William Shatner’s Finest TOS Performance?

[Ssosmcin]

I agree with all mentioned here and will add "Balance of Terror" as another great performance.

Shatner in my mind has always been underrated as an actor, sure he could be "wooden" but my God, when he wanted to, he could deliver.

Absolutely agree about "Balance of Terror." He was rarely better than he is here. His performance is layered, nuanced and utterly brilliant. He gives us a man of complex emotions. His devotion to duty overrides his controlled but present doubts and insecurities. There is little evidence of the "cocky space cowboy" he would be known as later. This is the original version of Kirk - probably the purest example of him - the "Hornbower in Space" we would see again in force in "The Ultimate Computer." Nick Meyer would also bring him back for Star Trek II.

Shatner could deliver really great, subtle work (Twilight Zone "Nick of Time") and some really cringe worthy efforts (his Thriller episodes are something to behold), but most of Star Trek showcases William Shatner at his career best. And usually in the first season, when Kirk was a little separate from the actor. As the series wore on, even Shatner said he put more of himself into the role. I love Kirk in all 79, plus the films, but these early episodes are truly his finest achievements.

But I'll always love T.J. Hooker.

 

[1001001]

Either this one:

Or this one:

 

[ChallengerHK]

There are many excellent performaces, but one I feel is underrated is "The Corormite Maneuver." The Kirk we see there is in command and competent, but also signs of nervousness come through, things like the terse "Any time you think you can bluff me line. He has to admit that he made a mistake with Bailey, an he devises a solution.

 

[Henoch]

‘Empath’ director John Erman also directed the Outer Limits episode ‘Nightmare’ about a group of United Earth prisoners of war who are captured and tortured by aliens.

This episode also starred Whit Bissell (Lurry) and the voice of Vic Perrin (Tharn plus several voices).

 

[Metryq]

Or this one:

Yes! SlapKirk! https://www.slapkirk.com/

And let's not forget Fizzbin, whether or not it is dark on Tuesday. But Balok might have destroyed the Enterprise right there.

 

[BillJ]

There are many excellent performaces, but one I feel is underrated is "The Corormite Maneuver." The Kirk we see there is in command and competent, but also signs of nervousness come through, things like the terse "Any time you think you can bluff me line. He has to admit that he made a mistake with Bailey, an he devises a solution.

Kirk was largely a well written, well rounded character in TOS. The pop culture interpretation of him seemed to have taken over in TWoK and replaced the TOS version of the character.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

Where is the love for THE NAKED TIME?

 

[Spock's Barber]

You got to be tough to wear a miniskirt, or whatever Ancient Greece called this colorful garb…

 

[Commander Troi]

I've been re-watching TOS over the past year or so and I've been impressed with Shatner a great deal.

 

[Warp Core Breach]

Where is the love for THE NAKED TIME?

Never lose you. Never.

 

[BillJ]

Never lose you. Never.

He was with the love of his life, every episode.

I think that is one of the things that strike me as wholly different between TOS and the rest of the franchise: the Enterprise. It was a character that people definitely took to.

Later on? "There's always more letters in the alphabet." It just seemed so much more sterilized. Kirk had better relationship with technology than any other character in the series.

 

[Warp Core Breach]

He was with the love of his life, every episode.

I think that is one of the things that strike me as wholly different between TOS and the rest of the franchise: the Enterprise. It was a character that people definitely took to.

Later on? "There's always more letters in the alphabet." It just seemed so much more sterilized. Kirk had better relationship with technology than any other character in the series.

And then you have the people who complain about the 5 minute flyby in TMP as well. That was a love letter to the fans who'd been without for more than ten years. I dug it in the theater. I guess you had to be there.

 

[Spock's Barber]

“I won the fight on Cestus 3.”

 

[BillJ]

“I won the fight on Cestus 3.”

Unfortunately, the game didn’t live up to the commercial.

 

[Spock's Barber]

Unfortunately, the game didn’t live up to the commercial.

I demand a rematch : Old Gorn against Old Kirk!

 

[ChallengerHK]

When I first started watching Star Trek, in 1967, I thought Kirk was a God, and by extension Shatner was a god. When I started going to conventions in my teens I was exposed to the Shatner parodies (and, of course, the albums) and my esteen for him dropped. When I started to study writing an filmmaking I paid more critical attention to his performances, and my opinion of him rose again. I saw a lot of subtlety and talent in him that was lost me on as a child and a teen.

 

[Spock's Barber]

This episode also starred Whit Bissell (Lurry) and the voice of Vic Perrin (Tharn plus several voices).

…and a very young Martin Sheen.

 

[Tallguy]

I'm going to go with City on the Edge of Forever.

He can do "steely eyed Starship Captain with a heart" all day long and it made him our hero. Balance of Terror, Doomsday Machine, Where No Man Has Gone Before, hell, A Piece of the Action. He is THE Captain.

City gave him enough to do emotionally without letting him go crazy with it. (The Naked Time. Paradise Syndrome.) And "Let's get the hell out of here" just makes you ache. It's also the greatest double act that Shatner and Nimoy ever got to do.

Shatner's weakness is balance. He has the guts to do anything and he's pretty fearless. But he doesn't know where to draw the line. All of The Wrath of Khan and almost all of The Search for Spock? Right side of the line. "You Klingon bastards"? Come back to us, Bill.

 

[BillJ]

Shatner's weakness is balance. He has the guts to do anything and he's pretty fearless. But he doesn't know where to draw the line. All of The Wrath of Khan and almost all of The Search for Spock? Right side of the line. "You Klingon bastards"? Come back to us, Bill.

I really enjoyed his performance in The Search for Spock.

 

[Tallguy]

I really enjoyed his performance in The Search for Spock.

He's amazing. I cite it as the last really great Kirk performance from Shatner.