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Catching Up With Star Trek IV’s True Hero: the Unkind Punk on the Bus

The '80s were full of memorable big-screen punk-rockers, from the pissed-off pissants of Repo Man to the sullen squatters of Suburbia . But for lovers of gently comedic, sci-fi adventures, the Reagan-era rebel who looms largest is the mohawk-sporting punk who makes a cameo in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home .

Though he's on the screen for less than two minutes, the orange-haired rapscallion, played by Kirk Thatcher, made a big impression upon the Enterprise crew (and audience members) by giving Captain Kirk the finger, only to find himself on the receiving end of a Vulcan nerve pinch. It's a knowingly goofy moment in what's easily the most free-spirited Trek movie ever made—which may be why, 30 years later, Thatcher's pissed-off urchin remains a fan favorite among punkers and Trekkers alike.

If you haven't seen the movie in a while (and you should, it's still really delightful), here's a quick rundown of how Mr. Spock happened to come face-to-face with a boombox-blasting, never-named ne'er-do-well: At the beginning of Voyage Home , an exiled Kirk (William Shatner) and crew travel through time to circa-1986 San Francisco in an attempt to bring humpback whales back to the future, so their whale song can be used to communicate with a threatening alien presence (note we said "delightful," not "wholly logical").

While the Enterprise gang wanders the city, Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) wind up on a bus across from "Punk on the Bus," played by then-23-year-old Kirk Thatcher, a former Industrial Light & Magic employee who'd been hired on the film to assist Nimoy, who was also serving as the movie's director. Blasting a bratty number called "I Hate You" on his boombox—sample lyric: "Let's just push the button/we'd be better off dead!"—Thatcher's punk gives Kirk the bird when the admiral asks him to turn the music down. The result? A Vulcan nerve pinch from Spock that knocks out the punker, and elicits applause from the fellow passengers.

The role was an appropriate one for Thatcher, who'd played in bands as teenager before finding himself working in the creature department at ILM, helping out on films like Return of the Jedi , E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial , and Gremlins (he also collaborated with future Oscar nominee David Fincher on the Rick Springfield video "Bop 'Til You Drop," in which Thatcher played a demonic-looking alien ). It was while he was attending UCLA, where he was studying computer animation, that he found out Nimoy was looking for an FX-savvy assistant for The Voyage Home . "He said, 'I want to hire somebody who knows this world,'" Thatcher remembers.

As it turned out, Thatcher wasn't just an effects nerd—he was a devoted Trek-head, a guy who'd kept a Spock and Kirk poster over his bed as a kid, and who'd even worked on the gnarly ear-critter from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . And while he served as a sort of creative consigliere to Nimoy during production, he wound up playing a variety of roles on set: He helped write Vulcan dialogue, assisted in curating some of the alien creatures spotted early on in the film, and provided the high-speed voice of the Spock-quizzing computer .

But portraying "Punk on the Bus" would turn out to be Thatcher's most lasting contribution to The Voyage Home . He and Nimoy had grown chummy during filming, so when the filmmakers were looking to cast the punk, Thatcher lobbied the director to get the role. "I told him, 'Look, I used to have a mohawk, and I'll dress the part—you won't recognize me,'" Thatcher says. "Leonard said, 'Huh, really ,' in that deep, basso profondo way. I couldn’t tell if he thought it was a stupid idea."

Nimoy kept Thatcher waiting for more than a week before giving him the go-ahead, prompting Thatcher to dye his hair orange, shave the sides of his head, and go shopping for punk gear in clothing stores on Melrose Avenue and in North Hollywood. When he finally showed up to the set in costume—complete with dog collar, fake nose piercings, and leopard-print Converse sneakers—one of the first people he bumped into was Trek costar DeForest Kelley. "He looks me up and down real slowly, and with that kind of southern laconic drawl, he just says, 'Nice shoes,'" Thatcher remembers.

Filming the scene wound up requiring two takes, thanks to a slight wardrobe-related malfunction. "I was wearing a cheap leather jacket, and it was very very stiff," Thatcher says. "So when Leonard gave me the pinch [the first time], I couldn’t feel it. His hand was around my neck, but I was just kind of looking over, like, 'What are you doing?'"

The song itself came later. Paramount Pictures had a music-licensing deal that gave it to access to songs by new-wave artists like Duran Duran, but none of those bands seemed like a good fit for Thatcher's snarling character. "I said, 'Leonard, that’s not punk. I could write you a punk song and it will cost you nothing. I’ll do it for [a few hundred dollars],'" says Thatcher. He wrote out the nihilistic lyrics, which he brought to his friend (and future Mad Max: Fury Road Oscar winner) Mark Mangini, a sound editor who came up with the song's snotty, simple guitar riff. Thatcher himself sang vocals, and the whole tune was recorded on a weekend night, in a hallway that would provide the necessarily shitty sound.

"My idea of punk at the time was the Dead Kennedys, Germs, Black Flag—real West Coast hardcore punk, that real raw sound," Thatcher says. "I also wanted a Sex Pistols 'God Save the Queen' vibe, which is why I did the British accent."

As for Nimoy's response? "He came by, heard it, and said, 'OK. That’s very punk.'"

Though Thatcher's character is clearly a somewhat exaggerated take on '80s punk culture, the song's screw-it-we're-doomed lyrics fit into the movie's bigger message about ecology and Earth's survival. "The end of the 20th century wasn't a Mad Max dystopia, but it was headed in that direction," he says. "Global war was still hanging over you, and you knew it could all end tomorrow because of some A-hole politician. So that existential angst or nihilism was not forced."

Thankfully, mankind—and The Voyage Home —made it to the 21st century, where Thatcher still gets requests from modern-day bands to cover "I Hate You" (a few years ago, the song was finally remastered and given an official release ). "It's nice to be remembered," says Thatcher. "I could win the Nobel Peace Prize, and my gravestone would still stay, ' Star Trek IV : Punk on the Bus.'"

In truth, Thatcher's post- Trek accomplishments are extensive: He's worked for decades with the Jim Henson Company, writing feature films like Muppet Treasure Island , and directing TV movies like Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow (he also earned an Emmy for his writing on the short-lived '90s series Muppets Tonight ). In 2009, he directed the Muppets' much-beloved, oft-forwarded "Bohemian Rhapsody" video , proving once again that he knows a thing or two about manic characters with spiky orange hair .

He also stayed in touch with Nimoy off and on for years after Voyage Home wrapped, eventually reuniting with the Trek star just a few years before Nimoy's death in 2015 .

"He was like an uncle to me," Thatcher says now. "He was a very calming presence. He had his big office overlooking Paramount, and at the end of the day [after filming Voyage Home ], he’d pour himself a big gin-and-tonic with a lot of ice, and we’d sit there and chat. It was one of the highlights of my life and career."

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Exclusive: How ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Brought Back [SPOILER] From ‘The Voyage Home’

| March 24, 2022 | By: Anthony Pascale 81 comments so far

For the new episode of Star Trek: Picard (“ Watcher “), the producers decided to take a deep dive into franchise lore by (briefly) bringing back an immediately recognizable character from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . TrekMovie spoke exclusively to showrunner Terry Matalas and actor Kirk Thatcher about the return of The Punk on The Bus.

Bus Punk on Picard

In the scene immediately following the credits, Seven and Raffi are riding a bus in 2024 Los Angeles and there is a punk listening to a loud boombox, singing along to punk rock. This particularly annoys Seven, who asks him to shut it off. After thinking about it and grasping his neck, he agrees and apologizes.

Kirk Thatcher as Punk on the Bus in Picard “Watcher” (Paramount+)

Franchise fans probably remember a very similar scene in the 1986 film  The Voyage Home , when Kirk and Spock have to deal with a punk on the bus who wouldn’t shut off his music until Spock did it for him after a neck pinch. And it is the same exact punk, played by Kirk Thatcher. You can watch the original scene below.

Bringing back the Punk

Speaking to TrekMovie, executive producer and co-showrunner Terry Matalas revealed the whole thing was his idea:

Matalas: It was one of the first things I had pitched actually. We loved the idea that maybe this guy migrated from San Francisco to Los Angeles at some point. Now technically, Star Trek IV wouldn’t have happened in this alternate timeline, but maybe SOME part of him remembers his encounter with Spock in the Prime Timeline. And it made me chuckle that he’d go up against Seven of Nine. I reached out to Kirk right away, who was absolutely game to return.

As for Kirk, he tells TrekMovie he had actually been expecting this:

Thatcher: I texted Terry back and I said, “What took so long?” And we had a laugh. I met with him and I said I’d love to do it, and that was pretty much it. I was happy. I love that role. It’s probably the most famous thing I’m known for. So, it was great.

According to Matalas, the whole process of recreating the character, including the look, was simple:

Matalas: It was one of the easiest things to come together actually. Kirk is a wonderful working director — have you seen his work with the Muppets?! So, making sure he was available was probably the biggest stress. But Kirk had a great take on what our Punk would look like now. It’s perfect.

As noted by Matalas, Thatcher mainly works behind the scenes in Hollywood as a writer, producer and director, mostly working with puppets. In fact, he was an associate producer on Star Trek IV , which is how he got the job as the Punk. He still works a voice actor, and he says for Picard, it was easy getting back into character, plus this time he got to add a little something too:

Thatcher: It was just really about chewing gum and bopping along to a song that was playing in my head. At least this time, I kind of knew what the song was. I was very appreciative of the silliness of the role and how iconic it was. So yeah, it was just kind of a big giggle fest. Everyone had fun. And it was fun to play him again, just sort of that angry guy. But this time, of course, I backed down from flipping them off. So that was the interesting turn. And I actually got a line, which I did not, originally. It was just an ad-lib. I was like, “Sorry, I just liked that song,” which seemed kind of funny on two different levels.

Kirk also revealed that he had a sort of reunion on set with the director:

Thatcher: Shooting the scene was great. We were on an actual bus driving down the street in the north of Los Angeles. And Jeri [Ryan] was there, and the great part was Lea Thompson, directing, who I’ve met professionally over the years three or four times starting back on Howard the Duck , and we had mutual friends. So it was a fun little reunion to see her and find out she was directing me. And it was great. It was fun. The crew was there and lots of pictures were taken. I got a picture with the number of people and the cast was great.

Director Lea Thompson with Kirk Thatcher on the Picard set (Photo: Lea Thompson)

I STILL Hate You!

For Star Trek IV , Thatcher had composed and sang the song “I Hate You.” Matalas was delighted with Thatcher’s idea for the follow-up:

Matalas: We had to decide what he’d be playing on his beyond-dated boom box. Kirk pitched “What if it’s I STILL HATE YOU?” and sent me the lyrics. And I laughed harder than I probably should have. It’s maybe my favorite gag from Season 2.

If you listen closely in Picard you can notice the update, and Thatcher offered some more insights into the new song:

Thatcher: It was funny, the original version I wrote really quickly. This time I kind of had a model to base it on… So the lyrics are essentially the same kind of rhythm song and music. And the lyrics are: “35 years later and nothing much has changed. Those in charge of living large, the rest are all deranged. I still hate you. Can’t wait to eviscerate you”… And so on, and so forth. And I don’t think you hear it, but it does end with the opposite of “Peace, live long, and prosper.” It’s “Make war, die young, and fail.” So again, very nihilistic.

Kirk was even able to reconstruct most of the original band to record the song, which included Mark Magnini (guitar) and Aron Glascock (drums), who worked in the sound department on Star Trek IV, with Mark’s son rounding out the band.

Kirk Thatcher rocks out to “I Still Hate You” in Picard ‘s “Watcher” (Paramount+)

Picard loves the ’80s

For Terry, bringing back the Punk was another way he has been celebrating his love for the franchise, especially for TOS movies:

Matalas: This was just a fun wink—a way to bring a little of that 1986 nostalgia to a new thing. I personally probably would’ve done a lot more of these had they let me! Voyage Home had such an incredible tone. It’s broad but it still holds up. It would’ve been fun to lean into that more with Picard and the gang. I love our Punk and his dedication to being a menace to public transportation in Southern California. I want to see him again. Maybe in another 10 years in San Diego?

As for Kirk, the experience was a bit full circle:

Thatcher: It was just great to be asked to do it. I mean that that role has been such a big part of my life and the fans have been so supportive of it and turned it into memes and all. It was great to revisit it 35 years later and still have enough hair to get some semblance of a mohawk with a lot more hair on my face. It was just a blast and another little notch in the belt of fun gigs I’ve had over the years.

Kirk also shared the Punk’s “love” today on social media, remaining in character of course.

"Guess who's back? Back again! Punk on Bus. Tell a friend!" LLAP – Live Long And Punk!! #Picard #picardseason2 #punkonthebus #dejavu #startrek #cameo #istillhateyou #LLAP #livelongandpunkrock pic.twitter.com/uzpl9OM7Ra — Kirk R Thatcher – Monsters, Muppets, Tiki 🐸🐷😂 (@KirkThatcher) March 24, 2022

More to come

Every Friday, the TrekMovie.com All Access Star Trek Podcast  covers the latest news in the Star Trek Universe and discusses the latest episode. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts ,  Spotify ,  Pocket Casts ,  Stitcher and is part of the TrekMovie Podcast Network.

New episodes of  Star  Trek: Picard  premiere on Thursdays on  Paramount+  in the U.S. and on Fridays where Paramount+ is available around the world. In Canada, it airs on  CTV Sci-Fi Channel on streams on Crave on Thursdays. Picard  is also available on Fridays on Amazon Prime Video around the world.

Keep up with all the Star Trek: Picard  news and analysis .

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This was one of my favorite scenes in the episode!

That says a lot about the episode, sadly

Your response says an awful lot about you! Go elsewhere, pls and ty!

I loved this Awesome.

As soon I heard the music I was excited. I love everything star trek. I love that there is so much now. And S2 of Picard is awesome.

Now THIS IS Star Trek! Picard season 2 writers are on point with everything Star Trek, not just TNG references. That cameo was EPIC!! Not to forget Sulu’s warp factor shout outs from the previous episode. Cheers 🥂

The absolute best thing about this season is that it’s moving! Each episode moves the story forward, stuff happens, and I feel like we’re getting somewhere, with each episode bringing us closer to a finish line. The characters are fun, the story engaging, and i’m eager to watch each new episode.

No, the season isn’t perfect. But it’s probably the best season of Trek in decades, going all the way back to Deep Space Nine Season 7.

Star Trek references?

This was a really fun gag. Didn’t realize they went so far as to hire the original actor for it (and do an update to the lyrics too)! Lol, very well done.

Yeah, the funny thing is I thought “is that the same guy? nahh, doesn’t look anything like what he looks like now!” (he had appeared in Spider-Man: Homecoming a few years ago).

I should have checked the credits!

I don’t get why this couldn’t be the same universe. as long as it’s before the big split, the federation still exists, kirk still goes back in time, whales still get rescued, big probe still goes away.

now, after “the split” the time displacement ripples would affect it, but not before

Yeah, I have the same question.

Because future Kirk no longer exists to go back in time. Right now, the future that exists is the future of the Confederation. Presumably, that’s also why Guinan doesn’t remember Picard from Time’s Arrow.

It’s confusing as heck, because would it be a different 2024, even before the divergence, if Kirk hadn’t gone back or if Time’s Arrow hadn’t happened etc etc?

But the Guinan not *immediately* knowing Picard stuff is starting to make sense to me. It also explains, maybe, why she’s so down on humanity here (ex. Data did mention that they serve on a starship in the future, maybe that gave her hope during especially bleak times on Earth in that timeline — but here she doesn’t have that).

It’s interesting that even the actor playing Guinan had questions about Time’s Arrow (she grew up watching TNG).

“It’s confusing as heck, because would it be a different 2024, even before the divergence, if Kirk hadn’t gone back or if Time’s Arrow hadn’t happened etc etc?” Yeah, but luckily in these instances the differences shouldn’t be major enough to make a difference here. The fate of some whales and whether Devidians drained a few more people in the 1800s would probably make minimal difference to 2024 LA. Of course if it really is supposed to negate most of the time travel we’ve seen across the years, I’m sure we could think of some bigger problems.

“ Because future Kirk no longer exists to go back in time. Right now, the future that exists is the future of the Confederation. Presumably, that’s also why Guinan doesn’t remember Picard from Time’s Arrow.”

That doesn’t seem right to me. As Aztek Dummy points out, what’s taking place in these episodes is *before* the event that effs everything up. If Picard & co. are successful in preventing the event, history doesn’t change — it stays the same, and Picard and his crew have a future to return to. In the so-called Kelvin timeline, everything that happened before Nero’s incursion — Archer, the Xindi — is still canon. Doesn’t that apply here as well?

Kirk came from after the change though. Think of it this way. Right now, if Picard were to travel back to the future, he would still end up in the Confederation timeline. Right now, that is the future.

This is the big problem. With the Kelvinverse, the people running it said, it’s divergent timeline, everything before it is the same. This is different. Q didn’t create a new timeline, he altered it. There is no branch. So basically, with the Kelvinverse, you have one past, but two futures. That’s divergence. So if Kirk prime goes back to save the whales, Kirk Kelvin could technically also show upl. You theoretically could have two Kirks from two different futures, but one past. (I know.. I know…). In this case, Q went back and changed the past, so everything is different and our displaced crew has to “fix it”. If it were like the Kelvinverse, they’d just need to find a way to get back to their future, not an alternate one. For this scene, the punk rocker may not have encountered Kirk and Spock in Q’s altered timeline, doesn’t mean he doesn’t exist in this timeline and couldn’t happen to be on the bus with Seven and Raffia. Ultimately, it’s an in-joke and easy to go with, even as an independent event. Just enjoy it.

Interesting, thank you.

On a related note: It was a unique set of circumstances that made it possible for Kirk and his crew to save Earth from the whale probe: They were off-world when the probe arrived, Spock had just been re-educated and therefore knew the probe’s call was “the songs sung by whales,” and they had a ship with a cloaking device that made their subterfuge in 1986 possible. This set of circumstances is not likely to exist in the Kelvin timeline, but it doesn’t seem likely that anything about Nero’s incursion would keep the whale probe from showing up. I hope Spock Prime told them, “You guys had better haul ass back to the twentieth century and pick up some humpback whales if you know what’s good for you.”

Time travel always works the way it needs to work for the story to work, and when it would seem to directly conflict with other similar circumstances from previous episodes, series, or films,, forgiving fans get to rub discerning fans’ noses in Star Trek never having consistent time travel rules.

People are forgetting that in the future, the Confederation has a hand in destroying alien life. Entirely possible they wiped out the probe aliens, and destroyed Dividia II

I honestly think that Matalas got that wrong. Well… either that or he just dropped a spoiler (namely that the divergence in the timeline had already occurred before that episode and not three days from it as they are presuming in the episode…)

One of many, great moments in this show. Picard season 2 is definitely firing on all thrusters.

The guy wasn’t recognizable. But the situation was. When I recognized the situation I just groaned. Mainly because I’m no fan of TVH in any way and found that movie to easily be the very worst of all Trek movies ever. Including the KU.

But I will say I’m pleased that it was acknowledged that due to the time shift there would be no time traveling Kirk. (one good thing about the new time line at least!) And that the moment was just a conceit.

Ha! I actually thought of you hating TVH when I saw the scene, ML, you’ve said it so many times. Thank you, Trekmovie! Connection is nice when done well.

You, hating a Trek movie about saving the environment? Say it ain’t so!

No, they could have had the same message without swinging a sledge hammer and it would have been more effective. I’m not liking the movie because there were a lot more problems with it that had nothing to do with the lame whale portion. A lot more. But you go ahead and make your baseless assumptions.

I have to say I don’t disagree. I don’t hate ST4, but it’s insanely overrated. Honestly, if I had to pick one TOS movie to excise from the list, it’d be a toss up between it and Final Frontier. I’d probably pick TVH mainly because it functions as the completion of the WoK/SfS saga, although Undiscovered Country would have worked for that it if had Saavik instead of Valeris.

I am aware I am in the minority on my opinion of TVH. I mean, at the time I was super jazzed to see it. I knew they were time traveling and I was still a big time travel fan then. They shot it near where I lived in SF and Monterey. I knew it was going to be more light hearted. Everything pointed to a fun time at the movies. And then… Ugh. That probe that went straight to talking to whales right off the bat it was just…. Dumb. Then we got characters not behaving like themselves and acting like the dumbest Star Fleet officers ever… I was embarrassed for Star Trek when I walked out of the theater. Truly. I have watched it about every 10 years to see if my perspective on it changes. There are other things I hated when I was younger that I appreciated better as I aged. But so far, this flick is just not one of them. TVH had zero positive moments. And none of the light hearted stuff landed at all. As bad as TFF was I prefer it as it at least has some good moments in it. And in a sense, I think in some ways Shatner may have a better sense of Trek than Nimoy does.

it was just as bit of fun after the drama of the other parts of the trilogy. chill.

‘  That probe that went straight to talking to whales right off the bat ‘

because that was its primary mission.

‘ Then we got characters not behaving like themselves and acting like the dumbest Star Fleet officers ever’

not the first time in the OS or other ‘trek’ involving going back to the 20th, 21st century.

It’s still overrated, IMHO. People hold it up like the pinnacle of Trek movies. While it was a fun tonal break from ST3, it doesn’t hold the test of time, at least for me. ST2 & 3 were way more meaningful in the long run, as was ST6. Final Frontier was a very flawed movie but overall I’d say it has about as many true “moments” as ST4. It just also suffered from budget problems, union sabotage, lack of executive support, and had the misfortune of being sandwiched between Indiana Jones and the first Batman. ST4 had maybe some pressure from Crocodile Dundee a month or so before, but much less in terms of competition from the same kind of audience.

Partly I think people put ST4 at a high status because it upholds the nonsensical “even-numbered Trek movies are better than odd ones.”

I know it was supposed to be lighter. I mentioned that already. And I was looking forward to that. Sadly nothing in it worked.

The point of the probe talking to the whales right off the bat set up the absurd main plot of the movie. Which didn’t help.

And when the crew time traveled before they knew where they were and didn’t act like complete buffoons.

kirk, spock and the others had never been to 1986 before so it was strange to them.

the probe was only interested restabilising contact with the planet’s highest form of intelligent life. which were the whales.

They didn’t have to have been in 1986 before to know they were in a different time period and to act accordingly.

And the fact that the probe thought whales were the highest form of intelligence on Earth was ridiculous. How did whale songs travel though the vacuum of space? Why would a species as advanced as the probe makes be so callous towards the planet’s primary inhabitants? They were pretty much jerks if they were to just indiscriminately wipe humans off the fact of the Earth. That doesn’t seem very evolved to me. How about trying to find out what was going on?

I guess it fits the attempted comedic tone of the film but it reminded me of Douglas Adams’ So Long and Thanks for all the Fish. So it’s a gag that has been done before anyway. And done much better.

the probe realised that whales had been exterminated by mankind and responded in kind what they had done.

‘ How did whale songs travel though the vacuum of space? ‘

the probe was approaching earth and checked for whale song when it arrived.

you missed the whole point that it was man’s foolishness in killing off all whales that set this in motion.

enlightened 23rd century folk like kirk and co were able to put things right.

This would’ve made a cool Super Bowl commercial to promote Picard.

Within the show, though, whew… kind of a bomb. The only question is how many megatons. ;-)

This character needs to get a Playmates Action Figure. Both versions!

Star Trek IV is my favorite TOS film and I was just happy and nostalgic and I’m having a blast this season. I got stupid excited hearing the punk song. Keep the trek coming P+. It’s an amazing ride.

I was living in Northern Calif. (San Jose) when ST IV hit the theaters, and shortly after the release (as I recall), the Monterey Bay Aquarium had a terrific display of several costumes, props, and miniatures from the film. The big Klingon Bird of Prey (about 6 ft. wingspan, I believe?), a smaller BoP suspended underneath a forced-perspective miniature of the Golden Gate Bridge, two mechanical whales with remote joystick control boxes, a section of the full-size whale that Spock swam next to, and a few other things I’ve forgotten. It was wonderful seeing those artifacts from the production! I took many still photos, and my good friend Steve shot video of the exhibit. It was fun!

I’ve gotta say, even though I found this episode to be kind of a filler, the TVH reference on the bus brought a smile to my face. So is THIS leading to the connection Picard and Guinan have? Well played.

Serious question… How would that lead to the Picard Guinan connection?

Absolutely bonkers. Love it.

When I watched STP tonight, of course I knew it was playing on the scene from ST:IV. I didn’t realize it was the same actor though – well played!

Love that it’s the same actor!

Fun, but a direct reference more in line with something like ‘Lower Decks’. But hey, folks are happy; whatever.

Here’s the thing though. Lower Decks opened a door that can’t be closed. It gave Trek permission to be fun without taking itself and its mythos too seriously. Everything that is wrong with the Star Wars universe was set right in the Trek universe by Lower Decks. Give Mike McMahan credit where credit is due: Lower Decks gave Trek its lightness of being back.

Comedy and lightness in Trek existed long before Lower Decks. Really, it’s about finding the right tone and whether a joke or a reference undercuts the drama or breaks the reality. That “door” can easily be closed. Writers have to consider this with every scene.

Did it, though? I thought they already had permission to do that well before Lower Decks. And I don’t see Lower Decks doing that anyway. What they do is perform fan service and attempt to disguise them as jokes. Season 1 of The Orville already poked fun at Star Trek with amusing gags that actually worked. I just wish LDX was as clever.

Kirk Thatcher is also a writer on season 13 of Mystery Science Theater. He’s a busy guy!

When I saw his name in the credits of MST3K I was delighted. My universes collide. All is right with the world.

TVH is my guilty pleasure so I liked this (though I have come to accept that the DC Mirror Universe Saga was the better sequel). How I wish TVH had launched into Harve Benett/Meyer Trek being TNG but you could see the writing was on the wall with Saavik being absent that they weren’t going for it anymore.

This is cool and I always loved the fact that the actors name is “Kirk”. Of course it takes another Kirk to annoy all those people.

My favorite thing about this scene is that in an era with smartphones and bluetooth headphones, this idiot is still annoying everybody on the bus with his boombox.

That is kind of the point though, the guy is basically still stuck in the 80s but he does feel something is off so he becomes more polite here.

When the scene happened I knew immediately it was going to be a callback to TVH. But it took me a sec to realize not only was it a callback, but it was the same guy! And now I find out it was also the same actor, just fantastic.

If Seven asked the guy to turn the music down and he said something like, “What are you going to do, pinch my neck or something?” (not that anyone is suggesting they should have had him say that), that would definitely have been a case of “gilding the lily.” Or, in cruder terms, the equivalent of the writers’ essentially saying, “See, this is the same guy from The Voyage Home. Get it? GET IT?” A well-done “easter egg” is one (like this one) that’s there for the appreciation of the longtime fans, and if non-longtime fans don’t get the connection, it was still a valued effort.

I did commentary for Trek 4 if I recall/. Fun stuff, and and insoiration to Trek 09.

No spoiler, just the photo-! Oooo, tough guess! :-)

Oh, man! Here I sit, waiting until the DVDs/Blurays come out to see the episodes. Dang!

To be honest, I liked it… but this kind of homage would work better if Modern Trek didn’t jump at every opportunity for fan service.. but this is better than almost everything else these shows have done when it comes to fan service / nostalgia.

‘ah, the giants…’

colourful metaphors.

Good – if a tad preachy – episode. That scene was certainly one of the bright spots in what has been a great season so far!

Loved it but let’s be honest, there are no boom boxes in 2024. Should have made it a Bluetooth speaker. 😂

I think making it the same boombox just made the scene funnier.

Antique collector punk. Old turntables are actually in demand again.

100% brilliant

That was GOLD! Did you guys also catch the sound of the Rio’s ship cloaking – another nice/surprising callback to TOS movies. Damn good ep. I thought :)

So — just to be clear — the Punk on the Bus (an ordinary human) pseudo-remembers getting neck-pinched by Spock on a bus in an alternate timeline.

But Guinan (an El-Aurian so perceptive she could not only recognize an alternate timeline no one else noticed, but even identified that timeline’s Tasha Yar as someone who died before they were ever supposed met and *recalled specifics about her death*) does NOT psuedo-remember Jean-Luc Picard, who saved her life in an intense, multi-day, incredibly memorable encounter in the 1890s of that same alternate timeline?

That neck pinch was so traumatic, that every version of that punk throughout the multiverse pseudo-remembers it.

Spock and his neck-pinch is so powerful that it transcends all universes.

this was such a huuuuuuuge cringe inducing scene. there is homage and easter eggs and there is this garbage, does picard pay for good writers for the first 2 episodes every season and then bring in the JV and intermural squads for the rest of the season? we’ve been duped again

Well, we seem to have a stark contrast here. Either it’s brilliant, or something that needs to be scraped off the bottom of ones shoe.

I thought it was great, for my two cents worth.

I’m sort of in the middle. The idea was fine, but how it was done just left me cold for some reason. But that’s how I felt about the entire episode.

It is ironic that they name-dropped “Yesterday’s Enterprise” in episode two, because that episode actually has a Star Trek convention that justifies why Guinan and Picard would have still met in the 19th century and why Kirk & Spock would’ve still traveled to SF in the 80s: Tasha Yar traveled back in time from a parallel future and wound up being inserted into the Prime Timeline (and would give birth to Sela). It would also not change anything about young Guinan’s reintroduction in this episode if “Time’s Arrow” remained intact – it would actually strengthen it, because the entire point is to show how she has lost faith in humanity and seeing Picard from the future (again) would help restore her hope.

I loved it! I laughed my ass off when I saw it especially when he rubbed his neck.

Plot twist. The punk remembers a different timeline neck pinch because he is an El-Aurian too!

God I hope they change their minds and make 10 seasons of Picard.

I loved this, but ST4 is one of my favourites.

Wait a minute….Guinan doesn’t remember Picard from the 1800’s because in the altered timeline he never went back to that era. Yet, the punk on the bus remembers being neck-pinched by Spock in the 1980’s? In the altered timeline Kirk and Spock would never have gone back to save the whales, right? Both versions can’t be right.

The producers could use the Terminator movies to explain this. At the end of T2, John and Sarah Connor destroy Cyberdyne Systems and prevent Skynet ‘s existence, thereby preventing the war. So, in the future we have a different Kyle Reese who doesn’t have to go back in time and impregnate Sarah. Yet John still exists, which means the presence of the other Kyle from the erased timeline, in 1984, is still an historical fact. By the same token one could argue that Kirk and his crew could exist for a time in 1986, as an immoveable historical fact, despite the fact that the future they came from is eventually erased. In short, paradox. Alternatively, the explanation could be simpler: the writers’ compulsion to litter their episodes with gratuitous, frequently eye roll-inducing easter eggs (and this one plays like a dopey Family Guy cutaway) trumps their responsibility to ensure that their stories make sense. Take your pick.

I would have even been happier with a recast if they were able to get Isis J. Jones to play the 2024 version of Guinan. They’ve already established what an EXTREMELY younger version of Guinan would look like, heck she’s played a younger Whoopi on two occasions (TNG, Sister Act). It just doesn’t make any sense why this isn’t the same Prime Timeline if the “event” that alters the timeline hasn’t even occurred. The same Guinan we meet in 2024 should have KNOWN Picard! OR!!! If El-Aurians really do control their aging to keep up appearances, why not show us an even OLDER Guinan than we’ve ever seen, played by Whoopi? There could very easily have been a cycle of appearing old enough to die, then coming back appearing younger to make new relationships once the people who knew you have passed on. Guinan clearly left Earth at some point after the 19th century to go back home, else she wouldn’t have been on the Lakul.

You all most certainly made the link between the Punk scene and Picard’s words to Guinan in this episode: “Humankind will change. You must be patient.” and “Change always comes later than we think it should.” Hence the punk’s more friendly reaction despite he has barely evolved as a person in 35 years.

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Inside 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home's Famous Bus Scene and Leonard Nimoy's Real-Life Inspiration (Flashback)

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If Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home has a Friends episode-style nickname, it’s "The One With the Whales." But it speaks to the power of the movie's comedic moments that among Trekkies it's also referred to as "The One That's Funny" 35 years after its debut. 

Speaking with ET upon The Voyage Home ’s premiere in 1986, the late Leonard Nimoy , who died in 2015 at age 86 , revealed the humor wasn’t happenstance. In fact, for his second outing as director and actor following Star Trek III: The Search for Spock,  it was a mandate. 

“I said I want to have some fun here,” Nimoy explained. “We said intentionally right from the very beginning. We want this lighter in tone than these previous films.” Noting the amount of deaths that transpired in I-III, including Mr. Spock, Nimoy quipped, “[The characters] were having eulogies all the time.”

One step of Nimoy's initiative was a memorable incident as Spock and Captain Kirk ( William Shatner ) traversed San Francisco circa 1986, or “the Dark Ages” according to Bones (DeForest Kelley). While riding the city bus, they’re disturbed by a quintessential ‘80s punk blasting loud music from a boombox. At first, Kirk applies his 23rd century manners and politely requests he lower the volume. But the “Punk on Bus” -- the character’s official name in the credits -- replies by flipping him the bird and raising the audio even higher. That’s when Spock resorts to his people’s go-to defense: the “Vulcan nerve pinch,” which renders the unruly passenger unconscious and cuts off the music after he collapses onto his boombox.

As Nimoy told ET, the comic moment was the filmmaker living out a personal fantasy following a similar interaction in his real life that later inspired the scene. “I was walking on Columbus Avenue in New York one day and suddenly was hit with a wall of noisy music,” he recalled, explaining that he then discovered the source was a man who just walked past him carrying a “gigantic” boombox. “I thought if I was Spock right now, I'd 'pinch' his brains out and that's how that got into the movie. It really happened.” He added, “I got hit with that noise and I thought, ‘I've gotta make a comment on that.’” 

On top of the real-life inspiration, Nimoy employed his real-life assistant at the time, Kirk Thatcher, to play “Punk on Bus” (he was also an associate producer for the movie, in addition to co-writing the song playing on the boombox). Thatcher went on to be a prolific writer and director for multiple projects at The Jim Henson Company, including this year’s Muppet Haunted Mansion on Disney +. But ultimately, it would be the notoriety from his less than a minute of screen time that led to a serendipitous invitation to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe , albeit briefly. 

As Thatcher later discovered, MCU overseer Kevin Feige is a big fan of The Voyage Home and, in particular, Spock and Kirk’s bus scene. And sometimes that’s all it takes to end up in a Marvel film, such as 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming . As Thatcher explained to StarTrek.com at the time, not only did he film a cameo in the movie, it’s comically -- and very non-canonically -- implied that he reprised his role as “Punk on Bus” for a quick moment early in the film (as seen below).

Thatcher explained to the outlet: "I was having a meeting with the guys at Marvel and Kevin Feige had to leave early to catch a plane to New York for the last few days of shooting and wrap on Homecoming . I mentioned that I was going to New York too, only two days later. He got excited and asked if I would be interested in doing a cameo as a punk in Spider-Man ? I, of course said, 'Sure!'” While the moment had been 30 years in the making, Thatcher noted that “about 48 hours” passed between his initial invitation and breaking out the boombox again on the set of a big-budget Marvel film. 

Spock becoming a public transit hero also derived from Nimoy’s wish to get Star Trek “off the lot,” which for this franchise mostly pertains to the Paramount Studios backlot in Hollywood, where a majority of the original series and the first three movies were filmed. His objective culminated with him and veteran Star Trek writer Harve Bennett crafting a plot that in part weaved together a lethal threat to Earth, time travel, nods to global warming and the Vulcan’s recovery after being resurrected from the dead in  The Search for Spock . 

But the production ultimately did circle back to Melrose Avenue to film The Voyage Home ’s climatic finale at Paramount, which saw the crew crash their borrowed Klingon Bird-of-Prey into the San Francisco Bay. Still, shooting that sequence in a water tank adjacent to the parking lot was a little more exciting than their run-of-the-mill soundstage production sets. “It was a lot of fun to shoot that scene,” Nimoy said, which he also jokingly referred to as his “Cecil B. DeMille moment” on account of the wind, wave and smoke machines around the set that were reminiscent of productions in Hollywood’s “Golden Age.” 

Despite the excitement, Nimoy said he faced extra challenges while pulling double duty on set. “I had to be taken back and forth in a boat in order to get into the shot, and then [another boat ride] to get back out of the shot and look behind the cameras,” he remembered.

Nimoy’s initial instincts paid off when The Voyage Home was released on Nov. 26, 1986. The movie brought in $130 million at the worldwide box office and garnered several favorable reviews. It also won over a very important figure in the Trekkie community. “I have seen the rough cut of [the movie] and I was very, very pleased,” Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry told ET leading up to the release. “I think it's the best of all the Star Trek movies. Leonard Nimoy has done a fine job.”

Looking at the canon in the 35 years since, it’s easy to see the movie’s influence on both the franchise’s TV shows and films. Time travel has proven to be one of Star Trek ’s most fertile storytelling devices, which The Next Generation took advantage of nearly 10 years later to the day. And its influence on the comedy end has reverberated all the way to Lower Decks , which referenced  The Voyage Home ’s pair of whales as one of many Easter eggs on Mariner’s conspiracy tac board in "Cupid's Errant Arrow" (seen below). 

Looking past the movie’s humor and dynamic set pieces, Nimoy believed the magic behind The Voyage Home could be attributed to his long-time collaborators. “I think every one of them makes an extremely valuable contribution to Star Trek ,” Nimoy expressed. “One of the most important things is this particular group of people and the special chemistry that happens when we all come together.”

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home  is streaming on Paramount+.

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Kirk Randolph Thatcher

Prior to his work on Star Trek IV , Thatcher worked for Industrial Light & Magic as prop maker and sculptor on two other Star Trek films . On Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , he worked with David Sosalla on the Ceti eel props and the giant ear and on Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , he molded, cast, and puppeteered Spock 's coffin bacteria worms and worked on the creation of the Klingon monster dog .

In 2019 , Thatcher narrated the animated Star Trek: Short Treks episode " Ephraim and Dot ". [3]

In 2022 , he returned as his Punk on Bus character in the Star Trek: Picard episode " Watcher ".

Thatcher was interviewed in 2016 on his work for The Voyage Home by Roger Lay, Jr. for the latter's 50th anniversary documentary Star Trek: The Journey to the Silver Screen (Chapter 4: "The Dream is Alive: The Continuing Mission") .

Beyond the realm of Star Trek , Thatcher has worked as a puppeteer, writer and director in many projects for Jim Henson's "Muppets". In one such project, the 4 January 1998 episode of Muppets Tonight , a plot element revolved around the Muppet Beaker going on a Star Trek fan cruise, with George Takei as featured guest. Thatcher, who co-wrote the episode, appeared on-camera as a fan dressed as a Klingon , urging " Sulu " to take the bridge when the ship runs into trouble. Other episodes of Muppets Tonight involved cameos by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy , as well as guest stars from other series incarnations, including Whoopi Goldberg and Jason Alexander .

Thatcher began his career as a sculptor and model maker at Industrial Light & Magic in 1981, at the age of 19. He worked on such films as Star Wars : Return of the Jedi , E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial , Poltergeist , Gremlins , House , and RoboCop 2 . He played a punk with a boombox again in a cameo as a homeless man in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming . [4]

External links [ ]

• Kirk Randolph Thatcher at the Internet Movie Database
• Kirk Thatcher at the Muppet Wiki
• IGN Interview with Kirk Thatcher
• Kirk Thatcher at LinkedIn.com
• 1 USS Voyager (NCC-74656-A)
• 2 Star Trek: Prodigy
• 3 Daniels (Crewman)

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Picard season 2 recreates a kirk & spock scene from voyage home.

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Star Trek Actor Compares Working With William Shatner & Patrick Stewart

Star trek found a vulcan way to honor majel barrett roddenberry, 1 unholy the boys detail reveals how tek knight saw through hughie's disguise.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 4 - "Watcher"

In Star Trek: Picard season 2, episode 4, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) recreate a famous bus scene from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home but this time, the outcome is quite different. All roads in Star Trek: Picard season 2 have led to 2024 Los Angeles, the time and place Q (John de Lancie) caused a divergence in the timeline that spawned the dark future ruled by the Confederation of Earth . Although their mission was to find the Watcher (Orla Brady), Seven and Raffi have been detoured to rescue Cristobal Rios (Santiago Cabrera), who has been imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Star Trek: Picard season 2's time travel deliberately nods to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , when Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew time-traveled to 1986 San Francisco to bring two humpback whales back to the 23rd century. Kirk's Starfleet crew were the ultimate fish out of water in late-20th-century San Francisco and the outer space heroes from the future had hilarious misadventures, like Pavel Chekov (Walter Koening) asking passers-by where the "nuclear wessels" are. One of the most memorable incidents in Star Trek IV saw Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) riding the bus to the Cetacean Institute. One of the passengers was a punk (Kirk Thatcher) blasting a rock song at a high volume, making everyone on the bus uncomfortable. After the punk ignored Kirk's request that he turn the music off, Spock efficiently rendered him unconscious with the Vulcan nerve pinch, which drew applause from everyone else on the bus.

Related: Picard: Why Guinan Not Remembering Jean-Luc Isn't A TNG Plot Hole

Incredibly, Seven and Raffi run into the very same punk from Star Trek IV , played by the returning Kirk Thatcher, in Star Trek: Picard season 2. The punk, who is now 38 years older than he was in 1986, was sitting in the back of Seven and Raffi's bus still loudly blasting music from his boombox. But this time, when Seven yelled at the punk to shut the music off, he meekly complied. Even without her Borg implants, Seven can be intimidating when she wants to be, so it makes sense that the punk stood down immediately. Perhaps the punk also never forgot the incident in San Francisco back in the mid-'80s when the strange man in a white robe suddenly rendered him unconscious. However, the fun of the scene is the Easter egg recreation of Star Trek IV and the returning cameo by Kirk Thatcher. Otherwise, Star Trek: Picard 's scene ended rather limply compared to the crowd-pleasing Spock nerve pinch from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Star Trek: Picard' s redo of Star Trek IV 's famous bus scene is its latest homage to one of the best and most popular Star Trek movies. La Sirena also used the very same "slingshot effect" around the sun to time travel as Kirk's crew did aboard their stolen Klingon Bird-of-Prey in The Voyage Home , and the time-travel effects used were another loving nod. Further, Chris Rios suffers a head injury due to a transporter accident and has to be brought to a nearby clinic. This is similar to when Chekov is injured aboard the US Navy's USS Enterprise and is hospitalized in Star Trek IV . Kirk, Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and Dr. Gillian Tayor (Catherine Hicks) had to go to the hospital and rescue Chekov before anyone realized he was from the future.

At this point, it wouldn't be surprising if, in future Star Trek: Picard episodes set in 2024 Los Angeles, one of Picard's crew borrows a helicopter like Sulu (George Takei) did in Star Trek IV or they try to sell future technology to raise money the way McCoy and Scotty (James Doohan) gave away the secret of transparent aluminum so they could manufacture a way to hold the humpback whales in their Klingon ship. Rios already met Dr. Teresa Ramirez (Sol Rodriguez), who is basically Star Trek: Picar d 's version of Star Trek IV' s Dr. Gillian Taylor. It remains to be seen if Dr. Ramirez will also return with Rios to the 25th century the way Gillian joined Kirk and the humpback whales in the future.

Next: Picard's Watcher Identity Confirmed: Picard's TOS Connection Explained

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WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 4, "Watcher," currently streaming on Paramount+.

Easter egg placement is becoming an art form in and of itself as legacy franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek  find increasingly creative ways to pay homage to their roots. Star Trek has proven quite bold in its usage of the device. It started with Star Trek: Discovery , which placed itself on the timeline directly in the path of The Original Series and even brought Mr. Spock back before jumping to the 32nd century and leaving Strange New Worlds to navigate those waters. Star Trek: Picard is its own kind of Easter egg, as it's brought back one of the franchise's most beloved figures and several of his friends.

In the process, it’s dropped some ferocious nods to the past, but few as bold – or as successful – as the capper to Season 2, Episode 4, “Watcher.” One scene expounds upon this season’s apparent theme of rebooting Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , as Picard and his friends travel back in time ( and potentially change Next Generation history ) to undo another dark and dystopic future . As delivered by director Lea Thompson and a very game cast, the moment is a pitch-perfect nod to what the fans affectionately refer to as “The One with the Whales.”

RELATED:  Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 3, "Assimilation," Recap & Spoilers

The Voyage Home completed a kind of trilogy that started with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continued through Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . The idea was wild. With the powerful emotional arc of Spock’s death and resurrection behind them, the Enterprise crew finished their journey with what amounted to a temporal screwball comedy. With the Earth under assault by a mysterious alien probe, they traveled back to then-contemporary 1986 in search of a pair of humpback whales, who were subsequently driven to extinction in the 21st century... but were the only beings capable of communicating with the probe in the 23rd.

The film was a massive success, celebrating the original crew’s enduring friendship by letting them romp through 20th century San Francisco without blending in nearly as well as they thought. One of its high points was when Kirk and Spock traveled on a public bus through San. A punk on the seat across the way played obnoxious music – giving Kirk the finger when he asked the man to turn it down – only for Spock to rise silently and deliver his signature Vulcan nerve pinch. The man collapsed and the music shut off, to the applause of the remaining passengers.

RELATED:  Did Star Trek: Picard Really Just Kill Off [SPOILER]?

It's a very funny moment, and Picard all but demands a reference to it after embracing the same time-travel premise. Season 2, Episode 3, “Assimilation” used the same method as T he Voyage Home to get Jean-Luc and his crew into the past: sling-shotting around the sun until they achieved time warp. It was perhaps only a matter of time before a repeat of the punk gag showed up, and “The Watcher” lands on it with both feet.

San Francisco has been replaced by Los Angeles, and Kirk and Spock by Seven and Raffi. But the punk is still there on the bus, and still playing the same loud song as they make their way across L.A. He’s even played by the same actor: Kirk R. Thatcher, who acted as an associate producer on The Voyage Home and has a long career both in front of and behind the camera. He might even be the same character, which forms the scene's subtle punchline. This time, when Seven glares at him and tells him to turn down the noise, he quickly complies -- with an apology to boot.

Seven’s implied menace aside (she might not have stopped with a nerve pinch if he made her get up), this scene gets the elephant in the room out of the way. Picard's Season 2 plot is clearly riffing on The Voyage Home (and some other time-traveling episodes from Star Trek canon) so comparisons are inevitable. By wrapping things up in such an elegant way, and even forming an organic connection to The Voyage Home in the process, it can proceed with its own story about Picard facing his worst enemies without having to look over its shoulder at what came before.

Created by Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Kirsten Beyer and Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek: Picard releases new episodes Thursdays on Paramount+.

KEEP READING:  Star Trek: Picard Season 2, Episode 4, "Watcher," Recap & Spoilers

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Published Jul 11, 2017

Trek IV's Punk on Bus Returns... in Spider-Man Homecoming

So, what's the crazy connection between Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and the current hit film Spider-Man: Homecoming ?

The answer is Kirk Thatcher, who served as Leonard Nimoy's assistant/associate producer on IV , played the film's hiss-worthy Punk on Bus and even co-wrote "I Hate You," the song blaring from the punk's boom box. In a super-cool Homecoming Easter egg, Thatcher reprises his role as the punk, now credited as Punk on Street. He's much older and disheveled, and he's still lugging around a boom box. Look for the bit early on in the movie, as Spider-Man (Tom Holland) talks to a hot dog vendor (Zach Cherry).

Thatcher confirmed the appearance the other day, writing on Facebook, "Well, the secret is out...Now you all have to see Spider-Man !"

StarTrek.com reached out to Thatcher to ask how he ended up in Homecoming , and here's what he told us:

"I was having a meeting with the guys at Marvel and Kevin Feige had to leave early to catch a plane to New York for the last few days of shooting and wrap on Homecoming . I mentioned that I was going to New York too, only two days later. He got excited and asked if I would be interested in doing a cameo as a punk in Spider-Man ? I, of course said, 'Sure!' He said the producers would get in contact with me and I changed my flight from a Friday morning flight to a Thursday red-eye. I arrived in Manhattan at around 1:30 in the morning and my call time was 4:30 a.m. the same day... So I grabbed a couple hours sleep, took a taxi to the set and had brought my own wardrobe. They made me look a little grungier, and the whole thing was done by 11:30 that morning! So, it was really only about 48 hours from Wednesday afternoon when he asked if I was interested to Friday lunch time when we had finished shooting the scene!"

"Also, the reason this all happened is that Kevin is a big Star Trek IV fan and he has told me that he was a big fan of the punk scene," Thatcher continued. "So, I guess it just tickled him to include that character, 30 years later!  I'm hoping this turns into a long series of 'Punk on the...' cameos that can fund my early retirement."

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A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

The Voyage Home

• 1 Description
• 2.1.1 Movie characters
• 2.1.2 Novelization characters
• 2.1.3 Comic adaptation characters
• 2.2 Starships and vehicles
• 2.3 Locations
• 2.4.1 Cetacea
• 2.5 States and organizations
• 2.6 Science and classification
• 2.7 Other references
• 3 Chronology
• 4.1.1 Video releases
• 4.2 Notable cast and crew
• 4.3.1 Movie images
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• 4.4 Other images
• 4.5.1.1.1 Translations
• 4.6 External links

Description [ ]

References [ ], characters [ ], movie characters [ ], novelization characters [ ], comic adaptation characters [ ], starships and vehicles [ ], locations [ ], races and cultures [ ], cetacea [ ], states and organizations [ ], science and classification [ ], other references [ ], chronology [ ], appendices [ ], related media [ ].

• The Search for Spock ( TOS movie ) - The Voyage Home was a sequel to The Search for Spock , continuing from where that film left off, with the former- Enterprise crew and their captured Bird-of-Prey on Vulcan.
• The Doomsday Bug ( TOS comic miniseries ) - Set just before the film the doomsday bug causes brain damage to Spock, effectively resetting him to his former state after The Search for Spock and necessitating Spock's return to Vulcan. Spock had fully recovered in preceding comics set between the two films.
• Probe ( TOS novel ) - Probe is a sequel to The Voyage Home featuring the Cetacean Probe's withdrawal from Federation space and establishing its origins.
• TOS - Strange New Worlds VI short story : " Whales Weep Not ": Features the investigative search made after Taylor vanished.
• Debt of Honor ( TOS comic) - Set a short time after The Voyage Home , includes appearances by Gillian Taylor and George and Gracie, and the birth of their child .

Video releases [ ]

Notable cast and crew [ ]

• William Shatner as Kirk
• Leonard Nimoy as Spock
• DeForest Kelley as McCoy
• James Doohan as Scotty
• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
• George Takei as Sulu
• Walter Koenig as Chekov
• Mark Lenard as Sarek
• Brock Peters as Admiral Cartwright

Movie images [ ]

Adaptation images [ ]

Other images [ ]

Connections [ ]

Timeline [ ], publication history [ ].

• 26 November - movie released.
• December - Pocket Books paperback novelization, by Vonda N. McIntyre , published
• December - Wanderer Books young adult novelization , by Peter Lerangis , published
• Simon and Schuster Audioworks audiobook adaptation of the novelization, narrated by Leonard Nimoy and George Takei , released.
• DC Comics comic book adaptation, by Mike W. Barr , with art by Tom Sutton and Ricardo Villagran , published.
• Grafton Books reprint paperback novelization for the UK market.
• Science Fiction Book Club reprints the novelization in a hardcover binding.
• 1994 - Pocket Books reprint paperback novelization.
• 2004 , October - Pocket Books reprint in a Signature Edition omnibus ; Duty, Honor, Redemption , along with The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock .
• 2008 , September - Graphic Imaging Technologies re-release as part of The Complete Comic Book Collection DVD-rom.
• 2009 , November - IDW Publishing reprint in the Movie Omnibus , along side the other TOS movie comic adaptations.

Translations [ ]

External links [ ].

• The Voyage Home article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 Lamarr class
• 2 USS Voyager (NCC-74656-A)
• 3 Wesley Crusher