Stewart and Takei on Galaxy Quest

As a person, my defining characteristic might be this: I love the '99 sci-fi spoof, Galaxy Quest. If you've wondered why I haven't posted in a while, it's because GQ has been on TBS.

Galaxy Quest is a Star Trek takeoff. It's about a sci-fi television series that, despite a die hard fan base, was eventually canceled, leaving the stars to drink, bitterly costumed, at conventions for the next 2o years. But then, when they'd just about given up hope of successful acting careers, real aliens arrive, whisk the six has-beens to what they think is an acting gig, only its not. It's real space bananas!

More Synopsis

The aliens had intercepted old episodes of the show, mistook them for "historical documents" and fashioned their ship and social order on the absurdity they'd seen. Now, under very real threat of the villainous Sarris, they need "Commander Peter Quincy Taggart" and crew to save the day.


"With no script, no director, and no clue about real interstellar travel, the make-believe crew of the Protector has to turn in the performances of their lives to become the heroes the aliens believe them to be." (from Rotten Tomatoes, which gave GQ a 90% btw!)

Well i just love it. And when I came across responses from two Star Trek alums,
Patrick Steward and George Takei, I about flipped my nerd lid.

See, the two things that I really enjoy in GQ are

1) the cast (Allen, Rickman, Weaver, Shaloub, Mitchell, Rockwell...all actors I would put in my hypothetical movie)

2) the way the movie mocks Trek's absurd logic.

So Kirk, did it bite?

"...I found it was brilliant. Brilliant. No one laughed louder or longer in the cinema than I did, but the idea that the ship was saved and all of our heroes in that movie were saved simply by the fact that there were fans who did understand the scientific principles on which the ship worked was absolutely wonderful." —Patrick Stewart [link]

Cap't Sulu?

I think it's a chillingly realistic documentary [laughs]. The details in it, I recognized every one of them...And I do believe that when we get kidnapped by aliens, it's going to be the genuine, true Star Trek fans who will save the day....I was rolling in the aisles. And Tim Allen had that Shatner-esque swagger down pat. And I roared when the shirt came off, and Sigourney [Weaver] rolls her eyes and says, 'There goes that shirt again.' ... How often did we hear that on the set? [Laughs.] —G.T. [link]

Oh, George Takei, you saucy minx. You make me [laugh].