Kirk at Work — ‘World’ revolves around William Shatner

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | January 3, 2013 | Thomas Conner

[EveningStar]

William Shatner’s on the phone, and here’s one of the first things he says: “I just put down the phone with Ben Folds.”

I’m a “Star Trek” fan but it’s not, you know, a lifestyle. I like the franchise just fine, and my favorites are the third series and the sixth film.

[EveningStar]

ping

[Harold Shea]

Saw an episode on the Twilight Zone marathon of Shatner

playing a newlywed hypochondric that got carried away

by a machine that told the future

He looked about 20

Fasanting man as Spock would say

[donna]

I saw that when I was a small child and it taught me a valuable lesson about superstition that has lasted my whole life.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

The original Star Trek took place right in the middle of broad cultural change, and not just what they were aware of at the time.

For example, television had long used stage performers, who used stage acting, that is, projecting to an audience. But TV was transitioning to TV acting, where actors can calmly talk to a camera right in front of them in normal tones of a conversation. This is why what they did was so exaggerated.

Even the makeup used in Star Trek is stage makeup, not TV makeup.

Since their sets were very cheap and low budget, they put their money into other things, like costumes (especially on the female guest stars), hairstyles, and sound effects. After those times, such wonderful costumes and hairstyles were condemned as sexist and wasteful. And virtually any sound effect you can imagine today is copyrighted, so TV overuses public domain sounds, or spends a fortune to design a few new ones.

And much can be said about their futuristic technology, which captivated future engineers and designers. Millions were spent just to come up with some way to open doors that quickly and reliably (on the show they were opened and closed by two stagehands.) The demand was huge.

Perhaps the majority of engineers today decided to become engineers after being inspired by that show.

[APatientMan]

Saw that this last weekend. Shatner was going to be the “youngest office manager” in history, the fortunes cost a penny each and the mechanic left his shop and hunted Shatner down at the diner because he had found a fuel pump in town and Shatner’s car was done early.

[SoCal Pubbie]

I have a paperback from that era called the Making of Star Trek. Have you ever seen it?

[DemforBush]

Often overlook, I think, is some of Shatner’s really interesting pre-Trek work. He did an art film called Incubus (in Esperanto, no less) that was quite good. He also did a great little film about desegregation and nullification in a southern town (directed by, of all people, Roger Corman!) called The Intruder.

Of course, even back then, Shatner had his duds....such as his ill-fated tv pilot of Alexander the Great - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR14SH5tby4

(BTW, yes, that is Adam West, pre-Batman, as his loyal sidekick)

[itsahoot]

The original Star Trek took place right in the middle of broad cultural change,

The first White on Black kiss as I recall. The kiss was forced on Kirk against his will, but Uhura was the recipient. Seems a long time ago now...

[Moonmad27]

I had the original making of ST paperback — in fact thought about it earlier today. I met Nimoy in Houston right after the show was cancelled — still have the cover of that book, which he signed.

[itsahoot]

Since their sets were very cheap and low budget,

I saw the original shuttle on a flat bed in Palm Springs, just a plywood box.

[Political Junkie Too]

television had long used stage performers, who used stage acting, that is, projecting to an audience. But TV was transitioning to TV acting, where actors can calmly talk to a camera right in front of them in normal tones of a conversation.

I've lately been watching a lot of early 1960's television, e.g., "12 O'Clock High," "Combat!" and "Mission: Impossible."

The first season of MI has lots of actors from Star Trek in it (probably because MI was also a Desilu product). The first and second seasons of "12 O'Clock High" also have many actors who appeared in Star Trek. Across these three shows, I've seen Gary Lockwood, William Smithers, Shatner, James Daly, Robert Lansing, Robert Walker Jr., Glenn Corbett, Lawrence Montaigne... and I'm only in the middle of season 2 in 12 O'Clock High and season 1 of M:I.

There was even an episode of The Virginian from 1963 where DeForest Kelley plays an alcoholic Union Army doctor and Leonard Nimoy plays a murderer in his care.

Interesting to see these actors in other works that pre-date Star Trek.

-PJ

[CatherineofAragon]

That’s a good episode....the little fortune-telling machine with the bobbing devil’s head.

You’re right, Shatner looked so young in it. The actress who played his wife looked a good bit older, but that was probably the hairstyle and clothing of the era.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Yes, I read it long ago. Though they really stumbled on a grand formula with their “Wagon Train In Space”.

So grand that there are now several fan-based Star Trek TOS productions creating Internet episodes more or less based on the original series:

Star Trek: Phase II (which continues the five year mission with Kirk and Spock, et al.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Phase_II_%28fan_series%29

Starship Exeter (of the same class as Enterprise)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Exeter

Starship Farragut (live action and also animation in the style of Star Trek, the animated series)

There are also several fan productions that are based on other shows from the series, particularly DS9 and Enterprise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_fan_productions

[SoCal Pubbie]

Never totally got the Wagon Train analogy as a kid because that show was a little before my time. But now watching Wagon Train on cable it makes perfect sense.

[SeeSharp]

He also did a TZ episode in which he was a passenger on an airplane and was the only one who could see a gremlin that was on the wing tearing up an engine.

[dinoparty]

That was TZ movie, no?

[Mr. Silverback]

The TZ movie had the same story, with John Lithgow playing the part...and chewing the scenery more than Shatner ever did!

[tarheelswamprat]

I have drastically curtailed my online presence in recent months due to rapidly failing health. Before too much longer I’ll be just another of those long-gone Freepers who just faded away and disappeared. Thanks to all my FRiends who’ve made this such a wonderful refuge and place to hang out since 1998. (Current screen name was changed in 2003). I’ve been blessed to meet some really wonderful people here.

I’ve always enjoyed the sci fi thread, and appreciate Kevin’s and others’ efforts to maintain it all these years. I realize this thread on Shatner is old and cold but could not resist adding one last comment... /grin

It all the examples of Shatner’s work, the TV series, the music albums, the stage performances, etc. which demonstrate the creative mastery of talent and vision that IS William Shatner, I’m surprised no one mentioned this masterpiece of B-movie cinema which he did in 1974 for Roger Corman.

I refer, of course to “Big Bad Mama”, in which he co-starred with the gorgeous Angie Dickinson and the average looking Tom Skerrit. As far as I know this film contains Shatner’s only nude scene (and lots of Angie Dickinson nude scenes, if you can force yourself to watch those... /g), and he plays a gangster with a heart of gold who nobly sacrifices his life to save Dickinson in the end.

This film is B-movie gold, of which Corman was a master, and is finally available on DVD. Amazon.com and Netflix both have it.

Big Bad Mama - http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dmovies-tv&field-keywords=big+bad+mama