Meyer’s commentary is on the Director’s Edition DVD of TWOK. I’m assuming it’s on the regular DVD, but I could be wrong about that.

He also has a commentary track on ST VI.

It’s these references that make me wish the novels had been held into the continuity. It would have made the Trekverse so much richer!

JPH

I think it fits in the cup holder on my laptop…

Where can I listen to Nicholas Meyer’s commentary, please?

Happy Trekmas!

Thank ye, sir!
Kirk and Ciana’s relationship is explored in the novels that take place between TOS and TMP – starting with The Lost Years and including Traitor Winds and A Flag Full of Stars. Not sure which order, on the last two, but I think it goes that way. Those stories even bring back the cabin on Centaurus from Crisis on Centaurus, which I thought was a nice touch.

That was back in the day when regular schmoes like me could submit stories…

I had the novelization back in the 80s

I wish I had it now

Hunt, you rock.

In Shatner’s case: if you haven’t already, listen to Meyer’s commentary on TWOK. He addresses this very issue, during the scene when Kirk and Khan first communicate after the initial attack.

I agree that TMP was flawed from a character perspective. There was so much more potential there. Especially between Decker and Kirk. Here you have the son of Kirk’s close friend, and Kirk has to throw him out of the job. There could have been much more there. Did Decker blame Kirk for the commodore’s death? Did Kirk feel guilty and take young Matt under his wing? So much unexplored territory there.

And some may know, but most may not: the other victim of the transporter accident (according to the novel) was Vice-Admiral Lori Ciana, Kirk’s wife. That could have been a character arc gold mine! Losing his wife, unfamiliar with the ship, an XO that resents him, Spock off his game, McCoy taking shots at him, and he has to deal with an alien that’s about to destroy Earth? Untapped potential there.

And then there’s the fact that directors do this with just about any actor so that they can lower the need to call the actor back in when he or she is on another assignment. It’s a standard practice.

And then there’s the fact that the entertainment news media like to hype up such stories so that they can fill space in print and time in electronic media when it’s a slow news day and they have to meet their obligations somehow.

You can’t believe everything you see and read about actors. And what you do see and read, it’s a good idea to divide by five.

Eventually The Shat confesses to being a ham on Conan O’Brien. He said he was in a play in Canada and the audience got bored, so he hammed it up, and the Shat as we know him was born.

Some actors you just have to nudge into the right performance. Some get it just spot-on the first time. Takes all kinds.