluckst2]

Still relevant.

[@nicholasjanke3476]

Very funny sketch! I suppose now Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Carl Urban have taken on the convention circuit for the original series characters.