Star Trek

[Atomic Age]

Does anyone know what is really the case with William Shatner's hair, or lack thereof? I have heard many times that he is, or was a frequent toupee wearer, even back in the days of The Original Series. So is there strong evidence that would suggest that, or has he ever admitted it?

I don't know that Shatner himself ever said anything about it, but in their book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, Robert Justman associate producer and Hertbert Solo production executive talk about how a new toupee was bought at great expense (these were GOOD toupees) at the start of each season. They would mysteriously vanish at the end of each season.

Doug

 

[Benzadmiral]

Here's a fun website on the topic of Bill's hair, and its stand-ins: http://shatnerstoupee.blogspot.com/

 

[Doctor Strange]

That site is really something. Proof that every aspect of Trek has been examined in excruciating detail - and that some folks have WAY too much time on their hands!

 

[Benzadmiral]

That site is really something. Proof that every aspect of Trek has been examined in excruciating detail - and that some folks have WAY too much time on their hands!

Yes, but it's written with such delightful straight-faced humor (for example, he maintains the "toupological research institute" invented the Betamax and VHS tape formats and Blu-Ray DVD format -- just so they could investigate Bill's hair status!), it rises above the usual run of Trek websites I've seen.

 

[dhermann1]

Attention all Shatnerians!!!

Today is International Talk Like William Shatner Day! I'm soooo sorry the folks on the other side of the pond are getting this a little late, but those on the west coast can at least observe the spacial day. (Hmmm I meant to say special, but somehow I like that typo.)
http://www.geekosystem.com/international-talk-like-william-shatner-day/

 

[The Good]

Yep, happy 80th birthday, to William Shatner! The man who has gone, where no man has gone before, is now eighty... I know that Star Trek, was well before my time, but, I'm definitely a Star Trek enthusiast. Mr. Shatner has also done good roles in The Twilight Zone, and I think The Outer Limits, too. I admit to finding his spoken word songs entertaining, though.

 

[Zombie_61]

And Saturday (March 26th) will be Leonard Nimoy's 80th birthday.

 

[The Good]

And Saturday (March 26th) will be Leonard Nimoy's 80th birthday.

Wow, I didn't know their birth dates were that close. I'll be sure to give Mr. Nimoy a mention here as well.

 

[Scotus]

While I did watch the original series in reruns as a kid, my favorite series is The Next Generation, and I like the Next Generation movies. The crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation feels like "my" crew, I'm familiar and comfortable with them, etc. It had a rough first two years trying to find itself (especially those horrible uniforms they wore the first two seasons), but by the third season I think they knew what they were doing.

I've tried watching Enterprise in reruns on SyFy, but I just can't get into it. I think I find Jonathan Archer to be somewhat irritating, and I really don't like his dog. lol

 

[DesertDan]

Watched "The Cage" again last night, it has been awhile. Love that episode! "Mirror, Mirror" and "Amok Time" followed closely after. Ahhhh, TOS, My generation!

 

[Benzadmiral]

Watched "The Cage" again last night, it has been awhile. Love that episode! "Mirror, Mirror" and "Amok Time" followed closely after. Ahhhh, TOS, My generation!

Three of the best, esp. Ted Sturgeon's "Amok Time":

Uhura (as they view a Vulcan woman on the bridge screen): "She's lovely, Mr. Spock. Who is she?"
Spock: "She is T'Pring . . . my wife."
[Stunned silence on the bridge]

Spock (to T'Pring's lover): "Stonn. She is yours. After a time, you may find that having is not after all so satisfying a thing as wanting. It is not logical -- but it is often true."

T'Pau: "Live long and prosper, Spock."
Spock (in his most carefully emotionless voice): "I shall do neither. I have killed my captain . . . and my friend."

 

[scottyrocks]

Today is International Talk Like William Shatner Day! I'm soooo sorry the folks on the other side of the pond are getting this a little late, but those on the west coast can at least observe the spacial day. (Hmmm I meant to say special, but somehow I like that typo.)
http://www.geekosystem.com/international-talk-like-william-shatner-day/

Well, then, . . . I must say that . . . I really enjoyed . . . the day!

 

[John in Covina]

I was about 9 when the original series first aired. I loved it then and I really enjoy it now most of the time. There is a lot to the original series that addressed the time it came out in. The Next Generation became a really fine series for me although I think that it was a little slow to develop and some of the episodes lost a little of the bite it needed. Deep Space 9 was one I had great difficulty getting into, later in reruns i watched it and found it was better than I had first felt but I have only seen a small portion of episodes. I like Voyager more so but felt that some of the dynamics as to enemies was not sitting well with my tastes.

Enterprise had great potential but squandered it some how. I was however so bummed out that they could not pursue the Mirror Mirror realm and it was the final episodes. It just got really interesting and it was gone.

I will always remember Shatner on Saturday Night Live with a scene that is supposed to be a Trekkie convention. As the conventioneers ask some questions Shatner gets frustrated and shouts: "It was only a damn TV show." To which the conventioneer asks: "Do you mean we should concentrate more on the movies?"

 

[jlee562]

Deep Space 9 is my favorite spin off actually. The first few seasons are kinda slow admittedly. It starts to pick up in Season 3 and is really good through the end. There's really great character development, particularly with respect to some of the secondary characters (Quark and Garak come to mind).

 

[The Good]

Well, today happens to be Leonard Nimoy's birthday. Happy 80th birthday, Mr. Nimoy!

 

[Effingham]

Deep Space 9 is my favorite spin off actually. The first few seasons are kinda slow admittedly. It starts to pick up in Season 3 and is really good through the end. There's really great character development, particularly with respect to some of the secondary characters (Quark and Garak come to mind).

Oh, man. I *loved* Garak.

Dr. Bashir: "Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?"
Garak: "My dear Doctor, they're all true."
Dr. Bashir: "Even the lies?"
Garak: "Especially the lies."

In honor of Nimoy's B'day: A pic from the set of TOS when they surprised Nimoy by bringing his son in and put ears on him....

 

[Lone_Ranger]

I watched from Day One - September 8, 1966 - when I was 11-1/2 and totally primed.

Re the new film... Obviously it's a crowd pleaser, and it succeeded in rebooting the franchise for a new century. But I didn't much like it: it was very dumbed down, had the worst excuse for "science" ever seen in any Trek, and repeatedly had cult-of-personality and dumb luck replace the old Starfleet-is-a-fair-meritocracy approach. And by invalidating the old timeline, it was a real slap in the face to those of us who've followed Trek faithfully since 1966. So I'm in no hurry to see what they come up with next...

Starting with the young Kirk driving a '66 Vette over a cliff was quite symbolic. That was my big beef, too. The promotion to starship captain before Nu-Kirk finished Starfleet Academy. TOS Kirk had a 12+ year back story before sitting in the center seat. But that's the new generation. They want to be famous without working for it.

 

[PeterGunnLives]

To me, Star Trek is the colorful, swashbuckling fun and high adventure of the original series. I see the the new movies as returning to more of that spirit, as opposed to the pretentious, pontificating preachiness that pervaded the spinoff shows, especially The Next Generation.

 

[Fading Fast]

To me, Star Trek is the colorful, swashbuckling fun and high adventure of the original series. I see the the new movies as returning to more of that spirit, as opposed to the pretentious, pontificating preachiness that pervaded the spinoff shows, especially The Next Generation.

I've only seen the first two of the new movies (I'll see the third, just don't care that much, so it will happen when it happens) and thought the first one was okay, but by the second one, it had become a generic action adventure movie (you could see the marketing behind "the franchise value") that had none of the heart, none of the philosophy and none of the social perspective that the original series had.

Yes, the original TV series was (I agree with you) "swashbuckling, fun and high adventure," but it also had a philosophy, a social commentary and view of man's place in the universe that made it intellectually special, but by the second one of the new movies, I felt all that was gone and it was just like every other big-budget, mindless, cookie-cutter action movie.

 

[PeterGunnLives]

I've only seen the first two of the new movies (I'll see the third, just don't care that much, so it will happen when it happens) and thought the first one was okay, but by the second one, it had become a generic action adventure movie (you could see the marketing behind "the franchise value") that had none of the heart, none of the philosophy and none of the social perspective that the original series had.

Yes, the original TV series was (I agree with you) "swashbuckling, fun and high adventure," but it also had a philosophy, a social commentary and view of man's place in the universe that made it intellectually special, but by the second one of the new movies, I felt all that was gone and it was just like every other big-budget, mindless, cookie-cutter action movie.

The second one (Into Darkness) had some things to say in regard to the geopolitical scene of the last couple decades. But I think that we are just so used to such themes now that we tend not to notice them anymore.

I've heard it said that Star Trek works better thematically on television than in motion pictures. I would tend to agree, as the movies have been geared more toward spectacle (not that there's anything wrong with that; when I'm watching a forty-foot screen, I sure do love seeing some spectacle). I find the original series to be much more thoughtful and nuanced than The Wrath of Khan, for example, even though that film is pretty much a universal fan favorite.