Okay,
so there is one more, I think just one more, Star Trek story I
will tell you. One summer day William Shatner was at the
University of Buffalo to give a talk! He had a program put together
of Man's desire, over the millenia, to go to the stars. Of course,
the audience – and we were all outside in one of the stadiums –
was there to see Captain Kirk. I don't remember who I went
with – one or maybe both of my brothers.
Well
Shatner gave his going-to-the-stars talk, and then he said he would
answer a few questions. He was asked what was his favorite episode of
Star Trek? Shatner said he recalled the episode where
he was supposed to act like a woman had taken over Captain Kirk's
body – and he thought that was an interesting role to play – but
as I recalled, Turnabout Intruder was the last episode filmed, and perhaps
that was why he remembered it. Shatner admitted that when he was on
the road and staying in hotels, he would turn on the television, and
sometimes, if Star Trek was on, he couldn't remember how the
episode ended! So he watched the reruns to see what happened!
Someone
asked Shatner if his overacting had to do with the
Shakespearean training he had when he was younger? Everyone, even a
fan like me, will admit that Shatner does tend to over-emote –
and impressions that people do of Shatner as Captain Kirk are
recognizable to folks who have not even seen Star Trek! But I
cringed when the person in the audience asked the question – it was
such a put-down! But William Shatner paused a moment and then said,
“If I overact, it has nothing to do with my Shakespearean
training and everything to do with the fact that I am just a bad
actor!”
That
was when I realized that you can say anything about William
Shatner and you can say anything to him – and he won't care
– why should he? he's rich; heck, he is immortal! So who cares
about the imitations, the over emoting? He's had a great life!
Someone
did ask him about the 10th Level –
and Shatner modestly responded that it is a piece of work he is proud
of – so I felt I was in good company - agreeing with him on his
role in that movie.
But
the most memorable part of the evening for me came when a young man
stood up and asked, “What does the T stand for in James T.
Kirk?” At that point Shatner had had enough with the Star Trek
trivia questions, “Who cares?” he shouted. I started yelling
back, joining the deafening noise of the rest of the crowd who knew what the T
stood for. “Tiberius!”
Shatner was not impressed.
Remember
the night that William Shatner was on Saturday Night Live?
It was after his talk
at UB – may be by a couple of years or so, and there was a
skit where Star Trek fans were smothering him with trivia
questions and Shatner lashed out at all of them to “Get a life!”?
Well I lived that skit that evening at the University of
Buffalo! William Shatner said he was there to talk about Man's quest
to sail to the stars, and all we were wanting to discuss was the T in
James T Kirk? In other words – we needed to get a life!
I
think, what we have all come to realize, so many decades after the
end of first run Classic Star Trek, is that the actors and
actresses who played the Star Trek roles, and the characters
they played, have all been relevant in humanity's pursuit of
the final frontier and in our efforts to get a life!
Maybe
we can call it the Tiberius Factor.
23
20150123 Tiberius
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