Why does everyone keep making fun of William Shatner?

[CatWoman]

I actually like him.

I was watching MST3K (huge props to RandomKoolZip for hooking me up), and they always make fun of him. Always.

Same thing on this board.

Give the guy a break

[HEyHEY]

1. well

Because....he is.....annoying

[unblock]

2. and he keeps singing

[CatWoman]

15. ROFL

you guys are so cruel!!!!!!

yes -- I have heard him sing

[buddhamama]

3. have you ever heard him sing?

i enjoy him because he makes me laugh.

[JackSwift]

4. Damnit Scotty!

I neeeeeed, mooorrrre powwwer!


I canna do it!


You're fired Scotty.



We make fun of Bill Shatner because it is entertaining, and he is an entertainer!

[supernova]

5. King Lear

I would pay good money to see WS do King Lear.

[impeach the gop]

6. His sweet, souful music gives me

Happy Feet, and makes me feel like dancing

[wyldwolf]

7. Because...

he's... captain... James... T... Kirk... ofthestarshipenterprise!

Actually, though, I think Shatner is cool.

He told a story of why he talked that way as Kirk. Production budgets were real low on Star Trek and often scripts weren't even completed as episodes were being shot so the actors would often only have a few hours to learn lines for certain scenes. His... pauses... were... indicative... of trying to remember... thenextline!

[tridim]

8. It's all in good fun

It seems to have become part of American pop-culture to make fun of the guy. Even William Shatner makes fun of William Shatner. Ever seen his priceline commercials? His appearances on The Family Guy are my favorite.

For the record, he does overact. It's a LOL fact.

[proud patriot]

9. I think William Shanter Has a great sense of humor about it

[Cooley Hurd]

10. I like WS, but I wish someone would...

...wake up the possum that sleeps on his head.

[louis-t]

16. Hey, about the rug he says isn't a rug:

Watch the Star Trek movie where Shatner has to swim in the tank to save the whale, blah, blah, blah. Closeup of him underwater swimming toward camera. Hair looks real! Maybe transplants augmented by weave?

[CatWoman]

17. I should think that with as much money that he has

he does get transplants, rather than wearing a rug.

Hear that, Marv Albert???

[BlackVelvetElvis]

39. He's a member of the Hair Club for Men

haven't you seen the ads? They're all into swimming!

[CatWoman]

41. or, he could be a diehard fan

of Morrie's Wigs

[Tredge]

43. Call Morrie's Wigs!

They stay on even in hurricane winds!

[Blue-Jay]

11. I love William Shatner.

He knows that he's a ham actor and seems to revel in not taking himself too seriously.

[trotsky]

18. Same here.

I would love to meet him someday. Just seems like an all-around nice guy - assured of near immortality as Captain Kirk. A lot of people say he's a bad actor, but I always enjoyed watching him. He made Kirk look cocky but loveable and a good leader - now THAT's a hard combination to pull off, yet Shatner did it.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

37. I like Shatner.

Lately, he's been able to poke fun at himself, especially the singing. How could anyone not like that?
However I have heard that his castmates on Star Trek didn't care for him much. I don't know if that's true or if that has changed.
I think he has mellowed quite a bit in the past 30 years.
If you want to see him in his early years, check out Judgement at Nuremburg. A great court movie and an all star cast.

[thom1102]

12. The one moment in film that makes me cry EVERY time I see it is...

His eulogy to Spock in ST:TWOK. When he says "Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... Human" and his voice cracks in the middle of the word human... Pass me the Kleenex! I am reduced to a sobbing child.

I like Shatner.

[trotsky]

19. Dang, that WAS a good scene.

There certainly was raw emotion in that, and Shatner nailed it. I've shed tears at that scene too.

[Paragon]

13. Frankly, acting on TV was pretty dry until he showed up

The man is God.

[trof]

14. I think he's what professional actors call

a "furniture chewer".
His style is a bit over the top, emoting-wise.

[Maple]

20. Shatner does not 'overact'

Watch other TV shows of that time...he wasn't any different.

Styles change over the years...we watch that show today. We don't usually watch much else in drama from that era.

He did Stratford in his younger years. Classical actor...he uses whichever style in necessary to the show.

[Bossy Monkey]

21. Because! it's! so! much! fun!

I've been trying to get International Talk Like Shatner Day made a holiday for years.

[Dr Fate]

22. I genuinely love the Shat-man- not in a campy way but for real...

The best god-damned Shakespearean Space-Hero of ALL TIME.

Who else can save the universe, get laid, deliver an AWESOME speech, and come out of it with just a torn shirt...

SHAT IS THE SHIT and I wont hear of anyone putting down this great man!!!!

[BlackVelvetElvis]

40. Not only deliver an awesome speech

but win the fistfight with an alien.
I love his fighting style. Duck and Roll!

[Enraged_Ape]

23. William Shatner is part of our Canadian and American heritage(s)

He is one of the greatest North American actors of all time, and he still has a great sense of humor about himself.

NO ONE fights like this guy did in the original Star Trek series. He was a black belt in kenpo karate, and he just simply kicked a** on a weekly basis.

I love Mr. Bill Shatner. Nobody makes fun of Shatner around me.

[Faygo Kid]

24. He directed "Star Trek V"

That's enough to ridicule him, don't you think? He was great (if no George C. Scott); this is all in fun.

[Kamika]

25. I love him, but even he makes fun of himself

He said it himself that he plays a guy that is also named william shatner.. this guy is ego tripped and thinks hes the best actor in the world.


He is hillarious.. you should listen to the audio track on star trek4 where shatner goes like "i would have ofcourse made it much better" etc etc.. leonard nimoy that directed the movie and did the audio track with shatner just laughed


"I lost.. my.. toupe.. and my.. girdle.. I cant.. go out"


and from simpsons when he auditioned to star as Monty burns in his movie.


Ex..ce..lent.



Shatner knows he isnt he best actor out there so he uses it to poke fun at it..

Oh and NOBODY cares asmuch about star trek as he does.. he has suggested tons of new series etc to paramount instead of enterprise.. hes written like 8 GREAT books.

All my respect to Shatner

[Fenris]

26. Because he's an easy target

He's a bad actor and yet executives continue giving him roles or series. He is the best damn bad actor there is tough.

[CatWoman]

27. *SHATNER VIEWER ALERT*

He's on VH-1 right now, hosting "100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders"

[TreasonousBastard]

28. Because he's funny

Ever see him try to act in a real role?

Anyway, here's something to scare the bejeesus out of trekkies and make everyone forget about Shatner acting and singing:

http://homepage.mac.com/evanbaumgardner/iMovieTheater6....

Or, one of the many other links to download this work of art:
http://www.tolkiencollector.com/bilbo5.mov

[CatWoman]

29. ok, that's it!!!!!!

leave Spock out of this!!!!!

and what the fuck is a "bilbo baggins"??????

[TreasonousBastard]

34. You'd know if you were a LOTR fan...

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda/b/bilbobaggins.html

"Frodo Lives"

And, hey, was there anyone on that show besides the guest stars who could act? Or sing, dance.. anything?

The Daily Show found George Takei for their Asian Porn segment for a reason, you know.

(Next, we have Scotty on the bagpipes.)

[DoNotRefill]

30. Listen to him sing Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds....

and you'll understand after you stop screaming, get medicated, and spend years in therapy.

[Logansquare]

32. LUCY!!! in the SKY!! with DIAMONDS!!

It's hard to capture in print.

[carpetbagger]

49. THE GIRL WITH KALEIDESCOPE EYES!

Hey, it's better than most actors-turned-singers (e.g. Hasselhoff. I actually saw a David Hasselhoff album at the record store today, and thought to myself that it was really scary that someone actually bought the album for it to be there)

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

31. Shatner Was In Two Of The Greatest Moments On TV

The first was one of his several appearances in Twilight Zone, the episode entitled "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet".

The other was in what has to be the most scary story ever done either on TV or in film. Google it and you will find account after account about this having been the greatest all-time horror story in the history of TV. What I'm referring to is the episode of the Boris Karloff series "Thriller", in the episode entitled "The Hungry Glass". Shatner was great! And that story almost drove me out of my mind with fright when I saw it as a child and still haunts me to this day.

But I admit that his singing IS extremely funny as he cannot carry a tune.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

38. I thought you were going to refer to his SNL appearance

"Get a life!" That was funny.
The man can't carry a tune. He merely talks his way through a song.

[BackDoorMan]

33. Maybe because his head is shrinking into his body so quickly, he's...

beginning to resemble a ball of silly putty and who can take "silly putty" seriously?

[OneBlueSky]

35. have you seen the short-lived (thankfully) American version of . . .

The Iron Chef? . . . 'nuff said . . .

[BiggJawn]

54. It's gone already? Oh, thank the Shinto ancestors!

I saw it ONCE. That was ENOUGH.
Shatner as Kaga? It just so did NOT work on SO many levels!

[name not needed]

36. cause hes a big fat guy that plays paintball

look at him. but hes better than me most likely.

[Castilleja]

42. I like him alot, and always have...

despite the overacting and "singing", and all. Don't matter, you don't have to be perfect to be appealing.

[Jonte_1979]

44. I... don't... know

Mr... Shatner.. is a... god AMONG... thespians

[Zomby Woof]

45. he's arrogant

An a really bad actor! A WORSE director!! Ever see Star Trek V??

I love Star Trek, but gimme PATRICK STEWART!

[moof]

46. Shatner deserves being made fun of ...

there are very few people who might have been able to make Kirk & Star Trek what it has become. The problem with Shatner is that for many years after Trek he thought it was a one way street & resented & belittled his Star Trek experience. The Saturday Night Live bit he did as the bad Kirk was very close to his true feelings about the series.
It was sickening to see him deride Star Trek every chance he got. Scotty is almost the exact opposite of Shatner, on " The Tommorrow show " with Tom Synder he was talking about how even though the part type cast many of the Star Trek people it was worth it to be part of something that had already become a classic TV series and allowed for them to be in movies when there would have been little chance for them otherwise.

and last, Star Trek IV " The Voyage Home " should have had several more Oscar nominations as well as a couple wins. They will be talking about The "whales" Star Trek movie far into the future.

[Kamika]

47. Shatner loves trek

He cares about the franchise more then the companies.. hes given them tons of suggestions for new series etc.. hes written books and everything.

[name not needed]

48. his huge paintball outings

are star trek scenario games. i was gonna go this year but i couldnt afford to.

[moof]

50. Did you see him in any of the interviews

he gave the first yen years or so after Trek was cancelled.
He never passed up the chance to " set the record straight "
about the fact that Star Trek was a millstone around his neck and while he never said it out right he always left the impression that he did more for Star Trek than it did for him. It was not until after the first couple ST movies that he started to let it go. He seemed to think that if not for Star Trek derailing his career he would have been in movies instead of TV shows like Barbary Coast & T.J.Hooker.
As far as his acting is concerned " The Andersonville Trial" was his best acting aside from Star Trek.

[camero]

51. Cause........He........ Talks........ Really funny.

[CatWoman]

52. HE DOES NOT!!!

BTW -- Star Trek is on right now on the Sci Fi channel.

[rustydog]

53. Yes he does!!! He is a ham actor

Remember the scene where he reads the Declaration of Independance to the people who couldn't make out the words : "wem the peemble"
Kirk wasn't much better: "When, Inthecourseof human events, IT becomesnecessary... (bla bla)Dohereby ordain and establish this Constitution ofthe UnitedStates..."
Beammeup, Scotty!
I've given her all I can Cap'n she isn't responding.
Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not an acting coach!