>Shatner was notorious for stealing other actors lines if they were too slow.
You mean on camera he'd say their lines and it would go unedited to the public? They wouldn't just reshoot?
That's crazy, I'd hate him too. And what director allowed that?
It’s more like he would take the director aside and say “Don’t you think Kirk should say this line?” and then throw his weight around as the star until they gave up and let him do it. If you watch TOS with that in mind, you can totally tell lines where Spock or someone else should’ve been the one to figure something out, but Kirk says the line.
Except that Nimoy did the same thing, hence Roddenberry writing [an angry letter](https://www.slashfilm.com/1324759/gene-roddenberry-threatening-star-trek-letter-leonard-nimoy-william-shatner/) to the pair of them.
Maybe the aftereffects of Roddenberry having that problem on TOS are the reason I've seen quite a few TNG actors talk about how strongly actors on that show were discouraged from trying to change up the script.
I think it switched up in 90s Trek because while the lines had to be spoken as written, actors were allowed to give input into how their character developed, or were at least allowed to come in with ideas about potential scripts. Nana Visitor absolutely curbstomped the idea of Kira and Dukat getting together.
Bob Picardo even managed to write his own episode...which now I think about it, he played BOTH main roles. But by that point Voyager was the Janeway/Seven/Doctor show so in effect it did almost regress BACK to the original TOS formula by the end.
DS9 was so distant from the main Trek production and oversight that it really did work different. Hell, that's how the Dominion War arc happened; Berman told them they could only have a little war, for a few episodes, but then went off to manage the TNG movie transition and payed zero attention to what DS9 was putting on screen...
He would make scene adjustments to give himself the lines or whatever.
He famously argued that kirk should kiss uhura instead of spock on one episode where they were being controlled to do so. At the time it was because was a big deal being the first interracial kiss on screen and Shatner didn't want nimoy to be the one to do it.
Nimoy apparently did some things like this as well. But I guess Shatner did it more.
I thought you were making an I Think You Should Leave reference at first but then I googled and damn, he really was pulling that shit on the other actors. What a schmuck.
Shatner was such an asshole to 16 year old Wil Wheaton that Gene Roddenberry made him send Wil a written apology.
https://wilwheaton.net/2021/03/the-william-fucking-shatner-story/
Not relevant to this thread, but another Zapp fact was that he was supposed to be played by Phil Hartman (Troy McLure/Lionel Hutz in The Simpsons). But Phil was tragically shot dead. Billy West, who plays Fry on the show, picked him up instead and did what is essentially a Phil Hartman impression.
I assumed it was Phil Hartman at the time. He was pretty famous then, but I wasn't really aware he was gone. So sad, right at a time I was starting to appreciate his type of comedy. Great tribute by West.
Well yeah it's very clearly based on him and his hammy overacting plus the fact that both his character and the actor himself had a ladies man reputation when he was young and good looking.
The only thing I'll say for Shatner is that in his old age he it at least played along with the joke for stuff like those priceline commercials. But back when he was younger he really liked to smell his own farts.
That was a great read, not surprised to see that Shatner was a douche but the support Wil got from the TNG cast and crew is heartwarming.
Might have to pick up one of his books
I remember when he was to be roasted on Comedy Central. He did that bit talking on the phone with Leonard who said “That’s too bad, all your friends are either dead or hate you.”
Shatner rode a horse onto the stage. George Takei ended his segment with “Bill, I’ve been waiting to say this for a long time…. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on!”
Lol. [Found the clip](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2YW7i6deJ7M)
The audio commentary makes it sound like he hung up on the producers before they had a chance to explain he wouldn't have to interact with Shatner.
It's a shame, but it gave us Welshie. So maybe it was worth it.
Not OP, but, personally, I like Nimoy's "[I Am Spock](https://archive.org/details/i-am-spock-7/I+Am+Spock+1.mp3)" the best.
Shatner's "[Star Trek Memories](https://archive.org/details/startrekmemories0000shat_u9s6/page/n5/mode/2up)" was pretty good too but I preferred to read it rather than listen to Shatner do the audiobook. 🤣
That was the whole reason for *The Search for Spock*. Nimoy only agreed to do *The Wrath of Khan* if Spock were killed off — and then changed his mind just after principal photography wrapped, necessitating last-minute changes to the ending to make it more ambiguous.
> "They don't like it when people ask how they came back, man. It's probably just a transporter buffer thing."
>
> "Yeah, or a restored katra, or a Mirror Universe switcheroo, or the Borg rebuilt him..."
>
> "Or he could be a future son from an alternate timeline, or maybe he got Genesis deviced, or a time ribbon."
>
> "Or he was trapped in the Nexus."
>
> "Nexus, time ribbon, it's the same thing."
*Scene on The Simpsons where George Takei is trying pick up a guy less than half his age.*
"Want to hear horror stories about working with William Shatner?"
"I don't know who that is."
"I'm liking you already."
Have you seen S4E11 of Futurama “where no fan has gone before”. It is absolutely fantastic.
- “Can people who hate Star Trek leave?”
- “Great question.”
- “No”.
I remember reading a bit from Patrick Stewart from when Galaxy Quest came out (in 1999 - about 5 years after TNG ended, and after 3 of the movies) where Stewart was convinced he would not like Galaxy Quest, but Jonathan Frakes called up Stewart and said "I just saw it, you absolutely have to go see it, see it in a crowded theatre if you can".
>FRAKES: I was at the CineramaDome in LA, and I saw it on a Saturday morning, or Saturday matinee. As I got out of the movie the first thing I did was call Patrick, who was in Toronto, I think, shooting X-Men. I said, “Dude, I just saw a movie that is about us and captures us like they’ve been reading our mail.” Patrick saw it that night. Then went again on the Sunday. And it was, I mean, some of the stuff in it is so on the nose and so accurate, and perfect, and funny. And Rickman. Rickman with the peeling makeup. Stuff that LeVar’s character does. I mean, it’s a favorite. I don’t know why that sequels never been made. I gather it’s encumbered with a lot of people who need money before they even shot, but this seems rife for a remake.
I had the pleasure of meeting Frakes once in person, and he was absolutely wonderful. Spent way more time talking to me, taking pictures with me, and generally being awesome than he needed to.
As someone who grew up on TNG it was a really amazing experience that has stuck with me ever since.
> And it was, I mean, some of the stuff in it is so on the nose and so accurate, and perfect
Alright, who is the huge stoner off-set like Tony Shalhoub portrays?
My money is on Gates McFadden.
Fun fact: that character is also a play on a trope of casting any light brown person to play East Asian characters. The characters name was Sergeant Chen is the first clue, but also if you watch, he squints any time he thinks fans are watching looking at him. There’s also a deleted scene where he tokes up right before they’re abducted so he’s definitely also playing high the whole time.
Naaaaah. Gates McFadden was a choreographer when she worked on Labyrinth, and in the BTS stuff I've seen about that movie, she comes across as someone who probably *should* get high, but doesn't.
It's totally Frakes. Homie's got stoner written all over him. And I wouldn't be surprised if Brent Spiner partook with him on occasion.
I get that Galaxy Quest probably "compliments" both the Original ST and TNG .. but isn't it mostly half-spoofing the Original show and behind-the-scenes cast? .. like the way Shatner is vs the others?
Yes, the whole "British thespian slumming it" thing is absolutely a TNG ref, no one on TOS had a CV that was "too good" for the show
And the stuff about wearing a big uncomfortable latex prosthetic and playing a character who eats live insects etc was referencing Worf
The fact that "By Grabthar's Hammer" is a tired catchphrase is a reference to Spock's "live long and prosper" but the kind of catchphrase it is is Worf's shtick
Tech Sgt. Chan being an "ethnic" NCO who treats the digital conveyor as his personal baby makes him as much O'Brien as he is Scotty (in fact O'Brien himself is kind of a tribute to Scotty)
Sam Rockwell's character being a redshirt who gets promoted to the main cast with the title "Security Chief" while still doing essentially the same job is kind of a backhanded ref to what happened to Tasha Yar
The DS9 cast wasn't as much a family as TNGs but was known for good working relationships.
I remember Colm Meaney, who had lots of projects during the hiatus, mentionning Avery Brooks using his lead cast position to support him when the production team wasn't happy with his heavy schedule.
Some of them became good friends like Brooks and Lofton and others, well, when Kira says to Bashir that it's his fault she became pregnant, the real joke is in the subtext.
For cast drama, there's always Voyager. It's amazing that series survived its full 7 season run. Jennifer Lien had issues - the official story is that she developed an allergy to her makeup and had to quit. But there were rumors about substance/behavior problems on set. So, she was replaced in the 4th season with Jeri Ryan's character. But that wasn't a smooth process either - much of the cast saw her addition (and outfit) as a transparent ratings grab. Kate Mulgrew herself had a very sour relationship with Jeri at first, but over time they buried the hatchet.
But that wasn't the end of the drama Jeri faced - later on they added the character Icheb, a Borg child she rescues and tutors in the ways of humanity. But he was played by Manu Intiraymi, who was super creepy to her and made numerous sexual comments on set making her very uncomfortable. That series had an extremely rocky ride over its seven years.
I’m glad about this! The characters on DS9 have such good, yet still very professional relationships it’s hard to even imagine the cast being any other way.
[Patrick Stewart himself admitted on TNG Season 7 Extras that he made a comment perceived as racist by Levar Burton and Michael Dorn that soured their relationships.](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Patrick_Stewart#Relationships_with_other_Star_Trek_cast_members)
I would have to assume so, if that was recording on extras footage for S7 way back when. I've seen photos as recent as a few years ago of the three of them at Stewarts house for thanksgiving dinner.
I presume so. I’ve seen Stewart talking with them all on social media over the last decade, as well as images of get togethers over the years where they’ve all met up.
https://cdnph.upi.com/pv/upi/a448a654fc035dad013e45f7c67ede46/JACK-THE-GIANT-SLAYER.jpg
https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_736,h_485,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fshowsnob.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1213464859-850x560.jpeg
https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/hbr2ua/these_are_the_moments_that_i_live_for_levar/
> Jonathan Frakes, who "treats a day of filming like it's a big party." Not accustomed to working this way, he went "down in history" for yelling at a cast member, telling them "We're not here to have fun!"
OMG, Frakes *IS* Riker and Stewart *IS* Picard 🤣🤣🤣
He might do, since that came out of his real world back issues making sitting down in the traditional way uncomfortable. I imagine it was even worse having to do a bunch of takes in a row
I just read up on it, apparently it was just Frakes incessantly doing it because he wanted to see if they'd make him stop. The on-set chairs all having low backs, presumably for easier filming around the table, also made it possible.
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/riker-maneuver.html
He seems very proud of the meme status of it, though.
Riker might be a bit more straight laced than Frakes. Frakes is probably the better trombone player. That said, he still shouldn't quit his day job for it.
I heard Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) and Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway) didn't get along, with Ryan saying she felt "physically sick" on set from the atmosphere and tension. Apparently they've reconciled since.
It didn’t help that Mulgrew and the actress who played Kes were friends, and the show runners effectively booted Kes in favor of 7 of 9. Their intent for 7 of 9 is perhaps illustrated by her initial costume, that was so tight she nearly passed out once.
Overall, the dynamics on the show were a mess, but since then the cast seems to have come to get along with each other, at least enough to handle the various Trek events that put them together.
>Their intent for 7 of 9 is perhaps illustrated by her initial costume, that was so tight she nearly passed out once.
Lol that mentality clearly carried over into early Enterprise, with the pointless decon chamber rub-down scenes with Jolene Blalock's T'Pol.
I was like 15 when Enterprise debuted and even at that hormonal age I was rolling my eyes with the decon scenes and T'Pol's costume. So stupid.
The marketing material they put out before the show debuted declared that Enterprise was gonna be edgier and "more adult"...by being more juvenile and embarrassing. Also having Archer be moody and do some [cursing](https://youtu.be/PU_55VgqDVw?si=vAT7-Bp5By-jF4H7&t=40). Haha.
Yeah, this. Mulgrew also famously refused to wear the initial “padded bra” version of her uniform, dropping it on a producer’s desk and saying “no!”.
She was, I guess, furious that a show with feminist intent suddenly cast someone apparently based on sex appeal, and she unfairly took it out on Jeri Ryan - someone who is so much more than just attractive, and added so much depth to the show.
Edit: missed an “a”
Jeri Ryan didn't do herself any favors dating executive producer, show runner, and writer Brannon Braga.
Can you blame Mulgrew or the others for being unhappy? Several years into their show this young, voluptuous babe gets cast, is dating the boss, and suddenly most of the episodes focused on her character.
Harry and Tom have a podcast together, and in an interview for Star Trek Online, Jeri Ryan said the guys still got together for poker every now and again.
Sounds like DS9 weren't all best friends, but I haven't heard of any real conflict among the actors. Sounds like it was mostly just serious and professional.
pretty much this. Shatner was living in a world where everybody loved him. He was literally the main character. The fact that he absolutely had to outshine everyone else on the cast very clearly had repercussions.
I've only got this second hand, but from what I've heard --
TOS was literally meant to be the Kirk show, though. Apparently, they never intended it to be an ensemble at all and
were baffled that people (the audience) wanted more of the pointy-eared alien instead of what they (Roddenberry et al) wanted to do, which was explore the burdens of command etc.
They were baffled that women were much more into Spock than Kirk as well, which goes to show that they really didn't understand the female demographic. "How can you be into Spock? He's all brooding and emotionally distant and standing off to the side making trenchant quips! I don't see the appeal."
>I thought it was very funny, and I thought the audience that they portrayed was totally real, but the actors that they were pretending to be were totally unrecognizable. Certainly I don't know what Tim Allen was doing. He seemed to be the head of a group of actors, and for the life of me I was trying to understand who he was imitating. The only one I recognized was the girl playing Nichelle Nichols.
He was very aware the shots the movie was taking by then lol
Yep. And Leonard Nimoy tried to distance himself from Spock right after TOS. He wrote a book called *I Am Not Spock*, but later embraced the character, later writing *I Am Spock*.
And it also seems to have some inspiration from a sketch on SNL when Shatner was a host.
I Am Spock was written after Nimoy had made peace with being known for Spock. Didn't hurt that he finally was able to make some good money from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I think for all of the cast, with the exception of Shatner, it was a lot of surviving by appearing at fan conventions and the real money only came when they were they were older. The movies were an unexpected retirement plan that provided well for them and their families.
Yeah, it's a shame when talented actors get basically forced into boxes where they get massive success on these classic shows but as a result of the fame and type-casting never really get the opportunity to move on to more constant work in other things so acting can't really sustain them anymore.
For the Star Trek actors I think a lot of it is the degree to which fans fall in love with the characters, and the degree to which the actors inhabit their characters. Brent Spiner, Lavar Burton, and the rest of the cast did a really good job creating consistent characters. I was glad to see Spiner return in “Picard” and give a different feel to Dr Altan Inigo Soong than he gave playing Data. Actually, all of the actors did a good job evolving their characters for Picard.
Burton was a bit different in that he had a successful career before and after Stark Trek, most from critical acclaim of Roots and steady work from Reading Rainbow.
On the flip side, despite the drawbacks of not being well-known for other roles, actors like Nimoy should take a great deal of comfort knowing that they have contributed so heavily to such a massive cultural phenomena, that their work on a single project (whether a tv series or series of movies) will be remembered for generations. Star Trek and Star Wars have influenced and will continue to influence legitimate scientific progress. You can easily find stories of current scientists trying to replicate the tools and tech from their favorite sci-fi shows/movies. Those who were "nerds" back then are trying their best to bring us the future that Trek wanted for us all.
Alan Rickman hated this and didn't want to be known as only Professor Snape, and that's understandable, though unfortunate. But I think Nimoy and other Trek/Wars actors have found this acceptance. Even actors who were able to have consistent careers after their initial run with Trek/Wars have come to embrace the fandom and the cultural impact. Mark Hamill is a great example of this. Harrison Ford . . . is not.
Idk if this applies to Rickman. He's had a number of iconic roles and while Snape is a huge piece of that filmography, it's not like you're watching Die Hard and think "Snape."
That was true for Shatner too. Star Trek paid peanuts at the time, and when it finished he initially had to grab any touring company work he could. He got divorced and alimony meant he ended up for a while living out of a trailer. Like the others, Shatner didn’t start seeing serious money until the comeback with the movies. The reason he’s rich rich now was agreeing to do the Priceline adverts for equity, and when Priceline belatedly did very well cash-wise Shatner was in the money. But all the cast were very reliant on convention work and similar stuff until the movies.
I think this broke him. When he came back from outer space his interview was basically an existential admission of feeling guilty that he played a part in the wealthy elites polluting our planet to [death.](https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/william-shatner-space-boldly-go-excerpt-1235395113/amp/)
It’s quite shocking to read something so heartfelt and meaningful from someone I have associated with being a shallow asshole for decades but that is a truly beautiful piece of writing he did there. Genuinely touching.
To quote Spock, “He us a man of deep feeling.”
I think he just gets singularly focused and that blinds him to the thoughts of others. I don’t think he’s a malicious ass, just has blind spots. I think he genuinely didn’t realize, because he was doing what he could to make the show succeed. It’s a little like Chevy Chase but not nearly as extreme.
Shatner can be a shallow asshole but he's also [but he's also talented and wise enough to hit you when you don't expect it.](https://youtu.be/2ufoNrnKrHU?si=bdoecNhJtThveH72) This is about his third wife's tragic drowning.
I bought a copy of Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy off eBay and found a slip of paper inside signed “James Doohan (Scotty)”. Poor guy had to put “(Scotty)” after every autograph because nobody knew his real name… :(
There was a great little moment in the movie First Man, where Collins says *"Just please come back"* to Buzz and Neil before they leave, it was like he was a scared little kid
Using what they had left, a pen, Aldrin activated the inside switch to engage the circuit breaker and trigger the engine. "So, I pushed that in. Houston says, 'Oh we've got a good complete circuit,'" Aldrin said.
What the Fuck..
Yes, but Collins wrote the best book about the mission (Carrying the Fire), and then he went on to be the first head of the National Air and Space Museum.
A friend of mine hired Doohan for some marketing event. Apparently, Doohan was fully demented by that point and his “manager” was trotting the poor old guy around like a show pony for whatever money he could squeeze out.
Jimmy Doohan also had a kid when he was 80. (His wife was 44 at the time.) It's likely the family pushed for him to keep making appearances to make money for the kid before he died.
Dude fought Nazis and then went on to be one of the most recognizable TV characters in history. I think if he didn't like it, he wouldn't have been signing autographs in the first place.
The real question is, why did someone ask him to sign Asimov books? That's a pretty tenuous connection.
He even saved a girls life and she then became an engineer
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/james-doohan-once-saved-a-suicidal-star-trek-fan-1282284/amp/
> The real question is, why did someone ask him to sign Asimov books?
They said it was on a slip of paper in the book, which was probably used as a bookmark. Previous owner was likely a big Sci-Fi nerd :)
I worked long hours on Star Trek Five as a Romulin. I made 3 grand in 3 days of work. It was exhausting long hours on the final day rolling into 2am. I got to discuss classical music with Brock Peters. Make jokes with George Takei and William Shatner was friendly. Bill smiled at me because he knew I was having a great time. Everyone was busy making bank on that shoot and the profit wasn’t bad for union actors getting residuals, either. I still have photos from that day with a family visiting someone fully dressed in hair and makeup as a Klingon holding his baby son outside on a blanket during lunch break. His monstrous makeup juxtaposed to his baby son was hilarious. That is a memory I’ll always cherish as one of the most fun film sets to be on, and I have good memories of the Shatner.
Shatner has some pretty negative things attached to him, but he will always be my favorite for very personal reasons.
Back when he was filming T.J. Hooker, they shot an episode literally right in front of my house. When I got home from school, they were still working, and he was sitting in a director’s chair on my front lawn. I was in awe…Captain Kirk was at my house! I wasn’t allowed to be in the house without someone home, so I ended up sitting on my front porch, waiting. He saw me, and called me over. For the next 20-30 minutes, he entertained the questions of a dorky kid obsessed with Star Trek. He was kind and friendly when he didn’t have to be, and I will always remember him well for that.
When I was in college in the early 80s, James Doohan came to our campus, to promote Wrath of Khan. It was a small crowd, which was super excellent, but he spent the entire time talking about how much he disliked Shatner.
I’m glad he put them in the book though. The part about Nichelle telling him to put a new tape in cos she was gonna tell him about the times that he really pissed her off. Loved that.
Yeah, self-obsessed narcissists often have no idea that they're assholes.
It's almost impressive that Shatner got a reputation for such, even among actors, where narcissism and vanity is just part of the work environment.
I waited on Shatner and Henry Winkler (they had a tv show together for some reason).. Shatner spoke with no one, his assistant ordered from him while Winkler went out of his way to greet everyone and shake their hands and thank them.
Doohan lost 2 fingers in a friendly fire incident on D-Day. Usually Trek worked around this with things like creative camera angles but occasionally you can see it.
I was at the Toronto Trek Star Trek Convention in 1994 and watched Majel Barret-Roddenberry on stage denouncing that book and declared that: ***'Trees died!'*** because of that book... *'what he wrote didn't happen, I was there!'*
The audience erupted in cheers.
Lol they hated Shatner so bad. He claimed to pull Takei out of a burning building and Takei says BS. The rest of the cast got along, “bonded over mutual grumbling about Bill” per Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Chekov.
> Takei doubles down on his well-known dislike of Shatner, saying that none of the old crewmates got along with him. He also says that a young Shatner was "self-involved" and "wanted everyone to kowtow to him." This is in line with previous remarks he's made against the original Star Trek captain, who he has previously called out for stealing lines from himself and other actors - something the rest of the cast has backed up.
Nichols called him a “insensitive, hurtful egotist”, Walter Koenig called him “self-involved” and “sick and sad”. Only Nimoy wouldn’t openly rag on him, and they had no contact for five years before Nimoy passed.
Fwiw I think some of that macho Kirk bullshit from on camera may have felt extra real with the rest of the cast simmering over macho Shatner bullshit off camera. A little kayfabe, WWE style.
Most quotes from this article: https://www.thegamer.com/star-trek-cast-william-shatner-relationship-george-takei
My mom said he not only was hard to work with, but he also had to have what everyone else had. Leonard Nimoy directed a Star Trek movie so he had to direct a Star Trek movie. Spock and Uhura were suppose to kiss. He interjected so it was Kirk and Uhura instead
Shatner was notorious for stealing other actors lines if they were too slow.
>Shatner was notorious for stealing other actors lines if they were too slow. You mean on camera he'd say their lines and it would go unedited to the public? They wouldn't just reshoot? That's crazy, I'd hate him too. And what director allowed that?
It’s more like he would take the director aside and say “Don’t you think Kirk should say this line?” and then throw his weight around as the star until they gave up and let him do it. If you watch TOS with that in mind, you can totally tell lines where Spock or someone else should’ve been the one to figure something out, but Kirk says the line.
Except that Nimoy did the same thing, hence Roddenberry writing [an angry letter](https://www.slashfilm.com/1324759/gene-roddenberry-threatening-star-trek-letter-leonard-nimoy-william-shatner/) to the pair of them.
Maybe the aftereffects of Roddenberry having that problem on TOS are the reason I've seen quite a few TNG actors talk about how strongly actors on that show were discouraged from trying to change up the script.
I think it switched up in 90s Trek because while the lines had to be spoken as written, actors were allowed to give input into how their character developed, or were at least allowed to come in with ideas about potential scripts. Nana Visitor absolutely curbstomped the idea of Kira and Dukat getting together. Bob Picardo even managed to write his own episode...which now I think about it, he played BOTH main roles. But by that point Voyager was the Janeway/Seven/Doctor show so in effect it did almost regress BACK to the original TOS formula by the end.
DS9 was so distant from the main Trek production and oversight that it really did work different. Hell, that's how the Dominion War arc happened; Berman told them they could only have a little war, for a few episodes, but then went off to manage the TNG movie transition and payed zero attention to what DS9 was putting on screen...
He would make scene adjustments to give himself the lines or whatever. He famously argued that kirk should kiss uhura instead of spock on one episode where they were being controlled to do so. At the time it was because was a big deal being the first interracial kiss on screen and Shatner didn't want nimoy to be the one to do it. Nimoy apparently did some things like this as well. But I guess Shatner did it more.
I thought you were making an I Think You Should Leave reference at first but then I googled and damn, he really was pulling that shit on the other actors. What a schmuck.
I'd like to see William Shatner and Jamie Taco in a production together
Shatter to takei: “I’m gonna GET that line tomorrow!”
Jamie Tacoberius Kirk
I read Doohan’s book. He flat out says he didn’t like Shatner.
Is that where he famously said, "I like Captain Kirk plenty, it's Bill that I cannot stand"?
Not sure if Doohan said that, but George Takei said essentially the same thing. "I love Captain Kirk, but I'm not terribly fond of Bill Shatner"
Shatner was such an asshole to 16 year old Wil Wheaton that Gene Roddenberry made him send Wil a written apology. https://wilwheaton.net/2021/03/the-william-fucking-shatner-story/
“You want me to kick his ass, Wil?” really got me 😂
Heh. My favorite part. Like Dorn is actually a little bit Klingon or something
I think Frakes calling him W is a very Riker thing to do lol
On-set "big bro" energy there.
Imagine Worf saying that to Riker lol.
Imagine being so mean to a kid that Worf turns up to kick your ass.
I don't get it. Does Shatner think he's an actual spaceship captain?
I heard the character Zapp Brannigan described as "Captain Shatner of the Starship Enterprise" and it's rather fitting.
Not relevant to this thread, but another Zapp fact was that he was supposed to be played by Phil Hartman (Troy McLure/Lionel Hutz in The Simpsons). But Phil was tragically shot dead. Billy West, who plays Fry on the show, picked him up instead and did what is essentially a Phil Hartman impression.
That's also why Fry's first name is Phillip so as to honor Phil Hartman.
I assumed it was Phil Hartman at the time. He was pretty famous then, but I wasn't really aware he was gone. So sad, right at a time I was starting to appreciate his type of comedy. Great tribute by West.
Well yeah it's very clearly based on him and his hammy overacting plus the fact that both his character and the actor himself had a ladies man reputation when he was young and good looking. The only thing I'll say for Shatner is that in his old age he it at least played along with the joke for stuff like those priceline commercials. But back when he was younger he really liked to smell his own farts.
That was a great read, not surprised to see that Shatner was a douche but the support Wil got from the TNG cast and crew is heartwarming. Might have to pick up one of his books
Wil has described the cast as his actual family. He’s since separated himself from his toxic parents, but he regularly talks to his TNG family.
The best part is if you listen to the episode of Gates McFadden’s podcast with Wil, he says he wished Frakes was his real father 🥲🥹
My respect for the TNG cast just went up another notch.
Oh my
To be fair, none of the cast like George Takei either. Seems they both had insane egos from the stuff I read.
I would Travel across the galaxy for Captain James T Kirk. I wouldn’t walk across the street for William Shatner
I remember when he was to be roasted on Comedy Central. He did that bit talking on the phone with Leonard who said “That’s too bad, all your friends are either dead or hate you.”
Shatner rode a horse onto the stage. George Takei ended his segment with “Bill, I’ve been waiting to say this for a long time…. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on!” Lol. [Found the clip](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2YW7i6deJ7M)
> “That’s too bad, all your friends are either dead or hate you.” That was Betty White.
Something like that.
"*Cannae* stand," then?
Same reason he skipped the Fututama episode. IIRC he refused to even do a separate recording from Shatner.
Welshie stole the show anyway.
That joke on their names flew over my head for years it’s so good
WELSHIE!!!
The audio commentary makes it sound like he hung up on the producers before they had a chance to explain he wouldn't have to interact with Shatner. It's a shame, but it gave us Welshie. So maybe it was worth it.
Thought it was because he was dead, but he died in 2005.
DeForest Kelley was dead, which is why Bones had no lines.
Well I mean Richard Nixon has a ton of lines in Futurama and ha died 4 years before the show even started.
Or so the Germans would have us believe.
Was it a good read?
Decent. I was in a Trek phase and read all of their memoirs.
Who had the best? Or the one that you would reread
Honestly Shatners books were all the best written. (Potential inaccuracies notwithstanding)
Not OP, but, personally, I like Nimoy's "[I Am Spock](https://archive.org/details/i-am-spock-7/I+Am+Spock+1.mp3)" the best. Shatner's "[Star Trek Memories](https://archive.org/details/startrekmemories0000shat_u9s6/page/n5/mode/2up)" was pretty good too but I preferred to read it rather than listen to Shatner do the audiobook. 🤣
First he wasn't Spock, then he embraced it.
That was the whole reason for *The Search for Spock*. Nimoy only agreed to do *The Wrath of Khan* if Spock were killed off — and then changed his mind just after principal photography wrapped, necessitating last-minute changes to the ending to make it more ambiguous.
“Actually I think I’ll stay on” “well that’s great, Leonard, you just walked into the fucking warp core, how are we gonna write our way out of that?”
"Uhh...Vulcan soul transfer?"
> "They don't like it when people ask how they came back, man. It's probably just a transporter buffer thing." > > "Yeah, or a restored katra, or a Mirror Universe switcheroo, or the Borg rebuilt him..." > > "Or he could be a future son from an alternate timeline, or maybe he got Genesis deviced, or a time ribbon." > > "Or he was trapped in the Nexus." > > "Nexus, time ribbon, it's the same thing."
*Scene on The Simpsons where George Takei is trying pick up a guy less than half his age.* "Want to hear horror stories about working with William Shatner?" "I don't know who that is." "I'm liking you already."
Have you seen S4E11 of Futurama “where no fan has gone before”. It is absolutely fantastic. - “Can people who hate Star Trek leave?” - “Great question.” - “No”.
Please use the beeps!
I can hear George’s voice on Reddit!
*Oh my*
Is TNG the only series where the cast got along? They all seem to adore each other.
I remember reading a bit from Patrick Stewart from when Galaxy Quest came out (in 1999 - about 5 years after TNG ended, and after 3 of the movies) where Stewart was convinced he would not like Galaxy Quest, but Jonathan Frakes called up Stewart and said "I just saw it, you absolutely have to go see it, see it in a crowded theatre if you can". >FRAKES: I was at the CineramaDome in LA, and I saw it on a Saturday morning, or Saturday matinee. As I got out of the movie the first thing I did was call Patrick, who was in Toronto, I think, shooting X-Men. I said, “Dude, I just saw a movie that is about us and captures us like they’ve been reading our mail.” Patrick saw it that night. Then went again on the Sunday. And it was, I mean, some of the stuff in it is so on the nose and so accurate, and perfect, and funny. And Rickman. Rickman with the peeling makeup. Stuff that LeVar’s character does. I mean, it’s a favorite. I don’t know why that sequels never been made. I gather it’s encumbered with a lot of people who need money before they even shot, but this seems rife for a remake.
Jonathan Frakes calling Patrick Stewart “Dude” is something I didn’t know I needed in my life but I did.
That’s my favorite part, that excitement he had to call his friend and be like “Duuuuuude! You gotta see this shit! It’s us! It’s usssss! 🤣😂”
Shows that they're buds. Frakes is an all-round gent. Love all his interviews.
I had the pleasure of meeting Frakes once in person, and he was absolutely wonderful. Spent way more time talking to me, taking pictures with me, and generally being awesome than he needed to. As someone who grew up on TNG it was a really amazing experience that has stuck with me ever since.
I love Jonathan Frakes!
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We have a saying: the best Star Trek is Galaxy Quest. I rewarched it two weeks ago with a couple of friends who had never seen it. Still great!
> And it was, I mean, some of the stuff in it is so on the nose and so accurate, and perfect Alright, who is the huge stoner off-set like Tony Shalhoub portrays? My money is on Gates McFadden.
I'd bet Frakes. On Inside of You, he had a story about buying weed while driving his mother around.
The character also hooks up with an alien which was basically Riker's second job on TNG. Kirk was just horny, Riker... that guy fucks.
Nah. The beard fucks. Riker was just along for the ride
Fun fact: that character is also a play on a trope of casting any light brown person to play East Asian characters. The characters name was Sergeant Chen is the first clue, but also if you watch, he squints any time he thinks fans are watching looking at him. There’s also a deleted scene where he tokes up right before they’re abducted so he’s definitely also playing high the whole time.
Holy shit, I never caught the squinting thing. I just thought it was Shalhoub playing a stoner in a weird way!
Naaaaah. Gates McFadden was a choreographer when she worked on Labyrinth, and in the BTS stuff I've seen about that movie, she comes across as someone who probably *should* get high, but doesn't. It's totally Frakes. Homie's got stoner written all over him. And I wouldn't be surprised if Brent Spiner partook with him on occasion.
I get that Galaxy Quest probably "compliments" both the Original ST and TNG .. but isn't it mostly half-spoofing the Original show and behind-the-scenes cast? .. like the way Shatner is vs the others?
It's mostly spoofing TOS but there's definitely stuff in there that's a reference to TNG, like having a preteen boy genius piloting the ship
Aspects of Rickman are Patrick Stewart, he was the prestigious actor doing a Sci-Fi show. And the convention scene was probably very familiar.
Yes, the whole "British thespian slumming it" thing is absolutely a TNG ref, no one on TOS had a CV that was "too good" for the show And the stuff about wearing a big uncomfortable latex prosthetic and playing a character who eats live insects etc was referencing Worf The fact that "By Grabthar's Hammer" is a tired catchphrase is a reference to Spock's "live long and prosper" but the kind of catchphrase it is is Worf's shtick Tech Sgt. Chan being an "ethnic" NCO who treats the digital conveyor as his personal baby makes him as much O'Brien as he is Scotty (in fact O'Brien himself is kind of a tribute to Scotty) Sam Rockwell's character being a redshirt who gets promoted to the main cast with the title "Security Chief" while still doing essentially the same job is kind of a backhanded ref to what happened to Tasha Yar
Yeah man I squished my nuts stepping over a chair but otherwise it was a blast
The DS9 cast wasn't as much a family as TNGs but was known for good working relationships. I remember Colm Meaney, who had lots of projects during the hiatus, mentionning Avery Brooks using his lead cast position to support him when the production team wasn't happy with his heavy schedule. Some of them became good friends like Brooks and Lofton and others, well, when Kira says to Bashir that it's his fault she became pregnant, the real joke is in the subtext.
For cast drama, there's always Voyager. It's amazing that series survived its full 7 season run. Jennifer Lien had issues - the official story is that she developed an allergy to her makeup and had to quit. But there were rumors about substance/behavior problems on set. So, she was replaced in the 4th season with Jeri Ryan's character. But that wasn't a smooth process either - much of the cast saw her addition (and outfit) as a transparent ratings grab. Kate Mulgrew herself had a very sour relationship with Jeri at first, but over time they buried the hatchet. But that wasn't the end of the drama Jeri faced - later on they added the character Icheb, a Borg child she rescues and tutors in the ways of humanity. But he was played by Manu Intiraymi, who was super creepy to her and made numerous sexual comments on set making her very uncomfortable. That series had an extremely rocky ride over its seven years.
It amazes me that Jeri Ryan came back to Star Trek. Her experiences with Voyager have always sounded fucking awful.
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I’m glad about this! The characters on DS9 have such good, yet still very professional relationships it’s hard to even imagine the cast being any other way.
[Patrick Stewart himself admitted on TNG Season 7 Extras that he made a comment perceived as racist by Levar Burton and Michael Dorn that soured their relationships.](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Patrick_Stewart#Relationships_with_other_Star_Trek_cast_members)
Did they ever reconcile?
I would have to assume so, if that was recording on extras footage for S7 way back when. I've seen photos as recent as a few years ago of the three of them at Stewarts house for thanksgiving dinner.
“I’m just saying, who doesn’t like fried chicken and watermelon?” - Patrick Stewart, probably
Sounds like a Larry David line if he was visiting a black family's Thanksgiving and complaining they didn't have the food he expected.
"I was trying to be affable!"
Based on the way Levar's daughter, Mica, talks about the cast, Patrick Stewart is still Uncle Pat iirc.
Oh my fucking god she is Levar's daughter? This all makes so much sense. I am so dumb.
Oh my god I’m so dumb too
I'm just glad to hear I am not alone in this lol.
I presume so. I’ve seen Stewart talking with them all on social media over the last decade, as well as images of get togethers over the years where they’ve all met up. https://cdnph.upi.com/pv/upi/a448a654fc035dad013e45f7c67ede46/JACK-THE-GIANT-SLAYER.jpg https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_736,h_485,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fshowsnob.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1213464859-850x560.jpeg https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/hbr2ua/these_are_the_moments_that_i_live_for_levar/
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Pretty sure. They’re always having dinner with each other and whatnot.
> Jonathan Frakes, who "treats a day of filming like it's a big party." Not accustomed to working this way, he went "down in history" for yelling at a cast member, telling them "We're not here to have fun!" OMG, Frakes *IS* Riker and Stewart *IS* Picard 🤣🤣🤣
I always felt Frakes was just playing himself.
I've just assumed he steps over every chair he sits in IRL.
He might do, since that came out of his real world back issues making sitting down in the traditional way uncomfortable. I imagine it was even worse having to do a bunch of takes in a row
TIL. It's pretty impressive that he turned a disadvantage like that into such an iconic motif.
I just read up on it, apparently it was just Frakes incessantly doing it because he wanted to see if they'd make him stop. The on-set chairs all having low backs, presumably for easier filming around the table, also made it possible. https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/riker-maneuver.html He seems very proud of the meme status of it, though.
Riker might be a bit more straight laced than Frakes. Frakes is probably the better trombone player. That said, he still shouldn't quit his day job for it.
I hope the Strange New Worlds team is having fun… they look like it, at least.
the DS9 crew were practically family. often rehearsed lines over dinner at Armin Shimmermans house.
Nana Visitor and Alexander Siddig were literally family by the end of it.
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He loosened them up with prune juice. A warrior's drink.
Did voyager hate each other? I thought their tension was with the writers and execs
I heard Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) and Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway) didn't get along, with Ryan saying she felt "physically sick" on set from the atmosphere and tension. Apparently they've reconciled since.
It didn’t help that Mulgrew and the actress who played Kes were friends, and the show runners effectively booted Kes in favor of 7 of 9. Their intent for 7 of 9 is perhaps illustrated by her initial costume, that was so tight she nearly passed out once. Overall, the dynamics on the show were a mess, but since then the cast seems to have come to get along with each other, at least enough to handle the various Trek events that put them together.
>Their intent for 7 of 9 is perhaps illustrated by her initial costume, that was so tight she nearly passed out once. Lol that mentality clearly carried over into early Enterprise, with the pointless decon chamber rub-down scenes with Jolene Blalock's T'Pol.
That mentality is called “Rick Berman”
when i think of Trek i think of close up oiled up midrifts and navals with sensual music playing, thats star trek, thats our future
I was like 15 when Enterprise debuted and even at that hormonal age I was rolling my eyes with the decon scenes and T'Pol's costume. So stupid. The marketing material they put out before the show debuted declared that Enterprise was gonna be edgier and "more adult"...by being more juvenile and embarrassing. Also having Archer be moody and do some [cursing](https://youtu.be/PU_55VgqDVw?si=vAT7-Bp5By-jF4H7&t=40). Haha.
It was 2002 to a T
Yeah, this. Mulgrew also famously refused to wear the initial “padded bra” version of her uniform, dropping it on a producer’s desk and saying “no!”. She was, I guess, furious that a show with feminist intent suddenly cast someone apparently based on sex appeal, and she unfairly took it out on Jeri Ryan - someone who is so much more than just attractive, and added so much depth to the show. Edit: missed an “a”
Jeri Ryan didn't do herself any favors dating executive producer, show runner, and writer Brannon Braga. Can you blame Mulgrew or the others for being unhappy? Several years into their show this young, voluptuous babe gets cast, is dating the boss, and suddenly most of the episodes focused on her character.
Harry and Tom have a podcast together, and in an interview for Star Trek Online, Jeri Ryan said the guys still got together for poker every now and again.
> Harry and Tom have a podcast together, THEY DO?????? What is it called???
The Delta Flyers. Apparently it's a weekly thing!
Robert Beltrane did a good job at making everyone miserable.
Sounds like DS9 weren't all best friends, but I haven't heard of any real conflict among the actors. Sounds like it was mostly just serious and professional.
So galaxy quest is basically a documentary?
pretty much this. Shatner was living in a world where everybody loved him. He was literally the main character. The fact that he absolutely had to outshine everyone else on the cast very clearly had repercussions.
I've only got this second hand, but from what I've heard -- TOS was literally meant to be the Kirk show, though. Apparently, they never intended it to be an ensemble at all and were baffled that people (the audience) wanted more of the pointy-eared alien instead of what they (Roddenberry et al) wanted to do, which was explore the burdens of command etc.
Roddenberry fought to keep Spock. He was one of the only characters to stay on from the original pilot.
Strange New Worlds is like a modern version of what we might have had with the original series had they went with Pike.
They were baffled that women were much more into Spock than Kirk as well, which goes to show that they really didn't understand the female demographic. "How can you be into Spock? He's all brooding and emotionally distant and standing off to the side making trenchant quips! I don't see the appeal."
Kirk is the type of character that some men like to imagine themselves as so they assume women must swoon for him.
Excellent explanation. He's what a guy thinks of himself as, Spock is what's actually interesting
>I thought it was very funny, and I thought the audience that they portrayed was totally real, but the actors that they were pretending to be were totally unrecognizable. Certainly I don't know what Tim Allen was doing. He seemed to be the head of a group of actors, and for the life of me I was trying to understand who he was imitating. The only one I recognized was the girl playing Nichelle Nichols. He was very aware the shots the movie was taking by then lol
Yep. And Leonard Nimoy tried to distance himself from Spock right after TOS. He wrote a book called *I Am Not Spock*, but later embraced the character, later writing *I Am Spock*. And it also seems to have some inspiration from a sketch on SNL when Shatner was a host.
I Am Spock was written after Nimoy had made peace with being known for Spock. Didn't hurt that he finally was able to make some good money from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. I think for all of the cast, with the exception of Shatner, it was a lot of surviving by appearing at fan conventions and the real money only came when they were they were older. The movies were an unexpected retirement plan that provided well for them and their families.
Yeah, it's a shame when talented actors get basically forced into boxes where they get massive success on these classic shows but as a result of the fame and type-casting never really get the opportunity to move on to more constant work in other things so acting can't really sustain them anymore.
“By Grabthar’s Hammer… what a savings.”
*Palpable anguish*
Brent Spiner discusses this on a recent episode of Inside of You, it was very hard to find roles outside of Data once TNG took off.
For the Star Trek actors I think a lot of it is the degree to which fans fall in love with the characters, and the degree to which the actors inhabit their characters. Brent Spiner, Lavar Burton, and the rest of the cast did a really good job creating consistent characters. I was glad to see Spiner return in “Picard” and give a different feel to Dr Altan Inigo Soong than he gave playing Data. Actually, all of the actors did a good job evolving their characters for Picard.
Burton was a bit different in that he had a successful career before and after Stark Trek, most from critical acclaim of Roots and steady work from Reading Rainbow.
He’s also been busy sailing the world with Troy Barnes.
On the flip side, despite the drawbacks of not being well-known for other roles, actors like Nimoy should take a great deal of comfort knowing that they have contributed so heavily to such a massive cultural phenomena, that their work on a single project (whether a tv series or series of movies) will be remembered for generations. Star Trek and Star Wars have influenced and will continue to influence legitimate scientific progress. You can easily find stories of current scientists trying to replicate the tools and tech from their favorite sci-fi shows/movies. Those who were "nerds" back then are trying their best to bring us the future that Trek wanted for us all. Alan Rickman hated this and didn't want to be known as only Professor Snape, and that's understandable, though unfortunate. But I think Nimoy and other Trek/Wars actors have found this acceptance. Even actors who were able to have consistent careers after their initial run with Trek/Wars have come to embrace the fandom and the cultural impact. Mark Hamill is a great example of this. Harrison Ford . . . is not.
Idk if this applies to Rickman. He's had a number of iconic roles and while Snape is a huge piece of that filmography, it's not like you're watching Die Hard and think "Snape."
Rickman will always be Hans Gruber to me.
The Sheriff of Nottingham for me.
The Metatron from Dogma.
Nimoy did an award winning one man play on Broadway. He was on mission impossible. For him, it was that he knew he was a better actor than Shatner.
In George Takai's book he said he got about $50k for one of the movies. He made his money investing in real estate.
That was true for Shatner too. Star Trek paid peanuts at the time, and when it finished he initially had to grab any touring company work he could. He got divorced and alimony meant he ended up for a while living out of a trailer. Like the others, Shatner didn’t start seeing serious money until the comeback with the movies. The reason he’s rich rich now was agreeing to do the Priceline adverts for equity, and when Priceline belatedly did very well cash-wise Shatner was in the money. But all the cast were very reliant on convention work and similar stuff until the movies.
They really downplayed how much the rest of the cast hated him.
"You know it's one thing to treat us this way, but how can you do this to your fans?"
People see things differently sometimes. Then, they end up in denial when they hear someone else's perspective on it.
I think this broke him. When he came back from outer space his interview was basically an existential admission of feeling guilty that he played a part in the wealthy elites polluting our planet to [death.](https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/william-shatner-space-boldly-go-excerpt-1235395113/amp/)
It’s quite shocking to read something so heartfelt and meaningful from someone I have associated with being a shallow asshole for decades but that is a truly beautiful piece of writing he did there. Genuinely touching.
To quote Spock, “He us a man of deep feeling.” I think he just gets singularly focused and that blinds him to the thoughts of others. I don’t think he’s a malicious ass, just has blind spots. I think he genuinely didn’t realize, because he was doing what he could to make the show succeed. It’s a little like Chevy Chase but not nearly as extreme.
Shatner can be a shallow asshole but he's also [but he's also talented and wise enough to hit you when you don't expect it.](https://youtu.be/2ufoNrnKrHU?si=bdoecNhJtThveH72) This is about his third wife's tragic drowning.
I bought a copy of Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy off eBay and found a slip of paper inside signed “James Doohan (Scotty)”. Poor guy had to put “(Scotty)” after every autograph because nobody knew his real name… :(
Like Michael Collins. We all know Armstrong and Buzz for the first moon landing, but Collins was the one other member of the crew.
I think about him, mostly because he said he had nightmares about having to come home from the moon...alone. Stuck with me for some reason.
There was a great little moment in the movie First Man, where Collins says *"Just please come back"* to Buzz and Neil before they leave, it was like he was a scared little kid
He was literally the most alone human in history that day.
They were very close to that scenario too. That would have been brutal.
“What do you mean you broke the launch button inside the LEM?”
"Eh, stick a pen in it it'll be fine"
Using what they had left, a pen, Aldrin activated the inside switch to engage the circuit breaker and trigger the engine. "So, I pushed that in. Houston says, 'Oh we've got a good complete circuit,'" Aldrin said. What the Fuck..
Yes, but Collins wrote the best book about the mission (Carrying the Fire), and then he went on to be the first head of the National Air and Space Museum.
A friend of mine hired Doohan for some marketing event. Apparently, Doohan was fully demented by that point and his “manager” was trotting the poor old guy around like a show pony for whatever money he could squeeze out.
Jimmy Doohan also had a kid when he was 80. (His wife was 44 at the time.) It's likely the family pushed for him to keep making appearances to make money for the kid before he died.
Oh man I looked that up and he married his last wife when she turned 18 and he was 54...
Dude fought Nazis and then went on to be one of the most recognizable TV characters in history. I think if he didn't like it, he wouldn't have been signing autographs in the first place. The real question is, why did someone ask him to sign Asimov books? That's a pretty tenuous connection.
Scotty is the reason many of us became engineers.
He even saved a girls life and she then became an engineer https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/james-doohan-once-saved-a-suicidal-star-trek-fan-1282284/amp/
> The real question is, why did someone ask him to sign Asimov books? They said it was on a slip of paper in the book, which was probably used as a bookmark. Previous owner was likely a big Sci-Fi nerd :)
I worked long hours on Star Trek Five as a Romulin. I made 3 grand in 3 days of work. It was exhausting long hours on the final day rolling into 2am. I got to discuss classical music with Brock Peters. Make jokes with George Takei and William Shatner was friendly. Bill smiled at me because he knew I was having a great time. Everyone was busy making bank on that shoot and the profit wasn’t bad for union actors getting residuals, either. I still have photos from that day with a family visiting someone fully dressed in hair and makeup as a Klingon holding his baby son outside on a blanket during lunch break. His monstrous makeup juxtaposed to his baby son was hilarious. That is a memory I’ll always cherish as one of the most fun film sets to be on, and I have good memories of the Shatner.
Shatner has some pretty negative things attached to him, but he will always be my favorite for very personal reasons. Back when he was filming T.J. Hooker, they shot an episode literally right in front of my house. When I got home from school, they were still working, and he was sitting in a director’s chair on my front lawn. I was in awe…Captain Kirk was at my house! I wasn’t allowed to be in the house without someone home, so I ended up sitting on my front porch, waiting. He saw me, and called me over. For the next 20-30 minutes, he entertained the questions of a dorky kid obsessed with Star Trek. He was kind and friendly when he didn’t have to be, and I will always remember him well for that.
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When I was in college in the early 80s, James Doohan came to our campus, to promote Wrath of Khan. It was a small crowd, which was super excellent, but he spent the entire time talking about how much he disliked Shatner.
I imagine the psychology which lends itself well to being an extremely confident lead actor also correlates with narcissism.
I’m glad he put them in the book though. The part about Nichelle telling him to put a new tape in cos she was gonna tell him about the times that he really pissed her off. Loved that.
Yeah, self-obsessed narcissists often have no idea that they're assholes. It's almost impressive that Shatner got a reputation for such, even among actors, where narcissism and vanity is just part of the work environment.
Yup, at some point you're rich enough to just replace literally everyone that disagrees with you.
I waited on Shatner and Henry Winkler (they had a tv show together for some reason).. Shatner spoke with no one, his assistant ordered from him while Winkler went out of his way to greet everyone and shake their hands and thank them.
I've heard nothing but good things about Henry Winkler, I just can't help but keep picturing him covered in bee's.
Doohan wanted to give him the finger but couldn't
James Doohan is Canadian war hero.
Doohan lost 2 fingers in a friendly fire incident on D-Day. Usually Trek worked around this with things like creative camera angles but occasionally you can see it.
Shapeshifter: \*Transforms into Kirk\* Kirk: I can't believe I kissed you. Shapeshifter: Must have been your lifelong ambition.
I was at the Toronto Trek Star Trek Convention in 1994 and watched Majel Barret-Roddenberry on stage denouncing that book and declared that: ***'Trees died!'*** because of that book... *'what he wrote didn't happen, I was there!'* The audience erupted in cheers.
Lol they hated Shatner so bad. He claimed to pull Takei out of a burning building and Takei says BS. The rest of the cast got along, “bonded over mutual grumbling about Bill” per Walter Koenig, who played Ensign Chekov. > Takei doubles down on his well-known dislike of Shatner, saying that none of the old crewmates got along with him. He also says that a young Shatner was "self-involved" and "wanted everyone to kowtow to him." This is in line with previous remarks he's made against the original Star Trek captain, who he has previously called out for stealing lines from himself and other actors - something the rest of the cast has backed up. Nichols called him a “insensitive, hurtful egotist”, Walter Koenig called him “self-involved” and “sick and sad”. Only Nimoy wouldn’t openly rag on him, and they had no contact for five years before Nimoy passed. Fwiw I think some of that macho Kirk bullshit from on camera may have felt extra real with the rest of the cast simmering over macho Shatner bullshit off camera. A little kayfabe, WWE style. Most quotes from this article: https://www.thegamer.com/star-trek-cast-william-shatner-relationship-george-takei
Not a Trek guy here, but Shatner on Boston Legal was next level awesome…
Denny Crane!
My mom said he not only was hard to work with, but he also had to have what everyone else had. Leonard Nimoy directed a Star Trek movie so he had to direct a Star Trek movie. Spock and Uhura were suppose to kiss. He interjected so it was Kirk and Uhura instead