The movie “Star Trek” has wowed critics and audiences and made $79.2 million in the U.S. and Canada since opening on Thursday. But not everyone is thrilled. Some hardcore fans accuse director J.J. Abrams of flubbing the movie by straying from the established “canon,” in other words introducing elements and events that diverge from the way things happened in Star Trek television shows and movies until now.

On NBC variety show “Saturday Night Live” over the weekend, “Star Trek” stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Leonard Nimoy took the “Trekker” fans on directly in a comedy piece, with a pair of “SNL” actors playing the part of outraged fans sitting in the audience.

 ”We understand you are concerned about the way we are handling your beloved franchise,” said Quinto, who plays young Spock in the movie. ”But don’t worry, we’ve gone to great lengths to ensure that this film fits in flawlessly with the established canon.”

Then Pine, who plays Captain Kirk, tried to explain how the movie portrays the famed Star Trek transporters.

“I swear that the transporters on this enterprise utilize the Heisey … Oh God I have no idea what I’m talking about,” Pine said.

Well, the “Trekkers” have noticed the jab they took on “SNL.” On the fan site Trekmovie.com, one commentator using the name James Heaney wrote, “Oh my Q… Chris Pine doesn’t know what a *Heisenberg compensator* is? We’re all screwed.”

Then there’s their reaction to the movie. On the Twitter feed TReKiE, one commentator using the name DestroyTwitter wrote that he thought the film was “clearly made for the masses.”

“Big loud action sequences at senseless cost to canon, for no apparent real reason,” the commentator wrote.

But not all the Internet reaction about the movie and its actors is negative.

“I would say that Abrams and (company) pulled it off and that Trek is back with a vengeance and that Hardcore trekies who wanted it to fail didn’t get their wish,” wrote one commentator using the name Garovorkin on Trekmovie.com. 

Everything seems to be a battle in Star Trek fandom. Trekmovie.com contained plenty of comments suggesting fans should be called Trekkers, not Trekkies. But the uninitiated have no reason to feel bad. Even Leonard Nimoy, appearing on “SNL,” jokingly got it wrong for a second. 

“I have spent many years of my life among trekkies, er trekkers, and they have been among the best years of my life,” Nimoy said. 

How does that sit with the Trekkies, er Trekkers?

 It’s official!

Comedian Tina Fey has gotten her wish and will no longer play Alaska governor Sarah Palin on the comedy sketch show “Saturday Night Live” after the Republican contender for vice president lost out in Tuesday’s U.S. elections. 
    
Fey’s dead-on impersonations of Palin drew record ratings for “Saturday Night LIve” and became almost as talked about nationally as the maverick politician and hockey mom herself.

But Fey, who stars in the NBC show “30 Rock,” told the magazine Entertainment Weekly that she has no plans to play Palin again.  
    
“I have to retire just because I have to do my day job,” Fey told the magazine. 
     
Fey, 38, went the extra mile by suggesting a replacement if “Saturday Night Live” needs someone to play Palin again, suggesting that ”SNL” cast member Kristen Wiig should carry the torch from now on. 
“Maybe we could get a real torch,” Fey told Entertainment Weekly. “Or I could give Wiig the Palin wig.”
    
Before the election, Fey made clear she was hoping not to have to play Palin after November 4, saying she planned on “leaving Earth” if  the Republican was elected. 
(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis)

No one could blame actress Tina Fey if she was privately hoping for a McCain-Palin victory in November.

The former “Saturday Night Live” star has been back on the show three times with her her dead-on, ratings-stoking spoofs of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

The latest skit on Palin’s debate with Democratic Rival Sen. Joe Biden poked fun at the Alaska governor for dodging specifics by repeating the Republican ticket’s “maverick” theme.

“We’re gonna ask ourselves what would a maverick do in this situation, and then ya’ know, we’ll do that,” Fey-as-Palin responded when pressed on how to deal with the financial crisis.

Palin dismissed climate change as ”this climate change, hoozie-what’s-it” and said she  wanted to talk about taxes instead: ”We are not afraid to get mavericky in there.”

The sharpest barb came when she was asked about benefits for same-sex couples: “I believe marriage is meant to be a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers,” Palin replied, in a clear reference to her pregnant, teen-aged daughter who is due to marry the child’s father.

The SNL skit also ridiculed Biden, picking on his friendship with Republican candidate John McCain.

“Look, I love John McCain. He is one of my dearest friends. But at the same time, he’s also dangerously unbalanced … He’s bad at his job, and mentally unstable. As my mother would say, God love him, but he’s a raging maniac - and a dear, dear friend.”

Biden, played by Jason Sudeikis, said at the end that his goal was to not be seen like a “condescending, egomaniacal bully. And I’m gonna’ be honest. I think I nailed it.”

(Reporting by Chris Michaud)

Which lifeline will she use this time?

Tina Fey is expected to be back reprising her devastating impression of  Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live this weekend following the Alaska Governor’s performance in Thursday’s widely-watched vice presidential debate.

Actress and singer Queen Latifah has also been tapped to play journalist Gwen Ifill, who moderated the debate between Republican Palin and Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, celebrity Web site TMZ.com reported on Friday.

It will be the third time that Fey has skewered the self-described hockey mom on SNL, which has seen its ratings soar thanks largely to the Emmy-award winning “30 Rock” actress’s uncanny resemblance to Palin.

Fey’s Palin skits have racked up more than five million viewings on the official SNL website alone, and hundreds of thousands more have watched on YouTube in the last three weeks.

After Fey/Palin asked last week whether she could “phone a friend” while struggling in her interview with journalist Katie Couric/Amy Poehler, which lifeline might Fey/Palin use this time?

Ask the audience, maybe?

Tina Fey’s hit comedy series “30 Rock” may have picked up 4 Emmys, but backstage at the TV awards show the show’s creator and star faced almost as many questions about her recent portrayal of Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on “Saturday Night Live” as she did about her award-winning show.

As it turns out, Fey would rather not see Palin become a regular character on “SNL.”

“I want to be done playing this lady November 5th,” Fey said when asked backstage about how she feels about the election. “So, if anyone can help me be done playing her on November 5th…”

The U.S. presidential election is November 4th.

Fey added that Palin “seems like a perfectly nice lady,” but that she had been reluctant at first to admit that they look alike.

“I was very resistant to acknowledge that there was a resemblance,” Fey said. “Then my kid saw Sarah Palin on TV and said ‘That’s Mommy.’”

As for “30 Rock,” Fey said co-star Alec Baldwin had told her that her award for best actress in a comedy series meant she could now “stop apologizing for being an actor and being on the show.”

Finally, Fey asked enlisted reporters’ help in finding her purse, which disappeared after she left it under her seat in L.A.’s Nokia theater.

“If anyone sees a small purple purse with an iPhone in it with a picture of a naked toddler,” she said.