Star Trek

Beam us up and let's boldly go, it's time to talk Star Trek! There was a time—before the MCU, endless parades of new Star Wars material, and internet subcultures—that the most mainstream shorthand for “nerd” was “Trekkie.” And the nerd culture of today (read: mainstream pop culture) owes a huge debt to the original “gallivant around the galaxy” franchise. Same with us here in real life! Without Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the crew of the Enterprise exploring the final frontier, we might not have Bluetooth or Alexa technology. Not to mention that time a hated Star Trek episode predicted brain function before real scientists. 

The franchise has its missteps, sure. The 2010s films seemed allergic to being Star Trek movies. Doubling down on 9/11 conspiracy theories isn't great. But when Star Trek works, Star Trek rules. Though we are pretty bummed we never got to see William Shatner fight Jesus.