I really expected a lot more from this movie. It's obviously an homage to the people who made Star Trek, and similar to a short story "Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited" (discussed in the novels board, I think). Maybe they were afraid of putting too many in-jokes for Trek-fans, but I think it could have been a lot funnier.

The convention shows almost EVERYONE dressed in weird costumes, which is very rare. Where were all the FOGBAGs? (Fat Older Guy, Beard And Glasses). That's the creature I always see the most of at these cons. I think I saw a Klingon in the background of one shot.

When leaving drydock, how did the ship scratch its nose without hitting the nacelles too? Granted the yaw could have been so much that they exited with the nose at a 10 o'clock position, but it didn't look that way when it cleared the drydock. Great detail, though, and very reminiscent of ST:TMP.

There is an awkward edit soon after the actor-commander arrives on the Thermian ship. He believes he is still on some set and begins walking to the "exit". Then it cuts away to the bad guy's ship for a few seconds of exposition, and cuts back to the Thermian ship. It's shortly after this that he realizes he's really on an alien ship. The bad edit diminishes the effect the audience could share in the discovery with him.

The Thermian (human) aliens were just dumb, in appearance and mannerisms. The bad guys and tentacle creatures were cool, though. The baby aliens and the rock creature were awesome.

The commander's fight shown from above on the grid reminded me of the "Gamesters of Triskelion." I even thought of the fight music during that scene.

Great line: "You managed to get your shirt off, didn't you?"

Why did Alexander keep his headpiece on all the time? I'd think that in private he'd want to take it off at some point. You ever worn one of those things? I'd want it off as soon as possible.

Wouldn't this have been great with the Original Series Star Trek actors? It would have been a great final end to the TOS movie series. I can really see Shatner getting into it. Of course, without DeForest Kelley it wouldn't be the same.

They could have used one more POV shot from the shuttle as it approached the convention center -- showing the Roman Candles and bottle rockets defining the landing strip.

Come on -- NO ONE got hurt when the shuttle smashed through the wall and slid several hundred feet across the floor?

Good entertaining movie overall.
However, the nits...
I know the aliens are naive, but didn't they notice the lack of technology on Earth?

The aliens seemed pleasantly surprised when the rest of the crew decided to go along. Just who did they expect the Commander to command?

Why did they make a new ship instead of asking the Commander to fly his "ship" to their location?

Regarding making the ship: How did they make a real ship based exactly on a fantasy? For example, if one were to try to make the Enterprise, where would one find dilitium crystals?

Why didn't the blue button stop the count-down if that is what is was supposed to do?

The aliens didn't seem to notice the head peace of Alexander getting worn down.

Christopher Q: There is now a mineral, unofficially called Dilithium and alternately known as Warp Factor 9. Its composition is Li2Te, or two Lithium atoms plus one Tellurium atom. No word yet on whether or not it could power a starship at warp speed though. ;-)

Why didn't the blue button stop the count-down if that is what is was supposed
to do?

If memory serves, on the TV show, the countdown always stopped at one (01:000). Therefore the countdown could only stop the countdown at 1, but could be pressed anytime before 1.

Also, I liked the way the blone (name?) nitpicked the film right in the middle of the film. She said
"There is absolutely no reason for them (thr mashers) to be on the ship".

A few more nits...
The aliens didn't believe humans were capable of deception. In fact, their only knowledge of deception came from contact with the enemy.
Didn't the Quest crew ever bluff on the show?
Didn't the aliens ever watch soap-operas?
The aliens were also unaware of acting and entertainment in general.
There have been plenty of shows where characters were actors or other entertainers.
Any by the way...
The castaways of Gilligans Island were finally found.

After the entrance the crew made at the convention at the end of the movie, wouldn't fans want them to do that kind of entrance at the next con too? That is a hard entrance to top.

The ship (?) looked an awful lot like the Sona ships from Star Trek Insurection. Overall not a bad movie it was even worth the price of admission. Usually movies aren't worth the eight dollar ticket price.

After the Omega 3 is activated and time is reverted to thirteen seconds into the past, Tim Allen's character is the only one to recall the previous events. How and why is this, considering the device presumably functions so that the ship's occupants may all remember? If they did remember, then the villain would have realized not to attack identically (i.e., arriving on the bridge and firing his weapon). In the long run, though, the device itself was frivolous to the plot. The story could have progressed just as easily without the device's existence, in other words. This scenario simply reminded me of the movie adaptation of Lost in Space.

I found devices like the Omega 3 to be part of the humor of the film. Aliens built the fictional devices *exactly* as they had seen them on television, even when they were completely pointless or illogical.
What was even more fun was the fact that while the acters were somewhat clueless, the fan who actually watched the television show was completely terrified about being "cast" as the nameless ensign.
I truly expected this film to be very cheezy. I was very pleasantly shocked to find that it was quite funny.
I was especially amused by Alan Rickman's line (paraphraising) "I am not repeating that line again! I just won't." I often wondered if Nimoy ever felt that way about "Live long and prosper."

My nominee for best line (which unfortunately I can't remember exactly)...

In the briefing room, Gwen is repeating what the computer says, and Tommy gets on her. She goes ballistic and says something to the effect that that's the only thing she has to do on the ship, so she's d*mn well going to do it.

Second best line:

Guy [watching Fred and the alien chick go at it]: "Get a room, guys!"

Someone commented on this I think, but why does Alexander still have his alien head on in his apartment (when he's on the phone with Gwen)?

Also, I know Shatner and Nimoy had successful post-Trek careers, and Takei went into politics...
What about the rest of the cast?

I think that alien-head seene has 2 explanations:
1. It shows that Alexander had just got home. He had time to change clothes, but not to remove his make-up

2.It is there to remind us that this is the "Alien" charater, so we don't get hime confused with the Captain or Guy.

As for D. Stuart's comments on the Omega 13
Tim Allen's character foreshadowed it earlier in
the movie. When they are talking about what it might do,
He said it might take you back in time 13 seconds
when weaver's character said thats not enough to do much
and allen's character said it would be enough to right one
wrong. Which later in the movie he goofs up and gets shot
along with the crew. Bam activate omega 13, he goes back in time, fixes his mistake
saves the day end of story. sounds like a pretty usual dramitc hero gizmo. I just saw the movie this weekend and
have to say it was great. Tim allen does a terriffic shatner.
All in all 15 stars out of 20.

No body noticed the incredible similarity between Tim Allen activating the Omega-13, and Khan activating the Genesis device? ;)

A couple of PALs from the trailer for the movie:

1. Tim Allen telling the alien captain, "This was all just a big misundersta-" as the alien grabs him by the face. This scene does not appear in the film. Probably just as well, as it contains a major continuity error. Tim begins his speech in full uniform, but as the shot changes on the word "misundersta-", he's wearing a black T-shirt.

2. A shot of Sigourney Weaver pulling open her uniform top to display her cleavage. This also, alas, does not appear in the film. (Yes, I freely admit it, I am a sexist pig.)

After Dr. Lazarus's Thermian buddy gets shot, the alien who shot him patiently stands by in the hallway attempting to unjam his weapon for a full minute (giving Lazarus time to say his "By [whoever's] sword, I shall see thee avenged!" speech) but never thinks just to whack them over the head with his weapon.

I think that the fact that Alexander keeps his
head gear on is a subtle joke; it shows that for
all of his complaining he can't ever let go of
doctor Lazrarus. It's sort of a "I am Spock" "I am
not Spock" thing. I think one of the points of the
film was that all the actors, not just the
captian, secretly wanted to be their characters.

When the Commander comes back without his shirt, moments later he has a new black T-shirt. Where did it from?

Why didn't Dr Lazarus' Thermian friend revert to his octopus-like state when he died?
Come to think of it, when the others are being asphyxiated, why don't they revert either?

Re: "The castaways of Gilligans Island were finally found."
True, but the Thermians simply described them as "those poor people", probably because they were stranded for such a long time.

Forgive me if I'm wrong but I thought it was spelled "Taggart" throughout the film but at the end when they showed they new opening sequence for the resurrected show it's spelled "Taggert".

Anyone else spot Susan from Seinfeld - George's fiancee who died - as the mother of the kid who knew all the technical stuff about the Protector.

I was just sitting here thinking about the movie and noticed that the design of the ship and the quake (video game) symbol look alot alike. Just a point.

Ok, an anti-nit first, if you watch closely, the outrigging on the Protector does not hit the side of the spacedock because there is an indentation that it slides in.

Also, one of my favorite parts (even thought it wasn't very noticeable) was that Guy, who had been afraid to be the first to get shot throughout the ENTIRE movie, was the only on left standing when Sirris(sp?) was blasting everyone on the bridge! :-)

Well, it seems that when the actors go through the "Goo Transporter" they come out trembling, which is understandable. But what about Tech. Sergeant Chen? He went through it fine, while the others were still trembling.

Tech Srgt Chen was so stoned/laid back thaty he actually enjoyed the trip while everyone else was stone cold sober and freaked out. If you watch Chen throughout the movie you can see this, especially during the crystal sphere scenes.

Just wondering, Why is Sgt. Chen alway eating? He eats crackers in the shuttle, he looks for chahnge for the vending machine, etc. OTOH, we never see his eat in the banquet/tourture tape sceene.

TS Chen is pretty laid back... He doesn't even get fazed the first time his girlfriend turns into an octopoid while they're making out!

Chen didn't see the Octopussy Thermians on the transporter pad. The others saw them and were more than shocked.

As for Chen and his girl?friend, Chen is a modern man and doesn't let prejudice get in the way of a relationship. Although I must admit that is pushing it a bit.

This is actually something my wife noticed (just giving credit where it's due)

In the very opening sequence where we view a portion of a GalaxyQuest episode:
When Gwen/Tawny turns from the console and says something, the lady seated next to her seems to be the same chick/octopoid who later falls in love with Fred!
Can anyone confirm this? There's no direct view of her face, just her profile and her hair, but it looks like her. She shouldn't be there on *So many* levels!

btw: even though the Gilligan's Island group was found in a 'rescue from...' movie, they were shipwrecked on the same island again at the end of the flick (sorry to spoil it...).

That's true but there was a second Gilligan's Island movie where time had passed since then, they had been found again, and they had turned the island into a resort. It was the one with the Harlem Globetrotters in it.

Actually, there are three Gilligan's Island movies. In _Rescue from Gilligan's Island_(1978), the gang are rescued from the island, have trouble adjusting to a changed world, and end up stranded back on the same island. In _The Castaways of Gilligan's Island_(1979) they are rescued again, but turn the island into a paradise resort. In the third movie (1981) the Globe Trotters help defend the resort from some villain. It's scary that I knew most of that to begin with, but some credit also goes to the IMDB.

Some of Tim Allen's body language looks just like Shatner.

Loved the cheesy, Classic Trek style rocks we see in the Lost episode.

Why would an episode from 1982 be lost? For the show to have such fans it must be in syndication, and all episodes would seem to be used to increase revenue. Even if it was a season finale that was meant to be continued in the next season's premiere it would probably still be syndicated.

Jason has a pretty big house considering that he hasn't been working for 18 years. I guess he invested wisely.

"Never give up! Never surrender!" Was this annoying catchphrase supposedly used in every episode, or just a few and became big because of the fans?
Same question with Dr. Lazarus' 'I will avenge you' speech.

I suppose this is actually a nit of the fictional TV show writers, but 'quadrants 32', etc. A quadrant is a division of 4.

Jason looks like a child to the small, toothy ones? So these aliens are born big and shrink as they get older?

Fred Qwan plays Tech. Sgt. Chen. Funny, he doesn't look oriental.

Several times fans and actors quote episodes by number. Does anybody ever do this in reality? Don't the episodes have NAMES?!? Wouldn't the actors remember the shows by title or something memorable in the show or during filming? ("You know, the one with the space hookers" or "When Fred was hungover and barfed all over the console.")

My dad wondered why the alien soldier, who was on a ship that was about to self-destruct, was not paying attention after he shot Wychek (sp?).

The slow-motion shooting of the crew was like the final episode of Blakes Seven.

At the end of the Lost episode, the Taggart orders Omega 13 be used. Later it's revealed that no one knows what Omega 13 is or what it does. So wasn't it revealed in the next episode of Galaxy Quest?
Also if Omega 13 is an unknown alien construct, why is it a part of the ship? At one point Gwen & Jason are walking in the 'bowels of Omega 13.'

Flying through a black hole. Wouldn't they just crash into all the compressed matter?

Tommy can't slow the ship down, so the solution is to separate the command deck and put the rest of the ship into orbit. Excuse me? Either they can slow the ship down and transport the crew to Earth safely or they can't.

We see the command section hit the atmosphere, then Brandon explains to his parents that it hit at mach 15. If it hit the atmosphere at mach 15, wouldn't it have hit the planet before Brandon finished his explanation?

So after 18 years the show is renewed, eh? Who put up the money for it? Are they filming in space or on sets on Earth. Why use the same uniforms? (STTMP had different uniforms and different sets, why not Galaxy Quest?)
Wouldn't the producers & the network (unless it's syndicated) want to cast younger actors?
If Guy hasn't had a major role in all the years, why would he suddenly be cast in a major recurring role.
And the casting of Lalari (sp?)... yeah, right. Someone from a culture that doesn't understand lying becoming an actress?
I believe that when trying out for a show, actors & actresses have to audition for the production company, then be approved by the network (if one is involved). So while it seems emotionally right for those characters to be part of the new show, I think reality would not allow it.

>>At the end of the Lost episode, the Taggart orders Omega 13 be used. Later it's
revealed that no one knows what Omega 13 is or what it does. So wasn't it revealed in the next episode of Galaxy Quest?<<

I presumed that this was a season-end cliffhanger, and that the show was cancelled before part two was filmed. If part two was never filmed, that would explain why nobody in the movie knew what the Omega 13 did. The actors wouldn't have seen the script for part two, and the fans would have had nothing but speculation to go on.

Brandon said "Mark" 15. Throughout the movie, they use this fictional speed system, so we don't know how fast it really is.

You're right about the speed of the ship towards Earth. They can't just peel off and circle the planet for a while to slow down? (The rest of the ship does veer away after separation.)

>"Never give up! Never surrender!" Was this annoying catchphrase supposedly used in every episode, or just a few and became big because of the fans? Same question with Dr. Lazarus' 'I will avenge you' speech.>

Regarding the reused quotes: The phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" was never used on Star Trek, but is frequently used in conection with Trek.

Re: Episode numbers. The Star Wars prequels are frequently refered to by number, not by name, so this is reasonably consistant.

Why would the episode be lost? Hmm, what about the Doctor Who story, Shada, that was never finished due to industrial action. Perhaps it's along those lines?

As for the resurrection of the show, maybe Jason did a David Hasselhoff, who formed his own production company to keep Baywatch going after it was originally cancelled.

I considered the possibility that it was the last episode. However, Guy says this is the first it's been seen since it aired 20 years ago, but at the end of the movie it's said that Galaxy Quest went off the air 18 years ago. (Of course, Guy may have just rounded the number off.)

We actually see & hear the phrase used on maybe 2 episodes of the fictional show, unlike "Beam me up, Scotty."

The difference between Star Wars & Galaxy Quest is that fans refer to 1, 2, & 3, where Galaxy Quest goes up to at least 81. A lot more to remember.

Also because the actors would be working half the year, week after week, I should think the stuff would tend to blur together more, but I only remember one scene where the actors seemed to be confused. ('episode 81' 'no, 51')

The Thermian's nebula must be around 18-20 light years away to receive the transmissions, but I don't know of any nebula that close to Earth.

If the Thermians watch Gilligan's Island, then could they also have seen Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Space 1999 ("You got your moon back."), Babylon 5?

The Thermians are not familiar with acting, but they do watch Gilligan's Island and Ginger plays an actress.

Somebody asked about turning fantasy into reality. It's revealed that the Thermians are exceptional scientists, so maybe they were able to figure out how to make the devices conform to what was mentioned on the show? The engines use a Beryllium sphere, but was it ever explained exactly how it worked? Probably not, so the Thermians had some leeway in creating an engine that uses a beryllium sphere.
This could also be an anti-nit for my black hole nit. If a black hole was used as a shortcut in the show, the Thermians may have researched a way to make it possible.
The Omega 13 device, however... Presumably there must have been some discussion of the device in the show. The Thermians think it could destroy the universe. Brandon says that most people think it's a matter reorganizer. Brandon thinks it will reverse time 13 seconds. Surprisingly Brandon's guess turns out to be right, even though the Thermians didn't have the same idea.

"Never give up! Never surrender!" Was this annoying catchphrase supposedly used in every episode, or just a few and became big because of the fans? Same question with Dr. Lazarus' 'I will
avenge you' speech
We actually see & hear the phrase used on maybe 2 episodes of the fictional show, unlike "Beam me up, Scotty."
What's the problem with this? "Live long and prosper" is a phrase not used in every single episode yet it is famous. And it WAS used in a few episodes & movies.

I think I found the phrase annoying because it was used throughout the film and not always in places where it worked. It was kinda okay for the end of the Lost episode, but it sounded a little stilted & over the top.

Ah, I see. Well -- I guess that was just another parody they put in. Maybe it was supposed to be annoying.

If the Omega 13 device reverses time thirteen seconds universally, then how can anyone remember the previous contingency? What I mean is that Tim Allen's character is the only one who recalls the impending disaster. Why just the protagonist? Movie magic at its best!

There already was a GalaxyQuest board.

>>The Omega 13 device, however... Presumably there must have been some discussion of the device in the show. The Thermians think it could destroy the universe. Brandon says that most people think it's a matter reorganizer. Brandon thinks it will reverse time 13 seconds. Surprisingly Brandon's guess turns out to be right, even though the Thermians didn't have the same idea.

I found a Galaxy Quest script somewhere on the net and there were some scenes in it that weren't in the actual film. One of them has Brandon explaining that he knows some girl who went on a date with the script writer of the Omega 13 episode once. The writer had told her what the device should do (he had the idea from a film). So Brandon has some background information the Thermian's haven't.

With respects to the end of the movie, where the ship has to separate or be destroyed, I got the impression that it was an F=ma type of situation. The ejection of the command deck gave the rest of the ship just enough of a push in the opposite direction to allow it to clear Earth. The "shuttle" would then have to deal with landing/crashing on its own, which would presumably be easier given its smaller size and better maneuverability.

I noticed a glaring nit as I was watching this movie. The beryllium spheres, which had to be made up(they were written in the show's script), but they were easily found (and quite conveniently) on a nearby planet. How lucky they were that they could find a fictional mineral that can do what it does in fiction.

You can say that about any of the fictional technology used on the real ship.

Unless the series creator was an alien? (JMS, of course, is a prime example of this.)

Uh, beryllium isn't a fictional mineral. It's element #4, symbol Be.

Beryllium? Who said anything about beryllium? We're talking about beryllium *spheres*. I suggest you pay closer attention. ;)

Brainy1214 said "fictional element" when speaking of the Beryllium spheres.

Perhaps you, JC, should take your own advice about paying attention?

You know, if you're going to use quotation marks, shouldn't you be quoting something? Brainy1214 did not, in fact, use the term "fictional element." He said "fictional mineral," so my point still stands.

Nitpicker!

(Thwaps head) Oh, right, sorry.

Kevin McDonald (or is it MacDonald?) of "Kids in the Hall" fame is the guy at the end that urges us to buy "Galaxy Quest" souvenirs.

In some ways I like how they did the film...but I also would be interested in seeing it done like the Bill Murray film "The Man Who Knew Too Little," in which the main character never figures out that this reality, not fiction.

Charles Cabe(CCabe) asked:>>>Just wondering, Why is Sgt. Chen alway eating? He eats crackers in the shuttle, he looks for chahnge for the
vending machine, etc.>>>

Sgt. Chen is always eating because he has "the munchies." It's a side effect of marijuana use. The eating is a continuation of the "he's on drugs" gag that runs through the film, even though we never actually see him smoke pot.

>>>2. A shot of Sigourney Weaver pulling open her uniform top to display her cleavage. This also, alas, does not
appear in the film.>>>

It is, however, part of the "deleted scenes" section of the DVD.

Jason confesses to the Thermian's leader, "There is no Captain Taggart". Dang right. He is usually identified as Commander Taggart.

I loved this movie...I kept thinking what if, Shatner, Nimoy, etc had all of this stuff happen to them? It'd be a laugh and a half!

Fred Qwan plays Tech. Sgt. Chen. Funny, he doesn't look oriental. - KAM

When Jason is in the arena and everyone is telling Fred to beam him up, Fred says "I'm not Tech Sergeant Chen, I'm Fred Qwan. And Qwan isn't even my real name!"

On the Galaxy Quest DVD there are some deleted scenes, and in one of them Gwen unzips her uniform just about all the way. They apparently cut the scene for pacing (there are also two other good scenes that were cut for the same reason: one showing "Dr. Lazarus'" quarters on the ship and the other where Thermian engineers ask "Tech Sgt. Chen" a question to which he has no clue what the answer is and he has to bluff his way out of it).

I think Allen's black T-shirt was "beamed up" (or whatever they called it) with him because he appears to pick it up off the floor.

I think Fred wasn't shaking after the goo transporter because it just didn't faze him (he did remark "That was a hell of a thing").

It seems like they used the term "quadrant" on TOS, too.

I agree about it being strange that they would use numbers instead of names to refer to episodes. Even shows like The X-Files, which don't show the title on the screen when the show airs, have names. And when people involved wtih a show talk about a particular episode, they refer to it by its name.

As for what if Shatner, et al, had this happen to them, there was a short story written in which several of the actors from the original ST series step onto the transporter on the set and find themselves on a real Enterprise with the crew believing they are the characters that they play. It was an interesting story and I wonder if it was the inspiration for this movie.

My favorite part: Where Guy says he knows he will die because he doesn't even have a last name. Gwen and Jason insist "Of course you have a last name" and he screams "Do I? Do I?"

There are a lot of science nits one can make about this movie, but since it is a comedy and a parody as well, you have to forgive the moviemakers.

I believe Visit To A Weird Planet Revisited was the story title. Shatner, Nimoy & Kelly find themselves on the real Enterprise. IIRC it was a sequal to a story called Visit To A Weird Planet where Kirk, Spock & McCoy find themselves on the set of Star Trek.

(Then there was that episode of Fridays where Kirk accidentally wound up in the 20th century in place of Shatner & was forced to host a SNL-style comedy show.)

About Fred not being oriental, when the head Thermian first says his name with all that awe in his voice, Fred squints his eyes to appear more Oriental. He also had his eyes squinted during the old episode at the beginning of the movie. I thought this was a reference to Scotty being Scottish and being played by someone who was not.

This movie also had a lot of musical cues from TOS.

Other than the obvious bit that they're both engineers, I never made the Chen/Scotty connection regarding their "nationalities" (thwaps forehead). That's hilarious!

>>>Fred Qwan plays Tech. Sgt. Chen. Funny, he doesn't look oriental. - KAM <<<

Well, neither does Tommy Chong (of Cheech & Chong) or his daughter, Rae Dawn Chong.

At least one episode is referred to by name rather than by number. A fan at the convention refers to an episode as 'The Mists of Regulus 9' or something (not sure about the planet name).

Chewwie
In the very opening sequence where we view a portion of a GalaxyQuest episode:
When Gwen/Tawny turns from the console and says something, the lady seated next to her seems to be the same chick/octopoid who later falls in love with Fred!
Can anyone confirm this? There's no direct view of her face, just her profile and her hair, but it looks like her. She shouldn't be there on *So many* levels!

I not only have the video of it, but also the DVD, where I can pause and backtrack many times. Upon doing that to this scene, you are referring to, I don't think it's her. Granted, it's a short scene, but there are many differences. The lady sitting next to Gwen, definately looks like she's wearing a wig, and wearing lots of makeup. Plus, her face is more prounounced, where the alien female who falls in love with Fred, is more of a softer face, and you can see more of a difference that her hair is more hers.
I don't think it's her, if that answers your question.

Is it me or does the Thermian chick that Fred falls for look a bit like Martha Hackett(who played Seska on Voyager)?

I see no resemblance. The Thermian chick is cute.

I've heard that the Convention in the film WAS actually a real Star Trek convention that was used for the filming.

Is it me or does the Thermian chick that Fred falls for look a bit like Martha Hackett(who played Seska on Voyager)?
Yeah, I think she does, a little.

I see no resemblance. The Thermian chick is cute.
Dude, seriously, you never see the resemblance between anybody.

I think Luigi meant that the Thermian chick was cute, as opposed to Seska, who wasn't cute.

This is undoubtably the funniest Star Trek spoof ever made, and appeared to be rather better at coming up with alternative equipment styles than Enterprise.

One thing, though: why does Guy think he's a redshirt because he has 'no last name'? Most of the redshirts on TOS were ONLY referred to by their last name...

It's been a little while since I've seen this... But I thought his Galaxy Quest character was an unnamed crewman. Guy was the actor's name. And the reference wasn't that he didn't have a last name, but that no one (like Weaver's character) knew what it was because he's a nobody.

I beleive he even introduced himself at the convention as crewman number 114 or something at that.

Hw was Crewman #6.

Oh ok. Cool. I forgot the number. But that was the point of his existence. His character's werent important enough to even have a name and when the crew wound up playing the characters for real he freaked because all of his character's exist only to die.

Oh, right.

"Didn't the Quest crew ever bluff on the show?"
"Didn't the aliens ever watch soap-operas*snip*
"Jason has a pretty big house considering that he hasn't been working for 18 years"

or the show's budget was built around Jason, this is a well known complaint by actors in all Star Trek incarnations that the 'stars' are paid disproportionately outrageous sums. Shatner's salary is always a particular problem (he's reportedly not in Star Trek XI, which focuses on Kirk, because of salary demands.)

It was a plot point that Taggart never bluffed. Neither Taggart nor Jason are very good at it.

No other TV influences can be seen except Galaxy Quest. It can be assumed the GQ obsession limited their TV watching. They did not have a TV guide, they did not have a remote control, they had to intercept the signals as they came. Likely, only episodic TV could be purposefully and reliably be intercepted over a 4 year period. Any errors and they would miss the episode so they concentrated on their GQ obsession. GI might have air in an adjacent timeslot. Or GI took the GQ timeslot part way through the series (or GQ took GI's timeslot, and they discovered GQ). The castaways did not get off the island (permanently) in the original episodes, they probably missed the later movies. And just because they saw lying(fiction) doesn't mean they understood it. They may be technically advanced but they are socially inept (hint: they are a race of geeks).

Having a big house after 18 years is reasonable given that the show would have happened in the late 70s. They would have made royalties every time the show was re-run, plus if he had invested it wisely. Back in the days of The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke those actors didn't make anything after the first 5 re-runs. By the 70s things had changed.

i liked the premise of this movie.

What if a bunch of aliens showed up here on Earth, looking for Captain Kirk and his crew (because they mistook episodes of Star Trek for real documentations of their missions).

Of course, due to legal reasons, they couldn't use Star Trek, so they cooked up the fictional show here.