Entertainment
Sci-Fi's Best Ever Anniversary Episode Mocks Its Own Series
By Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Comedy is hard to do right. Miss the mark and the audience is laughing at you, not with you, or even worse, not laughing at all. Stargate SG-1 is one of the rare long-running sci-fi shows that managed to find a balance between the comedic and dramatic.
“Wormhole X-Treme!” celebrated 100 episodes on September 8, 2001, by making fun of the show itself, with the backstage crew getting a chance to be on camera as Stargate Command investigates a new show that’s a little too close to the Stargate Program. It’s a fun, light-hearted celebration of everything that fans loved about the series, and it was crammed with jokes and inside references,s resulting in one of the all-time greatest episodes of any sci-fi series.
Wormhole X-Treme Is Everything Great About Sci-Fi
The actual plot of “Wormhole X-Treme!” centers on the returning Martin Lloyd (played perfectly by the late Willie Garson), a humanoid alien who stayed behind on Earth following the events of Season 4’s “Point of No Return,” and again, he’s lost his memory. Martin is seemingly trying to piece together his missing memories by working as a consultant for the low-budget series Wormhole X-Treme.
Jack O’Neil (Richard Dean Anderson) is sent to the Vancouver studio to investigate what’s going on when a ship appears near Earth bearing the same energy signature as Martin’s species. That’s the loose plot excuse of Stargate SG-1’s 100th episode celebration, which was elevated to greatness by everything else going on.
“Wormhole X-Treme” is a love letter to Stargate SG-1, even if, as the episode reminds fans, there’s a lot that never made sense and plotlines that ended up going nowhere. The best reference is to the phallic Zaknitel sidearm, or “Zat” which functioned as follows: One shot stuns, two shots kill, three shots make it go away. Finally, thanks to the crew of “Wormhole X-Treme” someone gets to say, “that’s stupid.” It was. No one knew how long a victim would be stunned; no one knew the timeframe that “reset” the counter. It was a stupid weapon, and thankfully, someone finally said it.
One of the best meta jokes comes from the studio president providing a note that Wormhole X-Treme needs a sexy female alien. It’s delivered by Hank Cohen, the actual president of MGM Television at the time, and the same person who made that suggestion. Thanks to him, Stargate SG-1 added Anise (played by Vanessa Angel) to the cast, and just as quickly, the Tok’ra archaeologist was removed when the show’s ratings remained unchanged.
The end of the episode featured the cast of Wormhole X-Treme, and includes what may be the best line in the entire franchise, thanks to the many layers it includes: “I’m Christian Bocher. I’m portraying the character of Raymond Gunne, who portrays the character of Dr. Levant, which is based on the character Daniel Jackson, portrayed by the actor Michael Shanks, originally portrayed by the actor James Spader…in the feature film.”
A Major Syndication Milestone
Making it to 100 episodes was a major milestone for shows back in the days of syndication. 100 was the minimum number of episodes required to qualify for syndication, which allowed the studio to make major profits. Stargate SG-1 started on syndication thanks to Showtime, but reaching 100 episodes proved it was a hit series, and no one could have imagined it would keep defying the odds and reach another 100.
“200” brought back Martin Lloyd and featured the crew pitching their ideas for a sci-fi movie, including Vala’s suggestion that sounds suspiciously like Farscape. By then, both Claudia Black and Ben Browder were part of the SG-1 cast, making it another brilliant meta joke and proving that even 200 episodes in, the writing room had more ideas than they knew what to do with.
Stargate SG-1 remains beloved by fans 25 years after “Wormhole X-Treme” first aired. Since then, there have been two well-received spin-offs, tv movies, and a new series in the works from Amazon. Will the new show make it to 100 episodes? No, no it won’t, but if it has even a fraction of the lasting impact of the original run, it will be another sci-fi success.
Entertainment
Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 19, 2026
Today’s Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you can never sit down.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
Where did Wordle come from?
Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once.
Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.
What’s the best Wordle starting word?
The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.
What happened to the Wordle archive?
The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.
Is Wordle getting harder?
It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn’t any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle‘s Hard Mode if you’re after more of a challenge, though.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
To rise.
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Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no recurring letters.
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Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter T.
The Wordle answer today is…
Get your last guesses in now, because it’s your final chance to solve today’s Wordle before we reveal the solution.
Drumroll please!
The solution to today’s Wordle is…
STAND
Don’t feel down if you didn’t manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we’ll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints. Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today’s Strands.
Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.
Entertainment
Hurdle hints and answers for April 19, 2026
If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.
There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it’ll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.
An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.
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If you find yourself stuck at any step of today’s Hurdle, don’t worry! We have you covered.
Hurdle Word 1 hint
The edge.
Hurdle Word 1 answer
BRINK
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Hurdle Word 2 hint
Moody.
Hurdle Word 2 Answer
POUTY
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Hurdle Word 3 hint
America’s bird.
Hurdle Word 3 answer
EAGLE
Hurdle Word 4 hint
A platform.
Hurdle Word 4 answer
FORUM
Final Hurdle hint
Cheapskate.
Hurdle Word 5 answer
MISER
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Entertainment
Star Trek’s Most Ambitious Villain Helped Create The Franchise’s Most Complex Hero
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
When Star Trek: Voyager first came out, the most fascinating character was the Doctor. While Robert Picardo’s performance was superb, it’s fair to say this character was mostly fascinating on a conceptual level. We had seen things like hypercompetent Starfleet captains and exotic aliens before, but what we hadn’t seen was a fully holographic chief medical officer. Voyager’s Emergency Medical Hologram seemed like the perfect embodiment of the Star Trek ethos. He’s a technological strange new world and new life, all rolled into one.
However, what casual audiences didn’t realize is that the Doctor wasn’t completely unique. Long before Picardo’s character ever sawed bones in the Delta Quadrant, Captain Picard dealt with another extraordinary hologram: Moriarty, the brilliant foe of the famous investigator Sherlock Holmes. Over on The Next Generation, Geordi LaForge accidentally created this villain as a sentient hologram when he asked the holodeck to create a challenge worthy of the android Data. Later, Star Trek: Voyager executive producer Jeri Taylor revealed that, in-universe, the holographic Doctor was created because Starfleet took advantage of the same accidental breakthrough that created Moriarty!
It all started in “Elementary, My Dear Data,” the Next Generation episode in which the titular android and Geordi LaForge recreated Sherlock Holmes’ adventures on the holodeck. Thanks to his positronic brain and his encyclopedic knowledge of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes novels, Data is able to easily solve every mystery that is thrown at him. That’s when Geordi makes a seemingly simple request. He asks the Enterprise computer to develop a holodeck foe that could actually defeat Data, one of the smartest beings in the entire galaxy.
The computer obliges and creates a sentient version of Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes’ greatest foe. Following Geordi’s instructions, the Enterprise computer included much of Data’s vast programming, which resulted in the holographic character becoming self-aware. Moriarty ended up threatening the Enterprise on two different occasions, and Picard eventually got rid of him by trapping the unknowing villain in a simulation where he thought he had left the holodeck and could explore the stars. This was meant to be a happy ending for Moriarty, but in the show’s typically bleak fashion, Star Trek: Picard later showed us a different, more hostile version of this character created by a malevolent Section 31 AI.
How A Villain Created A Hero
What does all of this have to do with Robert Picardo’s holographic Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager? Elementary, my dear reader! Very early in Voyager’s development (the show didn’t even have a name yet), executive producer Jeri Taylor was inspired by Moriarty to create a new character. As reported in A Vision of the Future-Star Trek: Voyager, Taylor wrote down notes for a holographic doctor “who, like Moriarty, has ‘awareness’ of himself as a holodeck fiction. He longs for the time when he can walk free of the Holodeck.”
A few days later, she wrote down additional notes that contain a startling bit of Star Trek lore. “The Holo-Doctor represents a new, state-of-the-art technology which has capitalized on the serendipitous incident which created Moriarty, and has programmed a holographic character which has self-awareness of his situation and limitations.” While Moriarty is name-dropped on Voyager a couple of times, the show never mentioned what Taylor’s notes seem to confirm: that Lewis Zimmerman could never have created the Emergency Medical Hologram program if not for Geordi LaForge accidentally creating Moriarty on the holodeck.
From Villain To Leading Man?
If that’s not strange enough, there was a period of time when Voyager’s producers were considering making Moriarty a mainstay character on the show. As reported in Star Trek–Where No One Has Gone Before, Taylor’s notes mentioned that “everyone agreed that was a little too broad, and we couldn’t figure out why anyone would take him along.” After dismissing the idea, they decided “that having a holographic doctor with the full consciousness of being a hologram might be fun, and we’d never done anything like that before, except for Moriarty.”
There you have it, gentle reader. Without the character of Moriarty on Star Trek: The Next Generation, we’d never have the Doctor on Voyager. In this way, Trek’s most ambitious villain helped create the franchise’s most complex hero. Thanks to Jeri Taylor’s notes, we also know that, in-universe, Lewis Zimmerman would never have been able to create the Doctor if not for Geordi accidentally creating a sentient Moriarty so Data could have fun. In retrospect, this does make Zimmerman’s arrogance that much weirder. After all, he has a lot of attitude for someone who owes his entire career to the two biggest book nerds in the galaxy!
Wordle today: Answer, hints for April 19, 2026
Hector Herrera, Dynamo deal another shutout loss to Orlando City
