Shatner vs. Takei

[PatrickG]

The latest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTr5SGuS7F8

Now, I am inclined to think there was a misunderstanding.

My guess would be that Takei didn't personally send an invite to Shatner but that one of his people did (and that Takei only found out later) and that Shatner's agent or whoever received the invitation to Takei's wedding probably threw it out.

Overall, I think Takei is a bit jealous (perhaps somewhat deservedly) and Shatner is... Shatner. That "psychosis" crack is an example. Then again, I don't think Shatner sees anything offensive or undiplomatic about calling someone psychotic.

All-in-all, I think somebody should just do a "Grumpy Old Men"-style comedy and get Shatner, Takei and Nimoy to riff on their feuds. This would be much more entertaining as a movie than a bunch of guys being snippy in interviews. Shatner is great at sending up Shatner (Futurama, the only funniest thing in Futurama aside from Candace Bergman, Denny Crane) and I suspect Takei has so much pent up frustration that he'd probably be quite good at sending himself up too.

Heck, get Takei on Boston Legal and have him as an openly gay, recently married lawyer who has had bad blood with Denny Crane.

Or do a Galaxy Quest-style movie with Takei and Shatner effectively playing themselves. Or maybe something akin to Andy Griffith's turn in "A Face in the Crowd", which eerily and darkly paralleled his subsequent television career. (That movie basically had Andy Griffith play the mirror universe Andy Griffith.)

[Agent Helix]

I was always under the impression that everyone but Nimoy hated Shatner's guts.

[DavidAllred]

Shatner's ego is legendary for sure, but it is in many ways ellcipsed by Takei's own ego. Everyone has met people like Shatner, and yeah, they can be pretty annoying. It's like the boss back in the corner office that makes every company decision about his own ego, but you know what? People like this are everywhere and somewhere along the way you have to learn to deal with them at a social level. And come on, how many people carry around a 40-year grudge against some old guy they used to work with? Grow up, George.

Besides, isn't that whole persona part of what makes Shatner appealing? I mean you never have to guess where you stand with the guy, he is blunt to a fault, but still that is what makes him so much fun. And I'd say when you couple that with the fact that Shatner knows these personal weaknesses of his and can actually ham it up and poke fun at himself, you've got a person that may not be well-rounded in his personality, but certainly someone who's trying to work those things out in his life... even trying to work them out in the public sphere.

I think to include members of the cast in key roles at the wedding and not even give Shatner an invite was a pretty crappy thing for Takei to do. What's worse is that he apparently made it an issue whereas he could have just quietly gotten married and left his 40-year old grudge behind him.

[Charles RB]

I was always under the impression that everyone but Nimoy hated Shatner's guts.

That must've made the Futurama ep with all of them fun...


I think to include members of the cast in key roles at the wedding and not even give Shatner an invite was a pretty crappy thing for Takei to do.

Not if they don't like each other (or George doesn't like him, or whichever it is). Why invite people you don't like? You've already got the in-laws coming!

[Agent Helix]

That must've made the Futurama ep with all of them fun...


Nimoy was the only one that recorded with Shatner. The rest of them refused and scheduled their own recording times, or so the showrunners say.

[Solaris]

The bottom line is, you can try to clean up the messes in this life.... or you can leave it till the next, hanging around like that moldy bowl of gods-know-what in the bottom corner of the fridge.

I hope Takei takes Shatner up on the offer, and that they manage to work through their differences... because that's a very long time for people to hold onto anger and angst.

Guys, you're grown adults with a lot of life experience... and you're running out of life fast. Take the time. Do it. You don't have to become friends; just settle the differences and grow some respect for each other.

Sheesh.

[Agent Helix]

Christ, they're just actors that don't like eachother.

[scout1279]

That must've made the Futurama ep with all of them fun...

If I remember correctly, the only actors who actually recorded together were Shatner and Nimoy, and they spent a lot of time making fun of James Doohan who had declined to participate.

Wasn't the reason for Sulu being the captain of another ship in Star Trek IV because Takei refused to work with Shatner? I remember being surprised that Takei showed up for Shatner's Roast, if he hated him that much, and did't know why Shatner would be upset/surprised that he wasn't invited to the wedding. Takei swears he invited him though.

Personally, it's all kind of sad and amusing. Sad because these men are old and shouldn't be acting like such children. Amusing because they are nuts.

[Solaris]

Christ, they're just actors that don't like eachother.

No, they're HUMAN BEINGS who don't like each other.

Yeah, the coverage and frou-fraw is because they're famous actors... all the more reason for them to try to lead by example, in something like this. If you've got the publicity, you might as well do some good with it, rather than using it for petty quarreling and grudging displays.

[jesse_custer]

Christ, they're just actors that don't like eachother.

Says the person without any moral foundation.

[Agent Helix]

Hey! I have a moral foundation! It's shaky and ridden with termites, but it's there! Kinda.

I think I dug most of it up to bury stolen moral Aztec gold there.

[Charles RB]

Nimoy was the only one that recorded with Shatner. The rest of them refused and scheduled their own recording times, or so the showrunners say.

Huh.

Wonder what Shatner and Nichelle Nichols seperately thought of her "and I made a heroic sacrifice by kissing Bill!" line...

[suedenim]

I've read accounts from... pretty much all sides in the "Everybody vs. Shatner" fights, and come to the conclusion that it's just a typical actors' squabble over screen time magnified by time. And also by a change in the way shows are put together over that time.

Star Trek was not an "ensemble show." In the '60s, you didn't even have ensemble shows. You had a show, and that show had a star. ONE star, generally. When Spock's character became popular and Nimoy became more or less co-equal to Shatner, *that* was a big deal and the cause of friction, as by traditional TV standards of the day, you could look at it as a "demotion" for Shatner as much as a promotion for Nimoy. And DeForest Kelly was the clear #3 man, top character actor, and apparently all concerned were comfortable with that.

But the other four? By '60s standards, they were bit players. Guys who probably could've been replaced in Season 2 without causing much of a ripple in the audience back then.

So, time passes and the movies come along, and what looks to Takei et al like a chance to finally do more with their characters, etc... to a guy like Shatner, it looks like these bit players getting full of themselves, trying to upstage the rightful star of the show. And "the other four" actually got a little clout, because fandom changed too. People would be disappointed if Scotty or Sulu weren't in the movie, so to some extent, you needed to keep them happy and on board.

I can see both sides of the conflict, because once the movies started up, ensemble casts *were* common (TNG and later shows *were* clearly ensemble shows), and the tension became "Are these ensemble movies, or star vehicles for Shatner and Nimoy?" Whichever way you come down with an answer to that, someone's getting pissed off, for what they think is a good reason.

[Pink Bat Maxine]

In the words of the South Park crew in Towelie's first episode:

"Don't care, don't care, don't care."

[Paul McEnery]

Huh.

Wonder what Shatner and Nichelle Nichols seperately thought of her "and I made a heroic sacrifice by kissing Bill!" line...

See, I think you're getting a little closer to what the spat is really all about. George is all "I can't believe I got drunk and had sex with Shatner", and Shatner is all "Oh, you know you want some more of this hot loving", and actually it's the husband putting his foot down, and everything George and Shatner say is just for the cameras anyway, and to reassure poor hubby that really he is the first man in George's life, even if, every now and again, while they're in the sack, George lets slip with a "yes, captain".

[Toreador]

See, I think you're getting a little closer to what the spat is really all about. George is all "I can't believe I got drunk and had sex with Shatner", and Shatner is all "Oh, you know you want some more of this hot loving", and actually it's the husband putting his foot down, and everything George and Shatner say is just for the cameras anyway, and to reassure poor hubby that really he is the first man in George's life, even if, every now and again, while they're in the sack, George lets slip with a "yes, captain".

Huh?

I say again, "Huh?"

[needed to get past that 10 character limit.]

[Paul McEnery]

Hey! I have a moral foundation! It's shaky and ridden with termites, but it's there! Kinda.

I think I dug most of it up to bury stolen moral Aztec gold there.

We've been over this before, and you keep mixing your words up. What you have is an oral fixation.

But everything else still applies.

[Charles RB]

I want to know how Paul got that theory from Nichelle kissing Shatner. They're not exactly similar looking...

[Paul McEnery]

I want to know how Paul got that theory from Nichelle kissing Shatner. They're not exactly similar looking...

Shatner has kissed everyone! Every alien race from here to Cygnus 7, Shatner has shagged it. Duh!

[Pink Bat Maxine]

I want to know how Paul got that theory from Nichelle kissing Shatner. They're not exactly similar looking...

You haven't seen George on a Saturday night.....

[Paul McEnery]

You haven't seen George on a Saturday night.....

He's a bloody terror, isn't he. Always showing up at karoake night in the little red dress, always asking if they've got "Beyond Antares", then climbing up on the bar and belting it out anyway.












Mind, Shatner does the same thing. But with less flair, I always think.

[Flying Saucers Over Oz]

Shatner's usually just SUCH a blowhard it's funny. And he has a sense of humor about himself, which is something of a saving grace.

But as to why Takei and the others hate him so much, consider: The man felt the need to upstage Takei with this little snit at TAKEI'S OWN WEDDING. Dear GOD, that's pathetic. Yeah, he might not have invited him, though he insists he did. That means you've gotta run to the tabloids and throw a big ol' hissy fit, just to get people to look at you?

[SUPERECWFAN1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrwcPDlO2Ug

[Bob Violence]

Shatner's usually just SUCH a blowhard it's funny. And he has a sense of humor about himself, which is something of a saving grace.

But as to why Takei and the others hate him so much, consider: The man felt the need to upstage Takei with this little snit at TAKEI'S OWN WEDDING. Dear GOD, that's pathetic. Yeah, he might not have invited him, though he insists he did. That means you've gotta run to the tabloids and throw a big ol' hissy fit, just to get people to look at you?

Shatner just has to be the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral.

[Cam63]

They'll settle it with phasers set to kill at dawn.

...or maybe a no holds barred fight inside a volcano set to " Na ! Na ! Na ! Na ! Na-na ! Na ! " music.

[Tobias March]

They'll settle it with phasers set to kill at dawn.

...or maybe a no holds barred fight inside a volcano set to " Na ! Na ! Na ! Na ! Na-na ! Na ! " music.


I want this to happen - make it so!

[SUPERECWFAN1]

They'll settle it with phasers set to kill at dawn.

...or maybe a no holds barred fight inside a volcano set to " Na ! Na ! Na ! Na ! Na-na ! Na ! " music.

"Its Kligons .....phasers set to....acceptance ha ha ha !":tongue:

[Paul McEnery]

They'll settle it with phasers set to kill at dawn.

...or maybe a no holds barred fight inside a volcano set to " Na ! Na ! Na ! Na ! Na-na ! Na ! " music.

Ripped shirts in the desert!












Or fencing, of course.

[Flying Saucers Over Oz]

By the by, the latest issue of CBG (#1649, I think) has Peter David's article about attending the wedding. And since it was probably a couple months back, not a whisper about Shatner.

[Paul McEnery]

George is going to be in the British Celebrities Up the Jungle, or whatever it's called. With Martina Navratilova.

[Cam63]

I want this to happen - make it so!

*Phones Whiterose*

[Cam63]

George is going to be in the British Celebrities Up the Jungle, or whatever it's called. With Martina Navratilova.

Whaaah de fookin' Hell !?

[Tobias March]

Whaaah de fookin' Hell !?

That's the show that broke Johnny Rotten in twain. It was a sad moment.

Reality TV 1 : Punkdom 0

[darkhanamaru]

That's the show that broke Johnny Rotten in twain. It was a sad moment.

Reality TV 1 : Punkdom 0


Did you ever read his excuse for that? I guess he lost a relative in the lochabee, scotland thing so he was always paranoid about his wife dying on a plane . they wouldn't give him a phone call to see if she made it to sydney or whereever she was flying and he freaked. i guess we all have our things.

[scout1279]

That's the show that broke Johnny Rotten in twain. It was a sad moment.

Reality TV 1 : Punkdom 0

1. Could you please explain? What happened? What does "twain" mean?

2. How punk is it to go on a reality TV show in the first place?

[Cam63]

Most reality shows need a good kickin'.

[JTPencils]

1. Could you please explain? What happened? What does "twain" mean?

Twain has a couple of meanings actually...

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/twain

[Tobias March]

Did you ever read his excuse for that? I guess he lost a relative in the lochabee, scotland thing so he was always paranoid about his wife dying on a plane . they wouldn't give him a phone call to see if she made it to sydney or whereever she was flying and he freaked. i guess we all have our things.

I never heard that before. I just remember him begging the British public to vote him off the island. But they were entertained - so they kept keeping him in the show. I found it sad.