Another wild weekend is in the books over here.

We went to test drive cars on Saturday afternoon and ended up driving home in a different vehicle than we showed up to the dealership in. (Ope.)

We snagged an Emotional Support Pizza™ on the way home then settled in for a night in front of the ol’ boob tube.

There was some HGTV — contain your vicarious excitement, please — then I spotted Galaxy Quest in my Netflix recommendations and immediately succumbed to its late-’90s allure.

It’s one of roughly 17 movies from that cinematic era that has actually held up. (10 Things I Hate About You is another; Billy Madison is not. Woof.)

Why?

🛸 It’s got a lot of empathy and heart. (And it’s totally absurd.)
🛸 Enrico Colantoni is a national treasure, and his alien laugh is COVID-caliber contagious.
🛸 Tim Allen’s clumsy action-hero ground rolls are primo acting.
🛸 Alan Rickman’s perfectly timed, bone-dry humor (and accent) keeps him deaaaaaad sexy, even as an alien.
🛸 Casting Easter eggs like baby versions of Rainn Wilson, Justin Long, and Sam Rockwell are delightful more than 20 years post-release.

Sam Rockwell, by the way, plays a washed-up actor named Guy Fleegman, who keeps showing up at cons to bask in the fandom despite having played only a bit part in a single episode.

His character on the show didn’t even have a name: He’s Crewman Number Six, killed off before the first commercial.

He tags along with the core cast on (then can’t escape) their journey to space and weaves himself one seriously compelling story: that he has no role to play in their mission.

“I’m the guy in the episode who dies to prove how serious the situation is,” he says.

Tony Shalhoub’s character snaps him out of it, though, prompting a reframe later in the movie. “What if you’re the plucky comic relief? You ever think about that?”

It changes the way Fleegman shows up through the end of the mission, creates a shift from expendable to essential. 

So: What stories are you telling yourself about your brand?

👽 Do you see yourself as expendable or essential?
👽 Are you bitter you never got to step into a leading role?
👽 Convinced you could never actually fly the ship?
👽 Stuck repeating the computer’s output, basically there to look pretty?
👽 So certain you know how to lead that you never bother to read the room or listen to those around you?

(That last one’s definitely not you. …Right?)

If you’re not sure you have an important role to play… Allow me to Shalhoub you.

Your voice is important. Your words matter. And how you say it might matter even more 🥰

How will your customers feel about you when the credits roll on your relationship? (Or even at the next commercial break, before which you are definitely not destined to die.)

It’s all up to you. But you have to believe you’re more than just an extra.
So get to writing your script, and step into that main character energy.

By Grabthar’s hammer, by the Sons of Warvan… 
You’ve got this.