Did you chuckle at the recent Paramount+ promo video that mashed up Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and SpongeBob SquarePants? We did, a lot, and now there’s more to laugh at thanks to a video provided by Paramount+ that’s also a bit of a hybrid: It’s part blooper reel and part behind-the scenes featurette. But first, the original promo. We loved it in large part because it was the mashup we never knew we needed. It’s got Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Celia Rose Gooding in character as Captain Pike, Spock, and Uhura interacting with SpongeBob SquarePants, Sandy Cheeks, and Mr. Krabs aboard the Patrick Starship Enterprise.
The spot -- which is actually called Patrick Starship Enterprise -- ranks as one minute of pure mayhem and silliness, with Mount, Rose Gooding, and Peck all pretty much keeping a straight faces as they share the screen with our friends from Bikini Bottom. In our view, Rose-Gooding comes closest to playing it straight, while Mount and Peck mine a different kind of comedy gold by seeming to wink just a bit at the camera. Memorable lines include “What’s your status, Commander Cheeks?”, “Commence nautical nonsense,” “Greetings, SpongeRobert,” and “Perhaps it was your imag-in-aaayshun.”
We are pretty sure that’s Jack Quaid -- Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Boimler -- voicing the promo’s outro. And we are certain that we hear veteran genre actor and one-time Star Trek guest Clancy Brown -- he played Zobral in the Enterprise episode “Desert Crossing” -- as Mr. Krabs.
Meanwhile, the just released behind-the-scenes video runs 90 seconds and features the actors working on blocking shots and establishing sightlines, whipping to the left and right in their seats, messing up lines, re-creating memes, and more. We also get glimpses of the practical puppets and stuffed dolls used on the set, and Rose-Gooding missing the mark as she attempts to flip burgers, aka Krabby Patties, to Mount. “A little high,” Mount teases at one point Rose Gooding, who seems both bemused and mortified.
Also, revealing the speed at which promotional machines work, several quick shots show a digital clapboard noting the production date of part of the Patrick Starship Enterprise spot: 3.1.25. Undetermined is whether the promo was filmed all in one day in March or over the course of two days or more.
We’re on board for an actual Patrick Starship Enterprise. How about you?