This Enterprise Goes Everywhere

STAR TREK’S ENDURING POPULARITY HAS MADE IT A CULTURAL BENCHMARK—DRAWING TRIBUTES BOTH SERIOUS AND WHIMSICAL

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Star Trek canon says that James T. Kirk hails from Iowa—which led the city of Riverside to proclaim itself the captain’s future birthplace. Visiting fans can snap their selfies at this marker.

IN YOUR MAILBOX

The United States Postal Service honored Trek with this Enterprise stamp in 1999. This year, it’s commemorating the 50th anniversary with a set of four stamps.

OFFICE BUILDINGS

Any fan can dress up in a costume, but Chinese entrepreneur Liu Dejian loves Trek so much that he built a corporate center in Fujian province that mimics the shape of the Enterprise.

ON THE BIG SCREEN

Galaxy Quest, a 1999 film, is both a pitch-perfect parody and a loving homage to Star Trek. In it, Tim Allen plays a William Shatner–esque actor who once starred in a fictional TV show called Galaxy Quest, which real aliens have seen and believe to be “historical documents.” The story includes send-ups of everything from redshirts to transporter beams.

IN SONG

For their 2004 song “Ch-Check It Out,” the Beastie Boys riffed on the show in their lyrics (“All you Trekkies and TV addicts / Don’t mean to diss, don’t mean to bring static”) and, wearing Starfleet uniforms, were beamed into the opening of the song’s video.

ON THE SMALL SCREEN

Over the years Saturday Night Live has repeatedly spoofed Star Trek. This Shatner “get a life” segment may be the best known, but the 1976 sketch with John Belushi as Shatner refusing to step out of his Kirk character when NBC cancels the show is undeniably a classic.