Shatner



ABC Gives Abrams & Shatner Renewals

Although it isn’t a surprise, ABC has announced early renewals for fourteen of its shows including Lost created by Trek XI producers JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof. Although the show has slipped in the ratings, ABC still touts that it is the highest rated scripted show for the key 18-49 demographic. Although Abrams has not been involved in the day to day for the show since season 1, Damon Lindelof has been sharing show running duties with Carlton Cuse (including doing weekly podcasts). Now that JJ Abrams is committed to directing Trek XI it is expected that much of the producing duties will probably fall on Lindelof. What effect this has on season 4 of Lost is still unknown. The fate of Abrams other ABC shows, Six Degrees and What About Brian, remains less certain. Six Degrees returns this Friday after a long hiatus and retooling.





William Shatner: The Ballet…Not Kidding

TV Star, Movie Star, Singer, Pitchman, and now inspiration for Ballet…William Shatner does it all. The Milwaukee Ballet has announced it will premiere "Common People" a ballet choreographed to the Shatner’s recent album ‘Has Been’. The dance will be one of three parts of “Premieres of Passionate Dance" being performed this Valentines Day weekend (February 15–18). In a WKTI radio interview Shatner was quite enthusiastic about the event, saying "I have a life long devotion – more than an interest, less than an obsession, with the ballet and to have this happen to me is so exciting." Shatner said that he would try to make it to Milwaukee to see the ballet if he can fit it between shootings of his show Boston Legal.



Star Wars-themed ‘Fanboys’ Features Battle With Trekkies and Shatner Cameo

Fanboys is a film about a group of hardcore Star Wars fans who travel across the country to steal a pre-release copy of Episode I: The Phantom Menace so their terminally ill friend can see it before he dies. Although the film is about Star Wars fans, Star Trek makes an appearance in the form of original Captain Kirk himself William Shatner. Actor Jay Baruchel describes the Shatner cameo to MTV Movie News: Captain Kirk? Chalk that one up to the great ‘Star Trek’ wars…there’s a big-ass battle between all the Trekkies and all the fanboys. We fight with lirpa, which is the Vulcan weapon with the sickle on the top and mound on the bottom.


Shatner Talks More About Being In Star Trek XI

Although JJ Abrams and Paramount aren’t confirming that Star Trek XI takes place before the Original Series and features a young James Kirk, William Shatner has no problem talking about it. In a brief interview with SciFi Wire, William Shatner repeated previous comments that he and producer JJ Abrams have met and that Abrams wants him in Star Trek XI. The Shat also told SciFi Wire "Yes, we know the story is based on young Kirk." The original Captain Kirk still seems fixated on how this will all work, but in this case he implies that he expects to be interacting with the young Kirk: They need to figure out how to put the dead captain in with the young captain…It’s a very complex, technical problem of how to write the character in, and I’m not sure how they will solve it.


TOSR on HD DVD?, Movies on iTunes? Trek Doc, and Shatner Making Moves In A Welcome Home News Roundup

There have been some reports that Trek Remastered may be released on HD DVD as early as this year. Last we heard they wouldn’t be finished with all the episodes until next year. TrekMovie is looking into this and will report back when we get it all sorted out. Of course HD versions of TOS-R are showing up on XBox Live already if you cannot wait.    Babylon 5’s Claudia Christian claims that William Shatner made some unwanted advances on her when she was a guest star on T.J. Hooker. In an interview with retroCRUSH the actress says the Shat tried to ‘shove his tongue’ down her throat. She also says she wished she punched him in his corset. 


Shatner Says Abrams Wants Him and Nimoy In Star Trek XI

For months now William Shatner has made no secret that he wants to be in Star Trek XI, and even Leonard Nimoy has said he would come out of retirement for something substantial. We also know that both actors have consulting/promotional contracts for the film and have spoken with producer JJ Abrams. Now in a new interview with IGN, The Shat says that Abrams is writing them into the script: They seem to be going in the direction of putting in [Leonard]Nimoy and myself. But in order to do that, it’s a difficult story to write. So they’re in the midst of wrestling with all of that. He also says that if Abrams wants the original Kirk and Spock, it better be more than just a cameo:



Shatner’s ‘Show Me The Money’ Shown The Door

ABC’s latest experiment in  cheesertainment is coming to an end. The network has announced that it is scrapping its order for more episodes of the Shat’s game show Show Me The Money. The network had ordered some additional episodes for the game show to be its sacrificial lamb against Fox’s American Idol, but the latest ratings dip convinced them it wasn’t even worthy of that. ABC will however air the remaining 7 episodes they have already bought. So does losing one of his jobs mean his price for Trek XI just went down or up?



3 Trek Catchphrases On TV Land’s Top 100

TV Land, the nursing home of reruns, has searched far and wide to come up with its list of the best 100 catchphrases of all time…and of course Star Trek makes an appearance (or 3). The full list, which runs the gamut from "You look mahvelous!" to "Here’s Johnny" will be presented in a  5-night special series called ‘Greatest TV Quotes & Catchphrases’. The three Trek catchphrases (and their rankings) to be covered are: 93  "Resistance is futile." (TNG) 22  "Live long and prosper." (TOS)14  "Space, the final frontier …" (TOS)



More From Shat On Coming Back From The Dead

Things were a bit quiet from the Shatner camp since his odd ‘gas’ statement a few weeks back, but now he is again talking up JJ Abrams and Star Trek XI. Shat is promoting his new gameshow ‘Show Me The Money’ but interviewers always get around to asking about Trek. The Shat tells UGO I met with Mr. Abrams, and they’ve got a really good plot going, and they’re trying to find Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk, the elderly ones. How you get a dead Captain to communicate with himself, younger, is going to be a very arduous plotting, and I’m going to be interested to see how they solve it.  


Shatner Says Abrams Wants Him and Nimoy in Trek XI

William Shatner appeared at a couple of Trek conventions over the weekend and gave some more details from his conversations with Star Trek XI Producer J.J. Abrams. According to TrekWeb, Shatner again confirmed that the characters of Kirk and Spock would be in the film, telling the crowd in Springfield, MA that "I had a talk with J.J. Abrams a while ago and they were writing a new script – and we are all hoping it will be wonderful…and he said, they were going to get the Kirk and Spock characters in there." The next day Shatner was in New York where Doug Wilson of TrekCore.com reports Shatner as saying "J.J. [Abrams] is committed to having Leonard and I, Leonard and me, in the film." Shatner also suggested that Abrams would be looking at unkowns for the roles of the younger Kirk and Spock.



Shatner: There Will Be Another Captain Kirk

A few days ago we reported the first part of an interview William Shatner gave to the Massachusetts Republican, but it appears they saved the best stuff for part two. Shatner reveals that he has indeed met with JJ Abrams (something he seemingly denied after we reported it weeks ago) and he apparently has confirmed there will be a new Kirk saying:    J. J. Abrams is planning a movie. He has talked with me about it, but I don’t know what he has got planned. It’s likely there will be another Captain Kirk for certain. Click more to see the key excerpts from interview 


Shatner, Abrams, TV Land, ST:V & More In A Slow News Day Roundup

In ‘Shatner is Kirk’ news: UPI reports that William Shatner told the crowd at the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival that ‘there is a part of me in him…and Kirk in me’. The original Kirk also told the Massachusetts Republican that he is not going to retire anytime soon, saying "ss I shakily take my last breath, maybe that’s when I will whisper, ‘I quit.’"…did he just paraphrase Khan’s last words? Want to see classic Trek without all that Remastering and CGI?…well TV Land has got you covered.The home of retro TV starts airing the classic show later this month and have already started offering full episodes on their new Star Trek website (for one week only). The site offers a number of other Trek related video features and will host a live chat with Original Series stars Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols and George Takei on Nov. 19th.  Oh My.


Shatner Jokes Kirk is ‘Uncastable’, Dismisses Cameo For Trek XI

William Shatner has told TVGuide.com that he has had ‘a long talk’ with Trek XI producer JJ Abrams, although he provides no detail on what they talked about. When asked who he thought should be the new Captain Kirk, he joked "I think it’s uncastable." TVGuide.com also reports that Shatner dismisses the suggestion for a cameo in Abrams Star Trek XI. This is a bit surprising since recently  Shatner seemed to be chomping at the bit for a role in Trek XI. Of course with Shatner it is always hard to get a straight answer on anything. The actor does spill the beans on his new DirecTV commercial where he reprises his role as Kirk, saying "They’ve got me CGI’d…they’ve got a computer program trying vainly to make me look younger." TVGuide.com promisses a complete Q&A with the first Captain Kirk soon; TrekMovie.com will keep an eye out for that..


Shatner Touts ‘Legacy’, Has Advice For New Kirk (+ New Legacy Shots)

On Wednesday William Shatner appeared on G4’s ‘Attack of the Show’ to talk about the new game ‘Star Trek Legacy’. Shatner (along with all the other Trek captains) lends his voice to the biggest thing in Trek gaming in years. Host Kevin Pereira noted "there are five captains theoretically, but clearly you are the one", to which Shatner replied modestly "well I like to think that." After spending most of the segment discussing cigars, Shatner pimped Legacy a bit saying: "It is a wonderful game, I think your whole audience should buy it." He then declared: "Star Trek is coming back," seemingly referring to Star Trek XI. When asked what he thought of other ‘Kirks’ from the various internet fanfilms, Shatner replied "they are not me." Afterwards he gave some additional interviews, including one with Geek Magazine’s Jeff Bond. Jeff tells TrekMovie.com that he asked Shatner if he had any advice for a new actor playing Kirk. Shatner’s reply: "imitate me"…got to love the Shat! Go to G4 for the video By the way…here are the latest Legacy screenshots provided by Bethesda… 


Shatner To Set New Standard Of Cheesiness

Details on the new Shatner hosted game show ‘Show Me The Money’ are starting to come out, and it sounds pretty cheesy. Variety reports… After answering a trivia question, a contestant will choose one of 13 dancers, each of whom has a scroll with a dollar figure to be added to or subtracted from the player’s winnings. Contestants must answer at least six questions. ABC is calling the hoofers the "Million Dollar Dancers" and says they’ll always be "ready to break into any style of dance, while audacious master of ceremonies William Shatner spontaneously boogies with the beauties onstage."


Shatner Says He Would Play Kirk Again – Calls Abrams ‘The Perfect Person’ –

In the November Starlog Magazine William Shatner says that is willing to play Kirk again ‘if the opportunity were right’. Since Shatner recently played Kirk to hawk DirecTV one would imagine that ‘opportunity’ = large sums of cash. The last thing we heard from Shatner was his rapid backpedalling on stating he and Trek XI produder JJ Abrams were meeting. That was when Shatner issued his odd "there’s gas and in this case, the gas is coming from JJ Abrams" comment. In Starlog the Shat has only praise for Abrams: I think he’s the right guy…He’s the perfect person: He’s an aficionado and a brilliant storyteller and film-maker. If anyone can find the essence of ‘Star Trek’ and bring it up to date, he’s the man


Shatner Plays Kirk Again For Commercial…Plus Hosting New Gameshow

In the last week a new DirecTV commercial has shown up that features William Shatner playing a movie era Captain Kirk. The commercial is part of DirectTV’s new ‘fourth wall’ campaign were they show scenes from popular films re-edited to have some of the actors talk to camera about the clairty of DirectTV. Previuos commercials featured Vern Troyer from ‘Austin Powers’ and Ben Stein in ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’. The new Trek commercial uses footage from Star Trek VI. Walter Koenig and Leonard Nimoy are also featured, but it appears their footage is taken from the original film. And here it is… download wmv


Shatner Tired Of Talking Trek – Jokes He Doesn’t Know Who Abrams Is

On Thursday, William Shatner breezed into Richmond BC for an event so far off the radar it didn’t appear on his website’s official schedule. Shatner was in BC to host the first ever Canadian Awards for the Electronic Arts and Animation. Prior to the show there was a "Champagne Reception" and it was here that Shatner fielded all manner of Trek related questions. The press gaggle was on him like an EF Hutton commercial peppering with questions, however Shatner did try to stay on message about Canadian animation. As a result, many of his replies to Trek questions were brief and often showed his trademark sarcastic wit. On how he he celebrated the 40th anniversary of Trek Shatner quipped, that he and "George Takei spent some time alone together but I’d rather not go into details."When asked by one reporter about his years as Capt. Kirk, he said: "I’m all done talking about that stuff." He did say that he thought that the role of Captain Kirk should be played by somebody very handsome, "just like in the original series," being careful not to endorse Matt Damon when the interviewer mentioned his name. When asked about JJ Abrams, he quipped in reply, "JJ Abrams? Who’s he?..is he an actor" — still apparently stinging from the"odourous gas" comments earlier in the week and trying to dodge any further controversy.  When asked if he was involved in the production of Star Trek XI he replied "I haven’t been asked for input on the new movie".


Shatner Continues To Backpedal On Abrams Remarks

Today the folks at williamshatner.com sent out an email special announcement: "SPECIAL NEWS EDITION: William Shatner on the Star Trek Movie." William Shatner has released a statement on the new Star Trek MovieBill has posted a short comment on the Star Trek movie on his website that we feel is important enough to send out an additional bulletin this week…. What was the big deal? It turns out it is just the  rather oddly worded ‘gas’ comment from his forums which was reported here yesterday. For some reason Shatner and/or his people feel this is so important that every knows his vews on ‘the gas coming from Abrams.’ It does seem a bit strange after weeks of Shatner talking up JJ Abrams every time he was interviewed or appeared at a convention that he feels this comment must get out to everyone.


Some Mixed Messages From William Shatner On His Site

In recent weeks William Shatner has been quite chatty about Star Trek XI and producer JJ Abrams. 10 days ago in Toronto he said he thought Abrams would revive the franchise and spoke about how Abrams wanted to talk to both he and Leonard Nimoy. Then last weekend in Chicago he told a convention audience he had indeed spoken to Abrams last Friday and was planning on meeting him this week. He repeated hints that he may be involved in Star Trek XI to another audience in Sacramento on Sunday. Just this Tuesday he posted the following on the front page of his offical website On Star Trek’s 40th: Forty years of age, as far as I’m concerned, is still a child.   STAR TREK is in its infancy-wait until We Really Get Going.- My Best, Bill ‘we really get going’…is Shatner including himself in that future? But early this morning in his chat forums there is the following reply to queries about Abrams: