By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Sadly, blooper reels have become a relic of the past. Back in the day, bloopers would sometimes appear at the end of a film, giving the audience something to laugh about after all the tension had been resolved. After DVD became a thing, many TV shows included blooper reels as part of their visual media offerings. It was real value added for consumers. They might have seen the episode a hundred times, but this would be their first time seeing a beloved character hit a line so hard that it cracked everyone in the room.
Star Trek: The Next Generation it was, and the DVDs and Blu-rays of this popular sci-fi show include more than a few funny bloopers. In the episode “The Booby Trap,” this includes a line from Worf’s character Michael Dorn that causes his fellow Trek players to join in the maniacal glee. Back in the day, what he said sounded like a no-brainer, but these days, it would probably get him cancelled. You see, Dorn did a Klingon “I didn’t play with boys” sounding suspiciously defensive!
The Stage Is Set
For this story to make sense, you’ll need a little context for “Booby Trap.” In this episode, the Enterprise is exploring an asteroid field when it receives an emergency distress signal. Unfortunately, they find the ship’s distressed crew long dead, and our heroes are caught in the same booby trap that killed the ancient ship. Geordi LaForge helps solve the problem by replicating warp expert Dr. Leah Brahms on the holodeck and, slowly, dating her. In the end, the Enterprise escapes the titular booby trap, with Picard struggling and allowing his crew to personally pilot everyone out of harm’s way.
So, where does the annoying blooper fit in? At the beginning of “Booby Trap,” Picard talks about the hope of blossoming on a long-dead ship. He likens it to a “ship in a bottle,” a very old reference in the 24th century. In fact, he is so old that he seems confused by the other employees. An angry Picard then blurted out, “Good Lord, didn’t anyone build ships out of bottles when they were boys?”
Where You Can Laugh
This leads to a funny rhythm of comedy. Worf replies, “I never played with toys,” and Data says, “I never was a boy.” Luckily for Picard, the conversation is saved when Miles O’Brien walks up and says that, as a captain, he used to put ships together with a bottle. Sadly, however, no one could save Michael Dorn, who ended his line by combining it with Data!
Instead of “I didn’t play with toys,” the actor said, in his powerful baritone, “I didn’t play with boys.” The result is immediate and hilarious. Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner quickly broke character, blowing their noses at what Dorn had accidentally said. Off screen, you can hear Jonathan Frakes and others howling with laughter. Although he certainly didn’t said so, a serious Star Trek actor dropped the funniest line in blooper history.
In the tumultuous political climate of today’s world, a character who simply says, “I didn’t play with boys,” is likely to be dismissed faster than you can say, “Make it so.” Does this mean we need to check the flight logs to see if Worf ever had a lot of fun on a certain island? Probably not. Based on his falling out with Risa a few years later, we know indeed what the Klingons would do with a tropical island paradise: waste it on everyone with the slightest bit of terror before going back to work and never having to worry about it, again.
