Jeffery Hunter didn't play the character James T. Kirk.
William Shatner Confirms Talks for Star Trek Return at 93 Years Old
- Thread starter oktay
- Start date
Well you can't have a cameo if the rest of the Kelvin universe cant be brought back! Tbf they've been trying for nearly a decade
Yes Shatner ORIGINATED the role of James T.(R.) Kirk in the same way Jeffery Hunter originated the role of Christopher Pike.
The term is commonly used that way in Hollywood.
Is he? Last pic I saw showed him on a mobility scooter.
Thing is, Shatner has been very clear that if he plays Kirk again, he wants his character to be the center of the story. He's not going to do a cameo. He's not even going to be a guest star if the role isn't the focus of the story. So are they going to want to write a part that is big enough for his taste?
And Kirk actually married Miramanee, so that's certainly more than sexual.
This whole rep is more James T. West than Kirk since Bob Conrad played far more of a horndog, skirt chaser than Shatner did. It was established early on that the burden of command created tremendous feelings of loneliness in Kirk. He was married to his ship, used his looks and charms to get himself out of jams when appropriate and was a hell of an effective military leader. He was also flawed and a very well fleshed out character for the era. Sure, he had a couple of one-nighters (so did I in my life), but his rep as a guy who sleeps with green haired aliens every week is more a product of people, once again, believing the parodies (and the Abrams films). Hell, the one episode with the green haired lady doesn't even contain a scene of Kirk sleeping with her. In fact, he belts her once his kisses her. Again, Kirk's charm was one of his tools.
So clearly you're not reading the character correctly and SNW does little to enhance the original series - but it does much to bend it to its own needs to suit its narrative (which is fine for them but it doesn't do a thing for the original series).
Trust me, if original Star Trek was in any way lacking, we wouldn't be talking about it today, nor would be even have anything other than maybe a couple of reunion movies, because every moderately popular 60's TV series seemed to get one in the 780's and 80's. And considering how often Paramount dips in the the classic Star Trek well (every show from DISCO on it seems), it's obvious the characters were sufficiently developed over 79 episodes and 6 of their own movies.
I feel like this "generational divide" really dampens an appreciation for the series and characters that gave y'all everything that followed. Jim Kirk doesn't need further development. He needs a deeper look by viewers to see past the too often parodied surface and into the true depth that the writers and Shatner brought to him.
April, Pike, and Kirk started off as the same character on paper. It was Hunter and Shatner's acting styles that differentiated the characters early on.
I would have liked to see original Pike in a earlier adventure to get a read on what he would have really been like in the main series. The Cage feels like a late first season episode after we'd seen Pike dealing with stuff for a full season. Kirk comes off at the jump as a guy who wants to be there. Pike kicks off the story ready to retire and ride horses all day.
I actually feel the same way, kind of, about Where No Man - that it comes across as more of a end of a season story, after we've been watching Kelso, Mitchell, Kirk and Spock as the main characters for awhile. So much more impactful if we slot in full histories and friendships here. Always wanted a fan film to do "year one" before the pilot type of stories.
I dunno - are shows that begin with a team's genesis a more modern/movie phenomenon?
You can either:
1) Start with the assembly of the main character squad.
2) Focus on the addition of a new guy (the main character) to an already-established team
3) Begin somewhere in the middle, with the sense that this team has been together for a little while, with its origins being revealed in expository dialogue, flashbacks, later episodes, etc
You can either:
1) Start with the assembly of the main character squad.
2) Focus on the addition of a new guy (the main character) to an already-established team
3) Begin somewhere in the middle, with the sense that this team has been together for a little while, with its origins being revealed in expository dialogue, flashbacks, later episodes, etc
What they did with Pike was similar to what the Adam-12 pilot would do with Pete Malloy--give a character who's already seasoned in their job an "origin story" by introducing them in a moment of crisis that ends with them renewing their commitment to what they do. In Pete's case, he was ready to quit the force after losing his previous partner, but became motivated in the story to stick around and help Reed live to realize his potential as a good cop.
Never the intention going in, but it's nice in hindsight that there's time to play with if one wished to create an origin story in the same continuity.
When developing TOS, Roddenberry wanted the Enterprise to be a ship with some history to it, I guess as further reflected by the fact we join a crew already in the swing of things. Which isn't that unusual a concept in television, often when shows start the main characters are already a cohesive team/group though often there is a new member joining that team or group to serve as "representative" for the audience. Granted, TOS stands out as one of the only Trek series that doesn't start off with the ship brand new and on its first mission. Really, I think Lower Decks maybe the only series where the ship had been in service prior to the start of the series. And before anyone starts, yet, technically DS9 was also, but when the series starts the station is being completely rebuilt and starting a completely different life from what it had been decades prior.
Though interestingly enough, Shatner's narration at the beginning of the unaired version of WNMHGB does state this to be the Enterprise's first mission, which obviously has to be disregarded as the first season of TOS itself established the Enterprise had adventures before Kirk took command.
Though interestingly enough, Shatner's narration at the beginning of the unaired version of WNMHGB does state this to be the Enterprise's first mission, which obviously has to be disregarded as the first season of TOS itself established the Enterprise had adventures before Kirk took command.
Not really, usually if there was a reason to see how they met, like if it were a situation series (Lost in Space, The Time Tunnel, I Dream of Jeannie, etc). But The Man from UNCLE, I Spy, Star Trek, didn't need origin stories and often the edict for a pilot would be "make it a regular episode to show us what we're in for."
Maybe they are going to bring back Short Treks. A 15 minute story about old Kirk being brought back to life and adjusting to the 25th century. Hell I can even see the idea in my head. Get Kelsey Grammar to play A older Morgan Bateson who has now spent decades in the future as someone who also was from Kirk's time and who has had to adjust to a future different than the one he was living in. Or maybe Robin Curtis as Saavick.
