A Matter of Shatner's Perspective
- Thread starter Khan 2.0
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I'll also add that when I was in high school, out in the boonies, where most of my fellow students were farmers, they were well aware of Star Trek, Trekkies, and conventions. I graduated in 79.
Some fans have a bad tendency to believe actors--particularly actors in fantasy productions--are as giddy and fanboy-ish about it as they are, when that is not true. Famously, Harrison Ford did not like talking about Star Wars, and even after his appearance in TFA, he was not going over every memory of his time in that franchise. He is not alone in how he views certain older roles.
Star Trek was a job. An important one for him because he was the lead, but at the time it was a steady paycheck and because of his ownership percentage, he had a vested interest in it being successful.
The popularity in syndication was a blessing and a curse. Shatner came out the best because his career never came to a halt. He may have done a series of crap moves, failed TV shows and community theater to pay the bills for a time, but he rebounded in a way none of the others did.
Harve Bennett said in a Cinefantastic interview: "The Star Trek Curse is something the poor supporting cast has to live with. I don't." That could easily have been said by Shatner.
I dunno, a 70 year career. 3 of those years spent on a TV series. Who remembers what they did for 3 years 5 decades ago? The one thing Takei said that I agree with was something like "I don't remember doing Star Trek. I remember telling stories about doing Star Trek."
Shit, I don't remember the details of things I did months ago.
The popularity in syndication was a blessing and a curse. Shatner came out the best because his career never came to a halt. He may have done a series of crap moves, failed TV shows and community theater to pay the bills for a time, but he rebounded in a way none of the others did.
Harve Bennett said in a Cinefantastic interview: "The Star Trek Curse is something the poor supporting cast has to live with. I don't." That could easily have been said by Shatner.
I dunno, a 70 year career. 3 of those years spent on a TV series. Who remembers what they did for 3 years 5 decades ago? The one thing Takei said that I agree with was something like "I don't remember doing Star Trek. I remember telling stories about doing Star Trek."
Shit, I don't remember the details of things I did months ago.
I totally get that. After decades of dredging up all your memories from a particular job you did 50+ years ago, what more can be said?
I was very surprised that when I saw Shatner introducing a screening of TWOK a few years back, he told a story that I'd never heard before, about getting pulled over by a cop while on his way to a TOS location shoot.
...and even if one has a good memory, I've noticed you are more likely to get something metering toward honesty from those who did not regurgitate their brief work experiences over and over again (Takei by far). On that note, its the reason Adam West's bio was more tall tales (and some contradicting statements made years before the book's publication) and piling on what he thought made his Batman era juicier than anyone else remembered, and as a result, its not worth reading beyond the mistake of that first time.
Are you sure you're not thinking of Burt Ward's book Boy Wonder: My Life in Tights? That had much more a reputation of exaggerating stuff than West's book Back to the Batcave did.
Both bios "sexed up" their lives during the TV series' production, but it was West who started that line of dialogue in the 70s, by repeatedly claiming that Batman said Catwoman was causing "...curious stirrings in my utility belt," and similar bits of subversion claimed to have been baked into the series. He was not being facetious, either, but dreamed up whatever, which muddied the history of the series. From some of the Dozier archives I've seen, he (Dozier) and creatives like Semple gave a far more accurate account of Batman than West ever attempted to.
No actor will ever love a show like its ardent fans love it.
And that goes double for kids watching a way-out but finely detailed genre show like Batman or Star Trek.
And that goes double for kids watching a way-out but finely detailed genre show like Batman or Star Trek.
So people were getting forged autographs, right from the source? I wonder if any of those secretary-signed photos ended up on eBay. It's scandalous.
And that's to say nothing of the kids who poured their hearts out in a letter to Shatner, expecting his usual warmth and empathy in return. And he never even saw the letters.
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My brother interviewed Shatner about a decade ago after he had done the record with Ben Folds and it got turned into an opera. To my brother's credit, he only asked about the record and the opera and nothing about Trek, T.J. Hooker, or Boston Legal.
Sounds like Shatner bull$%$3 to me.So people were getting forged autographs, right from the source? I wonder if any of those secretary-signed photos ended up on eBay. It's scandalous.
And that's to say nothing of the kids who poured their hearts out in a letter to Shatner, expecting his usual warmth and empathy in return. And he never even saw the letters.
You know Nimoy was pathetic answering his own mail while Gene said I was too good to answer mine.
So the implication is he never knew that Nimoy had more fan mail.
Anyway its a stupid Question,anythng that Shatner has to say makes him sound bad.
more on George/'Captain' Sulu
William Shatner on Twitter: "Her source is George. He makes up these unbelievable stories about petty things that he swore he saw on set. George was on set 60 days or less in total versus the 400+ that I was on set; yet has stories that wouldn’t fit into 500+ production days! How do you explain that?" / Twitter
William Shatner on Twitter: "You should hear his story on the flood of fanmail Paramount received advocating for a Captain Sulu Show after STVI. First of all once the movies were done- we weren’t at Paramount so how could he know? Did he send it all in himself?" / Twitter
William Shatner on Twitter: "I’m sure he’s a wonderful person but we were strangers. He left for 1/2 of the second season to do a movie- that’s how “important” he was. The day players stayed with their own. When conventions started in the mid 70’s he found popularity by telling tall tales. Enough is enough" / Twitter
William Shatner on Twitter: "It’s well documented I told him all the action happens on the Enterprise. His part (& $) will be diminished by demanding to be a Capt on another ship. He thought I was holding him back.It’s not real! I hear George’s husband agrees with me." / Twitter
Is that just Shatner trying to start a fake fight?
Come on! Shatner literally wouldn't remember that Takei existed, if Shatner wasn't under attack from Takei on so many public occasions. After a certain point, Bill started defending himself, that's all.
LOL
I just think Shatner and Takei are just having fun with us with their so-called feud. Both of them.
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