Shatner: "I hope that movie bombs"

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Photoman15 said:
There's no indication that the press 1, can tell a joke from a serious remark ...

There's plenty, actually.

The only thing that's certain is that Shatner will eventually say that it was a joke - his fans will believe him and other folks who've observed him for a long time with more detachment will remain skeptical (which is really the only sensible attitude to take toward the Shat when he starts talking. He's a charmer, but an "unreliable narrator").

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Apogeal Alpha01 said:I mean really, as said, he would have to be incredibly bitter

Exactly.

and he doesn't strike me that way. At least, as mentioned, the franchise has been berry berry good to him!

Sometimes the people who have received the most, can be the most bitter.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Amazing. Just amazing. People are still missing it. After all these years...

This is just another example of Shatner's dry-as-the-Sahara "I taught Nimoy everything he knows in the acting business" humor that's gotten him in so much trouble with people over the years. People! If it's real, it's a JOKE!!! Sheesh!

 

[aridas sofia]

indranee said:

North Pole-aris said:

indranee said:
eh, 'tis a rumor.

Which is just about all we ever discuss in this forum.

hence why I think so.

Absolutely right. I think this crowd -- all of us -- are being played like Nero's well-worn harp.

Creating fan fits over non-stories like Shatner's supposed upset over not being in this movie -- whether he really is or not, or is in the movie or not -- is a distraction.

I know this to be true because I regularly speak to Matt's source on the lot.

 

[siskokid888]

I would think we would all be familiar with Shatner's sense of humor by now. This statement, if he did make it, is a classic example of Shatner's sense of humor. He's joking folks (not that it really matters all that much)

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

siskokid888 said:
I would think we would all be familiar with Shatner's sense of humor by now. This statement, if he did make it, is a classic example of Shatner's sense of humor. He's joking folks (not that it really matters all that much)

Exactly. Shatner's joking and the joke bombed.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

If this *is* a joke...it's NOT FUNNY.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

137th Gebirg said:
Amazing. Just amazing. People are still missing it. After all these years...
People! If it's real, it's a JOKE!!! Sheesh!

Don't count on it. I guess it must be a comforting thought, though.

What a lot of Shatner's trufen miss is that his much-vaunted "sense of humor" is largely at other peoples' expense. It's the humor of a practical joker with a mean streak - he loves to tell stories about how he frustrated or upset an innocent party (the "literally eating Kelley's breakfast" ST 6 story for example - hah hah) and seems to have no clue as to the lack of empathy he reveals in the process. So of course he thought "Invasion Iowa" was a brilliant idea (along with the fact that he was paid money to do it, of course).

People who've been on the receiving end of this stuff sometimes have a different opinion regarding whether he's "joking" or doing something else altogether.

 

[Corran Horn]

I wish he'd give it a rest.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Corran HoHoHorn said:
I wish he'd give it a rest.

He'll have to, soon enough.

I imagine that to the extent that his participation in the movie is undecided he's doing a lot to help the producers make up their minds - he may even be ticking off higher-ups at the studio at this point who will make the decision for the producers.

 

[Opus]

Ummmm, Shatner is JOKING. The TrekToday article says as much.

Hasn't anyone heard Shatner on Howard Stern and his humor? It comes off dry, aserbic, and self-aggrandizing, but he's really just being silly and making fun of himself and how actors are self-important. He reminds me a bit like Martin Short in that way. The line is funny.

Also, doesn't anyone remember his, "Get a Life!" skit on SNL? Or "How William Shatner changed the World" or something like that on the History Channel? How about "Free Enterprise"? C'mon, the guy really doesn't take himself seriously. Why is anyone else?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

OphaClyde said:
Ummmm, Shatner is JOKING. The TrekToday article says as much.

The TrekToday article says that because the writer is drawing a conclusion rather than accurately summarizing the report of the incident.

The actual report - not the TrekToday summary - is linked at the beginning of this topic. The reporter characterizes him as "bitter" rather than "joking."

 

[Opus]

Babaganoosh said:
I still don't understand why people are all of a sudden so convinced he was joking. Just because TrekToday said so? Were they there?

Were you?

It's not that I *want* him to have been serious, I *expect* it. There is a difference.

Yeah, the difference is you've never heard him give a tongue in cheek interview, which is what he's doing almost all the time. Rarely is he serious in interviews. He's silly and says outrageous stuff like "I hope that movie tanks." He'll call Nimoy a jerk, and pretend not to know who his co-stars are when asked about his working relationships.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

OphaClyde said:
Yeah, the difference is you've never heard him give a tongue in cheek interview...

I have. Many times. And I'm not buying "he's joking" at this point. But then, having watched his public behavior for forty years I don't have a predisposition to always make excuses for him.

Have no doubt, though, that as soon as he realizes what's being said about this he will claim that he was joking.

 

[igrokbok]

North Pole-aris said:

OphaClyde said:
Ummmm, Shatner is JOKING. The TrekToday article says as much.

The TrekToday article says that because the writer is drawing a conclusion rather than accurately summarizing the report of the incident.

The actual report - not the TrekToday summary - is linked at the beginning of this topic. The reporter characterizes him as "bitter" rather than "joking."

Big deal. Against all odds, he MIGHT have said it in all seriousness, or the reporter could be as clueless to Shat's style of humor as you are. The fact that you "feel" like the reporter "felt" like Shatner wasn't joking, means absolutely nothing. :thumbsup:

 

[CorporalClegg]

It's funny no one even seemed to consider the fact he might actually have been serious the movie will tank.

Frankly, I myself am still tentative.

 

[Cary L. Brown]

North Pole-aris said:

OphaClyde said:
Yeah, the difference is you've never heard him give a tongue in cheek interview...

I have. Many times. And I'm not buying "he's joking" at this point. But then, having watched his public behavior for forty years I don't have a predisposition to always make excuses for him.

Have no doubt, though, that as soon as he realizes what's being said about this he will claim that he was joking.

And that, sadly, sums up WHY people are taking things as they are.

You WANT him to be bitter and angry. Basically, you want him to suffer. Evidently he ran over your puppy?

Folks... the guy is remarkably well-balanced, doesn't take himself too seriously, CERTAINLY doesn't take this TV show/movie series all that seriously. He's had a good run, as an actor, and he's still doing well. He sees it as exactly what it is... A JOB!

The fact that some of you really really really want him to be a sad, old lonely guy who nobody likes is really irrelevant. HE IS NOT.

Fact is, he's happier, better adjusted, more successful, and just generally a better person than many of the posters on here.

He GETS IT.

The people who really, really, really want him to take this as seriously as they do...and as a result to be near-suicidal over not getting to play, at about 70 years old, a 27-year-old Jim Kirk... to be morose, bitter, and angry (like they seem to be), well, those people are the really pathetic ones here.

Anyone who (1) has watched Shatner in anything he's ever done (including but not limited to Star Trek), (2) has been observing the ongoing "well, aren't you mad" daily question regimen being foisted on the guy, and (3) has an actual SENSE OF HUMOR, will get this.

Those who don't simply are projecting their own sense of hate-filled "wishful thinking" on the guy.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

If this is true, I think I love Shatner now more than ever.

 

[T'Bonz]

Cary L. Brown said:
Anyone who (1) has watched Shatner in anything he's ever done (including but not limited to Star Trek), (2) has been observing the ongoing "well, aren't you mad" daily question regimen being foisted on the guy, and (3) has an actual SENSE OF HUMOR, will get this.

Thank you. That was my take on it when I did the news article. I was beginning to think that I was the only one who DID "get" Shatner.

I've been watching interviews on Shatner's own little network (Shatnervision) and reading more boring crap that I could ever have wanted to see. EVERY time, he has wished Nimoy, the movie, Abrams, etc, luck.

Shatner also has a quirky sense of humor and will poke fun at people and things AND do it deadpan.

It was my opinion, based on many things I've seen/heard from the guy, that this was a joke and quite possibly a poke at those asking him for the 1,000,000 time what he thought about the movie.

 

[Noname Given]

North Pole-aris said:

Corran HoHoHorn said:
I wish he'd give it a rest.

He'll have to, soon enough.

I imagine that to the extent that his participation in the movie is undecided he's doing a lot to help the producers make up their minds - he may even be ticking off higher-ups at the studio at this point who will make the decision for the producers.

What decision? The script is finalized; and they're shooting; and with the WGA strike, no changes whatsoever (beyond a few set ad-libs) are allowed to be made. Thus the 'decision' had already been made weeks ago; and if William Shatner (as 'old' Kirk) wasn't already in the script; he sure as hell can't be added now.