SNL's Greatest Moment #71

Something that aired on E! Entertainment a long while back (hence the old copy). This is the alleged 71st Funniest Thing ever done on SNL, the infamous William Shatner goes to a Trek convention bit. I upload it here cause, well, I'm in it. THIS clip officially coronates me as THE Number One Trekker of All Time. Hoo yah ;)
I posted it once before and it got pulled, so I'm trying the trick of reversing the image to escape the youtube bots who check for these things. Enjoy

[@deborahblackvideoediting8697]

I've been an avid Star Trek fan for most of my life. I absolutely love Star Trek! This skit had me laughing hysterically when I first saw it, it's just so funny. It really surprised me later to learn that many people took it personally and felt offended.

[@maryr6237]

Agree.. it's funny 🤣

[@Satoshi9801]

I was at Phoenix Comic Fest last May, which Mr. Shatner attended, and an audience member asked him if he could re-enact this. He said no, because in recent years he has come to realize that every sentinent being on this planet has a life, whether you like it or not.

[@hobbygamer6220]

thank you for sharing ! I've loooong said that

[@hobbygamer6220]

he REALLY ALSO should have said/added what he said in one of his books it was comedy...

[@CUStudioFilms]

That's very true, and pretty obvious. That's like saying I'm typing this as I type this LOL.

[@robd1329]

Boooooo

[@borderlands10]

He'd still probably sign a picture with the phrase "Get a Life" if you asked, since it's probably a lot more difficult to reenact an old skit than it is to sign the punchline.

[@jeffreyriley8742]

I still think of "You've taken a fun job I did as a lark for a few years and turned it into a colossal waste of time!" from time to time.

[@georgealexander141]

Same here, dude. LOL

[@spaceflight1019]

From a financial perspective, this "waste of time" has proven to be wildly profitable. It's my belief that the Marvel Multiverse wouldn't be nearly as successful as it has become if not for fans like those of Star Trek.

[@jeffreyriley8742]

@@spaceflight1019 Oh, I know. I'm a huge TOS fan. I just think the joke is funny and I love Shatner.

[@spaceflight1019]

@@jeffreyriley8742 , this ep was on back when I'd record it on VHS and watch it Sunday morning. It was a ROTFL moment indeed. But this ep began with Shatner doing Ollie North to the song of "The Mute Marine", a take-off on "The Ballad of the Green Beret". Too bad Kirk never met Quark, who would tell him how profitable this franchise has been over the years.

[@tammylewis2408]

And now he has gone where no Trekkie has gone before--in Jeff Bezos phallic rocket ship!!! I watched the launch and landing, and he was awestruck (kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKTXdWeqftqFq6s).

[@greekpapi]

I remember this skit, it was funny and as a Trekkie myself, I never took it seriously, it was all in good nature.

[@alucard624]

It's still funny, but also so true in regards to certain fans of the franchise as well as other fantasy and sci fi shows and movies. These are the type who can't separate fantasy from reality and frankly they're just a little off as far as I'm concerned. You still see these types at cons even today but not as much now thanks to pretty much all the stuff that was considered geeky and nerdy now in the mainstream.

[@hobbygamer6220]

theres NOTHING FICTIONAL about star trek !

[@HoldenNY22]

I was a Big Star Trek Fan. Because of that Skit, I never went to a Star Trek Convention in my life which I now Regret. I am sure that many of the Other Star Trek Actors and Actresses who were not as fortunate in their Careers as Shatner after Star Trek and maybe make a good amount of their income from the Conventions were also pretty pissed at Shatner as well for helping to kill the Golden Goose.

[@Manx123]

Probably would have been better for you had you taken it seriously.

[@michaelbarlow6610]

The William Shatner attending a Star Trek Convention sketch on SNL in 1986 should be ranked in the Top 10 SNL moments of all-time not #71. Although Shatner received a lot of criticism from many Star Trek fans after that famous 1986 appearance on SNL, he was absolutely right when he said to the fans of Star Trek, "Get a life!" and "It's just a TV show damnit, it's just a TV show!". Although Star Trek was and will always remain a much better and greater TV show than most of the garbage shows shown on TV throughout the history of television, Star Trek fans have gone too far in their ridiculous worship of and obsession with the show! You can completely understand why Shatner said in that sketch, "You've turned a little job I did for a few years as a lark into a colossal waste of time!".

[@trekkeruss]

Many if not most people have some kind of obsession that others might not get. I could say the same about sports fans, for example; some take games way too seriously, and worship players to the extent of buying shoes for ungodly amounts of money.

[@michaelbarlow6610]

@@trekkeruss . I agree that many sports fans do take sports WAY too seriously! You have to question the mental state of "fans" of NFL pro football teams who go to games wearing football helmets and/or painting their faces the color of their teams' uniforms!

[@WilliamPitcher]

Shatner has said he actually was pretty fed up with Trek at the time. He credits Patrick Stewart with changing his perspective on the fandom. That conversation took place when Shatner interviewed Stewart for a Trek special.

[@MGSBigBoss77]

+William Pitcher Yeah this classic SNL sketch happened around 85/86 right?! so it was around the time of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (a box office hit in terms of huge money and draw). So i find it so ironic he was fed up, as 3 years later into 1989 he directed the next trek movie ST:5 and whatnot.

[@AtotehZ]

+MGSBigBoss77 There's a difference between enjoying what you do and producing something you think has value as entertainment and then to catering to people who blow things way out of proportion. They call themselves fans, but a real fan understands where fiction and reality is different. He could also have decided to act overbearing and be false to who he is, but how would that be better?

[@NameCallingIsWeak]

I think this was 1990/1991

[@alucard624]

It around 1991 when the 25th anniversary of the franchise took place. This was a brilliant skit and summed up quite a few members of the Star Trek fandom in general for many years before conventions and such went mainstream in the last 20 years or so. Lots of basement dweller types were in full force at these cons back then and would ask stupid crap like what Dana Carvey's character did in real life to the cast. I could totally understand Shatner getting fed up with Star Trek in general at that point, but I was glad he decided to embrace being known as Capt. Kirk years later and just go with it. His book "Get A Life" is hilarious and worth reading.

[@spaceflight1019]

It's in the same realm as Leonard Nimoy disliking Spock badly enough to have his death written into Wrath of Khan, only to have enjoyed it so much that they had to undo it.

[@LIBREPUB]

I love Star Trek in all forms and that sketch is hilarious, I can laugh at myself for being a nerd. Shatner is a master comedian. Airplane II too.

[@DarkManX16]

This skit applies Soo much to wrestling fans nowadays

[@johnjriggsarchery2457]

This would be a normal person talking to a 2020's young person and especially whose best friend or "girlfriend" is an AI chatbot.

[@grawakendream8980]

the whole world evolved into that convention. shatner was bringing them reality, but it was too much to bear

[@Chris-dz3rs]

If I ever meet him ,I'll gladly tell him "GET A LIFE" was comic gold .Saw it with a few buds when it was re-run a few years later and we all loved it. Sci-fi needs to laugh at itself on occasion.

[@josephballerini3730]

Didn’t show the best part. Jon lovitz looking at the floor.

[@gabrielrodriguez7131]

thank goodness i’m metalhead sports fan 🤘🏽⚽️⚾️ 🏈

[@stephensmith4025]

I wanna see the actual skit. Not some nobody’s telling me their opinions of it.

[@wardragonprime]

It's somewhere in Google.

[@gkprivate433]

Galaxy Quest......

[@frnkbooth6871]

50 years on, Shatner probably finally realizes the issues they deal with in the episodes are timeless. Racism, war, elitism, humanity, love. The core issues are timeless. Every society has them at some point. Mostly, we as a species have not evolved.

[@ThunderAppeal]

The fact that this skit can be hardly found on youtube is one of the reasons why I wont watch SNL anymore, in addition to them not being funny anymore.

[@hobbygamer6220]

when were they ever ? 😒

[@ThunderAppeal]

@@hobbygamer6220 Intermitently to be honest.

[@Kornknealious]

After reading his biographies, I understood his frustration with Trek and the fans at the time. I remember watching that episode. I got excited when he said he might gain some new fans and lose some old ones later in the show. He gained a newfound respect from me that day... n ot that it waned ..just grew bigger appreciation for the man

[@krismurphy7711]

He never bitched about the money from ALL the movies.

[@halleck3]

Man, the other 70 must've been pretty incredible....

[@randypanthegoatboy7114]

This is what Christopher Reeve would be saying to most of the Man of Steel haters if he was alive today.

[@Neville60001]

+RandyPantheGoatBoy: Indeed. Heck, even Sigel & Shuster would be saying this.

[@misfitdanzig8152]

Or Robert Downey Jr to marvel dorks.

[@joehonsberger2804]

Sir, this is a Wendy's.

[@ibnbattuta1304]

I remember seeing Patrick Stewart at a con in the late 80's. He probably wanted to say the same thing when he saw us! 😂

[@Experiment632]

Hopefully William Shatner comes across a magical ticket like from the film "Last Action Hero", get pulled into the world of Star Trek, and meets Captain James T. Kirk for real. Mr. Shatner would've been absolutely speechless as he realized that his fans were right and Star Trek wasn't just a TV show. Captain Kirk on the other hand would immediately assume Martia from "Undiscovered Country" somehow survived getting vaporized and proceed to beat him into submission for nearly getting him and Bones killed.

[@a.n.a.critters328]

Well....it comes with the territory of Fame. I think it's funny. But, some people are so obsessed.....I can see where they would be offended... especially coming from "Captain Kirk".

[@spaceflight1019]

"Space is disease and danger wrapped in darkness and silence!" Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Star Trek 2009.

[@robotpanda77]

It is a snl sketch, Shatner didnt write it at all.

[@sugarjoe50]

Sad but true, Shatner was right!!

[@JazzKeyboardist1]

Natalie portman did a similar star wars thing on snl

[@MerkinMuffly]

Should be #3

[@videoholicreturns]

I wondered why this was backwards!!! I posted a few clips from SNL long long ago on KZbin, and they got yanked in ONE day...NBC didn't like that!! Hopefully this will stay up for awhile!

[@jak4470]

This is basically how Hasbro feels in the MLP episode Fame And Misfortune.

[@jakestoys2209]

It would be nice to find this skit in it's entirety

[@xg6hpyk]

The full skit used to be on KZbin but it has since disappeared

[@SamWesting]

Stories about the SNL skit offending Trekkies are exaggerated. It was an obvious joke. And back in ‘86 when there was no e-commerce, conventions were the main venue to purchase memorabilia & merch. Hardcore fans would simply not miss the shows that came to their town.

[@raigekiman]

They should do a similar skit with the bronies

[@GeorgiaRattlesnake]

Yes!!!!!

[@gregwhitworth8046]

Totally agreed!

[@PerseusToons]

THANK YOU!!!!

[@Gravydog316]

+Greg canales oh god no. please no.

[@WegraX]

Get Lauren Faust to do it too

[@serigraph73]

I saw this episode of SNL when it aired...SO damn funny. Shatner's other skits were pretty good, too. *SPOILER ALERT* I liked the one were he and his wife were to go to a dinner party and she is getting ready and he just keeps standing in front of a mirror in his boxers admiring himself, and she finally gets all done and ready to go, and they leave for the party with him in his boxers...lol.

[@mickib1592]

I wouldn't be surprised if this skit was the inspiration for "Galaxy Quest", which, on a list of most popular ST movies, was number 7!!! 🖖

[@Ckom-Tunes]

Thing is, when he was ‘between jobs’ back there after Trek it wasn’t pretty. I went to a car show where he was sitting behind a little table (where he must have had a BP of 220/199 because he was redder than a cherry tomato) signing autographs for Two bucks a pop for any fan who accidentally showed up! It’s nice to see that he had a massive turnaround though…

[@calvinlong1265]

Sorry, but that SNL skit changed how I viewed Shatner. I'm not as much of a fan now because of it.

[@johnbowman1076]

He covered himself a bit... Said this was the "Bad Kirk" from that episode when his personality split and there were two of him running around on the Enterprise.

[@thesoundofonemanlaughing]

Is this (the original clip) anywhere else at all? I can't find it, at least on youtube.

[@2OldGeeksTalking]

It was a time when you could say whatever and not worry about offending some niche group.

[@rossjones8426]

I hope when they finally create a warpdrive ship and they have a ceremony for the crew they play footage of this SNL sketch of Shatner telling them to get a life it's just a TV show 😆

[@robd1329]

I can Never stop laughing whenever i see this video!

[@jrbisc99]

The full video is on Dailymotion

[@codeoptimizationware2803]

@jrbisc99: Man, you win the Internet, the entire Internet, forever! Billions and billions of thanks, man! I'd been looking for that for years! You rule the galactic-quadrant! hehehehehehehehe

[@tonywebster8582]

moron alert!

[@Kajehart]

I was laughing hysterically at that skit cause I was 22 and just like that, sadly! Lol! And I knew it at the time! I would buy this skit if I could! It's still hilarious to this day!

[@erinwalker711]

This was exactly my thoughts!🤣😂😅

[@chris55529]

Can't you just show the fucking skit?

[@krismurphy7711]

Well....WHAT WAS THE COMBINATION???!!!

[@mikeelek9713]

It's aggravating that SNL has never made this clip available. This is a funny skit. A co-worker who was a big Trekkie remarked at the time, "You know, some of us didn't think that was funny."

[@freemind360]

It was very good that ws did that!

[@VG-iq8xq]

Don’t mess with the TJ Hooker fans! 🤣🤣

[@maryr6237]

I think the skit is funny... Lighten up geeks.

[@joes0406]

Fck having to go backwards because of KZbin.

[@sideburn260]

This was legend.

[@thetaytheist]

And no one listened to his advice.

[@av8r500]

What the hell was the number one funniest?????

[@randypanthegoatboy7114]

"The global warming cultists are the new Trekkies." Oh, my God, that comment was so stupid, I think it gave me brain damage.

[@halleck3]

Yep. There are these sad right wingers (and some left, to be fair) whose goal in life is to post political stuff on non-political videos. Like, you'll go to a video on Mike Tyson fights and there they are, crying about Obama. It's pretty pathetic.

[@jackdavis8596]

halleck3 Very good point. A video of Austin Powers II where the President says "this is 1969 that amount of money ($100 billion) doesn't even exist," brought a number of comments about how the government has robbed us by massively inflating the money supply. In fact, there was well over $100 billion in circulation then; I commented that it was a comedy not a documentary.

[@halleck3]

Jack Davis Right? I guess I can see people bitching on a news story about W. Bush being an idiot, or Obama lying about something, but who are these sad folks who feel the need to drag politics into everything?

[@BareBandSubscription]

+halleck3 Let's be truly fair, here. There's no "some" with either side. Both sides of any given issue or political or social ideology is always equally and presently obnoxious on the internet. Always. For every guy crying about socialism, there's someone getting bent out of shape over rape culture or homophobia because somebody made a passing comment about sex or called somebody a cunt.

[@SeaJay_Oceans]

Happy 50th Anniversary to the greatest show since Flash Gordon, Only Warehouse 13 captured the Sense of Endless Wonder feeling that ST:TOS inspired in children everywhere.

[@theunknown4570]

Wheres the full damn skit??? Cant find it on here.

[@michaelbarlow6610]

@ Neil Tipton. Many years ago, the full 1986 SNL sketch with Shatner attending a mock Star Trek Convention was on KZbin. I guess that they had to remove it from KZbin because whoever uploaded it onto KZbin was in violation of NBC's copyright/ownership rights.

[@TRuRudboi]

Hey the climate at the time was just right for this skit. Im sure some feelings were hurt, but W. Shatner is a god. And does not hide behind a gated compound shut off from the world, he embraces his role and shares with the world. This is what an American icon looks and acts like.

[@Disgruntledgamer]

CANADIAN ICON

[@youtubeistryingtocensorme]

The climate. You mean social media didn’t exist

[@LucysPop]

This was the last time SNL was funny.

[@tomdalton4293]

The years with Andy Samberg, Will Forte, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig etc were good, other than that, you are right

[@davidblah-7215]

Backwards much?

[@jeremystear201]

This skit was hillarious. Why is SNL not allowing this clip to air? Its been removed from his 1986 episode on peacock i cant find it anywhere wtf!?!?

[@CUStudioFilms]

You've probably answered this already but you could you give a timestamp in the Description so that we know who you are, so we can help you be more famous LOL :)

[@artdeco64]

I remember seeing this live. And if I remember correctly it’s the same episode when Shatner did, The Mute Marine. Have to go back over thirty years to find an SNL that had two very funny skits in the same episode.

[@DrUtube3333]

Can someone up load the actual sketch please???????????????????

[@DrUtube3333]

Thanks.....Live Long and Prosper.............

[@toAdmiller]

There's a reason there are so many "Trekkies"...it's because Gene always intended Star Trek to be a "morality play" about humanity in general...it just happened to be set in the future to appeal to sci-fi fans. The reason why it "resonates" with so many is that they want to believe that in the future, where equality and justice prevail over bigotry, misogyny, marginalization, and xenophobia...humanity has ultimately been able to overcome its biases and worked towards true humanism and by extension, alienism...and that has mass appeal to the more enlightened...

[@toAdmiller]

@MrHoppers002 It's a good start...

[@tonywebster8582]

@MrHoppers002 Have they discovered a cure for nymphomania?

[@paulya1269]

This was a classic. If you want another funny convention bit, look up Triumph the insult dog at the Star Wars convention. You will not be disappointed.

[@ADAMSIXTIES]

Actually the good sketch on SNL was the one with John Belushi as the Shat. But that was circa 78 and SNL has sucked so bad since then.

[@thesnare100]

Kissed a girl? There are female Star Trek fans too

[@MK-qr8uw]

He was asking a male that question

[@thesnare100]

@@MK-qr8uw I know, but the message/implication seems to be star trek fan are losers who can't get a girl- some couples even have star trek themed weddings!

[@craigf7628]

Does anyone know why SNL won’t upload the skit?

[@j2times2006]

These jagoff comics they got to comment on here suck.

[@jamesbonnen]

SHatner is still crazy, check out him on the pyramid playing it by himself

[@marcparella]

It's lonely being the only Promise Butter Fan.

[@rossjones8426]

35 years later and Star Trek physics is closer to reality.

[@hobbygamer6220]

COME ON WHERE IS THAT BLEEPIN CLIP ?!!!

[@danholio4322]

Did someone film this with a potato??

[@kiereluurs1243]

Watch Galaxy Quest!

[@JazzKeyboardist1]

nbc reran the get a life skit last week

[@henrywallacesghost5883]

Star Trek: The Voyage Home is still the best Star Trek film.

[@Shapes_Quality_Control]

“Captain! There be whales here!” :D

[@Manx123]

I’m a Star Trek fan, and I become less so every time I watch this skit because fandom is clearly a waste of one’s life.

[@hawkstringfellow]

I would never dress up I have never been to a convention

[@tonywebster8582]

Does the basement have a window?

[@diahanncarroll9567]

Love this skit

[@hydenao_enche7137]

1:12

[@honestperson6280]

This was aired in 1986 and was the last funny sketch on "Saturday Night Live"!

[@MrJacMac1968]

That line inspired David Mirkin to call his zany Tv series from 1990 -1992 ,starring Chris Elliot, Get A Life.Chris Elliot played a hopeless nerd idiot who didn’t have any particular direction in his life not unlike some sci fi nerds.

[@tjmullin2909]

Where is this actual skit!?!

[@willemachternaam690]

on youtubr: "Star Trek Convention - Saturday Night Live"

[@craigf7628]

@@willemachternaam690 I searched that it’s not on KZbin

[@willemachternaam690]

@@craigf7628 its the first hit with those keywords. goes to youtube/ watch?v=Rqb4V9GxaBo

[@teslavee5176]

Unfortunately those people are violent.

[@itiswhatitaintanditaintwha1427]

Why is the image reversed?

[@SpreadingtheMuse]

KZbin robots are constantly scouring all uploaded videos looking for copyrighted images. this was uploaded before in regular format and was identified and removed. Reversing the image confuses the bots.

[@spikespa5208]

It's not so much KZbin's hammer as NBC's (Comcast). Almost as ruthless as Disney.

[@tonywebster8582]

@@SpreadingtheMuse In that case, let's just turn it upside down.

[@letsdothisshiat1162]

because being disrespectful to the fans that made you a billionaire is completely ok

[@tonywebster8582]

@MrHoppers002 I know. I once asked what the range of his guns!

[@Johnongonteen]

The global warming cultists are the new Trekkies