‘Star Trek’ — Master of the 47
18 Jul, 2009 By: John Latchem
The stars have aligned for Star Trek, so to speak.
The day Paramount announced its DVD and Blu-ray plans for the film (which hits disc Nov. 17), it was sitting at No. 47 on .
But longtime fans will know that 47 is a significant number in the Trek universe and one of the franchise’s most enduring in-jokes.
The joke stems from an old Pomona College math class in which “47” was purported to be the most common random number in nature. The theory was a joke, but it caught on, and a Pomona College graduate named Joe Menosky went on to write for “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” where he spread his love of “47” like a plague. It has since spread into other movies and TV shows .
And now as a matter of cosmic coincidence, the film sits at this enchanted spot on the box office list. (Though its $252.5 million take is about $3.3 million behind Monsters, Inc., which it may well pass, but still).
It’s enough to really make us question our place in the universe.
OK, maybe not.