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[[Image:|250px|thumb|The Star Trek Logo]] Futurama, being a comedy science fiction TV show, is bound to make references to other science fiction works. One of the most famous science fiction franchise is the Star Trek series which is one the most referenced things in Futurama. Following is a complete list of connections between Futurama and Star Trek.
(Image) : Indicates that it has a picture to the right.
Key:
- TOS : Star Trek: The Original Series
- TAS : Star Trek: The Animated Series
- TNG : Star Trek: The Next Generation
- DS9 : Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- VOY : Star Trek: Voyager
- ENT : Star Trek: Enterprise
- Film : Star Trek films
- Game : Games
Note: Most of the external links go to Memory Alpha, The Star Trek Wiki
Crew
There have been a number of people who work on both Star Trek and Futurama.
Voices
- Leonard Nimoy: He is best known for his role as Spock (Apperances, Director, Writer). He appeared as himself in "Space Pilot 3000", "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" and he cameos in Bender's Big Score (non-speaking).
- George Takei: He is best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu (Apperances, Author). He has voiced himself in "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" and Bender's Game.
- Nichelle Nichols: She is best known for her role as Uhura (Appearances, Author). She appeared as herself in "Anthology of Interest I" and "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".
- Walter Koenig: He is best known for his role as Pavel Chekov (Appearances, Author, Writer). He appeared as himself in "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".
- William Shatner: He is best known for his role as James T. Kirk (Appearances, Other). He appeared as himself in "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".
- Jonathan Frakes: He is best known for his role as William T. Riker (Appearances, Director). He appeared as himself in "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".
- Bumper Robinson: Portrayed unamed Jem'Hadar teenager in "The Abandoned" (DS9). He voices Dwight Conrad in Futurama.
- Sarah Silverman: Portrayed Rain Robinson in episodes "Future's End" (VOY) and "Future's End, Part II" (VOY). She provided the voice of Michelle in Futurama.
- Stephen Hawking: He portrayed himself once and has been mentioned on Star Trek a few times. He voiced himself in "Anthology of Interest I" and The Beast with a Billion Backs.
- Frank Welker: Provided voice of a screaming child Spock in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (Film), additional voices in the Star Trek: Starfleet Academy (Game) series, an "alien creature" in "Nothing Human" (VOY), voices in Star Trek: Starfleet Command - Orion Pirates (Game) and Star Trek: Starfleet Command II - Empires at War (Game). He has done many (namely Nibbler) voices for Futurama.
Other
- David A. Goodman: "Writer" for ENT. He got the job as a writer on ENT because of his writing for the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".
- Tim Simonec: "Conductor" and "Principal Orchestrator" for 2009's Star Trek (Film). He has done some musical work on Futurama as well.
Star Trek in Futurama
Star Trek has appeared in Futurama on many occasions:
Season 1
- In addition to the setting, part of the original concept for the show was that there would be a lot of advanced technology similar to that seen in Star Trek, but it would be constantly malfunctioning. The automatic doors at Applied Cryogenics resemble those in TOS; however, they malfunction when Fry remarks on this similarity.
- The introduction is reminiscent of Star Trek intros in TOS and TNG. "Space: The Final Frontier..." becomes "Space: It seems to go on and on forever...". It also has similar music and voice-over.
- Leonard Nimoy says that he no longer does the Vulcan salute, "Live Long and Prosper".
- It is presumed in this episode it is simply because he has no hands, but the truth behind this statement is seen in the future episode, "Where No Fan Has Gone Before".
- The rows of jars containing heads, with the one jar containing Nimoy's head in front to greet people, is reminiscent of the episode "Return To Tomorrow" (TOS), where the alien minds were preserved in glowing spheres, with Sargon in the one sphere in front.
"The Series Has Landed" (1ACV02)
- We see that Cap'n Crunch is promoted to Admiral. In Star Trek (most noticably TNG) whenever we take a look into the "future", the Captains are always Admirals.
- A lady from the apartment next to Fry and Bender claims that Bender's thoughts are being transmitted to her cell phone. When she closes the phone, it beeps like the Communicator from Star Trek.
"Love's Labours Lost in Space" (1ACV04)
- TOS uniforms were made of velour.
- The Democratic Order of Planets (D.O.O.P.) has a military force composed of men in red uniforms, who are often utilized as cannon fodder.
- M5438 is based off various Non-corporeal species in Star Trek.
- Zapp confuses Poker with Chess (a Kirk analogy).
- Zapp Brannigan's character was inspired by Captain Kirk from Star Trek. To create the character, the writers imagined what it would be like if William Shatner himself, not James T. Kirk, were the captain of the Enterprise.
- In the DVD commentary to this episode, Zapp was described as being "40% Kirk, 60% Shatner."
- The idea for Zapp's first officer, Kif Kroker, was based on the idea of Spock hating his captain, yet being dependant on him and doing his every whim.
- There is the use of a Captain's log, complete with star date.
- Brannigan's Law is the equivalent to Starfleet's Prime Directive.
- At the The Hip Joint, Fry meets a woman from the 21st century who asks if he remembers "when those cyborgs enslaved Humanity?" This is a reference to Star Trek: First Contact (Film), when the Borg attempt to assimilate Earth.
- Trisolians live in a liquid state and refer to humanoids as "Solids". This is quite similar to Changelings from DS9.
"A Big Piece of Garbage" (1ACV08)
- Fry finds a "Mr Spock Collector's Plate" with a picture of Spock on it.
"Hell Is Other Robots" (1ACV09)
- Bender screaming at the universe is like a scene from Star Trek Generations (Film).
"A Flight to Remember" (1ACV10)
- Leela's bathing suit looks very like the one worn by Jadzia Dax in the Let He Who Is Without Sin... (DS9)
- The Klaxon alarm sounds when Zoidberg escapes from the lobster trap.
- A door opens with the hatch noise used in Star Trek.
- The mother ship is similar to old Star Trek ship models.
- Fry includes Captain Janeway and Uhura in a list of science fiction heroes.
- Omicron Persei 8 appears to be influenced heavily by Qo'noS, home planet of the Klingons on Star Trek.
"Fry and the Slurm Factory" (1ACV13)
- A variant of Three-dimensional chess, Three-dimensional Scrabble, is played by Lela and Farnsworth.
Season 2
"I Second that Emotion" (2ACV01)
- Bender gets an Emotion chip, similar to Data's in Star Trek.
"Brannigan, Begin Again" (2ACV02)
- DOOP is explicitly compared to the United Federation of Planets by Hermes in the quote "Or like the Federation from your Star Trek Program".
- The "Neutral Zone" in which DOOP's temporary headquarters are located may be a reference to the Neutral zone between the Romulans and the Federation.
- When the Planet Express Ship comes into the new station, a riff on the theme of DS9 can be heard.
- The laser Zapp uses to cut the ribbon has settings of "Stun", "Kill" and "Hyperdeath™", a reference to phasers from Star Trek.
"A Head in the Polls" (2ACV03)
- The Brain Slugs could be an indirect reference to the slug-like young Ceti eels that Khan uses on Chekov and Terrell in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Film).
- Although in that case, they enter through the ear, but still affect the brain.
"Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?" (2ACV05)
- The entire episode, particularly the mating season and the ritual arena combat between Fry and Zoidberg, is based on "Amok Time" (TOS).
- When Zoidberg asks Amy to take the rubber bands off his claws (in a somewhat sexy manner), Amy's retort is "Fool me seven times, shame on you. Fool me eight or more times, shame on me." This line is a reference to a line in "Friday's Child" (TOS).
- The national anthem of Decapod 10 is the same music heard during the fight scene between Kirk and Spock from "Amok Time".
- The traditional Vulcan weapon used in the Kal-if-fee, the Ahn-woon, is shown as one of the weapons Fry can choose from.
- "Claw-Plach" also sounds a lot like "Qapla'", the Klingonese word for "Success."
- The Decapodian frenzy looks like the Great Link of the Changelings.
"The Lesser of Two Evils" (2ACV06)
- Flexo, Bender's "evil" twin, has a goatee like the mirror Spock.
"Put Your Head on My Shoulder" (2ACV07)
- The car Malfunctioning Eddie mentions in his television ad is a Plymouth V'ger, a reference to the major plot device in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Film). A sentient life form known as V'Ger that turns out to be NASA's Voyager 6 deep space probe and also a reference to the Plymouth Voyager minivan.
- Amy's compact makes the Star Trek communicator sound effect when it opens.
- Captain Musky is a tribute to Christopher Pike.
- His introduction music is from TOS.
- The Planet Express Ship moves in a manner similar to Star Trek's Warp drives.
- The Professor shows Cubert a Universal Translator device, which is similar in manner to Star Trek's Universal translator.
- Bender's announcement that "in the event of an emergency, my ass can be used as a floatation device" is a reference to the movie Star Trek: Insurrection (Film), in which Data says "in the event of a water landing, I have been designed to serve as a flotation device" upon resurfacing in a lake.
- The noise that is heard when the Colonel switches the tourist information screen on is one of the many sound effects used from TOS.
- The console above the bed Leela is on when she is being examined looks like the vital signs monitor used in TOS. In Star Trek, they are also placed above the beds.
"The Problem with Popplers" (2ACV15)
- The name of this episode comes from "The Trouble with Tribbles" (TOS).
- "Roddenberries" are a reference to Star Trek's creator, Gene Roddenberry
- "Type M" planets are a reference to Star Trek's "Class M".
"Anthology of Interest I" (2ACV16)
- Fry’s story is a reference to logical paradoxes often expressed in TOS lore.
- TOS cast member Nichelle Nichols appears in this episode wearing her Star Trek costume.
- The interior of the school bus used by the Vice Presidential Action Rangers is based on various Star Trek ships.
- The gangs of savage children and adolescents are similar to "Miri" (TOS).
Season 3
"Amazon Women in the Mood" (3ACV01)
- The Femputer is similar in appearance to Landru from "Return of the Archons" (TOS).
- Other episodes to have similar themes (computer ruling society) include "The Paradise Syndrome" (TOS), "The Apple" (TOS), "A Taste of Armageddon" (TOS) and "That Which Survives" (TOS).
- During Zapp's performance of "Leela", itself a parody of William Shatner's spoken word songs, one man exclaims, "He sickens me!" This is a reference to a quote from William Shatner in an outtake from Star Trek. Upon hearing his producer telling him how to deliver a line, Shatner responded, "Please don't tell me how to do it. It sickens me."
"A Tale of Two Santas" (3ACV03)
- Leela's logical paradox echoes the logical paradox that Captain James T. Kirk submits to the computer "Landru" in "The Return of the Archons" (TOS).
"The Luck of the Fryrish" (3ACV04)
- The Hypospray Bender uses is modeled after the ones on Star Trek.
"The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz" (3ACV05)
- Free Waterfall Sr. failed to stop the oil tanker with a ring of protestors because spaceships can move in three dimensions, a fact he forgot to consider; in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Film), Khan lost a battle for the same reason.
"The Day the Earth Stood Stupid" (3ACV07)
- In "Operation -- Annihilate!" (TOS), Spock describes a similar line of planet-wide cultures being destroyed by large single-celled flying parasites. The crew later surmises the parasites are brain cells that are somehow interconnected to make up a large intelligent brain.
"That's Lobstertainment!" (3ACV08)
- During the Emmy Awards, one of the categories awarded included the "Best Product Placement." Of the three placement nominations, the first was entitled "Star Trek: The Pepsi Generation," showing a still image of Spock holding a can of Pepsi.
"The Cyber House Rules" (3ACV09)
- Phasers are used in "Phaser Eye Surgery".
"Where the Buggalo Roam" (3ACV10)
- The music heard while showing the Nimbus is reminiscent of the theme to Star Trek.
- The Martians use the same symbol as the alien race possessing Data in "Masks" (TNG). It can be seen in the chamber where Kif is going to be killed and in one of the ships leaving Mars.
"Insane in the Mainframe" (3ACV11)
"The Route of All Evil" (3ACV12)
"Bendin' in the Wind" (3ACV13)
- Bender lands at "Fisherman's Worf", named after the TNG character Worf.
"Time Keeps on Slippin'" (3ACV14)
- There is a Star Trek debating forum called OldTREK-vs-NewTREK.web on the Internet. The TOS fan claims Kirk could kick Picard's ass. The TNG fan argues that at least Picard could admit he was bald.
- The Blernsball Hall of Fame exhibit to honour "players who broke the various colour barriers", shows a green alien, a purple alien, and the half black and half white alien from "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" (TOS).
"A Pharaoh to Remember" (3ACV17)
"Anthology of Interest II" (3ACV18)
"Roswell that Ends Well" (3ACV19)
- Fry pushing Enos out of the way of an oncoming car could be a reference to "The City on the Edge of Forever" (TOS).
- The end of the episode, when Bender loses his head in the past only to have it recovered in the next scene 1,000 years later, is a parody of the same thing happening to Data in Time's Arrow (TNG).
- The table top in the diner has a USS Enterprise insignia (also used as a logo for Star Trek).
- This episode provides an alternate explanation for the Roswell incident similar to Little Green Men (DS9)
- The method of time travel is visually similar to that in Star Trek: First Contact (Film) and the Bajoran wormhole from "Emissary" (TNG).
- Dr Julian Bashir thinks he may have been sent back to become his own great grandfather in "Trials and Tribble-ations" (DS9).
- This episode also references Star Trek in general as Leela claims she will have the last of the ship fixed in ten hours. Farnsworth, in the classic fashion of Star Trek, reduces that to eight hours.
- This episodes opening Title Caption is "Please turn off all cell phones and tricorders". Tricorders are from Star Trek.
- The stock exchange space station shows stock abbreviations including, amongst others, KIRK, GORN, and Q.
- There is a space-rail car labelled "Wrath-of-Conrail", a reference to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Film) and Conrail.
Season 4
"Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" (4ACV01)
- The episode appears to be a parody of "Unexpected" (ENT), in which Charles Tucker III becomes impregnated by a female Xyrillian through physical contact while on her ship's holodeck.
- The Holo-Shed is programmed in BASIC because the writers were amused by the idea that in the Star Trek universe any simulation one wants to experience has already been painstakingly programmed.
- The mission on which Amy stows away is "delivering pain medicine to the hive mind of Nigel 7." This may be a reference to Rigel VII.
- Amy's calendar lists "Hang with Walter Koening" on Sun 28 before she switches to "motherhood mode". The name is spelled incorrectly on the calendar. Walter Koenig played Chekov in TOS.
- The toilet has a stun and kill setting like phasers.
- The Holo-Shed parodies the Holodeck.
- Holo-Shed characters gone real Jack the Ripper, Professor James Moriarty and Abraham Lincoln also appear in Star Trek.
- The crew is later treated in the "Sickbay and Horta Burn Ward" by Dr. "Veins" McGee. A deleted scene includes a line by Veins where he exclaims: "Dammit Zapp, I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker!".
- The computer on Warden Vogel's desk appears similar to the personal computers used in TNG.
- Zoidberg's mentioning of the gangster and cowboy worlds is a reference to Star Trek.
- The idea of a computer upgrade replacing a "male" personality with a "female" one also appeared in "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" (TOS).
- The romantic glow is a reference to the anomaly from "All Good Things..." (TNG).
- A Klingon embassy can be seen in the background, they are a famous alien species in Star Trek.
"Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television" (4ACV06)
- When the Execubots arrive, the Red Alert sound from TOS is played.
- Fry says "Live long and prosper" and does the Vulcan Salute to Seymour when they first meet.
"Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" (4ACV09)
- "Rascals" (TNG) has the crew reverting to younger versions of themselves.
- There is the use of a tricorder. The sound it makes comes from the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) library computer.
- The Planet Express spaceship's high beams accidentally destroys the Deep Space 9 space-station.
- In the commentary, the production staff comment that this does not mean they disliked DS9 and they thought it was one of the best Star Trek series, "especially when Worf got there".
- Leela reads the titles of stories from the book "A Child's Garden of Space Stories". One of these stories is "Charlotte's Tholian Web", a reference to "The Tholian Web" (TOS). The cover has a piture of a Gorn.
- The essential plot of the main characters growing younger and being saved by the oldest among them is from "The Counter-Clock Incident" (TAS).
- Scruffy wears a Scottish out-fit and plays the bagpipes at the funeral - a spoof of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Film), Spock's funeral, complete with Scruffy playing the bagpipes like Scotty did and the casket being shot into space.
- This episode bears similarities to "The Tholian Web" (TOS), in which Kirk is mistakenly presumed dead. Uhura sees him calling for help and thinks she is losing her mind.
- In "Frame Of Mind" (TNG), commander Riker is caught in a situation much like Leela's. He's rendered unconscious by aliens, and in a dream that's becoming increasingly weird, he start to question his own sanity, as nothing is what it appears to be.
- In "Night Terrors" (TNG), counselor Troi find herself floating in outer space (much like Leela) in one of her dreams. Slowly the recurring dream takes its toll on her mental health. In the end it turns out the "nightmares" was caused by aliens attempting to communicate with her.
- In "Demon" (VOY), the Voyager crew discover a biologic substance that can make replicas of humans/aliens based on a few strands of DNA, much like the Fry replica in Leela's dream.
"Obsoletely Fabulous" (4ACV14)
"The Farnsworth Parabox" (4ACV15)
- Universe 1 (and Farnsworth saying that all alternate universes are "evil") is similar to the Mirror universe in Star Trek.
- Star Trek also has other Alternate timelines and Parallel universes.
"Three Hundred Big Boys" (4ACV16)
- As Fry drinks more and more coffee the effects of the caffeine make him more and more agitated until the 100th, when he relaxes into a calm Zen-like state, albeit moving at several hundred times normal speed. This scene is a reference to (amongst other science fiction works) "Wink of an Eye" (TOS). The hummingbird he sees is particularly reminiscent to a time-slowing scene in Star Trek: Insurrection (Film).
- Kif is imprisoned on Commander Riker's Island, it is a pun on the Commander from Star Trek and the actual prison named Riker's Island.
"The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" (4ACV18)
"Where No Fan Has Gone Before" (4ACV11)
This episode is almost entirely based on Star Trek which is why, due to amount of references, this section is dedicated to the one episode:
- A character created to replace James Doohan as Montgomery Scott in the cast was named Welshie. He (or more specifically, the actor who played him) was killed, dismembered, and vaporized by three separate blasts from a cloud creature named Melllvar. This is reference to the Redshirt.
- Melllvar, like M5438, is based on various Non-corporeal species.
Films
The Beast with a Billion Backs
- For the Kroker/Wong marriage ceremony, the wedding singer plays the Klingon battle theme, to mark the start of nuptials.
- At the Space Demolition Derby, both with one-man ships stylized after Star Trek inspired designs, George Takei's head flies a NX class and Scott Bakula flies an Ambassador class ship. Takei destroys Bakula's ship and exclaims "way to kill the franchise, Bakula."
- Device for detecting life known as the "Spock-a-scope".
- "Make it so" is a quote from TNG.
- The "Delivery Boy's Log" is a parody of the Captain's log.
Video Game
Comics
Other
- Star Trek sound effects and music are often used in the show. See individual episodes for more info.
- In the second commentary of "Hell is Other Robots", it is revealed that Bender was originally going to be based on "super-nerds" Spock and Data.
- In the commentary of "My Three Suns", it is revealed that Matt Groening has never seen Star Trek. It is also joked that David X. Cohen is never not watching it.
- Stories about "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" appear in Star Trek Monthly issue 93 and Star Trek Monthly issue 105.
- "Whispers" (DS9) is the favourite Star Trek episode of David X. Cohen, who says he finds it has "a slightly Futurama-esque storyline."
- The Futurama exhibit, which Futurama was named after, was visited by Benny Russell while at the New York World's Fair in July 1940 in the novelization of the episode "Far Beyond the Stars" (DS9).
See also
- In popular culture for connections to Futurama other than in Star Trek.
- Star Wars connections for connections to Futurama and Star Wars
- Simpsons connections for connections to Futurama and The Simpsons.