I feel the same way when someone says "Not Trekkie...Trekker!"
That's when you're taking this schnitz too seriously.
A Matter of Shatner's Perspective
- Thread starter Khan 2.0
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I feel the same way when someone says "Not Trekkie...Trekker!"
That's when you're taking this schnitz too seriously.
"...Are you saying we should pay more attention to the movies?"
IIRC, outer left button, outer right button, inner left button, inner right button . . . but I could be misremembering.
That skit is a litmus test of whether you're one of those fans, or glad that you're not.
I prefer Star Trek fan because Trekkie feels too enthusiastic, Trekker too proud, whereas I need the distance and plug ‘n’ play to include other franchises: Star Wars fan, Battlestar Galactica fan, Babylon 5 fan, X-Files fan…
I remember saying that out loud to friends as we were watching the skit live (we had a birthday party going on that particular night That's why I remember this so well) on TV that night.
A number of us had been to various Star Trek and science fiction cons, and our response to that skit was:
"Hey where's the parody? I've been to conventions with fan panels and fans asking questions exactly like this."
After hearing about this skit for decades, this is the first time I've actually seen it.
It was hilarious.
I don't know how anyone could get offended at it.
It wasn't Shatner looking down on anything.... in the same sketch, he is portrayed as someone who has to kowtow to the studio execs / convention runners for the pay check / contract..... its mocking himself as much as it is mocking the over-zealous fans. It made me think of Galaxy Quest in a lot of ways, actually. Allen was great, but how amazing would it have been to watch Shatner ham up an actual Trek version of that movie??
I bet half the people that dislike the sketch, never even saw the sketch, or, as others point out, see too much of themselves in the "super fan." This was great. Kudos to Shatner once more..... the most vibrant, energetic 90 year old i've ever seen. We are lucky to still have him.
It was hilarious.
I don't know how anyone could get offended at it.
It wasn't Shatner looking down on anything.... in the same sketch, he is portrayed as someone who has to kowtow to the studio execs / convention runners for the pay check / contract..... its mocking himself as much as it is mocking the over-zealous fans. It made me think of Galaxy Quest in a lot of ways, actually. Allen was great, but how amazing would it have been to watch Shatner ham up an actual Trek version of that movie??
I bet half the people that dislike the sketch, never even saw the sketch, or, as others point out, see too much of themselves in the "super fan." This was great. Kudos to Shatner once more..... the most vibrant, energetic 90 year old i've ever seen. We are lucky to still have him.
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Jimmy Doohan said his fans would ask him about the technical workings of warp drive and such, and he worked up some ideas on it to keep them happy. So there was at least a period of time when he enjoyed preserving the illusion.
Elizabeth Montgomery said that when she attended Dodgers games and the team was losing, people would shout "Twitch! Twitch!" So I think fans know a little more than they're letting on. They want to sustain the magic, too.
90. Let's not prematurely age him.
He always had a lot of respect for the fans. The story about the fan who was contemplating suicide, but eventually went back to school and took up a career in engineering, comes to mind here.
USA TODAY: William Shatner: 'No, Kaley Cuoco is not my daughter'.
https://www.usatoday.com/videos/ent...y-cuoco-not-my-daughter-interview/5695020001/
https://www.usatoday.com/videos/ent...y-cuoco-not-my-daughter-interview/5695020001/
Shatner was mocking us, not just those "other" fans - you, me, the people who post on this site, the people who pay for autographs.
If you think its not you then I'm glad for you.
I'm not that offended. Its just the way Shatner is to the fans, to his fellow cast mates. He probably doesn't even mean it but he definitely thinks he's better than us. And perhaps he is...
To be more specific, the writers of SNL are doing the mocking. Shatner played the role. Did he truly believe it? Oh probably, but he also saw the humor in it. I think it's hysterical and if he's making fun of me, well I've got a sense of humor and I'm fine with it. Not for anything, I've seen plenty of fans asking the most ridiculous questions while thinking they're brilliant. This wasn't all that fictional.
Hell, you could transplant this to a sports card collectibles show and have the fans painted up and wearing team jerseys and it would still be funny. "It's just a game! You're paying HUNDREDS of dollars to watch me play catch!"
You either take yourself too seriously or you don't. Those who don't, laugh...those who do get their knickers in a knot.
We have no idea how he really feels. "William Shatner" is as much of a put on as "James Kirk."
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Many years ago I was at a Smithsonian symposium on Star Trek. It was part convention, but mostly academic conference. Bill Theiss was one of the presenters, and I thought he was interesting and pretty funny. At the end of his presentation he took questions, and most of the questions were also pretty interesting. Toward the end this guy walks up to wait in line, wearing a TNG uniform. He gets to the mic and says "Can you please explain to my why the phaser was moved from the tactically advantageous right side position to the tactically disadvantageous left side of the body, forcing the user to reach across to draw the weapon?"
Without missing a beat, but with a look of utter disgust on his face, Theiss said something along the lines of "They asked me to find a place to hang the prop. In this case they asked for a specific position. I gave it to them."
I don't know right off if Theiss was still alive when the SNL bit aired, but if he was I'm sure he was saying to himself "Get 'em, Bill."
Without missing a beat, but with a look of utter disgust on his face, Theiss said something along the lines of "They asked me to find a place to hang the prop. In this case they asked for a specific position. I gave it to them."
I don't know right off if Theiss was still alive when the SNL bit aired, but if he was I'm sure he was saying to himself "Get 'em, Bill."
The skit aired December 20, 1986, the year before TNG hit the air. Theiss passed in 1991.
I just go for someone who likes Trek, Who, B7 etc. No nicknames.
Is it criticism of the skit to call it dumb?
Taking so much money for so long and also resenting and bashing the fans does seem pretty jerky to me.
The skit claims anyone traveling a while to go to a convention is at best wasteful.
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