Ah…Anthony??? I was under the impresion that politics was taboo here…. It still is, right? Right???

Hmm, your scenarios of Abrams reacting to Shatner’s supposed egotism with his own pettiness, in my opinion, does disparage him. From all the interviews I’ve seen and read of the guy, he strikes me as pretty balanced and above the fray. And just as you have problems with those that take JJ to task, so do I with those who seem to want to paint Shatner as some sort of villain. He’s earned the right in the Trek patheon and frankly I don’t see that he’s done anything awful. JJ called him and then didn’t call back apparently. And that could simply be because they are both so dang busy! Shatner expressed dismay and when asked, commented on his feelings, but he’s never said a bad word about the movie. And just as Nimoy deserved more than a cameo in Generations, so too did Shatner’s Kirk in the new movie.

In this whole situation, I think the Writer’s Strike had a lot to do with the whole situation — time just ran out.

Selling Abrams short? I don’t think so. In fact, I don’t believe I said anything remotely disparaging about him. He is an accomplished television series creator, and a hot name right now in Hollywood for big budget projects.

And on the contrary, it would be naive to believe that egos (both on the part of Abrams and Shatner) would not play any role in how this thing turned out. I take Abrams at his word that he would have liked to find a place for Bill in STXI. I also think that JJ would likely be insulted by Shatner’s public criticisms of his decision-making skills. Hollywood is a business world (albeit a strange one) not all that different from the one I operate in as a business owner who has to build and maintain relationships to be successful.

Shatner is a business. He is his own company. He has to make himself marketable. He does a good job for the most part (at least with audiences). But if he were one of my sales people, and I assigned him to a prospective account, and while he was in the process of trying to convince that potential client to hire him (or us) to perform a service or provide a product, he publicly criticized that client’s “business decisions”, I would fire him immediately! If he was looking at the possibility of getting that account to the point where the potential client may not be able to make a large purchase with us, but perhaps a small one, and then he put that account in jeopardy by publicly stating that “We don’t do that”, then there you have another offense which would get him a swift kick in the a$$ from me—sending him right out the door! That is essentially what he did. He had a possible opprotunity to end up with a small gratuitous role in STXI—Abrams said as much at one point. Then Bill proceeded to paint himself, again publicly, as being above “cameos”, and then called JJ’s decision not to give him the role he wanted in the film a “bad business decision”. Naive? I think not. It would be naive to think that such public insults would carry no weight in JJ’s view of Shatner and potentially finding him a role in the film. He did not just say it once, but everytime he was asked about it. That, IMO was a “bad business decision”, and I didn’t get to be successful in building a business, a good business reputation, and lasting business relationships by being wrong about such things, and certainly not by being “naive”…

As for “speaking his mind”, of course he has every right. His speech does not infringe on the rights of anyone else. However, that doesn’t make his comments a smart move, and it certainly doesn’t make his opinions correct. While we have a right to speak our minds, we do not have a right to expect no consequences to what we say, particularly when it is public. Everything you say is cause to the effect, particularly when you operate in the business world, where the people who make decisions do not have to decide to use your service, your product, or either.

“Personally, I don’t see bad behavior on either’s — it just didn’t work out — that happens a lot in LaLaLand — and I’m sad about that.”

It’s only “bad behavior” on Bill’s part if he really did want a part in the film. If he didn’t, then it doesn’t really matter. If he did, then his comments were foolish, whether they actually affected Abrams decision or not. I cannot speak as to whether or not they did, but they certainly had the potential to do so.

I appreciate you being one of the few who are saddened by Bill’s absence who does not blame JJ Abrams for it. It bothers me that some do. Abrams was the one person who had nothing to do with creating the “writing problem” in the first place. Furthermore, he has every right to express his desire to include Bill, and yet still ultimately decide that it was not the best way to go. Obviously, Abrams and co. did not feel that the presence of Shatner’s Kirk would benefit the story that was already written, at least in the type of prominent role Bill wanted. Who knows if JJ could have come up with a beneficial cameo role (like the flashback idea)? We’ll never know, because Bill felt it necessary to say, “I don’t do cameos”, when asked about that possibility. Perhaps if he had been a bit more open-minded at the time, JJ might have called him back.

At any rate, I still think you overstate the whole situation about Shatner, his comments and all. I think he has every right to speak his mind. And let’s remember….every time actors are interviewed they are asked the same questions over and over again. For years. I’ve been watching our wonderful casts repeat themselves to talking heads who obviously have no clue about Trek for 40 years. But of course, the majority of the people in the world maybe catch one or two interviews of a particular celeb and don’t see the redundancy. We however tend to hang on every single word of these people so I think “Shatner is being so negative” is just really blowing the entire thing out of proportion. No, we are just seeing every single time he’s asked about the same thing ad nauseum.

The notion that he is “disappointed” is almost certainly an honest expression of his feelings. Now, being “puzzled”, is a bit more questionable. He has stated himself that there are obstacles, and going on shows like “The View”, and acting as if he is surprised that he wasn’t offered a role like that of Kirk’s father or grandfather (or any other “cameo” role) is downright dishonest. After all, as I stated earlier, it was he who, after getting a call from JJ Abrams, began publicly saying, “I don’t do cameos.” It makes absolutely no sense that he would be surprised that he wasn’t made such an offer.
As for his negative comments, he is welcome to voice his opinions, but he simply has no basis for calling his absence in the film “a bad business decision”, nor has he any reason to believe that leaving Shatner’s Kirk out was a result of a lack of creativity. It apparently never occured to him that resurrecting Shatner’s Kirk simply might not be the best thing for the story. After all, if it doesn’t benefit the story they want to tell, then shoehorning him in wouldn’t make any sense.

#71–”It is a crying shame that this could not be worked out.”

I think it’s a crying shame that Mr. Shatner did not leave his mind open to any possible involvement in the film (including a cameo) while Abrams was publicly making comments about wanting to find a place for him. IMO, Shatner’s “I don’t do cameos” statements to the press eliminated what was probably the most viable option for his presence in the film—a flashback scene depicting Kirk and Spock interacting prior to his boarding the Enterprise-B. Such a recollection on Spock’s part could have easily been written into relevancy to the plot (once the strike was over), and would not run the risk of interfering or appearing out-of-place with the established storyline. But imagine you are JJ Abrams. You are one of the hottest names in Hollywood, and you also have an ego. The strike has just ended, and you are now free to make writing adjustments if you want to. Meanwhile, Shatner has been out there publicly criticizing your decision-making skills and saying “I don’t do cameos”. Would you write that into the script? Would you even make an offer? I wouldn’t. In fact, I wouldn’t even give him a courtesy call. But hey, that’s just me.

You are so right. It is a crying shame that this could not be worked out.

You’re not the only one, krikzil. Many fans feel the same way.

Amen Iowagirl. I keep hoping that something can be worked out. I can die a happy Trek fan. LOL. It will be a joy to see Spock again but to have Kirk too would be icing on the cake. Heh, if Shat keeps losing weight…well, who knows?

“Shatners negative comments regarding the new movie and its makers appears to have been fueled by Abrams not getting back to him,the man afterall has a huge ego.This matter has been handled very badly .”

I was surprised and puzzled at the LV Creation Con when Shatner was talking about this very thing. Why start something and then not follow through? Oh, I agree there are issues — Nimoy’s “moldering” remark sums it up best and with humor — but heck, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these are creative people and they could have found a way. Nothing against whatever this movie will be — I’m hoping it’s entertaining as hell but I can always wonder what more it might have been with Kirk/Shatner.

Course, I *do* think it’s being overstated about Shatner’s “negative” comments. He was puzzled and disappointed. Seems like an honest reaction to me.

At any rate, I’m so happy Shatner was recognized with this nomination. He’s certainly worked hard enough over the years.