THE STARSHIP BOILING HELL is more than just Captain Star's Rocket - it is a metaphor for the daily struggle of our lives; it wanders the universe aimlessley, Captain Jim Star nominally in control but always waiting to receive orders from Mission Control that never arrive. The ship's postman brings daily disappointment into Star's dismal life.

Oddly, in the fisrt episode of the TV series, Star identifies the ship as it is the only one in the fleet with no laundromat, but the ship's laundromat appears in the next episode.