Shatner starred in Star Trek, T.J. Hooker (four years is three and a half years longer than most shows, but the point is, he was the star), The Practice/Boston Legal (I think he was technically co-star, but his role expanded as the series went on, four seasons), and $#*! My Dad Says (handful of episodes).
Doohan wouldn’t speak to Shatner apart from lines during the movies; this is sometimes attributed to Shatner’s purported role in having a scene cut in “Wrath of Khan”, although I’m not clear about when the scene got cut, or perhaps I’m not clear which one it was. I *thought* it was the “he stayed at his post when the trainees ran” sequence, but I believe that was either not the scene, or it was later restored. The more one looks around, the more one has to wonder if it wasn’t just Shatner Derangement Syndrom.
DeForest Kelley, Leonard Nimoy, and William Shatner are considered by some to be a threesome, and their characters are obviously mission-critical. :’) Walter’s character was skillfully brought in at season two (and that’s one of those nitpicky things about “Wrath of Khan” — Khan and Chekov never met in the series) and added some humor, but basically that part was created in answer to criticisms by the USSR. He remembers Shatner as being easy to work with, but not a friend outside of work. Sounds like any other job.
Shatner was the top-billed star of Star Trek; the spotty careers of his costars wasn’t his doing or his fault. The cast was, taken all in all, selected by affirmative action rules, and may have helped transform society, the same way Groucho Marx did with his insistence on having Latino and black contestants.
Shatner: [snip] They didn’t have great scenes. They didn’t have good lines. There was nothing to nick. But I was shocked. I was interviewing. And I said, well, thank you. Great interview. Good night. They said, well, wait a minute, don’t you want to know how much we despise you? What are you talking about? I thought I was loved... I care that somebody in this world dislikes me. And I care that the enmity has carried over to the point of where we’re talking about it. It’s absolute nonsense. I mean, we’re going to die. Go out the way you came in, with a little innocence. You know? It’s ridiculous. [/snip]
Like so many families — most peculiar.
I hope the ST:TOS family has patched things up and just settled with being members of the most important TV show of all time.
Frankly, my favorite Shatner role was as The Big Giant Head in “3rd Rock from the Sun.”