I’ve been catching up on the new season of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” which is my favorite show when it comes to liberal commentary. During the season premiere, Bill was talking about the way that the Senate can now filibuster without standing and reading the phone book for 8 hours without going to the bathroom or drinking water and referenced the “Star Trek” episode where the society just fed people into an incinerator rather than having wars. He then turned to Seth and prompted him to give the Kirk speech from said episode.
You can see that scene here alongside the original “Star Trek” clip.
I knew a guy in college named Zach Johnson. Zach was a guitar major with an affinity for Tennessee whiskey which would sometimes cause him to morph into a personality we affectionately referred to as “Zach Daniels.” Zach also possessed a photographic memory and an incredible knack for mimicry. For instance, you could name any episode of “The Simpsons” and Zach would reproduce the dialogue from that scene complete with all the necessary voices. His Homer impression was particularly perfect. Zach was also a big-time Trekker, which means that, hypothetically, I could have sat with Zach in the commons, given him the same lead that Maher gave MacFarlane, and the scene would have been exactly the same, except for the fact that Zach’s Shatner would be less mockery and more mimicry.
This moment reveals another facet to an already fascinating human being. MacFarlane is a brilliant voice actor, comedian, writer, animator, singer and producer. Is it possible that he also possesses a perfect memory? Can he do this with any movie or TV show that he’s ever seen? My guess is yes, so that can only mean that I now must hate Seth MacFarlane.