A Matter of Shatner's Perspective

[Hofner]

I did a search and found this post by @Harvey from an old thread.

Harvey said:

At the outset in 1966, William Shatner owned five percent of Star Trek as part of his contract. Gene Roddenberry's contract must have given him more of the show than Shatner got. And of course Desilu owned the largest share. That would be my understanding.

Roddenberry (through Norway, basically a shell corporation), Shatner, NBC, and Desilu each had a share of profit participation in the show. Through Hollywood accounting, the show didn't go into profit until the 1980s (and probably only went into profit then because Roddenberry and Shatner sued Paramount for their share).

Desilu (later Paramount, later CBS) always controlled the underlying intellectual property.

"end quote'

Robert

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I'm not @Harvey however from his own Star Trek Fact Check Blog...

• In addition, William Shatner had 5% profit participation in Star Trek,

Thank you! That's what I was thinking of.

 

[Grizzlor]

I did a search and found this post by @Harvey from an old thread.

Harvey said:

At the outset in 1966, William Shatner owned five percent of Star Trek as part of his contract. Gene Roddenberry's contract must have given him more of the show than Shatner got. And of course Desilu owned the largest share. That would be my understanding.

Roddenberry (through Norway, basically a shell corporation), Shatner, NBC, and Desilu each had a share of profit participation in the show. Through Hollywood accounting, the show didn't go into profit until the 1980s (and probably only went into profit then because Roddenberry and Shatner sued Paramount for their share).

Desilu (later Paramount, later CBS) always controlled the underlying intellectual property.

"end quote'

Robert

WOW, that's astonishing, never imagined Shatner would have had that.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

WOW, that's astonishing, never imagined Shatner would have had that.

The way I heard it, Jack Lord (Dr. No, Hawaii Five-O) didn't get the lead in Star Trek because he asked for a 50 percent ownership of the series. Maybe he made Shatner's terms look good by comparison.

 

[Phaser Two]

WOW, that's astonishing, never imagined Shatner would have had that.

I think it was pretty standard back then because the studio knew how to show a loss on even the most profitable properties. So they were getting Shatner - who was quite the grab for a sci-fi series on TV - for an added amount that sounded good to him, but was nothing - literally - to them. I'm glad he and Roddenberry sued and won.

 

[Noname Given]

I think it was pretty standard back then because the studio knew how to show a loss on even the most profitable properties. So they were getting Shatner - who was quite the grab for a sci-fi series on TV - for an added amount that sounded good to him, but was nothing - literally - to them. I'm glad he and Roddenberry sued and won.

It's certainly gave the lead actor incentive to really do his best for the show both on set and in any promotional capacity without complaint.

 

[Grizzlor]

I think it was pretty standard back then because the studio knew how to show a loss on even the most profitable properties. So they were getting Shatner - who was quite the grab for a sci-fi series on TV - for an added amount that sounded good to him, but was nothing - literally - to them. I'm glad he and Roddenberry sued and won.

Ha ha ha! Great point on that, the studio accountants always one-upped their employees.

 

[Noname Given]

I think it was pretty standard back then because the studio knew how to show a loss on even the most profitable properties. So they were getting Shatner - who was quite the grab for a sci-fi series on TV - for an added amount that sounded good to him, but was nothing - literally - to them. I'm glad he and Roddenberry sued and won.

But that's always been the studio practice in Hollywood - IE No matter what the box office and merchandising profit actually is; a studio accountant can make it look like anything lost money.

Back in the '90s, The writer of Forrest Gump had to sue because the studio claimed (Even after the huge box office receipts); that no they actually took a loss on the film and anyone who was claiming profit sharing was out nothing because they actually made nothing.

But it was a known and standard studio practice so any actor or agent entering into such an agreement knew that in the end it would probably take legal action to see the terms fulfilled if they knew for a fact the project was making big bucks either via box office or merchandising

 

[Khan 2.0]

new article William Shatner tells of ‘loneliness’ during Star Trek years | William Shatner | The Guardian

 

[Maurice]

new article William Shatner tells of ‘loneliness’ during Star Trek years | William Shatner | The Guardian

Except the headline implies something not said in the article. He makes no reference to Star Trek in it.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Except the headline implies something not said in the article. He makes no reference to Star Trek in it.

Total clickbait on their part.

 

[Khan 2.0]

William Shatner Defends 1986 “Get A Life” SNL Skit After Criticism From Rod Roddenberry – TrekMovie.com

shatners currently on another Trekrospective tweet run

 

[Maurice]

William Shatner Defends 1986 “Get A Life” SNL Skit After Criticism From Rod Roddenberry – TrekMovie.com

The people who criticize that dumb old sketch also need to get a life...

 

[1001001]

The people who criticize that dumb old sketch also need to get a life...

Exactly.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Jeez, Rod Roddenberry is just everywhere these days. He seems like the kinda dude who says he doesn't like something and then backpedals halfway to say "but you know, it's all good and fun" or whatnot.

I haven't seen the skit in full in ages. It's still amazing. I miss "this" Shatner.

 

[T'Bonz]

Hate to say it, but the skit was dead-on accurate. There are plenty of normal Trek fans, but there are some that well - fit the profile of the fans in the skit.

 

[1001001]

Hate to say it, but the skit was dead-on accurate. There are plenty of normal Trek fans, but there are some that well - fit the profile of the fans in the skit.

Anyone who's ever been to a convention knows this first hand.

 

[ChallengerHK]

Hate to say it, but the skit was dead-on accurate. There are plenty of normal Trek fans, but there are some that well - fit the profile of the fans in the skit.

I was visiting a friend in college who had a party the night the "Get a Life!" episode first aired. Probably 30 people in the living room watched me, my fiancee and a couple of friends who were fans laughing our asses off. One of them finally said "I don't get it. What's so funny? It's just a bunch of nerds." I said "Yeah, it's a bunch of nerds that I've run into at cons a few hundred times." He still didn't think it was funny :-)

 

[seigezunt]

All respect to Rod --love his podcast network and the stuff the foundation is doing-- but the sketch was humorous and accurate, and remains accurate to this day. There are plenty of grown-ass adults in fandom getting their shorts in a bunch about things that are really embarrassing, if you step back and look at it with your eyeballs. Try explaining your concerns about "canon" to an adult sometime, and the sketch will get invoked.

 

[seigezunt]

I miss "this" Shatner.

Indeed. Twitter was a mistake.