About The Show
Hosted by
Robert Rhodes
at Aloha Daze
| A Star Is Boring |  |
Episode Details
Plot Summary | Ongoing
Story and Character Developments
Unanswered
Questions
|
Memorable Lines | Glitches
Trivia, Inside Jokes and References | NotePAD
Bova is feeling left out and unappreciated. Desperate for attention, he leaves a message on the spacenet begging for attention. Following Rosie's advice, he leaves a message saying he has invented an immortality potion. He claims to be 2,324,567 years old.
Meanwhile, the Gizbot is out of control and running amok.
Bova promptly gets an incoming message from promoter Utz on the planet Neon. Utz is determined to have Bova visit his world. Bova tries to explain that the immortality potion was a lie, but Utz doesn't let him get in a word edgewise. Utz has already started making Bova merchandise.
Because of the crew's failure to catch the Gizbot, Ms. Davenport engages the crew in Emergency Training Exercises (ETE). They are quizzed on the proper way to deal with various emergency situations.
Bova appears at ETE, wearing various pieces of Bova merchandise and acting like a Hollywood star. Utz is continually producing more merchandise, and is advertising Bova's immortality potion.
The guys are skeptical. They think Bova is making this up for attention. Bova threatens to go live on Neon with his fans, but the guys don't take him seriously. The girls have their doubts too, and they're annoyed and worried by his behavior.
Bova talks to Thelma that he will miss her when he goes away to live with his fans on Neon. She is confused at first, and ultimately less than helpful.
Bova finally decides not to go to Neon, but Utz takes Bova—and the entire bunkroom!
Bova finds himself in a zoo-like facility on Neon, in his bunkroom, now equipped with bars and a giant hamster wheel. Utz pressures him for the immortality potion, but Bova finally admits the potion was a fraud. Utz needs to return everybody's money, but he doesn't have it anymore, so he decides to keep Bova as a freak attraction for the next few hundred years.
The other kids discover the commercials for Bova merchandise and the Bova exhibit. They also see that in his cage, they have food for three months.
The kids use their ETE training to get information about Bova. They pretend to be tourists looking to see Bova. They find out that Utz is interested in selling off Bova. They exchange Bova for another freak oddity: the malfunctioning Gizbot.
Within no time, the people of Neon have forgotten about Bova. But he's feeling appreciated by the crew, because they sacrificed the Gizbot, a one-of-a-kind device, for Bova.
Thelma reports to the Christa that the Gizbot is missing, and has a replacement Gizbot sent from an almost infinite supply of Gizbots.
Ongoing Story and Character Developments
- The gizbot is not unique; there are thousands of them in the cargo hold.
Bova: I thought you could tell where everything was on the Christa.
Thelma: Usually, yes. But the Gizbot is … what's the technical term? Ah, yes. The Gizbot is a slippery little sucker.
Harlan: [helping Thelma fix the Gizbot] Make sure you turn off its bumping into walls mechanism.
Radu: And its stealing silverware command.
Thelma: Aha! I have discovered the problem.
Radu: And that is?
Thelma: It's broken.
Utz: Who loves ya, baby?
Bova: My parents.
Utz: Great! I'll have my people call their people; we'll do lunch!
Commercial Announcer: It's Bova, the two million year old kid! See him breathe! See him eat! See him do nothing!
- When Suzee and Harlan make contact with Utz.... doesn't he notice that they're wearing the same uniforms as Bova, and are on the same style ship?
- “Move over, it's Bova, brighter than a supernova!": Watch Rahi during this scene. He starts dancing a second or two before the music starts up, and he's not quite in sync with the music. (thanks to Diana2261@aol.com for catching this)
Trivia, Inside Jokes and References
- The episode title is a riff on the movie A Star is Born.
- Utz is played by Robin Leach, best known as the host of the 1980's show Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
- Leach's character was identified as Glitz in Nickelodeon's Episode list in October, 1996.
- "Bova has left the building..." is an Elvis reference.
- The directions to Neon are the most outrageous collection of cross-references collected in the series: "If you're coming from the Delta Quadrant, turn left at the Bajoran wormhole, then take the Vogon Hyperspace Bypass to Exit 42." The Delta Quadrant is where Star Trek: Voyager is located. The Bajoran wormhole is from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The Vogon Hyperspace Bypass is from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the planet Earth was destroyed to make way for it), and the number 42 is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything in the Hitchhiker books.
- The “missed high-five” was not part of the script; it was something Kristian and Walter worked out themselves. (information provided by ZaBaGaBe).
- The crew has new pajama-like costumes for this episode.
- None identified.
NotePAD
(Notes from co-creator Peter A. David)
- None available at this time.
Episode Details provided by Tracey Rich.
This page was last updated on December 29, 1997.