Jason: I decorated my gingerbread men in little "Star Trek" uniforms.
Paige: Good lord. Could you be a bigger geek? Why are they all wearing red shirts?
As always… dinged err the red shirt extra killed in the opening scene of the episode.
Now if that baking pan had just came out of the oven would Jason be doing a Spock… and screaming.. “Pain… I feel great pain” while doing a hand to baking pan meld :D
Her question answered with a resounding ‘yes’ that only a geek can hear….
And there was a data visualization demo I saw somewhere that showed that the proportion of red-shirts in the show’s body count increased with each season.
Nah. 2 is fine. Red for the short, gold for the insignia and piping. Mix them together to get a sort of brown for the eyes, if you’re determined not to give them gold or red eyes.
Well, I suppose black, if you want to give them pants, but since when do gingerbread men wear pants?
I feel the need to comment here since it relates to my screen name. 73% of all people killed in the original “Star Trek” series were wearing red shirts, and there was indeed a very high turnover rate in the security department.
Since there were six pads on a transporter platform. Landing parties were usually put together as follows:
Kirk
Spock
McCoy
Sulu
Chekhov
a red-shirted security crewman.
I have always felt for those poor S.A.G. members who got that call-in to Paramount only to be handed a 2-3 page dialog and the red blouse from wardrobe. I wonder if it even took till the second year of ST for the word to get passed about the “grim fate”? Something like wearing a black hat in the cowboy serials, the actor is glad for the work but resigned to a short work day.
Haven’t laughed this hard since Star Trek (2009) and the guy who space dived to the drilling platform with Kirk and Sulu was gung ho AND wearing a red space suit.
From the Stargate SG-1 episode The Other Guys: Two minor characters are in mortal danger. One of them, a Star Trek fan, says at one point, “I might as well be wearing a red shirt!”
I’m deeply sadden to see the loss of our important cultural heritage represented by those who did not immediately recognize the reference and joke. What is our nation coming to?
Next thing you know, they will be asking why it’s important to emphasize that Han shot first.
All of you … comic and comments have made me laugh this morning…..
And I remember that line but didn’t think about it till you mentioned it, runar ! Thanks !
Why do you Trekkies expect everybody to be like you?? Not everyone likes that space opera. Basqueian even insinuated that people who aren’t Trek fans shouldn’t be reading Foxtrot!
To: yumitori. Our collective cultural heritage is being diluted, changed and manipulated. .Growing up in the 70’s, I saw the original release of Star Wars at the theater multiple times, so I “Know” that Han shot first. But later generations may have had first introduction to Lucas’ “altered” versions. And the “old” original Star Trek series may be too sedate for the younger generation to bother viewing.
Most of the time, if a joke has to be explained, it loses its humor. This is not one of those times. Thank you to legaleagle48 for the great explanation.
You don’t have to be a Star Trek fan to get Jason’s humor, Wolf Emperor… but it helps to be Geek Aware.
So many of Jason’s gags are based in nerd pop culture, and redshirts are fairly well known to die first.
thinkgeek.com has a red shirt w/black trim saying “expendable” in Star Trek font. Very popular.
By the way, I was watching a college football game yesterday and the announcer said something about a “red-shirt freshman.” Are they the ones who get dragged off the field with a career-ending injury before halftime?
Ok, time to let my geek flag fly… I had a thought. According to the Star Trek source material, the Enterprise could hold about 400 crew members. Now figure that maybe 50 of those were security. There were 3 seasons of star trek and I would say at least 2 security personal were killed per episode. So that means around 150 security personnel were killed over the coarse of their five year mission, which means they suffered a 300% casualty rate. In other words, being assigned to the Enterprise as a security officer was a death sentence. Just saying.
No, ellisaana. Paige didn’t know anymore about StarTrek than I did. I enjoyed the explanations, though I didn’t read them thoroughly and certainly won’t remember any of it.
Well, maybe - in the field, though? Absent significant support staff and infrastructure? OTOH, Bones DID manage to save the Horta…. “I’m a DOCTOR, not a bricklayer, Jim!”
I got it right away, and burst out laughing. This gets an honorary mention in the Death Cartoon Collection at The Family Plot Blog:
http://thefamilyplot.wordpress.com/category/death-cartoons/
Could have been worse… Jason could be dressed as a Borg with a Santa hat on… grabbing a red shirted cookie and saying “resistance is futile… you will now be assumulated….”
Red Shirt: “Corporal Lance Fodder, sir, reporting for duty!”
Kirk: “Fodder… I seem to remember the name… did your brother Cannon ever serve on the Enterprise?”
RS: “Yes, sir! He was eaten by the giant amoeba on Fungoid IV.”
Kirk: “Cannon? I remember him vaguely…” (Gesturing) “About this tall?”
Red Shirt: “No, sir. That would be my cousin Lieutenant Fodder.”
Kirk: “Ah, yes–he blew out the air lock, didn’t he?”
Scotty: “Beggin’ your pardon, Captain; that was Sergeant Fodder that blew out the air lock. Lieutenant Fodder was electrocuted in the Jefferies Tube.”
Kirk: “Oh, that’s right. Then who was it that got turned inside out by the transporter malfunction? Wasn’t he a lieutenant?”
Spock: “I believe that was Lieutenant Commander Fodder, Captain. He was beaming over from the USS Constellation during a magnetic storm.”
Red Shirt: “That would have been my uncle, sir.”
Dr. McCoy: “Your family seems to have some terrible luck, Corporal. Have any of them been tested for a genetic tendency to have unfortunate accidents?”
Red Shirt: “Yes, sir–my nephew Zombie Fodder.”
Dr. McCoy: “Did they find anything?”
Red Shirt: “I’m afraid not. He died of a previously-undiscovered reaction to the scanning radiation used in genetic testing, sir.”
Chekhov: “Is there anybody in your family who hasn’t died in the line of duty?”
Red Shirt: “Well there’s me…”
Kirk (consults watch): “Anybody else?”
Red Shirt: “And there’s my third cousin on my mother’s side, Mick. He flunked his Star Fleet physical and became a musician instead.”
Kirk: “Well, that should be safe. What’s he play?”
Red Shirt: “He’s a drummer. I hear he just got a job with a band called Spinal Tap…”
Don’t feel too bad, SeS1066! Dying is one of the coolest things an actor can do. That’s why even though the main characters were obviously going to be around for a while, they were always jumping for a chance to sort-of die. So while the redshirts are permanently dying, the main characters (usually one sometimes two per episode) are sort-of dying (they get better).
In general, in any kind of action drama, as soon as you know some personal information about a character, you know they’re going to bite it. Goes all the way back to Shakespeare in R&J; Mercutio is the first one to get it.
Since I’m not a huge trekkie fan, I may be speaking out of turn, but I make up for that fact since my husband is. It wasn’t all redshirts that bit the dust, but the away team redshirts. I remember one episode there was Kirk, Spock, Doc and then two redshirts. We were taking bets as to which one died. We all lost, they died at the same time.
There were two shows that were there when I first started watching TV. One was Star Trek: TOS. While there was ample time to make a good Tron Legacy joke, I still smiled at this strip that only a young Trekkie (Trekker?) like me would understand.
newworldmozart - not so. They died more on the ship than on away missions. They’d go one or two at a time on away missions, but if a monster or hostile force got on the ship, they’d die en masse.
The connecting factor for the redshirts who bought it was that, for the most part, they were security, rather than engineering, communications, or yoemen. Although Engineering got dinged a few times - including Scotty dying temporarily at Nomad’s hands.
Red shirted gingerbread men are surprisingly easy to make. My husband and son (10) made a batch yesterday, gave them to the neighbors. They also made weeping angels……for the Dr. Who fans in the neighborhood.
Heavenly over 13 years ago
Absolute love. :)
garfield246 over 13 years ago
I don’t get this.
Anyone else notice this could have worked as a daily strip?
Crabbyrino Premium Member over 13 years ago
Thanks for the explanation. I didn’t “get” it either.
kraftjeff over 13 years ago
Dangit… it was already answered…
As always… dinged err the red shirt extra killed in the opening scene of the episode.
Now if that baking pan had just came out of the oven would Jason be doing a Spock… and screaming.. “Pain… I feel great pain” while doing a hand to baking pan meld :D
The Duke 1 over 13 years ago
Scotty wore a red shirt and he never died!
whims over 13 years ago
Her question answered with a resounding ‘yes’ that only a geek can hear….
And there was a data visualization demo I saw somewhere that showed that the proportion of red-shirts in the show’s body count increased with each season.
Basqueian over 13 years ago
Hey, if you didn’t get it, why are you reading Foxtrot?
jlb839 over 13 years ago
You know what Jason that is not a bad idea. It would be quick easy and all you need is three colors (if you only do red shirts…)
Also it is better than his ninjas one year that Jason’s Mom was going to take to church.
Kamino Neko over 13 years ago
Nah. 2 is fine. Red for the short, gold for the insignia and piping. Mix them together to get a sort of brown for the eyes, if you’re determined not to give them gold or red eyes.
Well, I suppose black, if you want to give them pants, but since when do gingerbread men wear pants?
Crewman_6 over 13 years ago
I feel the need to comment here since it relates to my screen name. 73% of all people killed in the original “Star Trek” series were wearing red shirts, and there was indeed a very high turnover rate in the security department.
Since there were six pads on a transporter platform. Landing parties were usually put together as follows:
Kirk Spock McCoy Sulu Chekhov a red-shirted security crewman.
Typical dialog: Crewman 6: Captain Kirk! Over here! Quick! Aaaaah! (pause) McCoy: He’s Dead, Jim!
thetraveller4 over 13 years ago
Hence the saying, “I feel like the red-shirt of life”…
ses1066 over 13 years ago
I have always felt for those poor S.A.G. members who got that call-in to Paramount only to be handed a 2-3 page dialog and the red blouse from wardrobe. I wonder if it even took till the second year of ST for the word to get passed about the “grim fate”? Something like wearing a black hat in the cowboy serials, the actor is glad for the work but resigned to a short work day.
Miba over 13 years ago
I’m a Star WARS fan and even I got the joke.
KEA over 13 years ago
Haven’t laughed this hard since Star Trek (2009) and the guy who space dived to the drilling platform with Kirk and Sulu was gung ho AND wearing a red space suit.
ArtyG over 13 years ago
Anyone recall the Sam Rockwell character in “Galaxy Quest”? Anyone? Bueller?
runar over 13 years ago
From the Stargate SG-1 episode The Other Guys: Two minor characters are in mortal danger. One of them, a Star Trek fan, says at one point, “I might as well be wearing a red shirt!”
yumitori over 13 years ago
I’m deeply sadden to see the loss of our important cultural heritage represented by those who did not immediately recognize the reference and joke. What is our nation coming to?
Next thing you know, they will be asking why it’s important to emphasize that Han shot first.
fredb17 over 13 years ago
Bones, Spock come with me. You, in the red shirt, check behind that rock.
kirbey over 13 years ago
All of you … comic and comments have made me laugh this morning….. And I remember that line but didn’t think about it till you mentioned it, runar ! Thanks !
cheers, parsnip
runar over 13 years ago
Not only that, but Redshirt has it’s own Wikipedia entry and there’s the YouTube clip of Redshirt Blues.
Zaristerex over 13 years ago
Why do you Trekkies expect everybody to be like you?? Not everyone likes that space opera. Basqueian even insinuated that people who aren’t Trek fans shouldn’t be reading Foxtrot!
LuLu99 over 13 years ago
To: yumitori. Our collective cultural heritage is being diluted, changed and manipulated. .Growing up in the 70’s, I saw the original release of Star Wars at the theater multiple times, so I “Know” that Han shot first. But later generations may have had first introduction to Lucas’ “altered” versions. And the “old” original Star Trek series may be too sedate for the younger generation to bother viewing.
theamazingamber over 13 years ago
Most of the time, if a joke has to be explained, it loses its humor. This is not one of those times. Thank you to legaleagle48 for the great explanation.
Viva la “geek humor”!
chubbygirlcomics over 13 years ago
Beyond awesome. I haven’t laughed aloud that hard in a long time. Bravo!
merbrat over 13 years ago
You don’t have to be a Star Trek fan to get Jason’s humor, Wolf Emperor… but it helps to be Geek Aware. So many of Jason’s gags are based in nerd pop culture, and redshirts are fairly well known to die first.
thinkgeek.com has a red shirt w/black trim saying “expendable” in Star Trek font. Very popular.
runar over 13 years ago
Old proverb: “He who laughs last didn’t get the joke”.
puddleglum1066 over 13 years ago
By the way, I was watching a college football game yesterday and the announcer said something about a “red-shirt freshman.” Are they the ones who get dragged off the field with a career-ending injury before halftime?
puddleglum1066 over 13 years ago
yumitori said, about 3 re-issues ago: “Next thing you know, they will be asking why it’s important to emphasize that Han shot first.”
Or why it’s important to emphasize that the government guys in ET weren’t carrying radios.
Quabaculta over 13 years ago
ArtyG The character in Galaxy Quest was only known as ‘Guy’. When they did the relaunch he became a regular named ‘Guy’.
palmpilot21 over 13 years ago
Ok, time to let my geek flag fly… I had a thought. According to the Star Trek source material, the Enterprise could hold about 400 crew members. Now figure that maybe 50 of those were security. There were 3 seasons of star trek and I would say at least 2 security personal were killed per episode. So that means around 150 security personnel were killed over the coarse of their five year mission, which means they suffered a 300% casualty rate. In other words, being assigned to the Enterprise as a security officer was a death sentence. Just saying.
ellisaana Premium Member over 13 years ago
Anyone else notice that Paige is, in one breath, calling Jason a Geek and at the same time acknowleging her own geekiness with her red shirt remark.
marvee over 13 years ago
No, ellisaana. Paige didn’t know anymore about StarTrek than I did. I enjoyed the explanations, though I didn’t read them thoroughly and certainly won’t remember any of it.
lilaznoreo over 13 years ago
lol “Red Shirts” feel such a geek for understanding this xD
RadioTom over 13 years ago
Well, maybe - in the field, though? Absent significant support staff and infrastructure? OTOH, Bones DID manage to save the Horta…. “I’m a DOCTOR, not a bricklayer, Jim!”
trekkermint over 13 years ago
it only works for oldest star trek - picard cancelled that whole thin out
AKHenderson Premium Member over 13 years ago
“Captain, there’s an incoming message.”
“On screen.”
“All your redshirts are belong to us.”
Paul Rider Premium Member over 13 years ago
OMG! We’re being overrun by GEEKS!
Beam me up, Scotty!
GailRubin over 13 years ago
I got it right away, and burst out laughing. This gets an honorary mention in the Death Cartoon Collection at The Family Plot Blog: http://thefamilyplot.wordpress.com/category/death-cartoons/
Aries1776 over 13 years ago
@puddleglum1066
Redshirts only practice (where the names come from) for the year allowing them to maintain 4 years of athletic eligibility under college rules
yohannbiimu over 13 years ago
Ahhh…JFri beat me to the fact that Scotty was a redshirt…he got beat up once and awhile, but he always came out of it okay.
kraftjeff over 13 years ago
Could have been worse… Jason could be dressed as a Borg with a Santa hat on… grabbing a red shirted cookie and saying “resistance is futile… you will now be assumulated….”
puddleglum1066 over 13 years ago
As the landing party prepares to beam down…
Captain Kirk: “So, you’re Corporal…”
Red Shirt: “Corporal Lance Fodder, sir, reporting for duty!”
Kirk: “Fodder… I seem to remember the name… did your brother Cannon ever serve on the Enterprise?”
RS: “Yes, sir! He was eaten by the giant amoeba on Fungoid IV.”
Kirk: “Cannon? I remember him vaguely…” (Gesturing) “About this tall?”
Red Shirt: “No, sir. That would be my cousin Lieutenant Fodder.”
Kirk: “Ah, yes–he blew out the air lock, didn’t he?”
Scotty: “Beggin’ your pardon, Captain; that was Sergeant Fodder that blew out the air lock. Lieutenant Fodder was electrocuted in the Jefferies Tube.”
Kirk: “Oh, that’s right. Then who was it that got turned inside out by the transporter malfunction? Wasn’t he a lieutenant?”
Spock: “I believe that was Lieutenant Commander Fodder, Captain. He was beaming over from the USS Constellation during a magnetic storm.”
Red Shirt: “That would have been my uncle, sir.”
Dr. McCoy: “Your family seems to have some terrible luck, Corporal. Have any of them been tested for a genetic tendency to have unfortunate accidents?”
Red Shirt: “Yes, sir–my nephew Zombie Fodder.”
Dr. McCoy: “Did they find anything?”
Red Shirt: “I’m afraid not. He died of a previously-undiscovered reaction to the scanning radiation used in genetic testing, sir.”
Chekhov: “Is there anybody in your family who hasn’t died in the line of duty?”
Red Shirt: “Well there’s me…”
Kirk (consults watch): “Anybody else?”
Red Shirt: “And there’s my third cousin on my mother’s side, Mick. He flunked his Star Fleet physical and became a musician instead.”
Kirk: “Well, that should be safe. What’s he play?”
Red Shirt: “He’s a drummer. I hear he just got a job with a band called Spinal Tap…”
DougDean over 13 years ago
Don’t feel too bad, SeS1066! Dying is one of the coolest things an actor can do. That’s why even though the main characters were obviously going to be around for a while, they were always jumping for a chance to sort-of die. So while the redshirts are permanently dying, the main characters (usually one sometimes two per episode) are sort-of dying (they get better).
In general, in any kind of action drama, as soon as you know some personal information about a character, you know they’re going to bite it. Goes all the way back to Shakespeare in R&J; Mercutio is the first one to get it.
newworldmozart over 13 years ago
Since I’m not a huge trekkie fan, I may be speaking out of turn, but I make up for that fact since my husband is. It wasn’t all redshirts that bit the dust, but the away team redshirts. I remember one episode there was Kirk, Spock, Doc and then two redshirts. We were taking bets as to which one died. We all lost, they died at the same time.
cwreenactor over 13 years ago
Very funny. This was great!!!
DerkinsVanPelt218 over 13 years ago
There were two shows that were there when I first started watching TV. One was Star Trek: TOS. While there was ample time to make a good Tron Legacy joke, I still smiled at this strip that only a young Trekkie (Trekker?) like me would understand.
ballermaster23j over 13 years ago
i don’t get it
Kamino Neko over 13 years ago
newworldmozart - not so. They died more on the ship than on away missions. They’d go one or two at a time on away missions, but if a monster or hostile force got on the ship, they’d die en masse.
The connecting factor for the redshirts who bought it was that, for the most part, they were security, rather than engineering, communications, or yoemen. Although Engineering got dinged a few times - including Scotty dying temporarily at Nomad’s hands.
slallison over 13 years ago
Red shirted gingerbread men are surprisingly easy to make. My husband and son (10) made a batch yesterday, gave them to the neighbors. They also made weeping angels……for the Dr. Who fans in the neighborhood.
Feminemique over 13 years ago
LMAO! Poor lil’ gingerbread men….
backtocallie about 13 years ago
wye are they waring red shirts
Happy, happy, happy!!! Premium Member over 12 years ago
one year later star trek on face book put up this link and here i am. space/time warp indeed….
BigNate1011 about 12 years ago
It seems the people who where red in movies always die.
bachaddict over 11 years ago
It’s an easy way to make the audience feel sorry for the character without having to give him a lot of screen time.
singkong2012 almost 9 years ago
We all now nothing bad will happen to a man wearing a red shirt
singkong2012 almost 9 years ago
We all now nothing bad will happen to a man wearing a red shirt
singkong2012 almost 9 years ago
know not now
singkong2012 almost 9 years ago
know not now
Boxo croco says happy derby about 4 years ago
Yeah I know
Boxo croco says happy derby about 4 years ago
Yeah I know
Uninspired Artist almost 2 years ago
Wow this comic has a LOT of comments