TVSquad

Do not adjust your web browser. You are now entering the Retro Squad, where we are reviewing past episodes of classic TV shows.

The original version of Star Trek has been a show with two faces. On the one face, it was a serious show that dramatized the good and glorious future we humans could have after we screwed everything up (though, with so many wars going on around the galaxy, how good and glorious could it be?). On the other face, at least to some, it was a campy science fiction show that featured poor special effects, bad acting, and tunics that really didn't hold up to space travel too well.

Since the show left the airwaves in 1969, that second face is the one that television shows throughout the decades have parodied. Whether it be the original series itself, or the subsequent movies, or the conventions that sprung up from this show that lasted only 79 episodes. Shows both animated and live-action have found ways to skewer the show's, and its fans', good intentions. After the jump you'll find a few examples of those parodies either to laugh with or be angry at.

As AOL Television continues their look at the 50 Best TV Comedies -- Ever with numbers 30-21, we here at TV Squad are also looking at television comedy, but with a slightly skewed difference. Last week, we took a look at the numerous stand-up comedians who became sitcom stars. In this installment we look at one particular TV comedy that made stars out of a number of actors and actresses.

I'm talking about NBC's Saturday Night Live. Since its premiere in 1975, the late-night sketch show has given us a slew of actors and actresses who have made the move onto both the big and small screen. Sometimes the move was towards more comedy, sometimes it was a switch to more serious roles, other times it was a little bit of both. And, while many of those who made it are still in the public eye these days, some of the greatest of those who came from Studio 8H had their careers snuffed out way too early.

The amount of those who rose to the top varied from cast to cast. Some casts, like the very first one, produced a whole slew of talent who went on to bigger and better things. Others, like the first casts from 1980-85 and the mid-1990s, produced very little in the way of big stars.

(S02E09) "We could wake up tomorrow, and it could all go to hell."-- Robert McAllister

I have to admit: I would have owed Tommy $100. But not for the same reasons as Kevin and Justin. I will get to that in a bit though. Was it just me, or did this episode have some editing glitches? One minute Kitty is telling Robert that it's bad luck to sleep with the groom on the night before the wedding and Justin and Lena seem to be talking about the wedding being that day, and then Kitty is in the Walker kitchen working on her vows and the wedding is still a day away. Anyway, it wasn't a big deal-- it just seemed a little incongruous for a bit.

(S02E08) "Well, I'm a democrat, and I lost my virginity to "She's Got Legs."-- Sarah Walker

Did everybody lose their virginity to a song? I don't remember whether I did or not, but if you want to share yours, feel free. I loved it when Robert walked in and Nora asked him what song was playing when he lost his. And then when she revealed that her first time wasn't with their father. And that is all very well and good, but I personally have never found Chevy Chase (Stan Harris) to be particularly attractive. However, I am willing to put that aside and say that I thought he did a wonderfully understated turn as Kitty's Nora's (thanks, Jamie) first love, Stan Harris.

(S06E01) A long time ago, but somehow in the future . . .

Who would've thunk it? When Family Guy premiered back in 1999(!) many people tossed it away as a pale imitation of The Simpsons and kind of ignored it. Who knew that eight years later, at the start of the show's 6th season, Seth MacFarlane and his crew would be able to get the approval of George Lucas himself to air a spoof of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It shows how far Family Guy has come since it returned to the prime-time airwaves.

One day when I was visiting the Museum of TV & Radio here in LA, I decided to go up to the library and watch a few shows. I saw that they had quite a few episodes of Dean Martin's Celebrity Roast available so I ordered up a couple. It was hilarious. Bob Newhart, Nipsey Russell, Phyllis Diller and Dean himself were as funny as ever and clearly having a great time.

When Comedy Central decided to bring back the celebrity roast I was elated. I couldn't wait to see today's best comics having a great time just like in the old days. For awhile it was great. Jeff Ross emerged as the new heir to the dais on great roasts of Drew Carey and Jerry Stiller, and the Hugh Hefner roast was a treat. Then something happened.

Because Time magazine didn't want to waste a reporter resource to interview Chevy Chase, they decided to have him answer questions sent in by readers. One of them asked what he thought of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, and he oh so humbly took credit for their success. "My ego tends to think that, you know, I started it with my Weekend Update," he responds, implying that the ideas for both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report came directly from WU.

In a way, he might be right, as his fake newscast came before theirs. But TDS and TCR are so different from Chase's newscast, that his claim of "starting" it is tenuous at best. Never let it be said that, despite a declining career, Chevy didn't still have his mid-career ego intact. At least he admits to it.

Regis just asked Chevy Chase if tonight's Law and Order episode was based on the Mel Gibson case. First of all, dumb question. Second, Chase said it was kind of inspired by the case.

Right.

Chevy Chase has started shooting an episode of Law & Order in which he plays a celebrity who is stopped for drunk driving and whose "religious prejudice" comes out -- okay, he's playing Mel Gibson. Since this is Law & Order and not, say, Reno 911!, Chevy's fictional character will also be found with blood on him, making for a major-crimes angle.

Count on Jack McCoy and the rest of the gang to have this one neatly sorted within forty-three minutes as usual. Win or lose, next week they'll be on to another story distilled from some other headline. One episode, one case, the end.

As the rumors were flying around about who was going to leave SNL, Keith and I were thinking about putting up a "The Five" post that went over the "Categories of former SNLers."

But it looks like the LA Times beat us to it; writer Deborah Netburn details the seven career paths most former SNLers take. I'll admit she did a nice job. The only thing I really disagree with is her classification of Johnny Dangerously as a disaster for Joe Piscopo. I happen to think that it was a very funny movie, and anyway, it was more a Michael Keaton vehicle than a Piscopo vehicle. The other thing she overlooks is: in which category would Chevy Chase fit? His career has been tough to classify, but it does seem like he went from the first category (superstar) to the second category (not funny) somewhere around 1987, doesn't it?

Anyway, what do you think is in store for Horatio Sanz, Chris Parnell, and Finesse Mitchell? Let me know in the comments.

[via Mediabistro]

Despite the popularity of the Fletch movies (starring Chevy Chase as the sarcastic reporter), it has taken longer to get more of the movies made than it took to get another Superman movie made -- and presumably, Superman Returns required many more special effects. Director Kevin Smith (whose new movie Clerks II is in theaters and who was also associated with Superman at one point) had been talking about making a Fletch movie years ago. As in more than five years ago. He wrote on his View Askew message board back then that he wanted to cast Jason Lee (who now stars in the title row of the terrific show My Name is Earl) as Fletch.

I didn't see a single moment of Chevy Chase's short-lived talk show when it aired, probably because my attention was diverted to the shake ups at more established late night fare such as The Tonight Show and Late Night. Chase's show came along the same time Conan O'Brien was slipping into Letterman's slot on NBC, and as we all know, The Chevy Chase Show never quite gained an audience. I think after you watch a clip (after the jump) of Chase interviewing actress Goldie Hawn, you'll begin to understand why. This four minutes of "interview," awkward dancing, and a gag involving a birthday cake that falls flat in more ways than one culminate into one glaring fact: it takes a special kind of person to helm a late night talk show, and Chevy Chase wasn't it. A shame really, because in the right circumstances the man can be quite funny. Watch if you dare.

Thanks to Josh for hepping us to the clip.

Remember the good ol' days of Saturday Night Live? You can. On your video iPod, or just on your computer. This week, iTunes released all sorts of video clips that span the last 30 years of Saturday Night Live. You can purchase individual sketches, including The Hanukkah Song, Wake Up and Smile, Schwetty Balls, Motivational Speaker, plus a few oldies-but-goodies like Word Association with Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor, and King Tut with Steve Martin. There are also all sorts of commercial parodies such as Colon Blow, Oops I Crapped My Pants, and Mom Jeans (what? no Clear Gravy?). You really have to love those sketches, though, because they each cost $2. The collection is by no means complete, but it looks as though SNL is just getting started. For instance, I didn't see any of the Wayne's World or Church Lady sketches available for individual purchase. However, those are included on the "Best Of" compilations that are also available for download, for $10.