JANUARY HALL OF FAMER SHOW - "STAR TREK"

I learned early on in my televisiology research that I “got some splainin to do” when dealing with a Zonk (translation: a major discrepancy.)  That particular bugaboo which makes my “job” harder dealt with TV series which mention other TV series, when they both should be sharing the same world, Earth Prime-Time.

My goal has been to keep as many TV series on the same world, the main Toobworld, as possible.  Of course, certain TV shows were always going to defy me on that.  Naughty shows!  The zombie shows had to be relegated to their own dimension and the same goes for any remakes with all-new casts.

And thanks to the influx triggered by ‘The West Wing’, a whole slew of new Toobworlds had to be created for each concurrent series dealing with a fictional President of the United States.  (Earth Prime-Time has to have the same President as Earth Prime because plenty of shows will eventually mention the POTUS.  And with Presidents like Clinton and Drumpf, there were references a-plenty!)

But I wasn’t going to just keep tossing TV series out the window just because some TV show considered them to be a TV show and not part of their own world.  So I had to come up with that splainin.

And it’s a multiple part splainin.  First of all, I had to accept that there were citizens of Earth Prime-Time whose lives proved to be so fascinating to some producer that they made a TV show about those people which would then be shown on TV within the TV Universe.

Sounds confusing, don’t it?  But think of all those times you’ve seen clips from our TV shows being watched by fictional characters who should be living on the same world as the people who are in those TV shows they’re watching.  This is the best way to get around that.

Although the show may be based on their lives, the plots don’t necessarily have to adhere to the storylines we saw on our own version of those shows. There have been times when a character will mention an episode of a TV show which has a plot that bears no resemblance to what we actually saw in the real version of the show.

I saw this happen in a TV movie clip in which the main character mentioning that she saw her current situation play out at a wedding reception in an episode of ‘Columbo’.  No such scene existed in the ‘Columbo’ episodes we got to see.  And in an episode of ‘Extras’, Andy Milman got to act out a scene in ‘Doctor Who’ with David Tennant which never existed for us.

But the actors they hire to do those shows have to be the televersions of those actors in the “real” version of the show, because of those clips being shown.  The aforementioned Tennant is a good example.

In my head, I keep coming back to ‘The Brady Bunch’ as an example of Toobworld citizens whose home situation was perfect fodder for a TV series to some fictional version of Sherwood Schwartz (just in case he ever gets cited in the dialogue.)  For us, we’re seeing the televersion of the Bradys being played by the real actors.  For the fictional characters in other shows who are watching ‘The Brady Bunch’, they’re s’eeing the Brady Family’s televersions being played by the televersions of the actors we know.

Another reason these Zonkish TV shows exist is because of a shadow ops group which I’ve called UNReel creates them in order to debunk claims that such things actually happened in their world.  So that people who claim to have seen something outrageous – like superheroes, alien invasion, secret agents and a certain alien Time Lord in action – they could be dismissed as crackpots who can’t distinguish between “reality” and a TV show.  A video version of “swamp gas”.

I bring this all up because this year I’ll be inducting a few of those televersions of TV shows within TV shows into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame – as long as they pass the requirement of being mentioned or even seen in at least three other TV shows.

And I’m kicking it off with ‘Star Trek’.

From Wikipedia:

‘Star Trek’ is an American media franchise based on the science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. The first television series, called ‘Star Trek’ and now known as "The Original Series", debuted on September 8, 1966 and aired for three seasons on NBC.

It followed the voyages of the starship USS Enterprise on its five-year mission, the purpose of which was "to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!".

The USS Enterprise was a space exploration vessel built by the United Federation of Planets in the 23rd century. The ‘Star Trek’ canon includes the Original Series, an animated series, five spin-off television series, the film franchise, and further adaptations in several media.

“Star Trek” has been a cult phenomenon for decades. Fans of the franchise are called "Trekkies" or "Trekkers". The franchise spans a wide range of spin-offs including games, figurines, novels, toys, and comics. ‘Star Trek’ had a themed attraction in Las Vegas that opened in 1998 and closed in September 2008. At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world.

The series has its own full-fledged constructed language, Klingon. Several parodies have been made of ‘Star Tre’k. In addition, viewers have produced several fan productions. As of July 2016, the franchise had generated $10 billion in revenue, making ‘Star Trek’ one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.

‘Star Trek’ is noted for its cultural influence beyond works of science fiction. The franchise is also noted for its progressive civil rights stances. The Original Series included one of television's first multiracial casts.

Since ‘Star Trek’ took place four hundred years into Toobworld’s future, there had to be a different splainin as to how Toobworldlings of the 1960s until now could see a TV show and movies about the their own future.

And I blame the time traveler known as The Doctor.

In a way, it’s probably like the ‘Doctor Who’ episode “Blink” in which Sally Sparrow had to get all of her notes to The Doctor so that he could then prepare her for what was coming in her past.  A temporal loop.

In this case, The Doctor brought a massive file to the late fifties, early sixties, and delivered them to a motorcycle cop named Gene Roddenberry with instructions that he should develop it all into a TV series, right down to supplying suggestions as to who to cast in the proposed series.

It’s one way to splain how a CHiPs officer could come up with such an idea.

There has to be both a TV show as well as the actual events in our far future.  Not even including their own spin-offs, there were several sci-fi shows in the same basic timeline which had dialogue in which it is suggested that they were aware of Starfleet’s existence.

I’m not sure if the world of ‘Star Trek’ exists in the future of those shows which have to be relegated to other Toobworlds and yet still have mentioned the show, like ‘Lois & Clark’ or ‘Spin City’.

As for ‘Blake’s 7’ which made a somewhat veiled reference to the show, it is set in the Evil Mirror Dimension an thus is current with the Evil Spock as Captain of the Enterprise.

‘Star Trek’ is a good show to begin this end of month series of TVXOHOF inductions – there are so many TV shows in which fictional characters are watching ‘Star Trek’ or discussing it, and sometimes even acting it out themselves, complete with costumes.  An episode of ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’ even mentioned that there was a ‘Star Trek’ musical!

I’m disqualifying mentions in certain TV dimensions, like Skitlandia, the Tooniverse, definitely Zombie Toobworld.  Also those shows which have anachronistic references like ‘Maid Marian and her Merry Men’ and ‘The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.’

But even if the name ‘Star Trek’ isn’t actually stated, we know that the show exists when characters from other shows start spouting the dialogue.  Lines like “Beam me up” (Scotty or no), “He’s dead, Jim”, “To boldly go where no man has gone before”, “Set your phasers on stun”, and “I’m a doctor, not a (fill in the blank.)” - these are a sure sign some fictional character is a Trekkie.  Or Trekker.

And the same goes for those who attempt the Vulcan neck pinch.

It's time to present the evidence to support its membership.  We’ll begin with those shows which actually showed scenes from ‘Star Trek’.

• ‘Young Sheldon’
• “Der Minister” (a TV movie)
• ‘St. Elsewhere’ (Actually we heard it on the TV as John Doe #6 changed the channels.  Our POV was from an angle where we couldn’t see the screen.)

Okay, now.  Take a deep breath and then dive into this list of shows which have made reference to ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’ over the years.  Most of them are in chronological order….

‘The Wonder Years', 'Bewitched’, ‘Last Of The Summer Wine’, ‘Here‘s Lucy’, ‘Sanford and Son’, ‘Love Thy Neighbor’, ‘Family’, ‘Man About The House’, ‘Nurses’, ‘Are You Being Served?’, ‘Mork & Mindy’, ‘Lou Grant’, ‘Diff’rent Strokes’, ‘Sykes’, ‘Terry and June’, ‘WKRP In Cincinnati’, ‘The Muppet Show’, ‘Fraggle Rock’, ‘Fame’, ‘Emu’s World’, ‘V’, ‘The A-Team’, ‘Just Good Friends’, ‘Riptide’, ‘No. 73’, ‘E/R’, ‘Moonlighting’, ‘Miami Vice’, ‘St. Elsewhere’, ‘Doctor Who’, ‘Juliet Bravo’, ‘Lovejoy’, ‘Cheers’, ‘Perfect Strangers’, ‘Growing Pains’, ‘Hill Street Blues’, ‘Out Of This World’, ‘Sledge Hammer’, ‘Golden Girls’, ‘Boys Will Be Boys’, ‘ALF’ & “Project ALF”, ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘Valerie’, ‘Family Ties’, ‘It’s Garry Shandling’s Show’, ‘Day By Day’, ‘China Beach’, ‘Knots Landing’, ‘Superboy’, ‘Press Gang’, ‘Night Court’, ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’, ‘Alien Nation’, ‘Doogie Howser, M.D.’, ‘Red Dwarf’, ‘My Secret Identity’, ‘Nearly Departed’, ‘Not Necessarily The News’, ‘Parker Lewis Can’t Lose’, ‘Saved By The Bell’, ‘Only Fools and Horses’, ‘Degrassi High’, ‘Operation Blue Line’, ‘Seinfeld’, ‘Clariss Explains It All’, ‘Knight Rider 2000’, ‘Golden Years’, ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’, ‘Married… With Children’, ‘Roseanne’, ‘Eerie, Indiana’, ‘The Larry Sanders Show’, ‘Quantum Leap’, ‘Absolutely Famous’, ‘The Tomorrow People’, ‘The Nanny’, ‘Boy Meets World’,’Goodnight, Sweetheart’, ‘Frasier’, ‘Weird Science’, ‘Melrose Place’, ‘Dead at 21’, ‘Home Improvement’, ‘Friends’, ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge’, ‘NYPD Blue’, ‘Northern exposure’, ‘The Vicar Of Dibley’, ‘The X-Files’, ‘Full House’, ‘Dream On’, ‘The Langoliers’, ‘The Big Bang Theory, ‘Caroline In The City’, ‘Cracker’, ‘Law & Order’, ‘Flash Forward’, ‘Are You Afraid Of The Dark’, ‘Home And Away’, ‘Might Morphin Power Rangers’, ‘ER’, ‘Due South’, ‘Mad About You’, ‘NewsRadio’, ‘3rd Rock From The Sun’, ‘Suddenly, Susan’, ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’, ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’, ‘Psi Factor: Chronicles Of The Paranormal’, ‘Honey, I Shrunk The Kids’, ‘Hard Time’, ‘Teen Angel’, ‘Student Bodies’, ‘Homicide: Life On The Street’, ‘Almost Perfect’, ‘The Red Green Show’, ‘Muppets Tonight’, ‘Dawson’s Creek’, ‘Team Knight Rider’, ‘Two Guys, A Girl, and A Pizza Place’, ‘Sliders’, ‘Cupid’, ‘Diagnosis Murder’, ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’, ‘Will & Grace’, ‘The Outer Limits’, ‘Stargate SG-1’, ‘Queer As Folk’, ‘Spin City’, ‘Charmed’, ‘Farscape’, ‘Freaks and Geeks’, ‘Sports Night’, ‘Twice In A Lifetime’, ‘Angel’, ‘Just Shoot Me’, ‘Action’, ‘A Touch Of Frost’, ‘Cleopatra 2525’, ‘Roswell’, ‘That’s 70s Show’, ‘Popular’, ‘Coupling’, ‘Neighbours’, ‘Popular’, ‘Gilmore Girls’, ‘Time Gentlemen, Please’, ‘The Lone Gunmen’, ‘Malcolm In The Middle’, ‘Undergrads’, ‘The Office’, ‘Odyssey 5’, ‘CSI’, ‘That’s So Raven’, ‘Da Ali G Show’, ‘Tremors’, ‘Train 48’, ‘Dead Like Me’, ‘NCIS’, ‘Degrassi: The Next Generation’, ‘Joan of Arcadia’, ‘Scrubs’, ‘Stargate: Atlantis’, ‘Corner Gas’, ‘Lost’, ‘Law & Order: Criminal Intent’, ‘Smallville’, ‘My Wife and Kids’, ‘Robson Arms’, ‘Entourage’, ‘Criminal Minds’, ‘Boston Legal’, ‘Supernatural’, ‘The King of Queens’, ‘Everybody Hates Chris’, ‘Bones’, ‘How I Met Your Mother’, ;Life On Mars’, ‘Veronica Mars’, ‘Joey’, ‘Heroes’, ‘Psych’, ‘Pastewka‘, ‘Eureka’, ‘Ugly Betty’, ‘Numb3rs’, ‘General Hospital’, ‘Peep Show’, ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’, ‘Chuck’, ‘Hannah Montana’, ’30 Rock’, ‘Bionic Woman’, ‘Primeval’, ‘Zoey 101’, ‘Weeds’, ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’, ‘The Middleman’, ‘Sons of Anarchy’, ‘Cold Case’, ‘The Mentalist’, ‘House’, ‘Being Human’, ‘Fringe’, ‘Dollhouse’, ‘Castle’, ‘Warehouse 13’, ‘Californication’, ‘The Thick Of It’, ‘Sanctuary’, ‘The New Adventures Of Old Christine’, ‘White Collar’, ‘Cougar Town’, ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’, ‘Skins’,  ‘In Plain Sight’, ‘Breaking Bad’, ‘Parks and Recreation’, ‘Ashes to Ashes’, ‘Community’, ‘Party Down’, ‘The Hard Times of RJ Berger’, ‘The Middle’, ‘iCarly’, ‘Being Erica’, ‘Blue Mountain State’, ‘Lost Girl’, ‘CSI: Miami’, ‘Gossip Girl’, ‘Hawaii Five-0’, ‘Breaking In’, ‘The United States of Tara’, ‘Stargate Universe’, ‘Haven’, ‘Leverage’, ‘Bodies of Evidence’, ‘Terra Nova’, ‘Life’s Too Short’, ‘Revenge’, ‘Star Trek’, ‘The Secret Circle’, ‘Portlandia’, ‘Mrs. Brown’s Boys’, ‘Nikita’, ‘Mad Men’, ‘Continuum’, ‘Suits’, ‘The Newsroom’, ‘Raising Hope’, ‘Defiance’, ‘Arrested Development’, ‘Perception’, ‘Orange Is The New Black’, ‘Sam & Cat’, ‘The Killing’, ‘Switched At Birth’, ‘Chicago Fire’, ‘It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’, ‘Last Man Standing’, ‘From Dusk Til Dawn’, ‘Modern Family’, ‘Orphan Black’, ‘The Inbetweeners 2’, ‘Lab Rats’, ‘Looking’, ‘2 Broke Girls’, ‘Forever’, ‘Hot In Cleveland’, ‘iZombie’, ‘Maron’, ‘CSI: Cyber’, ‘Liv and Maddie’, ‘The Mysteries of Laura’, ‘The Librarians’, ‘The Magicians’, ‘Shadowhunters’, ‘NCIS: New Orleans’, ‘Santa Clarita Diet’, ‘The Goldbergs’, ’12 Monkeys’, ‘Superstore’, ‘This Is Us’, ‘Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes On Television’, ‘Young Sheldon’, ‘Fresh Off The Boat’, ‘The Kids Are Alright’, ‘The Good Fight’, ‘Pandora’, ‘The Neighborhood’, ‘The Good Doctor’.

And that list is still growing!  The series premiere of 'Avenue 5' had Hugh Laurie's

That’s-a some spacey mentions!

Here's just one example from an episode of 'Nurses':

Welcome to the Television Crossover Hall Of Fame, ‘Star Trek: The Original Series’!