“Futurama” has a long history of intermingling with “Star Trek.” After all, the series debuted in the 1990s — when “Star Trek” was on top of the science-fiction world — and was created by Gen X sci-fi nerds, who were naturally Trekkies (see co-creator David X. Cohen).
Zapp Brannigan is a parody of Captain James T. Kirk, writer David A. Goodman wrote for both “Futurama” and “Star Trek: Enterprise,” and the late Leonard Nimoy (aka Mr. Spock) cameos in the very first episode of “Futurama,” “Space Pilot 3000.” In “Futurama,” celebrities’ still-living heads are preserved in jars; Fry comes face to face with Nimoy, calls him “Spock,” and asks him to “do the thing” (the Vulcan salute), but unfortunately, “[he doesn’t] do that anymore.”
This came to a head in the episdoe “Where No Fan Has Gone Before,” featuring almost the entirety of the original “Star Trek” cast (minus James Doohan and the late DeForest Kelley). This episode reveals the “Star Trek Wars,” caused by rabid Trekkies in the 23rd century, which saw the series banned and the original cast (minus Nimoy) leave Earth for the planet Omega 3. They took the “sacred texts,” or the original 79 “Star Trek” episodes and six follow-up movies, with them. The Planet Express crew (with Nimoy) go on a mission to find the cast and discover they’re being held captive by an all-powerful gaseous alien, Melllvar.
Will the new “Trek” inspired episode be in this vein, perhaps a reunion of “The Next Generation” cast? Don’t get your hopes up, for Cohen claimed at NYCC that the episode will not have any guest starring “Star Trek” actors. After all, “Futurama” already went where no fan had gone before.
“Futurama” is streaming on Hulu.