Stocky as he may seem nowadays, William “Bill” Shatner, has had some swashbuckling adventures up his sleeve. The best part of it all, he still has that cheeky tongue of his shocking and titillating audiences worldwide. Bill Shatner’s best moments transcends from your typical alien bashing captain to exchanging verbal lashes with political figures.
Star Trek Moments
He is a scifi icon, a god, for obvious reasons. His constant delivery of riveting performances as humanity’s savior, James T. Kirk has earned him almost half of his most brilliant moments. These are some of the few memorable moments:
- Wrath of Khan proves just that with the unforgettable Khaaaaaaan! Shatner’s expression was priceless!
- James T. Kirk, the scourge of alien invaders, surrounded by cute furry creatures called Tribbles. Tough and cute, the way heroes are made!
- Directing, writing and starring in Star Trek VI: The Final Frontier. He was the man who killed GOD—or someone who claimed to be GOD, that is. At some point of our lives, didn’t we all wish we could have that omnipotence? Well, Shatner did…
Get A Life Sketch, Saturday Night Live
After Bill quit Star Trek, he wasn’t able to get other meaningful roles. His popularity as Capt. Kirk was both a blessing and a curse—curse being the major part of it for the jobless Shatner. Unable to stand it anymore, he advised Trekkies to “get a ife!” Of course, everyone thought that was funny. It was Saturday Night Live. But Shatner meant every word of it.
Car Stints
From paroling the outer space, Shatner came down to parole the streets in the 1980’s crime fighting drama, TJ Hooker. And if stunts can be patented, Shatner could have gone rich with his car bonnet roll alone. Every cop-playing actor tried to imitate this move, but only Shatner could pull it off with aplomb. Of course, a lot of actual cops could have displaced a joint here in there in trying to mimic this move.
Shatner speechless? Never! In a car racing event, cruising 100 miles per hour, Shatner covered every octave known to man with his unforgettable WhoooOOOOooOoos.
Shatner TJ Hooker Minisodes
For those of you who missed the Minidoses – click on the image above to be taken to youtube…
Rockstar
Shatner’s musical career was perceived in so many different light that he carved his name in music history. One minute he’s being lambasted and another minute he’s being honored. One thing for sure, these moments will be remembered:
- SHatner raging with his own rendition of Rocketman took musical performance to a whole new level. He might have started the advent of Rap.
- Shatner gets the recognition he deserves when in the 1992 MTV awards he was able to perform five of the best songs for the movies nominated that year. He was also able to perform with rap artist, Rated R with “No tears for Ceasar” in the Free Enterprise movie. This performance was part of the Free Enterprise soundtrack album.
- In 1996, MCA records released a collection of songs by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, Spaced Out: The Very Best of Leonard Nimoy & William Shatner.
I have previously covered some of Shatners music career (Common People) in a post…
Comedy Spats
The Tonight Show with Conan O ‘Brien loved his stints in the show so much that they had to have him back for more. Apparently his poetic interpretation of Sarah Palin’s farewell speech was so hilarious. They even tested his thespic abilities with Palin’s wacky tweets, and that , too brought the house down. Of course the show had to give Palin a fighting chance, so they let her try her hand at beating Shatner.
Denny Kane
Boston Legal Shatner
Boston Legal Shatner
As Denny K(I should really proof read guest posts)Crane in the award winning series Boston Legal, Shatner offers us with a brash man who is so corrupted with his practice. Denny Crane throws out “I Love Yous” without losing his macho edge.
Movies and Features
Kingdom Of The Spiders
One of the best “nature on the rampage” movies of its age, Kingdom of the Spider, started an occult following that cable television is always full of re-runs of this film. Shatner’s believable performance with his co-stars—mainly the furry legged tarantulas also helped in making the movie a success.
If you want crazy from Shatner, you got it crazy all right. Nightmare at 20000 feet, an episode of the Twilight zone, unleashed Shatner’s inner crazies. It would leave you wondering if Shatner is really just playing the part of a person on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Deal maker
After Star Trek and a divorce, Shatner was on the verge of bankruptcy that he had to live at his camper. He found it difficult to work because of being typecast as Captain Kirk. This was a humbling experience for the thespian. But he soon got back on his feet with these deals:
- Recently valued at allegedly $600M for his Priceline advertisements alone, Shatner wisened up and did some commercials for free; he wanted stocks instead.
WOW Shatner Advert
- Blizzard.com also tapped Shatner as their spokesperson for its 2007 release of World of Warcraft (Youtube video). Together with the iconic figure Mr. T, Shatner proves that his ‘typecast’ character can still eke out a lucrative living for him.
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