A Matter of Shatner's Perspective

Shatners very own kobiashi maru (but like kirk he came out of winning in the end )

 

Well remember while he didn't make any money off of the series itself after 1970. The movies and probably a lot of merchandising agreements related to the films make him a lot of money.

It is true however that before the mid-70s residuals to actors (including headliners) really dropped off after two repeats, and eventually went to zero.

That is no longer the case, but it was for Star Trek, And that's why after Star Trek went off the air in 1969 (plus his divorce); Shatner for a time was living out of his truck; and taking any job he could find, including being the host for a lot of scholastic films in the 1970s, and any commercial he could get.

 

Acting is not a good way to make money, particularly if you go through a divorce. Shatner was living in a camper van in the 70s, Davison was broke in the 90s, in the gap between being the apparently inadequate nice guy, and the apparent nice guy who is actually pretty unpleasant, a role he's played very well for the last 20 years.

 

I missed something. Who is Davison?

 

Peter Davison, the Fifth Doctor Who perhaps?
JB

 

He may not be physically typing, but those are definitely his words. Definitely his style and personality IMO.

 

Yep.

 

I agree. Nothing that is said would go against what Shatner has said on other occasions.
And Shatner's a tough enough guy even at 90 or so to stop anyone taking advantage of him and pushing another agenda.

While I don't think Shatner hates us fan he certainly thinks we're silly (at best) and should not obsess so much over a TV series and should take up legitimate hobbies like horse riding or whatever he does. He's happy to take money of us by turning up to conventions so what more can he ask.
I just can't admire him as a person. Hes got his fan club to suck up to himt. Not that hes a bad person. Its just hard to admire someone that says you (the fans) are stupid time and time again yet I see him in interviews revelling in the admiration of Captain Kirk . While the other actors probably think the same thing at least they pretend... I'd have more respect for him if he said. Hey stop talking about Captain Kirk, that was 50 years ago lets talk about my country Christmas album.

 

Can you imagine having fan boys come up to you for 50 years? Some of whom don’t understand respect for private space? Little wonder he’s a curmudgeon. I’ve met him twice on business and he was all business, neither mean nor nice.

 

Nobody who's ever seen Shat's SNL sketch should be surprised by this.

 

I'm reminded of how Leonard Nimoy mentions in his book that he knew in the 1960s that Trekmania wouldn't last forever, and the series was only likely to last five or so years, so he took every opportunity to make money from the fame - making appearences at parades, cutting records about Hobbits etc. - so his family had some income and savings.

 

I’ve met Shatner at Ticonderoga and he was wise, wonderful and very generous with his time. Of course he wants to talk his latest project but don’t doubt that he knows he is famous for this role - not TJ Hooker.

 

I gotta say, having grown up watching TV and Star Trek and so on, I really don't care about William Shatner as a person any more than he does me. However, I enjoy his body of work. His portrayal of Jim Kirk was the epitome of charming heroism and he's magnetic in the role. The series was among his best work. I also loved him as T. J. Hooker, he made that series great fun. I don't care if he likes to interact with fans or not. Some actors don't like that interaction - not because they don't appreciate the fans but because they are social introverts. The Shatner you see at cons and events is a façade. Have you ever seen his contemporary on set interviews when the movies came out? Often he was quiet and awkward, but when it was his film, like Star Trek V, the persona came out. He is a performer and that's the person he wants fans to know and when he's on stage at a con, that's showbiz. Just because he's there live doesn't mean he's showing you "Bill." He's showing you "William Shatner." I can almost guarantee that 99% of fans doesn't know what Shatner is really like when he's among his circle of friends and family. I'm positive dudes like Takei or Doohan didn't know the real man either.

Fans love the characters and the series which spills over to the actors, but as much as Star Trek is a special show for us, it was a just 3 year source of employment over 50 years ago and 6 movies over a decade long span. Jeez, I don't remember half of my jobs and I'm only 53 myself. Shatner the man is probably tired of talking about it, but shit, if someone offered me sacks of cash to continually tell stores about my short time working at Toys R Us, I'd do it too. And I'd make the stories bigger and more colorful with each telling.

Let the guy be distant and cranky. He's earned it. You want fun and laughs, look up Jonathan Frakes. He loves fans.

 

Exactly! And going a half-step further, if you've led a full life you'll remember little to nothing about that job. Doesn't matter. You have to reminisce about it somehow and humor the fans.

 

He wouldn't even let fans who ask too specific questions finish and just says: I don't remember such details. Now here's a 10 min horse story.

 

George Takei said something I agree with recently, along the lines of "I don't remember working on Star Trek, I remember telling stories about working on Star Trek." Which is how memory works, unless you have a eidetic memory or total recall or something similar. And think of all the things that Shatner has lived through since 1969; multiple divorces, a wife drowning, friends dying, books, films, TV series, kids and grandkids, music albums, raising horses and so on. That's a ton of life in between the final episode of the series and today. He tells the same stories because he's used to telling them. Fans ask about the stupidest and most minute details about a moment in time a half century ago. He wants to talk about his current interests and projects. What else is there NEW for him to recall?

I know pretty much all I need to about my favorite series, other than a few things here and there that he wouldn't have known anyway. I would actually be more interested to know the ins and outs of TJ Hooker. A series he worked on longer and, I imagine, had more creative control over. I know next to nothing about it and his time with that cast.