What Star Trek: Strange New Worlds And Adam Sandler's Billy Madison Have In Common
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is a fantastic return to classic "Star Trek" that uses its science fiction setting to create incredible allegories about our own world. "Billy Madison" is a very silly Adam Sandler movie from the 1990s about a man-child who has to go from kindergarten through high school in six months in order to inherit his father's business and fortune. They are as different from one another as can be, yet at least one "Strange New Worlds" episode is rather deeply connected to the sophomoric yet lovable absurdity of "Billy Madison." While they don't share anything in-universe and Adam Sandler has sadly never made a "Star Trek" appearance, eagle-eyed viewers might have recognized some similar sights in the background of both the movie and the season 1 "Strange New Worlds" episode, "Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach."
In an interview with the "Star Trek" fan site Warp Factor Trek, stuntman Jack Sansone revealed that the episode and "Billy Madison" were both filmed at the same historic location, which makes re-watching the rather grim episode just a teensy bit funnier.
A shared shooting location
Sansone served as the stunt double for actor Adam Maros, whose character had a little scuffle with Captain Pike (Anson Mount). The two have their tussle on the grounds of a lavish estate that looks an awful lot like the mansion where Billy Madison (Sandler) and his father live in "Billy Madison," and that's because both were filmed at Parkwood Estate in Oshawa, Ontario! Sansone told Warp Factor Trek that his time filming there was idyllic, saying, "It was a beautiful day and a beautiful set." That beauty is evident in both the lavish interiors (like the very recognizable spiral staircase descended by both Sandler and Mount) and the gorgeous gardens detailed with massive fountains.
Parkwood Estate was built to be the home of Canadian industrialist Colonel R.S. McLaughlin and his family, and they lived there until 1972. It was recognized as a National Historic Site by the Canadian government in 1989 and has been open to the public ever since. It's also been used in a number of film and television productions, ranging from "Anne of Green Gables" to "The Umbrella Academy," which is how it ended up linking "Star Trek" and "Billy Madison"!
One seriously cool estate
Millennials almost all have a soft spot for "Billy Madison," and at least some of that comes from the sheer fun of the parties Billy throws each time he completes a grade in school. He floats on an innertube in the massive fountains, hangs out with jugglers and a clown on the lawns, and at one point chases an imaginary penguin throughout the entire estate. It's the kind of place that many of us would love to live in if we didn't have to worry about bills or keeping it clean, and it's a kind of wish fulfillment.
"Star Trek" also uses the estate to represent a kind of ideal, as it exists in a utopian society where Captain Pike and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise must help with a rather unusual conundrum surrounding a holy child. The same hallways and stairs where Billy chased the penguin are now bare save for a few extras in alien makeup and elaborate robes, although the furnishings and decor remain largely the same. There's also a massive ceremony out on the estate's lawns where Billy threw his parties, although "Strange New Worlds" used a bit of computer-generated imagery to add in some fancy sci-fi buildings in the background.
If you had told the 10-year-old me that one day I would see a Starfleet officer in the same place that I watched Billy get into a fight with shampoo and conditioner, I wouldn't have believed you. Thank goodness 10-year-old me was wrong.