There, I said it.
13 Likes
Oooo this is total click bait. I am a ST:TOS fan and Bill was the right guy at the right time to play a starship captain in a 60s tv serial. But most of his work post-Star Trek was a disaster. TJ Hooker anyone?
6 Likes
I’ll back you up on this. I don’t think Shatner’s an all-time great or anything, but he was no worse an actor than Charlton Heston and they gave Heston an Oscar.
12 Likes
I recently watched the 1966 movie Incubus. Not only is Shatner pretty decent in this odd, atmospheric horror flick, he’s acting in Esperanto, of all languages!
Here it is: Incubus 1966 - YouTube
9 Likes
I’m an unapologetic Boston Legal fan. That show is proof that Shatner has range, though the show mostly lets him play broad.
11 Likes
3rd Rock From The Sun
He’s good in that because, well, its cheesy
7 Likes
He was great on the original Twilight Zone
10 Likes
I recently saw him in his 1976 Columbo episode where he plays, …wait for it, a hammy televsion actor. I thought his performance was a hoot; nobody spoofs Shatner like Shatner!
9 Likes
Totally agreed here. He starred in my favorite episode of Thriller (the Boris Karloff-hosted anthology series) called The Hungry Glass. He showed nice range in this episode, and Shatner’s sometimes maligned intensity nicely complements the experience.
4 Likes
But Hooker’s a good cop!
3 Likes
Yeah. He is a ham, but he is one of the best hams.
And a terrific singer and spoken-word artist.
6 Likes
“In Love” by Fear of Pop is a work of art. It’s no surprise him and Ben Folds continue to work together, they make wonderful avant-garde audio heaven. “Has Been” is my favorite album of the Shat.
5 Likes
John Lithgow is an amazing actor, but it just didn’t feel the same when he recreated that scene for the Twilight Zone Movie. There just something about Shatner’s …… intensity?
7 Likes
When Shatner, playing the big giant head, came off the airplane on 3rd rock and said he saw something on the wing. Then Lithgow said the same thing happened to me. I thought that was one of the funniest things i have ever heard on a tv show.
10 Likes
Shatner as Frank on Psych was just chef’s kiss
2 Likes
I’m with you on this one.
3 Likes
I managed to miss that Colombo episode that was cited, but I enjoyed what must have been a later Colombo special where Shatner’s character was accused of killing his wife… shortly after ?# wife had died in their swimming pool.
If you haven’t seen “The Shatner Project” (I think on DIY Channel), spend a little time watching it. Bill and wife Liz renovate the house he bought right after ST:TOS ended. The house was originally a hunting lodge from like 1910. Wonderful show. We see Regular Bill and Full-on Shatner, mixed with Ever-suffering Husband Bill. He met Liz when riding horses. I think they fit together wonderfully.
2 Likes
Oh, my middle daughter is a huge Columbo fan and that is one of our favorites. I was trying to explain this little bit of dialogue, where Shatner is talking to Columbo in one of those “I know you did it, you know I know, and now we’re just figuring out how I’m gonna catch you” scenes.
I can’t remember it exactly but, it’s very close to something like:
“Did you see that TV movie last fall? The one with the murderer?”
“Oh, yeah, they made the murderer sympathetic.”
“I didn’t care for it.”
And I had to explain, “Back in 1976, there would’ve only been, like, one TV movie on one of the three channels, and it was probably a big deal, so you could actually ask someone if they’d seen that movie without providing details and they’d know just which one you meant.”
4 Likes
On the pro side, Boston Legal. On the con side, The Devil’s Rain, and Mission: Impossible episode “Encore” (S06E02). Maybe he was just bad in the early 70s?
4 Likes
Hooker’s a good cop!
3 Likes