Last week marked the end of an era for Star Trek fans, with the series finale for Star Trek: Picard being delivered to Paramount+ subscribers. Whether we’ll ever see Patrick Stewart back again as Jean-Luc Picard remains to be seen, but in the meantime, he’s learned about another celebrity fan of the Star Trek franchise. That ‘70s Show star Mila Kunis showed off her fandom by singing her old cell phone ringtone to the lead of The Next Generation.
These two actors were guests together on The Late, Late Show with James Corden, which is ending tonight and will cost the eponymous host millions by walking away. It didn’t take long for Corden to bring up that Kunis is a Star Trek superfan, and she promptly told Stewart that she loves him “so much.” She then told the following story of how she showed off her enthusiasm for Star Trek:
Ok, so they used to do those Nokia phones, right? Where you got to buy a ringtone. Remember those? I bought one, I spent my hard earned $1.99 on a ringtone that went like this: [singing] 'Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the U.S.S. Enterprise.' [laughs] And I wish I had the phone to prove it, but I swear to God, I love Star Trek so much.
Hearing about Nokia phones and this specific ringtone really takes me back, and I’m guessing Mila Kunis set her phone up this way around the time that Star Trek: Enterprise was airing on UPN. It doesn’t get much more 2000s than that, right? The actress kept her cool while telling that story, but when Corden asked Stewart about if he enjoys fans expressing their passion for the franchise to him, she started to get embarrassed, but it was all in good fun. You can watch these moments, plus Stewart tell some Next Generation-related stories, below:
As Patrick Stewart recalled, he was told when he was was cast as Jean-Luc Picard that Star Trek: The Next Generation wouldn’t last long. The joke’s on them, as the show itself ran for seven seasons, then was followed by four movies, and now we can tack on Picard’s three-season run. Whether or not this corner of the Star Trek franchise will continue with the proposed Legacy spinoff (which recently got a promising update from Terry Matalas), the point is that you’ll find fans from all walks of life, and we can count Mila Kunis as one of the more hardcore among them. Now I wonder if that ringtone is still available?
Following Star Trek: Picard’s conclusion, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 will premiere June 15 on Paramount+, and if you missed Season 1, those episodes will air for free on Pluto TV during May. Other upcoming Star Trek TV shows include new seasons of Lower Decks and Prodigy arriving later in 2023, Discovery’s fifth and final season coming in 2024, and Starfleet Academy entering pre-production.
