Jack Lord as Captain Kirk

[TerragonSix]

Jack Lord of Hawaii Five-O fame, was offered the oppurtunity to be Captain Kirk. According to scuttlebutt, he said he would, on the condition that he recieve part ownership of the franchise. Because of this in part, Shatner was chosen for the job.

If Jack Lord HAD become Kirk, would he have been a good one?

Personally, seeing his work in Five-O and Dr. No, I tend to think so. He had a quiet commanding presence with intensity.

As long as he didnt say "Book em, number one." XD

Thoughts?

 

[urbandefault]

He certainly had the hair for it.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Jack Lord of Hawaii Five-O fame, was offered the oppurtunity to be Captain Kirk. According to scuttlebutt, he said he would, on the condition that he recieve part ownership of the franchise. Because of this in part, Shatner was chosen for the job.

But Shatner was given five percent ownership of the show, so if your info is correct, Lord must have been asking for the moon. [I think Bill had to sell his piece of Star Trek after his ruinous divorce in 1969, long before the property would have made him any real money.]

I think Lord would have been very good as Kirk. Guy Williams of Lost in Space could also have done it well. But Shatner really nailed it.

 

[EnriqueH]

Jack Lord, based on Dr. No and the handful of Hawaii 5-0 episodes I've seen, would've been more of a "Captain Pike" than a "Captain Kirk" if you catch my drift.

It definitely looks like Roddenberry and company was looking for the quiet, dignified authoritative type at first.

But then they got the passionate, wears-his-emotions-on-his-sleeve Shatner.

 

[Gassy Man]

Hawaii 5-0, for the first few years, was one of the best shows on television and really groundbreaking, not just because of its diverse cast (though still focusing mainly on the Haole characters), but because it really pushed the envelope in style and concept. It did a lot of location shooting and used the handheld camera to personalize many scenes; it did episodes on topics avoided by or only sensationalized on TV at the time: rape, drug use, homosexuality, interracial relationships, post traumatic stress, and so forth, along with confronting racism (though from an Asian and Pacific Islander point of view), poverty, organized crime, the Cold War, and medical fraud. In many ways, it was far more topical than Star Trek when dealing with social issues while at the same time being a very engaging program.

 

[EnriqueH]

Yeah, I keep meaning to watch the complete series, but it's on hold.

After all, I'm currently engaged in Star Trek: TNG.

 

[TerragonSix]

The 'moon' was fifty percent.

I guess Lord saw a good thing coming.

@ EnriqueH, I have the complete first season on Dvd, with the made for TV movie that started the series.

If you're interested, pay for the shipping and I'll send them to you.

(With the promise you'll send them back)

 

[cardinal biggles]

I like Jack Lord and love the original Five-O (the early years, at least), but Jack Lord would have been totally wrong for Star Trek, whether they went with a quiet, authoritative Pike-like characterization, or the more dramatic captain Shatner played.

I've watched every episode of the original Five-O (apart from the 'lost' episode "Bored, She Hung Herself"), and if there's one thing Jack Lord was not good at, it was standing aside for others. The show centered squarely on him, and even moreso after series creator Leonard Freeman died during the sixth season, at which point Lord, who had always been a silent partner in the show, began asserting his authority behind the scenes.

It's well-known how frustrated Shatner was at the time when Spock became the show's breakout character and Nimoy's popularity eclipsed his own. I can't even begin to imagine Jack Lord allowing another actor to steal his spotlight and eclipse the character he was playing, not even one as iconic as Spock. Remember, they recast the Felix Leiter role for Goldfinger when Lord demanded equal pay and equal billing with Sean Connery, which was just laughable.

So yeah... Jack Lord as Captain Kirk? Thank God it didn't happen.

 

[Push The Button]

Book'em, Spocko.

5-0 had a really great theme song and opening credits, and agreed that the show was way ahead of its time in a lot of areas.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I like Jack Lord and love the original Five-O (the early years, at least), but Jack Lord would have been totally wrong for Star Trek, whether they went with a quiet, authoritative Pike-like characterization, or the more dramatic captain Shatner played.

I've watched every episode of the original Five-O (apart from the 'lost' episode "Bored, She Hung Herself"), and if there's one thing Jack Lord was not good at, it was standing aside for others. The show centered squarely on him, and even moreso after series creator Leonard Freeman died during the sixth season, at which point Lord, who had always been a silent partner in the show, began asserting his authority behind the scenes.

It's well-known how frustrated Shatner was at the time when Spock became the show's breakout character and Nimoy's popularity eclipsed his own. I can't even begin to imagine Jack Lord allowing another actor to steal his spotlight and eclipse the character he was playing, not even one as iconic as Spock. Remember, they recast the Felix Leiter role for Goldfinger when Lord demanded equal pay and equal billing with Sean Connery, which was just laughable.

So yeah... Jack Lord as Captain Kirk? Thank God it didn't happen.

I didn't know this stuff, having only a passing familiarity with H5-O. I know from a MeTV rerun or two that it was a very good cop show. But if Lord was too heavy-handed as Kirk, Nimoy might have quit. Imagine Lord going up against Jonathan Harris for the spotlight. Oh the pain, the pain.

Lord's aggressive, imposing approach may have cost him the recurring Felix Leiter and Kirk roles, but it paid off for him in the long run. According to Wikipedia, he died very rich.

 

[cardinal biggles]

I can only begin to imagine the behind-the-scenes battles that would have ensued between Lord and Roddenberry if they were 50/50 owners of TOS.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Jack Lord of Hawaii Five-O fame, was offered the oppurtunity to be Captain Kirk. According to scuttlebutt, he said he would, on the condition that he recieve part ownership of the franchise. Because of this in part, Shatner was chosen for the job.

If Jack Lord HAD become Kirk, would he have been a good one?

Personally, seeing his work in Five-O and Dr. No, I tend to think so. He had a quiet commanding presence with intensity.

As long as he didnt say "Book em, number one." XD

Thoughts?

Jack Lord was far too stiff and of limited range to be Kirk. I've watched Hawaii 5-0, and in any episodes requiring Lord to show genuine feeling, it always seemed forced--like someone read a description saying "act anguished here," and just delivered it, instead of feeling it.

The range seen so many times with Shatner's Kirk in "The Naked Time, City on the Edge of Forever, Obsession, Where No Man Has Gone Before, and a truckload of other episodes was out of Lord's grasp. I doubt TOS would have survived its 2nd pilot with Lord as the captain. Additionally, growling, hard and cold would not allow Nimoy to move his performance in a direction to contrast with / play off of the captain, since both would seem like characters chiseled from the same, stone block.

 

[bbailey861]

Jack Lord was great at Steve McGarrett and I wish he would have continued being Felix Leiter in the Bond series, but I do not see him being successful as Captain James T. Kirk - and exactly for the reason the OP listed - his "quiet commanding presence with intensity". William Shatner brought to the role of Kirk exactly what was needed; bravado and brash, with a whole bunch of daring-do, and a ladies man. It's exactly what was needed both in 1966 television - and to properly work with Spock and Bones.

 

[Melakon]

Honestly, I think Jack Lord must have believed his last name. He'd had a one-season series (Stoney Burke) by the time Roddenberry approached him, so must have already been full of himself.

 

[Commishsleer]

Yes I too thought Jack Lord was far too stiff and serious - too similar to the character of Spock.

I think Lord would have been more suited to say Picard, Pike or the Commander from Space 1999.

Kirk's too passionate for Lord. But then again they might have changed the writing to suit Lord more than Shatner.

 

[Christopher]

I think Lord would have been more suited to say Picard, Pike or the Commander from Space 1999.

Hmm, I wouldn't have minded a more "quiet commanding presence" as John Koenig. I got tired of Landau's Koenig constantly yelling and screaming at people.

 

[Melakon]

I got tired of Landau's Koenig constantly yelling and screaming at people.

"Victor! Helena! I'm acting here! I was in North by Northwest!"

 

[Harvey]

The fifty percent figure never made sense to me. The studio, network (at least in that period), and series creator(s) would also have a stake, and I highly doubt they would have let an actor (an unproven one at that) have such a big piece of the pie.

 

[DWF]

I think Lord would have been more suited to say Picard, Pike or the Commander from Space 1999.

Hmm, I wouldn't have minded a more "quiet commanding presence" as John Koenig. I got tired of Landau's Koenig constantly yelling and screaming at people.

Whatever shouting he did makes up for the scenes where he's pretty much whispering his lines.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Jack Lord would have brought an interesting dimension to the part. Kirk grew more brash as the series went on primarily because of Shatner. He brought amazing passion and energy to Kirk. But line can always be read a different way and Kirk's speech about human frailties in WNMHGB could have been done with quiet intensity as well. Or anger. Who is to say if it would have been as successful or not?

Lord was a fine actor and I was hugely obsessed with Five-O in the late 90's when it was rerun. Lord was far better than his critics would have you believe (much like Shatner). Yeah, he had his tics and would default when unmotivated (again, like Shatner - or DeNiro, or any actor), but when he was on fire, he was brilliant. Five-O was a huge success in part because of McGarrett's presence.

As for Guy Williams...he had his skills and did really well when he had the right material. He was amazing in Zorro and excellent in several early episodes of Lost in Space. But as that series was stolen from him, he stopped trying. He was frequently surly and over the top.

Mary Landau in 1999: Love him. John Koenig was one of my childhood heroes, but Landau had his weaknesses, too. Screaming at the top of his lungs, until his voice warbled was one of them. No modulation. He also did "pain" poorly. He'd get bug-eyed. But when given really good material, he'd be great. He was excellent in Mission Impossible, and in certain episodes of 1999, he was just marvelous. In others...not so much. It didn't help that his own character seemed to change from episode to episode. In one, he launched a first strike against advancing ships, stating he had no choice. The very next episode he did the same, agreeing that such actions weren't his style. Gerry Anderson wasn't big on characterization, though.

I would have loved to have seen Richard Basehart on Trek. Voyage ended the year before, so he could have done one, but I'm sure he'd had enough of that sort of thing, even if the offer came up. I could have seen him as Plasus or Woden. And being a little shorter than Shatner (with whom he worked before) would have been nice for our star.