Shatner speaks....

[Marsden]

I also wonder why the actors are the only ones that are supposed to be friends, there are crew people, directors, producers and any large groups of people that work there.

Are we going to wonder if Bill treated his make up artist appropriately? Did he tip the bellhop at the hotel sufficiently? Thank the caterer for lunch?

 

[Green Shirt]

Shattner

Just wondering, is your repeated mispelling of "Shatner" some kind of in-joke I'm not aware of?

The only inside joke is that I can't spell...lol. Of course you misspelled "mispelling" I think....but I can't spell so maybe I am wrong.

Thank you for pointing out my misspelling of "mispelling", it was simply a careless slip of the fingers on the keyboard. To me, that is different from constantly typing "Shattner" when his name is plastered in big yellow or blue letters on the opening credits of the episodes, not to mention any number of times in each post in this thread. That is why I was asking if it were some type of joke. Anyway, no harm, no foul.

 

[suarezguy]

Except Shatner was the star and the focus. When it comes down to it, are you giving more time to the helmsman so he can plot in a new course, or are you giving the lead actor, the one drawing in the viewers, a little more time for an extra line? It's not that difficult a decision to make.

There's no denying Shatner was the star and focus--that is a fact not only from the producers' intent, but a basic observation, just as its a fact the "add on" actors were not intended to be more than positions more tied to a function than being on track for great character growth.

Star Trek's success or audience appeal was not resting on the shoulders of Takei, Nicholls, Doohan, et al.

^^^
This. And if someone wants an example, take TOS' "The Doomsday Machine". The Communications officer for that ENTIRE episode is a character named Lt. Palmer played by actress Elizabeth Rogers. Nichelle Nichols (as Uhura) is never once seen or mentioned. Are STS fans outraged by this, and as a result does the episode languish as 'one of the worst' (like say "And the Children Shall Lead")? Nope. It's consistently rated as one of the better TOS episodes (in many fan's 'Top Ten' lists - including mine.

If that isn't a prime example of how much Nichelle Nichols (and Uhura) actually meant to a person's enjoyment of a given Star trek episode, or the series in general, I don't know what is.

OTOH, a lot of fans also like "The Tholian Web" which had very little Shatner and more of an ensemble feel. Admittedly a whole series having minimal scenes with the captain wouldn't work but there could have been more of a balance.

I also wonder why the actors are the only ones that are supposed to be friends, there are crew people, directors, producers and any large groups of people that work there.

Well there has been a good deal of criticism of Roddenberry for not giving enough credit to others for the shows and Gerrold seems to have developed a somewhat similar resentment to him as Takei has to Shatner.

 

[MantaBase]

Shatakei!

Lol

It can be a Cooking Show where they both get knives! And they have to prepare Klingon and Romulan Dishes for the judges.

 

[MantaBase]

Thank you for pointing out my misspelling of "mispelling", it was simply a careless slip of the fingers on the keyboard. To me, that is different from constantly typing "Shattner" when his name is plastered in big yellow or blue letters on the opening credits of the episodes, not to mention any number of times in each post in this thread. That is why I was asking if it were some type of joke. Anyway, no harm, no foul.

No Worries. Shatt happens

 

[The Old Mixer]

Are we going to wonder if Bill treated his make up artist appropriately? Did he tip the bellhop at the hotel sufficiently? Thank the caterer for lunch?

Interesting point. To twist the topic slightly, Nimoy in particular probably spent more face time with his make-up artist than with Takei....

 

[Alter Ego]

Shatakei!

Lol

It can be a Cooking Show where they both get knives! And they have to prepare Klingon and Romulan Dishes for the judges.

LOL Gordon Ramsay could be the judge!

 

[MantaBase]

LOL Gordon Ramsay could be the judge!

"This Gagh is barley moving! Did you use frozen? Both of you should Piss Off! Now GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN!" lol.

"Bill, tell me why you deserve to stay?"

"Gordon......I can.....do this. I deserve this. I know the Targ was burned, but really....that wasn't my fault....George...he.....I'm losing control of my space Gordon.....I'm losing....control."

 

[Alter Ego]

LOL Gordon Ramsay could be the judge!

"This Gagh is barley moving! Did you use frozen? Both of you should Piss Off! Now GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN!" lol.

"Bill, tell me why you deserve to stay?"

"Gordon......I can.....do this. I deserve this. I know the Targ was burned, but really....that wasn't my fault....George...he.....I'm losing control of my space Gordon.....I'm losing....control."

LOL. ..perfect!

 

[T'Girl]

I tune in to watch Kirk and Sulu (for example), not Shatner and Takei.

Shatakei!

I read this and immediately thought of the episode Tuvix.

We could of had long debates on whether Spock had the right to kill Shatakei.

 

[dswynne1]

This may sound odd, but this entire "feud" reminds me of the Syndrome/Mister Incredible relationship from "The Incredibles": you had a young actor named George Takei who wanted to get to know a rising star named William Shatner, who basically brushed Takei off (for whatever reason). I would venture to say that there might be a "man-crush" involved, but only in a platonic-sense. And like any rebuffed crush, these feelings turned inward. The result? Not being able to let go after many decades, as well as the target of the crush not understanding what is going on. So now, you have Takei striving to be the "heart" of Trekdom, essentially wanting to replace Shatner (who may or may not wanted to have such an honor anyway, given his love/not-love relationship with 'Trek career-wise). Because, let's face it: Shatner is getting older, as well as the rest of the cast members. And, like it or not, some day, we are going to lose these people in the near-future. Right now, both Takei and Shatner are competing (for lack of a better term) to be the end-note to TOS and its legacy. And, sadly, rather than coming to terms to write such an end-note together, Takei and Shatner will both end up as footnotes to a once-proud franchise, and will be easily forgotten within a generation or two, save for their iconic roles in TOS.

Conscious streaming can be a good or bad thing, when coming up stuff like this...

 

[mach7]

I read somewhere (who knows where now, soooo many trek books!) that between the 2nd pilot and the start of production of the show Shatner and Takei worked on a production together. Takei said he was excited to work with him again and went up to him on the set to talk about Star Trek. The problem was Shatner did not remember who he was. That could be the start of his feelings.

It is telling that with a few exceptions everyone else Shatner has worked with over the years has said it was a positive experience. The mantra is the same. He is a professional, always shows up prepared, and gives 100% to what he is doing.

I have a friend that was on a local TV crew in the 80's. Shatner came on to do a promo. He was professional and prepared if not very outgoing.

Shatner was hired as the star, billed as the star, paid as the star, always referred to by the shows producer as the star, was the center of action/story of all the episodes (even the episodes that featured other players).

Takei was a day to day background player that was given a few good moments in a show about Capt. Kirk.

 

[Ssosmcin]

This whole thing reminds oe of all the articles and reviews that would say, "this cast has worked on their characters for 20 years," and whatnot. But in reality, they only worked on them for three with a few movies scattered along the way. People tend to lump the beginning time and the end time as one huge block of constant activity and acquaintance. When you put reality in to the mix, you'll find that actually working on this thing called "Star Trek" only took up a very small portion of their lives. It just happens to be the most famous of any of their work.

 

[Mister Spock]

Nichols, Takei and Koenig just need to get over it. They haven't acted together in a Star Trek film in nearly a quarter of a century, so they've just go to move on with their lives. Shatner can be a bit of a jerk, but I'm sure he doesn't lose any sleep over them not liking him.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Koenig got over it a while ago, and in fact did a very interesting televised talk with Shatner as part of Shatner's interview show (I forget the name). He might not have always felt this way, but he is quite reconciled to the idea that Shatner was the star and he was a bit player.
The interview is worth watching. Shatner, for his part, knows more about Koenig than I'd have expected (at one point he points out that Koenig was well on his way to being an intellectual, but for the acting bug).

 

[Green Shirt]

Takei and Shatner will both end up as footnotes to a once-proud franchise, and will be easily forgotten within a generation or two, save for their iconic roles in TOS.

Yeah, especially since Shatner did nothing outside of Trek.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Koenig got over it a while ago, and in fact did a very interesting televised talk with Shatner as part of Shatner's interview show (I forget the name). He might not have always felt this way, but he is quite reconciled to the idea that Shatner was the star and he was a bit player.
The interview is worth watching. Shatner, for his part, knows more about Koenig than I'd have expected (at one point he points out that Koenig was well on his way to being an intellectual, but for the acting bug).

Raw Nerve. I heard about that interview but never got to see it. Really wish I did - now it looks like the show's been canceled.

In an earlier post in the thread, I mentioned it:

Apparently there was an episode of Shatner's "Raw Nerve" (which I never saw and don't know if it ever actually aired) that was recorded with Walter Koenig where the first question out of Shatner's mouth was something to the effect of, "So...Walter...What the fuck?" regarding "The Feud". IIRC, Walter actually admitted that he didn't know Shatner at all, never felt as mistreated and disrespected as the others said they were and was kind of bullied into acting negatively towards Shatner or risk being pushed out of the "2nd Tier Club" of Takei, Nichols and Doohan. I have no idea where I heard/read this, but it definitely stands out in my mind how manufactured a lot of this "outrage" was towards Shatner, and how it snowballed out of control over the years.

Arguably, outside the "big three", Koenig probably had the best career of the rest of them. Writer, director, continued acting as Bester in B5 (a great role for him) - he strikes me as someone who capitalized on his Trek creds rather than sitting back on his ass, telling the same tired old stories at the conventions and milking the residuals (if there were any) without much additional post-Trek effort.

Although, to Nichelle's credit, she actually has a relatively new story (as opposed to the MLK one that we've all heard), wherein she was at a convention, I think in the UK and she saw someone who was clearly a skinhead in the autograph line. She was starting to get nervous and security was watching him closely. When he got up to the table he apparently told her that when he saw her in TOS, he was inspired to shed the skinhead lifestyle. He couldn't, in good conscience, maintain that particular viewpoint. I thought it was a very touching and poignant story, but very much off-topic here, though. Just thought I'd share.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Watching Star Trek IV the other day I was surprised to see how little Takei and Shatner interacted even in the movies. I don't think there was a single scene where they even make eye contact.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Raw Nerve. I heard about that interview but never got to see it. Really wish I did - now it looks like the show's been canceled.

In an earlier post in the thread, I mentioned it:

Ah, sorry. I skimmed.

The episode was available on one of the streaming services - maybe Hulu?

Koenig seems to have a good idea of where he sits in the profession. When asked, he said he considered himself a fair actor, not a great actor.
He didn't even wear his hair for the interview.
Pure supposition on my part, but I suspect that he's been doing a lot of introspection since his son's unfortunate death.

 

[T'Girl]

Raw Nerve. I heard about that interview but never got to see it. Really wish I did - now it looks like the show's been canceled.

YouTube has several.