John Belushi Became Captain Kirk — And Created One of Early SNL’s Most Memorable Parodies
Before John Belushi became Jake Blues.
Before Animal House turned him into a movie star.
Before the Blues Brothers became one of the most recognizable comedy duos in American pop culture, Belushi walked onto the bridge of the Starship Enterprise wearing a yellow uniform and attempted something surprisingly difficult.
He became Captain James T. Kirk.
Not the real Captain Kirk, of course.
This was Saturday Night Live.
Belushi was parodying William Shatner’s famous performance in Star Trek, and the result became one of the most celebrated sketches from SNL’s earliest era.
The sketch was called “The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise.”
It originally aired on May 29, 1976, during the final episode of SNL’s first season. Elliott Gould hosted the episode, while the sketch featured Belushi as William Shatner’s Captain Kirk, Chevy Chase as Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock and Dan Aykroyd as Dr. McCoy. SNL Archives
But what makes the sketch special isn’t simply seeing famous comedians dressed like Star Trek characters.
It’s how seriously they play it.
Belushi doesn’t walk onto the bridge and immediately behave like a comedian making fun of science fiction.
He commits to Kirk.
The posture.
The voice.
The dramatic pauses.
The expressions.
The exaggerated seriousness.
Belushi understood that the funniest way to parody William Shatner wasn’t to abandon everything recognizable about Captain Kirk.
It was to exaggerate those recognizable qualities just enough.
And Belushi apparently cared deeply about getting it right.
Accounts of the sketch’s production describe Belushi as a Star Trek fan who strongly wanted the role. He even altered his distinctive sideburns to more closely resemble Shatner’s appearance as Kirk. Writer Michael O’Donoghue worked with Belushi on the sketch during its development, which reportedly lasted about a month. Wikipedia
That effort shows.
From the moment Belushi’s Kirk begins speaking, the performance feels strangely familiar.
Anyone who watched the original Star Trek understands exactly what he’s doing.
But the sketch goes far beyond a simple celebrity impression.
Its central idea is brilliant because it turns a real piece of television history into science-fiction comedy.
The original Star Trek television series had been canceled in 1969.
SNL imagines that cancellation happening inside the Star Trek universe itself.
At the beginning, everything seems relatively normal aboard the Enterprise.
Spock detects an unidentified vessel approaching.
Kirk demands information.
The crew attempts to understand what is coming toward them.
It sounds like the setup to a genuine episode of Star Trek.
Kirk even believes they may be facing an extraordinarily dangerous enemy.
But the mysterious approaching vessel isn’t a Klingon warship.
It isn’t Romulan.
It isn’t an alien monster.
It’s an old automobile.
Inside are representatives from NBC.
And they’re carrying something far more powerful than any futuristic weapon:
A cancellation notice.
That’s the genius of the sketch.
Captain Kirk can fight aliens.
He can face impossible odds.
He can command the Enterprise through interstellar danger.
But even James T. Kirk cannot defeat network television executives.
The NBC representatives arrive and calmly explain that the Star Trek series has been canceled.
Then they begin dismantling the Enterprise.
Literally.
The fictional world starts disappearing around the characters.
Equipment is removed.
The set is taken apart.
Crew members lose their jobs.
The mighty Starship Enterprise isn’t destroyed by an enemy attack.
It’s destroyed by television production decisions.
And Belushi’s Kirk refuses to accept it.
The premise gave Belushi an opportunity to do much more than imitate Shatner’s voice.
As the situation becomes increasingly hopeless, his Kirk becomes increasingly determined to preserve the illusion.
The Enterprise may be disappearing around him, but he continues trying to behave like Captain Kirk.
That’s where the sketch becomes something more interesting than a straightforward parody.
There is almost a sadness underneath the comedy.
Kirk exists only as long as the television show exists.
Once NBC cancels the program and dismantles the set, what happens to him?
Belushi plays that desperation beautifully.
He keeps trying to command a ship that is no longer really there.
He attempts to hold onto the character even as reality invades the fictional universe.
Eventually, the distinction between Captain Kirk and William Shatner begins collapsing.
The great starship captain is reduced to an actor standing on a television set.
The adventure is over.
Not because Kirk failed.
Because the network canceled the show.
It’s a remarkably clever concept for 1976.
And it helped turn the sketch into a favorite among both SNL and Star Trek fans.
Belushi’s performance received particular attention. Accounts of the sketch say writer Michael O’Donoghue was thrilled with the result and congratulated Belushi immediately afterward. Belushi himself reportedly regarded the performance as one of his most satisfying. Wikipedia
Even people connected with the real Star Trek appreciated the joke.
The sketch’s reputation grew beyond its original broadcast, eventually becoming widely recognized as one of SNL’s notable early parodies. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, praised the sketch, according to accounts of its reception. WikiZero
That reaction makes sense because the parody doesn’t work by treating Star Trek as stupid.
Quite the opposite.
You have to understand something pretty well to parody it this specifically.
The Enterprise bridge is recognizable.
The character relationships are recognizable.
The rhythm of the dialogue feels recognizable.
Belushi’s Kirk is funny because viewers know the real Kirk.
Chevy Chase’s Spock works because viewers recognize Spock’s controlled, logical manner.
Dan Aykroyd’s McCoy fits because audiences understand the familiar relationship among Kirk, Spock and McCoy.
The SNL archive lists the cast clearly: Belushi as William Shatner/Captain Kirk, Chase as Leonard Nimoy/Spock, Aykroyd as DeForest Kelley/McCoy, Akira Yoshimura as Sulu, Doris Powell as Uhura, Elliott Gould as NBC executive Herb Goodman and Garrett Morris as Curtis. SNL Archives
Looking back today, the lineup alone is remarkable.
Belushi.
Aykroyd.
Chase.
Garrett Morris.
All performing during the first season of a television show that nobody yet knew would remain on American television for decades.
That’s another reason watching the clip today feels different.
We’re seeing John Belushi before many of the roles that would define his legacy.
Animal House was still in the future.
The Blues Brothers movie was years away.
Jake and Elwood Blues had not yet become movie icons.
Belushi was still demonstrating just how many different kinds of comedy he could perform.
His reputation would eventually become strongly associated with wild physical comedy and explosive characters.
But Captain Kirk shows another side of him.
Belushi could observe.
He could imitate.
He could capture the rhythm of another performer’s acting style and transform it into comedy without completely losing the original character.
The humor comes from precision.
Watch the pauses.
Watch the seriousness in his face.
Watch how committed he remains to the situation.
Belushi isn’t winking at the audience.
He isn’t telling viewers, “Look how ridiculous this is.”
He behaves as though the Enterprise really is in danger.
That commitment makes everything around him funnier.
And it becomes even more effective when the threat turns out to be painfully mundane.
Network executives.
Cancellation.
Unemployment.
These aren’t science-fiction threats.
They’re show-business threats.
And no amount of futuristic technology can stop them.
That’s why “The Last Voyage of the Starship Enterprise” remains such an effective piece of television satire.
It’s simultaneously about Star Trek and about television itself.
The Enterprise can survive imaginary enemies.
A television series cannot survive cancellation.
Captain Kirk can command his crew.
William Shatner cannot command NBC.
The characters may live in the 23rd century, but their existence still depends on executives in the 20th.
More than fifty years after the sketch first aired, that joke remains understandable.
Television shows still get canceled.
Actors still lose characters they’ve spent years playing.
Fans still watch beloved fictional worlds suddenly disappear because somebody somewhere decided the numbers weren’t good enough.
SNL took that reality and turned it into a Star Trek episode.
And at the center of everything was John Belushi.
Standing on the bridge.
Wearing Captain Kirk’s uniform.
Delivering dramatic commands.
Trying desperately to save a starship that even Captain Kirk couldn’t save.
Not from Klingons.
Not from Romulans.
Not from some terrifying alien civilization.
From NBC.
And perhaps that’s the funniest part of all.
The universe had thrown countless dangers at Captain James T. Kirk.
But in John Belushi’s hands, his most impossible mission turned out to be the one challenge no television hero could overcome:
Getting his canceled show back on the air
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx0xOgFDXFg
