I meet William Shatner Tomorrow !!!

[Vger23]

No, there were definitely some fans who felt the same way.

Like "you're making fun of us? Without us, you'd be doing dinner theater in Oklahoma!"

Then you become a member of this board, see the things people argue about, over and over and over, and you start to think maybe he was on to something....

No doubt. And for the record, I thought the SNL bit was awesome then it's still awesome now.

 

[Greg Cox]

Did he ever apologize publicly for saying that?

Why should he? It was a funny comedy skit--and not entirely off-target. I like to think that we Trekkies are not so thin-skinned that we can't laugh at ourselves and our occasional excesses.

And the same applies to other fandoms. Trust me, switch out the Trek jokes for DARK SHADOWS jokes or XENA jokes or SUPERMAN jokes, and cast somebody besides Shatner, and the same skit works just as well

 

[The Old Mixer]

I always took the Get a Life sketch as a sort of litmus test. If a fan is offended by it, then maybe they're exactly the type of fan that the skit was parodying.

 

[urbandefault]

I saw the thing when it aired live and laughed out loud. If you can't laugh at yourself it's a pretty sad existence.

Addendum: Seems like I remember it being obvious that Shat was reading cue cards.

 

[ItIsGreen]

One thing I learned about William Shatner recently is that he doesn't like it if you say you grew up idolising Captain Kirk.

 

[Kor]

I saw the thing when it aired live and laughed out loud. If you can't laugh at yourself it's a pretty sad existence.

Addendum: Seems like I remember it being obvious that Shat was reading cue cards.

I think he talks about this in an interview on his official Youtube channel.

Kor

 

[CRM-114]

One thing I learned about William Shatner recently is that he doesn't like it if you say you grew up idolising Captain Kirk.

I think I get where he's coming from. For him, playing Kirk is only one facet of his career, albeit a large one. Star Trek may be a big part of his life, but it's not the only thing, and it may not even what he considers the best part. I guess in his mind, Star Trek is not the only thing in his life, so why should it be the only thing in anyone's life?

 

[Greg Cox]

I still remember seeing Nimoy in person back in the eighties. He was doing IN SEARCH OF at the time and really wanted to talk about that, but every single question from the audience was about STAR TREK instead. It got comical after awhile. Nimoy would talk for several minutes about IN SEARCH OF and then ask, "Any questions?"

"Yes. Is Spock really dead?"
"Can Vulcans really only have sex every seven years?"
Etc.

He was a good sport about it, but it had to have been frustrating to some degree. And you could probably get a good SNL skit out of it.

 

[TribbleFeeder]

Well, I’m obviously in the minority here.

 

[jaime]

Well, I’m obviously in the minority here.

You get used to it.
Turns out some of us even liked Star Trek V.
Outside of that, it’s very possibly likely I am the only member of the board to have an interest in the period Drama house of Eliot, and I am probably the onl straight male on the planet to own both books based on the series. We can all find our little niche.

I have the feeling thinking Shatner might not be very nice may be a big niche though. George Takei is in it.

 

[TrickyDickie]

Outside of that, it’s very possibly likely I am the only member of the board to have an interest in the period Drama house of Eliot, and I am probably the onl straight male on the planet to own both books based on the series.

Wrong on both counts.

Matter of fact, it goes much farther for me. I have always enjoyed designing ladies' clothing. It just might have originated from what I saw on TOS. I can also successfully match foundation and other makeup to skin tone. I like my wife's natural look best, without makeup, but there are times here and there that she wears it and I have always paid attention to the 'mechanics' of it. It's all quite fascinating. I kept my large collection of stuffed animals from childhood and she did, too. We have since greatly expanded and I gained an appreciation for her dolls, as well. Now, we make all of the above, including clothing for them. To me, it's just as much fun as working on cars, or writing fiction, or building model kits.

A few months ago, I found a copy of the following book and gave it to my wife as a gift. She is 5'1". She has a great sense of style and didn't need it, but we are both big fans of the 80s and it was cool to find it, because we had not known that the book existed. We both shatter a lot of stereotypes. She likes working on cars, too.

 

[Commishsleer]

Well, I’m obviously in the minority here.

I'm with you but more annoyed with him.
I think Shatner's unnecessarily rude and condescending.
I don't know of a prominent figure of any other franchise putting down the fans like Shatner does and everyone still clambering to see him.
In perspective its not all that bad and hes probably just saying what the other actors are thinking.

I suppose i'm still a fan of the man's work just not the way he sometimes conducts himself.

 

[Vger23]

I'm with you but more annoyed with him.
I think Shatner's unnecessarily rude and condescending.
I don't know of a prominent figure of any other franchise putting down the fans like Shatner does and everyone still clambering to see him.
In perspective its not all that bad and hes probably just saying what the other actors are thinking.

I suppose i'm still a fan of the man's work just not the way he sometimes conducts himself.

I've met him twice and he's been wonderful to me, family, and friends both times. I appreciate that he's real. There's some shit he thinks it's ridiculous or won't tolerate, and he's not going to pretend otherwise. Sounds like a normal human being to me.

 

[Ovation]

I live just outside Montreal and I used to regularly run into the captain of the Montreal Canadiens (hockey team, for those who might not know--though shame on you ). Trust me, in hockey-mad Montreal, that's the equivalent of running into Shatner, Nimoy or Stewart or... I am a big hockey fan, have been since the age of 4 (46 years ago) and am especially a fan of the Canadiens. However, I never talked hockey with Brian Gionta--we were meeting at the pre-school our kids attended to pick them up at the end of the day. So we chatted about things parents of young children always chat about. I never asked for an autograph or a picture or anything--he was on his down time in private life. He (and most of his teammates) provided ample opportunity at various events and functions for that kind of thing. It would have been rude to intrude that way into his private life.

Shatner (or any other celebrity) is fully entitled to separate out work from private life, on his own terms. He doesn't have to be rude to people (though I imagine such rudeness probably results from an accumulation of "intrusions", for most celebrities) but he doesn't have to bend over backwards to accommodate them either.

As for the "Get a Life" SNL skit--I loved it when I saw it live and still love it.

 

[TrickyDickie]

I live just outside Montreal and I used to regularly run into the captain of the Montreal Canadiens (hockey team, for those who might not know--though shame on you ). Trust me, in hockey-mad Montreal, that's the equivalent of running into Shatner, Nimoy or Stewart or... I am a big hockey fan, have been since the age of 4 (46 years ago) and am especially a fan of the Canadiens. However, I never talked hockey with Brian Gionta--we were meeting at the pre-school our kids attended to pick them up at the end of the day. So we chatted about things parents of young children always chat about. I never asked for an autograph or a picture or anything--he was on his down time in private life. He (and most of his teammates) provided ample opportunity at various events and functions for that kind of thing. It would have been rude to intrude that way into his private life.

Guy Lafleur !!! Back in the 70s, hockey cards were nowhere near as popular as baseball cards or football cards, but I had several of his cards. What a career. Coming out of retirement was kind of a double-edged sword. And that accident he had....wow, life is such a game of inches.

My father was born in Nova Scotia and the family moved down to the U.S. when he was 5. So, I have dual citizenship from birth. A while back, I wanted to join the Canadian military, because they accept recruits up to age 57. But, I found that even with citizenship, if you have not actually been living in Canada, they make the whole thing pretty much impossible. It had been my plan to serve for at least ten years, more if possible, and then retire to the Cape Breton Highlands. Bureaucratic crap nixed that whole thing.

 

[Commishsleer]

I've met him twice and he's been wonderful to me, family, and friends both times. I appreciate that he's real. There's some shit he thinks it's ridiculous or won't tolerate, and he's not going to pretend otherwise. Sounds like a normal human being to me.

I love to hear it when Shatner does good and I've never heard of him actually saying anything bad to a fan who has waited in a long queue to get his autograph or picture.
Of course I would be afraid of saying anything to him just in case he thought it was nonsense.

All those people who loved the SNL script you do realise he was talking about you (and me and everyone here) not the other weird guy in the queue wearing a Star Trtek uniform.