History WMG / GalaxyQuest

No such luck for ''Galaxy Quest''. By the time it debuted in 1978, audiences had gotten more cynical, the Vietnam War was over, and TheWestern had been killed by UsefulNotes/TheRuralPurge. In "our" timeline, ''Star Wars'' filled that hole with its cool {{Space Battle}}s and {{Laser Blade}}s. ''Galaxy Quest'' was made by someone closer to Roddenberry than to Creator/GeorgeLucas, but who recognized that audiences wanted to see cool gadgets and were less interested in social commentary (if it did show up, it was like a Creator/NormanLear sitcom). A lot of the gadgets are souped-up versions of what existed on ''Star Trek'', but it still explains things like the "chompers" and the Omega 13 device.

It really helps to debut almost a decade after TheSixties were essentially over as well as not being contemporary with westerns which were long passé by 1978. So the CowboysAndIndians InSpace format that a signficant number of TOS ''Trek'' episodes took was definitely not on display in ''Quest''. The sexism that was part and parcel of the swinging sixties was an embarrassment by 1978, Galaxy Quest's year of debut. Gwen, for all her complaining about how her character's purpose seemed to essentially be FanService, is especially fortunate that the show came along when it did. It could have been a lot worse ten years prior to that. Star Trek TOS had it's share of faux pas such as ''Mudd's Women'', ''Spock's Brain'', ''The Enemy Within''[[note]] the cavalier attitude towards evil Kirk's attempted sexual assault of Yeoman Rand was handled is considered cringe today[[/note]], ''The Paradise Syndrome''[[note]] an once lauded episode that has especially suffered from critical review due to being problematic on several levels including cultural insensitivity[[/note]], and especially ''Turnabout Intruder'', all of which ''Galaxy Quest'' can be proud to say would not have happened on their watch.

It really helps to debut almost a decade after TheSixties were essentially over as well as not being contemporary with westerns which were long passé by 1978. So the CowboysAndIndians InSpace format that a signficant number of TOS ''Trek'' episodes took was definitely not on display in ''Quest''. The sexism that was part and parcel of the swinging sixties was an embarrassment by 1978, Galaxy Quest's year of debut. Gwen, for all her complaining about how her character's purpose seemed to essentially be FanService, is especially fortunate that the show came along when it did. It could have been a lot worse ten years prior to that. Star Trek TOS it's share of faux pas such as ''Mudd's Women'', ''Spock's Brain'', ''The Paradise Syndrome''[[note]] an once lauded episode that has especially suffered from critical review due to being problematic on several levels including cultural insensitivity[[/note]], and especially ''Turnabout Intruder'', all of which ''Galaxy Quest'' can be proud to say would not have happened on their watch.

It really helps to debut almost a decade after TheSixties were essentially over. The sexism that was part and parcel of the swinging sixties was an embarrassment by 1978, Galaxy Quest's year of debut. Gwen, for all her complaining about how her character's purpose seemed to essentially be FanService, is especially fortunate that the show came along when it did. It could have been a lot worse ten years ago. Star Trek TOS had a few faux pas such as ''Mudd's Women'', ''Spock's Brain'', ''The Paradise Syndrome''', and especially ''Turnabout Intruder'', all of which ''Galaxy Quest'' can be proud to say would not have happened on their watch.

It really helps to debut almost a decade after TheSixties were essentially over. The sexism that was part and parcel of the swinging sixties was an embarrassment by 1978, Galaxy Quest's year of debut. Gwen, for all her complaining about how shallow her character was (except the FanService) especially, is fortunate that the show came along when it did. It could have been a lot worse ten years ago. Star Trek TOS had a few faux pas such as ''Mudd's Women'', ''Spock's Brain'', ''The Paradise Syndrome''', and especially ''Turnabout Intruder'', all of which ''Galaxy Quest'' can be proud to say that these would not have happened on their watch.

This explains how Sarris is so conversant with human concepts ("acting", lying) and human culture (he even knows what tissue paper is, I doubt that's a translatable concept).

* It depends on where you are on the ship and where you want to get to. From where Jason and Gwen were, going through the Chompers may have been the only route that didn't bring them closer to Sarris's troops.

Refuse would be tossed down a garbage chute, compressed in to smaller and smaller blocks by the Chompers, and then finally incinerated. After all, waste disposal in space is a tricky thing. As for why you'd have to go ''through'' them to reach the control panel for a critical part of the ship, well... that's for another WMG.

* A society based on the ''Series/{{Batman|1966}}'' series, where the good guys fight crime in costume and the bad guys all have a visual theme and punny-named henchmen.
* At least one society based on ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'', ''Series/WagonTrain'', and [[{{TheWestern}} the like]], split between those posing as the pioneers / settlers and those posing as the natives.
* A society based on ''Series/{{Zorro|1957}}'' split between those posing as the Spaniards and those posing as the natives.

The government identified the Thermians as their favorite alien race -- they had incredible technology and vast potential, but they were frustratingly naive, constantly under threat, and as the Thermians themselves later explain, were undergoing incredible societal upheaval. However, the government clandestinely influenced the production of ''Galaxy Quest'', knowing that the Thermians could [[AliensStealCable steal cable]] and might pick up some guidance from the show. It worked better than the government could have imagined, with the Thermians rebuilding their society in the show's model. The show would have continued, but when the government realized that the Thermians could build a functional Omega 13 device, they abruptly ordered the show cancelled out of fear of what the device might do. (They were too late, but the Thermians were just as scared.)

The government did ''not'' anticipate that the desperate Thermians would enlist the show's actors for help. But they're in for another pleasant surprise, as the actors help the Thermians escape their tormentor Sarris -- and bring back some of that incredible Thermian technology. (That's ''trillions'' of dollars worth of stuff, man.) The government decides to let the actors off the hook in exchange for giving the tech to the military. Meanwhile, the government commissions ''The New Adventures of Galaxy Quest'' as a first attempt at PlausibleDeniability (like something [[Series/StargateSG1 Stargate Command]] would do), up to and including casting one of the aliens.

Similar to the above WMG, but in this case, it's not the government who knows about the Thermians; just MIB. MIB would ordinarily step in to prevent the Thermians from abducting the show's cast, but Thermian technology is far ahead of anything they've seen, with transportation technology on par with ''Franchise/StarTrek'' transporters, so they couldn't be stopped. At the end of the movie, MIB confiscates the ship, neuralizes all the convention attendees, and deputized the cast of the show.

It's based on the brief shot of his home when he talks to Gwen on the phone. You can hear police sirens in the background, and it doesn't look as well-equipped as Gwen's is or ''nearly'' as much as Jason's is. Now, you can easily say it's because Alex doesn't give a crap, whereas Gwen (being a girl who cares about such things) very much does, and Jason is TheCaptain who wants to show off his digs -- and to some degree, that's true. But why would Alex not care? He's a highly accomplished Shakespearean actor (five curtain calls!), and it's not like he played a bit character; he was essentially Jason's NumberTwo. No, it's because he got shafted on the pay for his role on the show.

** Given that stage fighting is useless in real combat, Alex may have learned some real fighting techniques in the hope of breaking out as an ActionHero. Only to be informed that he isn't American enough (He isn't a former James Bond so he can't get a free pass like Connery and the others. And Britain couldn't care less about Action Hero actors) and that he doesn't give off the EveryMan image that built the careers of guys like Bronson, Stallone and Willis.

In this timeline, Creator/GeorgeLucas just sat on ''Star Wars'' as a silly idea and was basically an indie director, friends with Creator/FrancisFordCoppola but never making anything mainstream outside of ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' and ''Film/HowardTheDuck''. The trio of writers credited with making Lucas' brainchild a coherent narrative (Alan Dean Foster, Leigh Brackett, and Lawrence Kasdan) was busy instead being essentially to Galaxy Quest what Gene L. Coon, Robert Justman, and D.C. Fontana were to ''Star Trek''. And without ''Star Wars'', there was no Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic. And without ILM, there was no significant catalyst for the emergence of other special effects companies. This left visual effects as a cottage industry, dominated by "in-studio specialists" or notable individuals (''e.g.'' Ray Harryhausen, Douglas Trumbul, Wah Chang, Stan Winston, Brian Johnson). It also leads into the next WMG:

Our world owes its obsession with science fiction to not just ''Star Wars'', but really a renaissance that began in TheNineties in which the whole thing was taken more seriously -- better writing, deeper and more complex characterization, DarkerAndEdgier themes, and extended {{Story Arc}}s. But this would have still relied on memories of ''Star Wars'' and the other things it directly inspired. While there might have been individual high-concept sci-fi films made in the years after ''Galaxy Quest'' ended (''e.g.'' ''Film/BladeRunner'', ''Film/TheTerminator'', ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}''), there weren't very many and they tend to quickly date themselves.

When the ''Protector'' emerges from the other end, almost no time has elapsed (they don't even take the time to change!), but on Earth, weeks or even months have passed. But this actually resolves a problem: Why are there two ''Galaxy Quest'' conventions, just days apart from each other, in the same city? The answer is that there's a lot more time in between them than one might think. Notice that none of the actors start freaking out that they have to get back to Earth right away because there's ''another'' convention they have to attend -- after all, they're not getting paid for their time on the ''Protector'', and for however much they might dislike having to do them, they're all a lot more professional than Jason and make an effort to show up on time. Heck, the whole reason they joined Jason to begin with is that they thought it was another job. It also explains why Brandon is ''not'' at said convention when Jason calls him to ask for help -- that happened before the black hole, and the convention isn't for another few weeks.

Refuse would be tossed down a garbage chute, compressed in to smaller and smaller blocks by the Chompers, and then finally incinerated.

[[WMG: ''Galaxy Quest's'' visual style was nowhere as cheap looking as ''Star Trek'' TOS.]]
Although it was certainly not the kind of show the studio was throwing money at, it helps that ''Galaxy Quest'' is a product of the late seventies instead of [[TheSixties mid sixties]]. Thanks to the Moon Landing and the space race in general, The 1970s was a prolific period for science fiction themed films and shows. By 1978, there were many more studio sources from which the production could kitbash and recycle existing sets and props. Productions such as ''Silent Running''[[note]]The ship featured in this film was recycled as the Agro-Ship for Battlestar Galactica[[/note]], ''Logan's Run'', ''Planet of the Apes'', ''Dark Star'', ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', ''Man From Atlantis'', ''The Starlost'' and even ''Land of the Lost'', ''Lost Saucer'' and ''Far Out Space Nuts'' would have been valuable sources for sets, costumes, and props that could be redressed for the show. This is in sharp contrast to ''Star Trek TOS'' which had to make everything from scratch because nothing like it had ever been attempted before.[[note]]To save money, ''Star Trek'' was frequently reduced to recycling sets and costumes from old Westerns, thus explaining the implausibly Earthlike planets they visited frequently.[[/note]]

[[WMG: ''Galaxy Quest's'' was allowed to have more far out sci-fi elements and less preachy social commentary than was generally present on ''Star Trek'' TOS.]]
The previous WMG gave a budgetary reason for that. A creative reason is that the unnamed creator of Galaxy Quest wasn't anywhere near the stickler that Gene Roddenberry was concerning the need to ground the show in boundaries to relate to the viewing audiences of TheSixties, thus a lot of episodes taking cues from television westerns. UsefulNotes/TheRuralPurge of 1971 would have removed the influence of television westerns by the time that ''Galaxy Quest'' was conceived in 1978. The unnamed creator of Galaxy Quest was as much of a humanist as Roddenberry, but also was a bit more interested in gadgets and technology than Roddenberry who always insisted that the stories needed to be about people first, not gadgets.[[note]]This would serve to explain the gratuitous "chomper" machine in one of the Protector's corridors.[[/note]] Also, the social commentary and allegory, while still there, was not in the same style as TOS as the Vietnam War had already been over for over three years and everything had calmed down from the relative turbulence of the sixties. Whenever social commentary in ''Galaxy Quest'' was presented, it was presented more in the style that Creator/NormanLear spearheaded with his sitcoms.

The previous WMG gave a budgetary reason for that. A creative reason is that the unnamed creator of Galaxy Quest wasn't anywhere near the stickler that Gene Roddenberry was concerning the need to ground the show in boundaries to relate to the viewing audiences of TheSixties, thus a lot of episodes taking cues from television westerns. UsefulNotes/TheRuralPurge of 1971 would have removed the influence of television westerns by the time that ''Galaxy Quest'' was conceived in 1978. The unnamed creator of Galaxy Quest was as much of a humanist as Roddenberry, but also was a bit more interested in gadgets and technology than Roddenberry who always insisted that the stories needed to be about people first, not gadgets.[[note]]This would serve to explain the gratuitous "chomper" machine in one of the Protector's corridor[[/note]] Also, the social commentary and allegory, while still there, was not in the same style as TOS as the Vietnam War had already been over for over three years and everything had calmed down from the relative turbulence of the sixties. Whenever social commentary in ''Galaxy Quest'' was presented, it was presented more in the style that Creator/NormanLear spearheaded with his sitcoms.

The previous WMG gave a budgetary reason for that. A creative reason is that the unnamed creator of Galaxy Quest wasn't anywhere near the stickler that Gene Roddenberry was concerning the need to ground the show in boundaries to relate to the viewing audiences of TheSixties, thus a lot of episodes taking cues from television westerns. UsefulNotes/TheRuralPurge of 1971 would have removed the influence of television westerns by the time that ''Galaxy Quest'' was conceived in 1978. The unnamed creator of Galaxy Quest was as much of a humanist as Roddenberry, but also was a bit more interested in gadgets and technology than Roddenberry who always insisted that the stories needed to be about people first.[[note]]This would have to explain the chomper machine in the air duct[[/note]] Also, the social commentary and allegory, while still there, was not in the same style as TOS as the Vietnam War had already been over for over three years and everything had calmed down from the relative turbulence of the sixties. Whenever social commentary in ''Galaxy Quest'' was presented, it was presented more in the style that Creator/NormanLear spearheaded with his sitcoms.

In this timeline, Creator/GeorgeLucas just sat on ''Star Wars'' as a silly idea and was basically an indie director, friends with Creator/FrancisFordCoppola but never making anything mainstream outside of ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' and ''Film/HowardTheDuck''. The trio of writers credited with making Lucas' brainchild a coherent narrative (Alan Dean Foster, Leigh Brackett, and Lawrence Kasdan) was busy instead being essentially to Galaxy Quest what Gene L. Coon was to ''Star Trek''. And without ''Star Wars'', there was no Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic. And without ILM, there was no significant catalyst for the emergence of other special effects companies. This left visual effects as a cottage industry, dominated by "in-studio specialists" or notable individuals (''e.g.'' Ray Harryhausen, Douglas Trumbul, Wah Chang, Stan Winston, Brian Johnson). It also leads into the next WMG:

The previous WMG gave a budgetary reason for that. A creative reason is that the unnamed creator of Galaxy Quest wasn't anywhere near the stickler that Gene Roddenberry was concerning the need to ground the show in boundaries to relate to the viewing audiences of TheSixties, thus a lot of episodes taking cues from television westerns. UsefulNotes/TheRuralPurge of 1971 would have removed the influence of television westerns by the time that ''Galaxy Quest'' was conceived in 1978. Also, the social commentary and allegory, while still there, was not in the same style as TOS as the Vietnam War had already been over for over three years and everything had calmed down from the relative turbulence of the sixties. Whenever social commentary in ''Galaxy Quest'' was presented, it was presented more in the style that Creator/NormanLear spearheaded with his sitcoms.

[[WMG: ''Galaxy Quest's'' was allowed to have more far out sci-fi elements than were generally allowed on ''Star Trek'' TOS.]]

Although it was certainly not the kind of show the studio was throwing money at, it helps that ''Galaxy Quest'' is a product of the late seventies instead of [[TheSixties mid sixties]]. Thanks to the Moon Landing and the space race in general, The 1970s was a prolific period for science fiction themed films and shows. By 1978, there were many more studio sources from which the production could kitbash and recycle existing sets and props. Productions such as ''Silent Running''[[note]]The ship featured in this film was recycled as the Agro-Ship for Battlestar Galactica[[/note]], ''Logan's Run'', ''Planet of the Apes'', ''Dark Star'', ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', ''Man From Atlantis'', ''The Starlost'' and even ''Land of the Lost'', ''Lost Saucer'' and ''Far Out Space Nuts'' would have been valuable sources for sets, costumes, and props that could be redressed for the show. This is in sharp contrast to ''Star Trek TOS'' which had to make everything from scratch because nothing like it had ever been attempted before.[[note]]To save money, ''Star Trek'' was frequently reduced to recycling sets and costumes from old Westerns, thus explaining the implausibly Earthlike planets they visited frequently.[[/note]]

Although it was certainly not the kind of show the studio was throwing money at, it helps that ''Galaxy Quest'' is a product of the late seventies instead of [[TheSixties mid sixties]]. Thanks to the Moon Landing and the space race in general, The 1970s was a prolific period for science fiction themed films and shows. By 1978, there were many more studio sources from which the production could kitbash and recycle existing sets and props. Productions such as ''Silent Running''[[note]]The ship featured in this film was recycled as the Agro-Ship for Battlestar Galactica[[/note]], ''Logan's Run'', ''Planet of the Apes'', ''Dark Star'', ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', ''Man From Atlantis'', ''The Starlost'' and even ''Land of the Lost'', ''Lost Saucer'' and ''Far Out Space Nuts'' would have been valuable sources for sets, costumes, and props that could be redressed for the show. This is in sharp contrast to ''Star Trek TOS'' which had to make everything from scratch because nothing like it had ever been attempted before.

Although it was certainly not the kind of show the studio was throwing money at, it helps that ''Galaxy Quest'' is a product of the late seventies instead of [[TheSixties mid sixties]]. Thanks to the Moon Landing and the space race in general, The 1970s was a prolific period for science fiction themed films and shows. By 1978, there were many more studio sources from which the production could kitbash and recycle existing sets and props. Productions such as ''Silent Running''[[note]]The ship featured in this film was recycled as the Agro-Ship for Battlestar Galactica[[/note]], ''Logan's Run'', ''Planet of the Apes'', ''Dark Star'', ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', ''Man From Atlantis'', ''The Starlost'' and even ''Lost Saucer'' and ''Far Out Space Nuts'' would have been valuable sources for sets, costumes, and props that could be redressed for the show. This is in sharp contrast to ''Star Trek TOS'' which had to make everything from scratch because nothing like it had ever been attempted before.

It helps that ''Galaxy Quest'' is a product of the late seventies instead of mid sixties. The 1970s was a prolific period for science fiction themed shows. By 1978, there were many more studio sources from which the production could kitbash and recycle existing sets and props. Productions such as ''Silent Running''[[note]]The ship featured in this film was recycled as the Agro-Ship for Battlestar Galactica[[/note]], ''Logan's Run'', ''Planet of the Apes'', ''Dark Star'', ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', ''Man From Atlantis'', ''The Starlost'' and even ''Lost Saucer'' and ''Far Out Space Nuts'' would have been valuable sources for sets, costumes, and props that could be redressed for the show. This is in sharp contrast to ''Star Trek TOS'' which had to make everything from scratch because nothing like it had ever been attempted before.

It helps that ''Galaxy Quest'' is a product of the late seventies instead of mid sixties. The 1970s was a prolific period for science fiction themed shows. By 1978, there were many more studio sources from which the production could kitbash and recycle existing sets and props. Productions such as ''Silent Running''[[note]]The ship featured in this film was recycled as the Agro-Ship for Battlestar Galactica[[/note]], ''Logan's Run'', ''Planet of the Apes'', ''Dark Star'', ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', ''Man From Atlantis'', ''The Starlost'' and even ''Lost Saucer'' and ''Far Out Space Nuts'' would have been valuable sources for sets, costumes, and props that could be redressed for the show. ''2001: a Space Odyssey'' would have to be ruled out due to Stanley Kubrick ordering the destruction of most sets and props. Contemporaries such as ''Space: 1999'' and ''UFO'' are British productions so they would not be available to American studios.
----

[[WMG: ''Galaxy Quest's'' visual style was not as cheap looking as ''Star Trek'' TOS.]]
It helps that ''Galaxy Quest'' is a product of the late seventies instead of mid sixties. The 1970s was a prolific period for science fiction themed shows. By 1978, there were many more studio sources from which the production could kitbash and recycle existing sets and props. Productions such as ''Silent Running''[[note]]The ship featured in this film was recycled as the Agro-Ship for Battlestar Galactica[[/note]], ''Logan's Run'', ''Planet of the Apes'', ''Dark Star'', ''The Six Million Dollar Man'', ''Man From Atlantis'', ''The Starlost'' and even ''Lost Saucer'' and ''Far Out Space Nuts'' would have been valuable sources for sets, costumes, and props that could be redressed for the show.

** Given that stage fighting is useless in real combat, Alex may have learned some real fighting techniques in the hope of breaking out as an ActionHero. Only to be informed that he isn't American enough (and Britain couldn't care less about Action Hero actors) and that he doesn't give off the EveryMan image that built the careers of guys like Bronson, Stallone and Willis.

** Given that stage fighting is useless in real combat, Alex may have learned some real fighting techniques in the hope of breaking out as an ActionHero. Only to be informed that he isn't American enough (and Britain couldn't care less about Action Hero actors) and that he doesn't give off the EveryMan image that built the careers of guys like Stallone and Willis.

In this timeline, Creator/GeorgeLucas just sat on ''Star Wars'' as a silly idea and was basically an indie director, friends with Creator/FrancisFordCoppola but never making anything mainstream outside of ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' and ''Film/HowardTheDuck''. And without ''Star Wars'', there was no Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic. And without ILM, there was no significant catalyst for the emergence of other special effects companies. This left visual effects as a cottage industry, dominated by "in-studio specialists" or notable individuals (''e.g.'' Ray Harryhausen, Douglas Trumbul, Wah Chang, Stan Winston, Brian Johnson). It also leads into the next WMG:

[[WMG: ''The New Adventures of Galaxy Quest'' are real]]
Since it turned out that the interstellar community really does resemble the Film/GalaxyQuest 'verse, the cast just took off in the spaceship in search of adventure, with a camera crew present to record "historical documents".

[[WMG: The computer is [[Series/DoctorWho the Midnight Entity]] and has a weak hold on Gwen]]
Hence each feels compelled to repeat the lines of the other, with some paraphrasing.
* [[FridgeHorror ...Did you really have to bring the horror of that idea to the rest of us?]]

This is why their society has no concept of lying - their beliefs shape reality. It's also why they could build a spacecraft using specifications from a television series that ran for four years and not only have it work, but have it work ''well'', and build [[spoiler: a ''working time machine'' using the same principles]].
* It also allows Quellek to perform the similarly fictitious "stealth gaze" to avoid capture.
** He had a holographic disguise device, can stick to ceilings and knows the ship's layout. That might account for his stealth skills.
** He also makes the Maaktar Chant of Strength work, though. It explains how things run on handwavium, and also how Rule of Drama starts taking effect.
[[WMG: The U.S. government knew of the Thermians]]
The U.S. knew alien threats existed out there. They knew Thermians liked Galaxy Quest and could build starships. The U.S. guided the show and the fandom so it turned out as it did; and hey, at the end, they got a whole bunch of alien technology. Sure, just the escape pod, but the circuitry in the walls and the life support system are probably worth trillions. It also explains why a literal alien got a major role in a television show...
* ''The New Adventures of Galaxy Quest'' was [[Series/StargateSG1 Stargate Command's]] first attempt at plausible deniability.

[[WMG: Jason Nesmith is responsible for the Thermian Genocide]]
Hungover, tired, and convinced he's just doing a bit for some fans, Jason attacks Sarris's ship during the meeting that was supposed to be the Thermians' surrender. He alerts his superiors, who use it to justify wiping out the Thermian homeworld and possibly the Thermian space station. Because of Jason, an entire race will likely die out.
* Sarris was already in the process of conquering the Thermian home galaxy and probably would have made quick work of them, had he not learned of the existence of the Omega 13. After Jason makes him look like a bitch after their first encounter, he devotes all his time to tracking down the Protector, putting his plans for genocide on hold. Most of the Thermian race had already been wiped out. Jason might've inadvertently cost a few more lives (the space station?) but probably saved many more in the long run.
* Also there's no evidence to suggest Sarris has superiors. He seems to be working on his own rather than representing a larger empire.

[[WMG: The movie is set in the same universe as Film/MenInBlack]]
Expanding on the third WMG from the top, the government actually did not know of the Thermians, but MIB did. Because the Thermians had transportation technology on par with the Franchise/StarTrek transporters, MIB had no way of tracking or preventing them from abducting the Galaxy Quest cast. At the end of the movie when the ship crashes into and destroys a large portion of the convention hall, MIB confiscates the ship and neuralizes everyone in attendance. Because of this, the Galaxy Quest cast are all deputized by MIB.

[[WMG: For StarTrekMovieCurse purposes, Film/GalaxyQuest counts as the 10th film]]
It was released between Insurrection and Nemesis, and while the standard curse would have Nemesis and Star Trek XI be good and bad, respectively, the opposite is true. Thus, Film/GalaxyQuest has become part of the curse, affecting how the counting works.

[[WMG: Alexander was screwed out of his earnings from the show's first run]]
Pay attention to the differences between his home and those of Gwen and Jason. They both live in (presumably) expensive houses, in nice areas, and very nicely decorated. Alexander, on the other hand, lives in less-nice house in a worse part of town (as evidenced by the sound of police sirens in the background while he's talking with Gwen). He was one of the leads on the show; why can't he afford to live as nicely as Jason or Gwen? Either because he never earned as much as they did (a depressingly common phenomenon with British actors until the beginning of the 2000s), or because his financial manager mishandled his money.
* Something I noticed that may contribute to this: Alexander is the only cast member who doesn't even try to hide how much he hates the show. The others at least pretend to be enthusiastic for the fan's sake. He just sulks and glares at everyone and makes his disdain for his character's catchphrase as clear as he possibly can, without outright saying that he hates it. This could indicate that his memories of the show are far more unpleasant than the others.
** Though part of his disgruntled attitude may be attributed to the fact that he's the only cast member who's got to wear prosthetics and make-up for his role.
** If he was screwed out of his wages and was cripplingly type casted, that might be why.
** And since Alex is based partly on Creator/LeonardNimoy, then he ''was'' screwed out of his wages. Royally.
* Gwen's house doesn't seem ''that'' lavish to me; it could just be a nicely-decorated apartment.
** Agreed. It seems more like a male/female thing - both have apartments (as opposed to Jason's lavish house), but Gwen's decor is girly and pretty and Alex's is Classic Bachelor Who Doesn't Give A Shit.


[[WMG: MostWritersAreHuman, but at least one that wrote the original ''Galaxy Quest'' episodes was not]]
If one or more of the writers already knew about the super-advanced technology that the ''Protector'' runs on, it would be easy for the Thermians to duplicate.
* Maybe this makes Galaxy Quest a series of propaganda shorts. A third-party entity saw that the Thermians were being ruthlessly exploited by Sarris and had no will to fight back. In order to avoid angering Sarris directly, the entity created Galaxy Quest and broadcast it from Earth, to make it appear as an innocuous TV show rather than propaganda. Real, commonplace galactic technology was given Earth-like names ("Beryllium Spheres", "Digital Conveyers", etc.), but could easily be acquired from other races, explaining why it is readily available on a random alien planet and how the Thermians could have built the technology so quickly. The Galaxy Quest cast and production crew were unaware that this was such a film and added dramatic devices (such as the chompers) for dramatic flair, but the Thermians couldn't distinguish fact from fiction, so they threw everything they could into the Protector II, reasoning that it must have some useful function.

[[WMG: The "Space Station" the Protector debarks from is actually the remains of the Thermian homeworld]]
If you look carefully at the outside of the station as the Protector is flying away, you'll notice it looks like an asteroid or something similar, shaped vaguely like an apple core. It could be that it was actually the home of the Thermians, and that is all that's left after Sarris was done bombing it.

They found a new planet and settled in and are still using holographic simulators to be people or figured out how to become biological humans.
** Taking it further, the main character could be a descendant of Fred Kwan and Laliari. Come to think of it, "La'''liar'''i....

The Thermians' former commander (who was tortured to death by Sarris) was the first Thermian to adopt Galaxy Quest as the foundation for their society and spearheaded the design and engineering of the NSEA Protector. He was brilliant and charismatic in ways that made him the Thermians' natural leader. Like Brandon, he figured out what the Omega 13 was designed to do and built it to those specifications.

[[WMG: Guy really didn't have a last name until Jason gave him one]]
It's been noted that even though Jason doesn't have a clue what Guy's last name is on the shuttle ride, he calls him "Fleegman" once they're on the surface. Perhaps Jason, either buying into Guy's WrongGenreSavvy and or else just to shut him up, comes up with the name Fleegman off the top of his head so that Guy will have NominalImportance. It's possible that with quick thinking Jason actually saved Guy's life there.

[[WMG: Alexander/Dr. Lazarus is an experienced martial artist.]]
This would explain how he was able to take down a bulky alien soldier, and presumably several more soon afterwards. And also why he was waving "karate chop hands" around during his rampage.
* It's possible that as a formerly respected Shakespearean Actor his training involved stage fighting lessons at some point, which would explain why he at least looks like he's been trained to fight.

* If you meld a human and a Thermian, you ''would'' get pretty much exactly what J helps to deliver.

[[WMG: Guy was an EnsembleDarkhorse.]]
His hammy acting was so memorable that he became a OneSceneWonder among the fans, hence why he can appear at conventions and such, but can still be unknown to the main cast and consider himself a RedShirt. His AscendedExtra role on the reboot was something that was planned for the original show before it got canceled.
* In short, he's basically [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Kevin Thomas Riley]].

[[WMG: The Thermians at the star port joined the Protector II's crew after it left]]
Late in the movie, Mathesar sadly comments that the crew is all that is left of his people, but earlier in the movie we saw a large star port (space dock) with many Thermians in it. These Thermians probably wanted to see the pivotal launch of the Protector II from the outside, and once the Protector had left, they used Pods to get back to the ship to be with their families and friends.

[[WMG: The Thermians aren't the only alien society to have based their society off intercepted TV transmissions]]
There are other civilizations out there that picked up transmissions from different TV shows and used those shows as the basis for their societies. This means that, among other things:
* There is a ''Series/GilligansIsland'' civilization whose citizens live on tropical islands and use BambooTechnology
* There is a ''Series/HogansHeroes''-based society, with part of its population living as prisoners in a POW camp and the other part living as guards.
* There is a ''{{Series/Batman|1966}}''-centric society who uses costumed individuals to fight crime; meanwhile, all criminals have a visual theme, and henchmen with punny names.

[[WMG: Nothing like ''Franchise/StarWars'' ever happened in the universe of this movie]]
Galaxy Quest started in 1978 and lasted till 1982. No mention of another space opera during that rough time period. In this alternate timeline, George Lucas isn't known for much more than ''Film/AmericanGraffiti'' and ''Film/HowardTheDuck''.
* Because ''Star Wars'' never happened, neither did ILM (Industrial Light and Magic). Without ''Star Wars''' success, there was no significant catalyst for SPFX companies to emerge. Special visual effects remained a cottage industry dominated by "in studio specialists" or notable figures (such as Ray Harryhausen, Douglas Trumbull, Wah Chang, Stan Winston, Brian Johnson, etc.). This ties into the next WMG.

[[WMG: In the alternate universe of ''Galaxy Quest'', the sci-fi genre is at least twenty years behind, compared to our world.]]
* Essentially, the renaissance of science fiction that began in TheNineties with better writing, deeper and more complex characterization and drama, DarkerAndEdgier themes, and extended StoryArc plots, has yet to occur[[note]] For example, nothing like ''Series/Babylon5'' has happened as of yet[[/note]]. During the almost two decades after the cancellation of the ''Galaxy Quest'' show, there were no significant offerings that contributed to the maturation of the sci-fi genre in either television or film[[note]]There is still the occasional memorable high concept sci-fi film (''Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceOdyssey'',''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'',''Film/BladeRunner'',''Film/TheTerminator'', ''Film/LogansRun'', ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}'' etc., but these are few, far between, and do quickly date themselves.[[/note]]. Instead that time was filled with ShortRunners, the occasional AcclaimedFlop, and forgettable formulaic schlock, some of which may have lesser cult followings.[[note]]The UK probably still has ''Series/DoctorWho'', for example. This film, of course, is set during the years after its unceremonious cancellation (never having gotten over the departure of Creator/TomBaker) and before its successful revival.[[/note]] Perhaps ''The New Adventures of Galaxy Quest'' will help to usher these elements into finally happening in their timeline.

[[WMG: The Thermian Appearance Generators aren't just appearance generators.]]
* Given that, when disguised as humans, the Thermians have no problem interacting with the world in a bipedal form (such as when [[spoiler:Mathesar is wearing and using medical braces meant for a two-legged, human shaped organism, or when Alexander is cradling Quellek's head as he dies]]), their Appearance Generators don't just change their appearance, but also their biological make-up. They aren't just wearing projections of 'humans,' but they are literally being rearranged into new biological shapes that appear human (which would also be perfectly in line with Thermian thinking, to downplay a radical and almost miraculous technology like that as merely being something for changing appearances).

* Essentially, the renaissance of science fiction that began in TheNineties with better writing, deeper and more complex characterization and drama, DarkerAndEdgier themes, and extended StoryArc plots, has yet to occur[[note]] For example, nothing like ''Series/Babylon5'' has happened as of yet[[/note]]. During the almost two decades after the cancellation of the ''Galaxy Quest'' show, there were no significant offerings that contributed to the maturation of the sci-fi genre in either television or film[[note]]There is still the occasional memorable high concept sci-fi film (''Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceOdyssey'',''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'',''Film/BladeRunner'',''Film/TheTerminator'', ''Film/LogansRun'', ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}'' etc., but these are few, far between, and do quickly date themselves.[[/note]]. Instead that time was filled with ShortRunners and forgettable formulaic schlock, some of which may have lesser cult followings.[[note]]The UK probably still has ''Series/DoctorWho'', for example. This film, of course, is set during the years after its unceremonious cancellation (never having gotten over the departure of Creator/TomBaker) and before its successful revival.[[/note]] Perhaps ''The New Adventures of Galaxy Quest'' will help to usher these elements into finally happening in their timeline.

* Essentially, the renaissance of science fiction that began in TheNineties with better writing, deeper and more complex characterization and drama, DarkerAndEdgier themes, and extended StoryArc plots, has yet to occur[[note]] For example, nothing like ''Series/Babylon5'' has happened as of yet[[/note]]. During the almost two decades after the cancellation of the ''Galaxy Quest'' show, there were no significant offerings that contributed to the maturation of the sci-fi genre in either television or film[[note]]There is still the occasional memorable high concept sci-fi film (''Film/TwoThousandAndOneASpaceOdyssey'',''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'',''Film/BladeRunner'',''Film/TheTerminator'', ''Film/LogansRun'', ''Film/{{Dune|1984}}'' etc., but these are few and far between[[/note]]. Instead that time was filled with ShortRunners and forgettable formulaic schlock, some of which may have lesser cult followings.[[note]]The UK probably still has ''Series/DoctorWho'', for example. This film, of course, is set during the years after its unceremonious cancellation (never having gotten over the departure of Creator/TomBaker) and before its successful revival.[[/note]] Perhaps ''The New Adventures of Galaxy Quest'' will help to usher these elements into finally happening in their timeline.