You know the creators of The Simpsons are intimately familiar with the sci-fi/comic fandom scene, because when they poke fun at that world they do so with a level of detail and affection that can only come from true aficionados. Last Sunday's episode adds to their long list of Star Trek references, demonstrating once again that parody is the sincerest form of flattery.

Titled "My Big Fat Geek Wedding," the story has teacher Edna Krabappel and principal Seymour Skinner headed to the altar, but Seymour's cold feet causes Edna to leave him there and seek out a new beau. That new beau turns out to be Comic Book Guy (who, as far as we know, has no other name). In an effort to permanently secure the first female to ever pay attention to him, the rotund übergeek has a plan that involves taking her to the Bi-Monthly Science Fiction Convention, or "BiMonSciFiCon."

The jabs at fan culture begin with the convention marquee declaring "Warning: You could be photographed and used in ads ... looking like that."

The Simpson family spots Comic Book Guy (CBG) and Edna scandalously walking into "Multipurpose Room B" and they follow to see the room filled with costumed conventioneers, mostly Klingon. Friends place a Klingon forehead on CBG and he says, "Edna, the Klingons have a romantic saying..." He then blurts out a guttural phrase, prompting to other Klingons to go, "Awwwww." CBG continues, "Roughly translated it means, I would kill the children of a thousand planets just to see you smile." Edna responds, "Aww. That is the most romantic thing I've ever heard — which is kinda sad if you think about it." CBG then kneels down and proposes.

Seymour bursts into the room, dressed in a Catwoman outfit (which he was told was a Catman costume), and tells CBG to stay away from his fiancée. CBG refuses, and Seymour dramatically declares, "Now prepare for some roughhousing!" The two then get into it over a Klingon logo painted on the floor, to music that is a blatant parody of the familiar Original Series fight theme.

During the fight, two of the other costumees speak to each other in Klingon, with subtitles translating: "Should we aid our brother in his blood feud?" "No. My mom worked really hard on this costume."

Well, Edna ends up walking away from both men, but Homer realizes he needs to do something to resolve difficulties in his own relationship with Marge, so later in their bedroom he asks her to marry him again. Then he brings in the Klingon "priest" from the con to recite vows in Klingon. When Marge blurts out "I do!" Homer says, "Marge, you just agreed to raise the kids Klingon!" "D'ohh!" Marge exclaims.

UPDATE: Later in the same week, the Klingon frenzy on network TV continued. Thursday night on ER, the character of Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) was put in charge of a group of Psych patients, and she learned to her chagrin that one of them only speaks in Klingon. (That patient also looked rather Klingon-ish, without the benefit of makeup.) Later in the same episode, the patient says something to the effect of "See you tomorrow" to her in Klingon. Abby then responds with a couple of consonants of Klingon herself, smiling at the patient. The patients growls in disdain and leaves. Abby explains to her Psych ward colleague, "I learned a little Klingon." The colleague says, "Good. We had to get rid of our Klingon translator in the most recent round of budget cuts." She realizes after a moment that he's being serious.

The recent DVD release of "Kill Bill, Vol. 1" reminded Quentin Tarantino fans that his affinity for pop culture includes Star Trek. The opening title card of the movie states, "Revenge is a dish best served cold. —Old Klingon Proverb." (Of course, the quote is actually from the 1782 book "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," but why miss out on a good "Khan" reference?)

If you catch a significant Star Trek reference in a movie or TV show or other form of media, let us know about it by writing to editor@startrek.com.