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Shatner Slams

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Acting veteran William Shatner may have gained fame by starring in the Star Trek series - but he believes the show is now "old hat." The 71-year-old star first shot to fame as Captain James T. Kirk in the 1966 TV series, but now he refuses to watch the many spin-off programs and films, believing they've lost what made them great. He says, "It needs something new. The people responsible for it have lost its way and they need to find it again. They need a whole new group of talent to give a fresh approach. By doing too many things, they have lost Star Trek's way because of greed." Despite his comments, Shatner was this week reunited with many former original cast members at the TV Land Awards, in which Star Trek won the Pop Culture award. He commented, "Here I am winning a Pop Culture Award and I am disconnected with pop culture. Whenever I get on these shows and they ask about pop culture I never know what to say."

 

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William Shatner has had a bit of a personal grudge against the "Star Trek Powers Thet Be" for some time. He was especially miffed when DS9 made Trials And Tribble-ations and he wasn't consulted. He's also kind of looked down on Trek fans in general at times in the past too. As big a Star Trek fan as I am, I'm not a huge Shatner fan. Besides, he's just trying to stay relevant.

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I agree..but the man does not have to insult good shows..even if they were brought on by greed :)

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Guest Guest_bassgirl

mmm..yeah, shatner kinda sucks but kirk rules! i was pretty surprised at those comments...i agree to an extent, but still...thats no excuse for arrogant rudeness...

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I think he's still just pissed because he didn't get a very good death scene in Generations. Also before Picard he was "THE" captian of the Enterprise, and now he's what 1 of 5? Also a few years ago TV Guide voted Patrick Stewet Sexiest Man, and he's bold! That had to have been a blow to his ego....

 

I still love Kirk and even Shatner despite.

 

Has anyone ever seen the movie Free Enterprise? It made me gain new found respect for Shatner simply because he was willing to be in it. If you haven't seen it, it's one of the funniest movies ever!

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mmm..yeah, shatner kinda sucks but kirk rules! i was pretty surprised at those comments...i agree to an extent, but still...thats no excuse for arrogant rudeness...

I agree, Capt. Kirk does rule but shatner has no business passing judgment on ENT having not watched a SINGLE episode.

 

Another thing about that article was how badly fragmented it was, shatner could have said something positive but the interviewer was biased in the first place and cut it out but shatner should have made sure, if he did say something good, that it was included, so I say again barf on shatner.

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As a bit of a fuddy duddy, I have to agree with him...although ST:TOS was full of insightful plot's for it's time and revolutionary, visually...the 'next generation' has played safe...taking the money, rather than the risks...

 

Once you understand just how many risks were taken by ST:TOS you will understand his disdane for the 'trademark' shows...which are really good, but lack the rebel nature displayed by ST:TOS.

 

Star Trek has become corporate, and for an rebel and explorer character, this is against ST:TOS's nature.

 

The idea was to boldly go (go boldly) into the unknown...your imagination...rather than wander aimlessly around some maze of special effects...

 

What he is saying is not rubbishing the new Star Trek genre's just voicing disappointment with the concept of playing safe...in an adventure series.

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As a bit of a fuddy duddy, I have to agree with him...although ST:TOS was full of insightful plot's for it's time and revolutionary, visually...the 'next generation' has played safe...taking the money, rather than the risks...

 

Once you understand just how many risks were taken by ST:TOS you will understand his disdane for the 'trademark' shows...which are really good, but lack the rebel nature displayed by ST:TOS.

 

Star Trek has become corporate, and for an rebel and explorer character, this is against ST:TOS's nature.

 

The idea was to boldly go (go boldly) into the unknown...your imagination...rather than wander aimlessly around some maze of special effects...

 

What he is saying is not rubbishing the new Star Trek genre's just voicing disappointment with the concept of playing safe...in an adventure series.

I'm a big fan of all Trek. I think that Next Gen and DS9 are probably my favorite shows, but you do make a good point. I don't think that it's fare to say that non of the new shows have taken any risks. I think that Next Generation was a very bold idea. When it first started even though the budget may have been bigger, it was still born to be a ratings flop. It amazes me to this day that TNG ever made it to season 3. However it did make it! And it went on to explore the human condition in ways that the original series never did.

I think DS9 was also a pretty bold show. It was the first 'non-Enterprise' series and it also delt with a lot of issues that had never really been touched on in Star Trek before.

 

As far as Voyager and Enterprise go however, even though I'm a really big fan of both I do agree that they do play it far too safe most of the time. They are both graet shows with great stories, but they don't take the risks that the first three shows did.

 

But even having said this, I don't think that Shatner has any right to slander shows that he hasn't even taken the time to watch. I hate it when fans do it and Kirk is no exception! I'm sick of people telling me that Enterpris or even Nemesis aren't that good and then finding out that they haven't even seen them!

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Perhaps we should let Shatner write and direct a script for Enterprise and see how he would do things, but after ST5 I would be reluctant to let him do so.

 

Personally I think that TOS is the best with TNG just behind. But I think that Enterprise has been better that the previous two, you may disagree but that is just down to a difference in personal taste. Enterprise has got me excited about Star Trek again, and while I can see ways that I would improve the series if I were the producer, I also think that it is the best sci-fi that is currently being produced for television.

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SHATNER SHOULD SHUTUP :)

 

Please parden my outburst. I guess I should say he should be quiet.

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You are all probably right about Shatner. I haven't really paid enough attention to the guy to have an opinion. However, when he says we need to get back to good stories he is absolutely right. I enjoy Enterprise,but the last few eps have reminded me of previous eps. eg. last weeks reminded me of the film Enemy Mine, the Hoshi ep was VERY similar to the Geordi Ro ep in TNG. It seems a long time since i've seen a story to match say " Measure of a Man " TNG :)

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I think he's still just pissed because he didn't get a very good death scene in Generations. Also before Picard he was "THE" captian of the Enterprise, and now he's what 1 of 5? Also a few years ago TV Guide voted Patrick Stewet Sexiest Man, and he's bold! That had to have been a blow to his ego....

 

I still love Kirk and even Shatner despite.

 

Has anyone ever seen the movie Free Enterprise? It made me gain new found respect for Shatner simply because he was willing to be in it. If you haven't seen it, it's one of the funniest movies ever!

Yes i've seen Free Enterprise and you got to give the guy the fact that he doesn't mind poking fun at himself.

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Shatner? Who is this Shatner you speak of? :) :)

He's just a bitter old man, did anyone see that E! True Hollywood story on him? He doesn't know what he wants.

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I've never been a Shatner fan. On the startrek.com boards people were commenting that he sounded really rude and unpleasant in the commentary of some of the special edition TOS movies recently released. Anyone here agree or disagree?

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I think he's still just pissed because he didn't get a very good death scene in Generations. Also before Picard he was "THE" captian of the Enterprise, and now he's what 1 of 5? Also a few years ago TV Guide voted Patrick Stewet Sexiest Man, and he's bold! That had to have been a blow to his ego....

 

I still love Kirk and even Shatner despite.

 

Has anyone ever seen the movie Free Enterprise? It made me gain new found respect for Shatner simply because he was willing to be in it. If you haven't seen it, it's one of the funniest movies ever!

Yes i've seen Free Enterprise and you got to give the guy the fact that he doesn't mind poking fun at himself.

Yeah I gained a lot of respect for Shatner after he made Free Enterprise. I fall on the floor everytime I watch that movie!

 

I was re-reading my quote and I ment to say that Patrick Stewert was "bald" not "bold" oops! :blink: Just a little typo, I've made much larger I'm sure.

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excuse my ignorance..what is Free Enterprise?

It's a film about two guys who are ST fans, and their complicated lives. Bill Shatner is in it and he's great.

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Here is a link to IMDB with a summary of Free Enterprise. I didn't know Eric McCormack (Will & Grace) was in it.

 

Free Enterprise

 

And a link to the very limited information about Free Enterprise 2 that has an apparent release date for 2004.

 

Free Enterprise 2

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Man a second Free Enterprise 'could' be really funny! I think it would be great if we get to see shatner finally make his dream movie.

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I've never been a Shatner fan.  On the startrek.com boards people were commenting that he sounded really rude and unpleasant in the commentary of some of the special edition TOS movies recently released.  Anyone here agree or disagree?

I Didn't Really Think Of His Comments As Rude...Just..Shatnerish :assimilated:

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I saw him a a con once he just seemed that he was their just for the paycheck and not because he wanted to and I have read some of his books the star trek ones are not to bad but they make kirk out to be a god and they all have coauthors and his "get a life book" is informative but he still just seems so arogant to me. But on his defence he was considered a big actor before star trek he had done alot of tv and some movies before he did star trek.

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Where is Shatner's career now? So far as I can tell he is just gettin minor roles in some films sometimes. I mean, was playing the guy in 'Miss Congeniality' really a good move? He looked like an idiot (sorry any Shatner fans, this is just my opinion)

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William Shanter thinks all the fans should get a life. If it hadn't been for those fans you'd be saying today Willaim who? I think Shatner is a dumb he didn't even come to Montreal when he had a building named after him at McGill.

Edited by Kiearn

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William Shanter thinks all the fans should get a life. If it hadn't been for those fans you'd be saying today Willaim who? I think Shatner is a dumb he didn't even come to Montreal when he had a building named after him at McGill.

Shatner made those comments at a time just after star trek when he was trying to shed captian kirk to get other acting roles (jobs) ... as many other actors do when caught in that ... I don't blame him for it. However, he did eventually come around. And I also agree with his comments about modern trek.

Edited by Big_Steve

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Back when shatner was doing theatre in Montreal he dated my grandmother, if i remember correctly she said she broke up with him so i don't know if i want to hear much more. I agree that he is probably only in it for the money, and i agree that ive heard rumors that he isn't the nicest person on the planet, but he is a trek icon and nothing will change that, i only wish he was nicer to the fans, like Bakula :bow:

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