William Shatner Honored With Canadian Lifetime Achievement Award + Could Charlie Sheen Save Shatner’s Sitcom?

William Shatner, Star Trek’s first Kirk, has been named as one of the 2011 recipients for the prestigious Canadian Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. More details on that below, plus some buzz on how Charlie Sheen’s media blitz meltdown could end up saving William Shatner’s sitcom from.

 

Canada honors William Shatner

William Shatner will be one of six "laureates" to receive the 2011 Canadian Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Lifetime Artistic Achievement which is described as "the ultimate recognition in Canada’s performing arts" and since since 1992 have been "bestowed by Canadians to Canadians whose accomplishments have inspired and enriched the cultural life of Canada". The official announcement of the award describes Shatner thusly:

William Shatner (Actor, director, producer, writer, spokesman and philanthropist): In a wide-ranging career spanning six decades, William Shatner has recreated himself many times over, each time revealing a new alter ego who seems to completely define him for the moment. Famous for his roles as Captain James Kirk in the original Star Trek TV series and attorney Denny Crane on The Practice and Boston Legal, he has starred in five TV series (Star Trek, T.J. Hooker, The Practice, Boston Legal, and Third Rock from the Sun) and more than 30 films, including Judgment at Nuremberg, seven Star Trek movies, Airplane II: The Sequel, and Miss Congeniality. He is an award-winning actor, accomplished director, best-selling author, and dedicated philanthropist and environmentalist whose compassion, creativity, and irrepressible sense of humour are integral to his life and work.

For his part, Shatner responded to the news in his signature style, telling the Globe and Mail:

One lives many lifetimes in a lifetime. This is just one lifetime award – I expect to be back to get another in a few years.

[Lifetime achievement] does suggest that you accept the award and then drop dead. But I don’t want to be a bother – carting me off stage and all that.”

Other recipients for 2011 awards are Yvon Deschamps (Monologuist), Margie Gillis (Dance artist, choreographer and teacher), Howard Shore (Composer and musician), Leslee Silverman (Artistic director), and Paul Thompson (Theatre creator, animateur and ideal audience). Each laureate will receive a cash award of $25,000 and a commemorative medallion struck by the Royal Canadian Mint. The 2011 laureates will be honored at various events in Ottawa from May 12 to May 14, including being introduced in the House of Commons, and a Gala held at the National Arts Centre on May 14th, said to feature "superb performances, evocative film portraits, and personal tributes by guest stars."

With Shatner being given this prestigious award by Canada, it seems fitting to once again Share Bill’s famous "I am a Canadian" tribute.

Could Charlie Sheen meltdown lead to Shatner’s sitcom winning?

As previously reported here, William Shatner’s CBS sitcom $#*! My Dad Says is "on the bubble" with experts not giving it much of a chance for a second season. The show, which already had its episode order cut to 18, was the lowest performer of the CBS sitcoms. However, a tiger blood fueled ray of hope has emerged in the last week in the form of the extremely public meltdown of actor Charlie Sheen. CBS and Warner Brothers have already put Sheen’s Two and a Half Men on early hiatus for the rest of this season and another season is in doubt. Yesterday the industry watching site TVByTheNumbers opined on this issue, noting:

Were Two and a Half Men not in doubt, it’s likely both $#*! My Dad Says and Mad Love would be cancelled. On the chance that Two and a Half Men doesn’t return at all next fall…CBS has only 4 veteran sitcoms certainly returning (Rules of Engagement, How I Met Your Mother, Big Bang Theory, and Mike & Molly), and my guess is they’d likely renew either Mad Love or $#*! My Dad Says in some capacity.

While nothing close to Sheen’s public attacks, Shatner himself has critiqued CBS. In a tweet sent out the week of the  $#*! My Dad Says season finale, Shatner sated that "CBS doesn’t seem to be promoting" his show, leaving it to Shatner to do all the work.


Charlie Sheen’s public meltdown could move CBS to keep Shatner’s sitcom

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The Sheen/Shatner Show!

Say that five times fast!

CBS not promoting a valuable property? Shirley you can’t be serious?

While the Governor-general is at it, how about an Order of Canada for Bill?
Rush has one.

SheShatS**t?

2.

I am…….and don’t call me Shirley!

Have Charlie Sheen replace the son on “Bleep” my dad says.

William Shatner, Star Trek’s first Kirk?, Star Trek’s REAL KIRK!!!

They went into this season with 4 returning shows and six slots. It’s really not hard for CBS to come up with two new shows considering how strong they comedy development has been for much of the last decade. The way it works out at this point is they need one new show on monday and one on Thursday.

Hey Charlie, can you roll your eyes a bit? You know… act like you’re sick?

The kid’s a pro!

Oh wait… (sucks in air through teeth)

You’re really not acting this time.

The son in Bill’s show is aweful

This is a very prestigious award to Mr. Shatner.
Congratulations.

Way to go Shat. You are the Man. I hope his sitcom gets a second chance. It is really funny. As far as Sheen. Get some HELP!!!!!!!

@10 DC Nailed it. Shatner is pretty good, the brother and sister in law are pretty good, hell, even the scripts are “pretty good”, its the character (or the actor) of the son that killed the show for me. He is for all intents and purposes a main character, and, well. He’s more wooden than Shat’s old Captains Chair.

Shatner and Sheen? It’s like putting chocolate and peanut butter together! Why didn’t someone think of this before?
But I wouldn’t waste Sheen’s drug-fueled word salad on a mere sitcom.
No. “Shatner’s Raw Nerve!” That is where his brand of verbal diarrhea belongs!
And if you can’t get Sheen live, then just have Shatner read his most egregious flights-of-ideas as dramatic poems. Set to the music of bongo drums and bass, of course.
Move over, Sarah Palin, Shatner’s got a brand new toy!

the pics of sheen are great hahahaha

I really like the @$ my dad said. It is getting better every week! I can never get enough Capt Kirk

#16. The show’s season is already over unfortunately.

The sitcom only sparks and sparkles when Shatner’s onscreen. I hope they find a way to keep it going.

If not, I love Shatner’s Raw Nerve: here was an unexpected talent for interviewing. It works.

A second season of Shat My Dad Says would have to involve Ed going on a road trip of some sort with Rosemary, leaving the schmuck sons behind…. putting Shatner in various situations as he travels around the country in a big ole RV with Jean Smart. That would be fun to watch.
.
For a finale of Shat My Dad Says, here’s the concept…
.
Denny Crane wakes up in bed with Candice Bergen’s character and says.. “What the hell kind of dream was that? And who were those asses of sons supposed to be?”

Shat’s show will only be “winning” when they hire some decent writers and supporting actors. Having said that, it’s probably too late to save this ship from sinking, tiger blood or not.

The person playing the younger son on The Shatner Show isn’t acting. He’s reciting memorized lines.

I didn’t know Howard Shore was Canadian! That’s awesome! His “Lord Of The Rings” scores are classic!

I hope Shatner’s show takes the place of “Two And A Half Men”. Charlie Sheen is a scumbag who needs to have his ass whooped by Dr. Phil.

I saw Piers Morgan’s interview with Sheen. Talk about a major suck-up! Sheen has been acting like a jerk, demanding a $1 million dollar raise per episode, while going on anti-Semitic rants against his boss, and all Piers can say is who cares if Sheen likes to party?!

It’s like Sheen can do no wrong! Hollywood pisses me off sometimes!

Proud to have my same hometown as Mr.Shatner. Montreal forever !

Hey Anthony, was watching Conan O’Brien tonight and he went into the audience to interact with them, and the girl he ended up sitting down with looked and sounded EXACTLY like meekakitty, that gorgeous girl who did “Star Trek Girl” viral music video on YouTube.

Any word on that?

21. David G.:
I totally agree that kid ain’t so hot… he’s the weak link on the show by far!

22. Red Dead Ryan:

Jeez, I dont know if calling the writer of his show by his real name should be considered an “anti-Semitic rant”, I think in his head he’s pointing out what a phony they guy is. I’m not saying he should have done it or that Charlie Sheen is some great guy, but seriously… “anti-Semitic rant”? Please.

And I happen to agree with Piers Morgan, if the guy wants to party let him do whatever he wants, who cares? He obviously has issues, and maybe one day he won’t wake up from his partying… but again, who cares? It’s his choice. We’re talking about Charlie Sheen here, not another genuinely talented actor (Bill Shatner)! ;)

#10— yeah! who did he know— he is pathetic!
He’s a drag on the Shat’s performance!

By the way, I’ve always thought Charlie Sheen was overrated as well as his show well before his recent antics!

I practically kill myself to make tens of thousands of dollars a year, and Charlie Sheen bitches he’s being taken advantage of because he only makes around two million an episode! He should be effing grateful that these people have created this show that made him a multimillionaire! It’s not like he created the show. He merely plays a toned-down version of himself. I have no sympathy for this stupid bastard.

I have much sympathy for Bill Shatner. Having listened to his latest self-confessional with Ben Folds, I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s not a happy person. It’s like there’s some deep sadness in him, a restlessness that has never found a roost. He’s really managed to humanize himself in a lot of ways.

However, I STILL don’t want to see him play Kirk again.

look up meekakitty on wiki it says she is currently modeling in japan i think?not sure–also saw she was in ny-n some of her videos shes close to disneyland so i dunno–hah–i thought shat my dad was getting good ratings following bb theory–

A fine honour, but why does the Governor General need to give William Shatner, with his hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of priceline.com shares, cash as well as the medal? It’s not like he’s a struggling young artist who needs the support to continue his work.

So this is what happens when Red Dead Ryan and Harry Ballz vote online 5000 times a piece for the Shat up in Canada.

As far as Two and a Half Men is concerned, I personally don’t care if it’s cancelled or not; the few times I watched it, I found it to be a dumb, unfunny show that is also ridiculously successful. However, there is such bad blood between Sheen and executive producer Chuck Lorre/CBS that this show may really be done. Sheen is busy burning his bridges while Lorre can concentrate on his other successful CBS shows such as Mike & Molly and The Big Bang Theory.

As for $#*! My Dad Says, I saw part of one episode and changed the channel. I like Shatner, but he’s not enough of a draw for me to stick with a lousy sitcom.

Congrats Bill!

…and WTF is that Sheen guy everybody keeps talking ’bout? :))

Bill, since you might have some time extra on your hands, perhaps you could get back to the academy books. Collision Course was fun. Look, it really doesn’t matter to me how much of the book you actually wrote because I LOVED that alternative version of how Kirk and Spock met, too. Don’t forget to bring in Uhura. *wink wink nod nod*

bring back Boston Legal….

Sheen can’t save himself never mind Shat’s show, which is a crock anyway.

Anyhoo,n congrats to Bill on his Canadian honour.

Shatner make me proud to be Canadian, hey so does Drake, Bieber, Shiana Twain, Celine Dion etc. Many greats of the entertainment field come from Canada and make me proud, well, maybe not Bieber, lol, yeah even him. Congrats Mr. Shatner on an amazing career.

Shatner’s program is rechid (like 99.9% of all sitcoms) I hope it gets the axe. It insults (like 99.9% of all sitcoms) the audiences IQ.

P.S. The Charlie Sheen program is equally as bad. Who watches this crap?

Charlie Sheen is just an OD waiting for a morgue slab.

Hate to be so blunt or gruesome, but addicts such as him should NOT be so enabled by the rest of the entertainment community (I’ve had addicts in my own family, I know what it’s like). Sheen needs to stay off the public radar (and that means no more embarrassing, drug-fueled ‘interviews’/rants where he ends every sentence with “winning!”), and get it together.

If he is isolated for a while, maybe he can turn off his chemically stimulated ADHD and actually listen to those who want to help him (and not the bimbo ‘goddesses’ ; two embarrassing gold-diggers who are merely riding the fire trail of his self-destruction. Parasites). Personally, I’m not a fan of his show (I hate the current wave of ‘man-child’ movies and TV shows; they’re boring and encourage boorish behavior). But this is not about ratings, this is about potentially saving the life of a drug addict who is clearly out of control.

Wonder how his dad and brothers are dealing with this.

#5 – Harry Balls

Thank You for paying a tribute to the Commander J.J. Adams of the Starship USS Tempest NCC-C57D. Leslie Nielsen is already missed.

You were right, “Forbidden Planet” is the inspiring point of Star Trek.

Only one actor from the movie made a Star Trek Guest Appearance.
Mr. Warren Stevens in the Star Trek episode “By Any Other Name”.
His character name in the episode “Rojan”.

Take Care.

One of the pioneers of television. And a great example of perseverence. As for Sheen . . . a talented and troubled guy with a lot of cash in his hands. Reminds me of how somebody described winning the lotto: It’s like adding miracle grow to one’s character flaws.

Sheen should be the third son in Shit My Dad Says.

Nice still photo there of Sheen’s audition for the part of a post-galactic barrier-ized Gary Mitchell.

Hmmmm, Jon Cryer would make a great son for Shatner’s Ed. Interesting concept, to somehow transplant Ed. Perhaps Holland Taylor’s character could meet and fall for Ed.

Hmmmm, that would be an interesting series…. “Shat and a Half Men”

30. Because Shatner is Captain Canada. A country needs to celebrate all his heroes.

Still waiting for Shatner’s knighthood.

I hear they are now doing a female version called two and a half women.

Maybe they could get a blonde trek actress into sheen’s role.

i hope they do get a second season.. i would hate for the show to end on a cliff hanger

I was at the live filming of the season finale of Shanters show and it was a hoot. Shatner was very funny, often getting “talked too” about saying sh!t instead of bleep on the final line of the episode and other adlibs he’d do. Still, after most of the scenes finished filming he’d come over to the audience and talk to us about what we just saw and the processes, etc. I actually won a shirt too for being the loudest fan there…had to show my support for Kirk.

On a side note, I have a better apprciation for the show after seeing it live. The actors all seemed good and Shatner was very professional, but laid back too. Everyone on set seemed to love Shat and were constantly taking pictures with him and chattin him up. The editing cut out one of the funniest scenes, but still, great experience to see Shatner do his job live. Rather unique compaired to meeting him at a convention.

I want to have HALF the energy this man has on that age.

Is his show a sit-com, a shat-com, or a shit-com?? I’m confused!