To Be Takei

[eyeresist]

I don't have more than bullet-point knowledge of Takei: Asian, gay, supposedly had a problem with Shatner, says "Oh my" a lot. So I'd be interested to get the details of his life and Trek career in one handy package. Also, the tone of the documentary seems pleasingly charming and funny, so should be enjoyable to watch.

 

[Doug Otte]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I finally watched this on Netflix last week. I've always liked Takei and Sulu, so I enjoyed it. It was nice to see his interactions with his Brad.

I agree that Takei does dramatize the conflict w/ Shatner way too much, and I thought it was tacky of him to say "F* you" to Shatner's face during the roast.

However, Takei has done some good acting when he gets a chance, and he's done a lot to inform the public about the internment camps, and he finally came out about LGBT and marriage equality and provided a boost to those movements.

 

[MaximRecoil]

I don't give a damn if you support Shatner! Go for it! I enjoyed his performances as Kirk, I watched some of T.J. Hooker, Boston Legal, and some of the movies he was in. The only time I was ever displeased with him to the extent that it affected whether or not I bought his books was the "get a life" skit - something I felt was rather condescending and insulting toward the fans like me who had been supportive of his career for so many years.

I thought that skit was good, and the ending was hilarious, i.e., when William Shatner and the host (Phil Hartman) get into a shoving match, and the host pulls out the contract, and they come up with the impromptu explanation that he was doing a re-creation of "evil Captain Kirk" from The Enemy Within.

I've never understood the controversy over that skit; I saw it the night it originally aired and I thought it was funny, and I still do. It is merely a joke.

 

[A beaker full of death]

I find the people who are offended by it are the ones to whom it most applies.

 

[Karzak]

I don't give a damn if you support Shatner! Go for it! I enjoyed his performances as Kirk, I watched some of T.J. Hooker, Boston Legal, and some of the movies he was in. The only time I was ever displeased with him to the extent that it affected whether or not I bought his books was the "get a life" skit - something I felt was rather condescending and insulting toward the fans like me who had been supportive of his career for so many years.

I thought that skit was good, and the ending was hilarious, i.e., when William Shatner and the host (Phil Hartman) get into a shoving match, and the host pulls out the contract, and they come up with the impromptu explanation that he was doing a re-creation of "evil Captain Kirk" from The Enemy Within.

I've never understood the controversy over that skit; I saw it the night it originally aired and I thought it was funny, and I still do. It is merely a joke.

The controversy (such as it is) comes mainly from highly insecure fans who simply can't take any ribbing, so humorless and tightly-wound that nothing can amuse them, let alone a little poke from their hero who has been well-established at being a comedy pro.

The skit is hilarious satire. It was hilarious satire back then, for it's outrageous and broadly generalized view of Trekkies, but likewise for its razor-sharp accuracy lampooning Trekkies as well. It remains hilarious satire today for much the same reasons.

Fans holding a goddamn grudge about it 30 years later only proves the point SNL was making.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I find the people who are offended by it are the ones to whom it most applies.

Do you have the same view regarding the Trekkies films?

As for Takei: Meh. I like his work as Sulu, but he really needs to let this Shatner shit go. Takei's the one who won't let it die. Oh, and the "Oh, MY" needs to be taken out and shot, it stopped being funny after the first 1,000,000,000 times Takei said it.

And while it may be true that Shat wasn't the easiest person to work with (at least as an actor; as a director, in ST V, the others all had high praise for him), I highly doubt he's the devil incarnate that Takei and his ilk make Shat out to be.

 

[Karzak]

Oh, and the "Oh, MY" needs to be taken out and shot, it stopped being funny after the first 1,000,000,000 times Takei said it.

Captain Robau memes and " '_______' would be a great name for a band," feel similarly. Pot, meet kettle.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ If you'll notice, even I let those things die. And I do agree with you.

 

[Maurice]

Ah, Takei's full of it. I recently got to hear the audio from the workprint of TWOK and there's nothing wrong with Shatner's line reads around the whole Sulu gets his first command thing. So unless Shatner was making faces, those lines were cut because they were superfluous, not because Shatner engaged in any "sabataage".

Nick Meyer wrote what appears to be a rather damning comment about ol George in a memo to Harve Bennett, saying, in short' "Do you think you'll be able to get George Takei to act?"

 

[eyeresist]

I find the people who are offended by it are the ones to whom it most applies.

Do you have the same view regarding the Trekkies films?

Yeah, that's probably true.

Nick Meyer wrote what appears to be a rather damning comment about ol George in a memo to Harve Bennett, saying, in short' "Do you think you'll be able to get George Takei to act?"

I didn't know about that! Looks like my opinion of Meyer is on the upswing again.

 

[Noname Given]

I've never understood the controversy over that skit; I saw it the night it originally aired and I thought it was funny, and I still do. It is merely a joke.

Been a Star Trek fan a LONG time, and had gone to Star Trek and Science Fiction and other fan conventions - and sorry to say, when I saw that skit live the night it aired on SNL - my response was (unfortunately) "Hey, where's the parody aspect?" because I'd encountered 'fans' like these at said conventions where when they asked questions it was like "Why am I here? Boy, I feel sorry for the person on stage..."

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Ríu ríu, chíu: Do you have the same view regarding the Trekkies films?

As for Takei: Meh. I like his work as Sulu, but he really needs to let this Shatner shit go. Takei's the one who won't let it die.

True. Shatner--as always--continues to work on projects and has no need to attack ex-cast members with fantasized BS.

Oh, and the "Oh, MY" needs to be taken out and shot, it stopped being funny after the first 1,000,000,000 times Takei said it.

It was not funny the 1st time he coughed that up, but he feels its his (idiotic) catchphrase, and there's a small, Takei-grievance (false) group who supports his every move, so he feels empowered. What he's gained is a shameful legacy built on hate and misplaced blame for his own failure to create a career.

Maurice: Ah, Takei's full of it. I recently got to hear the audio from the workprint of TWOK and there's nothing wrong with Shatner's line reads around the whole Sulu gets his first command thing. So unless Shatner was making faces, those lines were cut because they were superfluous, not because Shatner engaged in any "sabataage".

..and there it ends. Decades of Takei's lies, as if he was robbed of some character promotion based on "wrongdoing" from another actor. Decades of would-be character assassination. He is of obvious low character, as he ran with this lie for decades.

Nick Meyer wrote what appears to be a rather damning comment about ol George in a memo to Harve Bennett, saying, in short' "Do you think you'll be able to get George Takei to act?"

Perhaps it was a challenge to all of his immeasurable acting skills to say lines in the nature of "aye, sir" or "Phasers locked on target."