Original Kirk/William Shatner thread #1: Because his energy powered the original show.
 

This board needs a thread for the original Star Trek captain, the original Kirk, Bill Shatner. He's gotten his share of bashing over the years, so here's for some defense: You do hear complaints about Bill Shatner now and then, but the man has such energy, such love of life, that it's easy to forgive him any faults he might have. He seems to have made peace with all the TOS cast members who had issues with him, not something everybody would do. He does say some odd things from time to time, but it's clear much of it is done tongue in cheek. Shatner is smart and self-aware, with a self-deprecating sense of humour and an obvious liking for intentional self-parody. Apparently he naturally has 5 times the Dopamine level most people have (or so he claims), which means he has five times the sense of fun most people have. That would certainly fit with how his infectious sense of fun lit up TOS. His energy powered the original Star Trek, just like Nimoy gave it extra depth. He gave performances of great vigour, and while it's true he did overact at times, he more than made up for it in how he brought the character of Captain Kirk so much to life. Star Trek's first captain is still the best.

In more recent years, Shatner has received a dose of awards for his brilliant and hilarious portrayal of the lawyer Denny Crane on Boston Legal and he has written a string of books, including one about his long friendship with Leonard Nimoy. He's still acting in his 90s.

Let's recognize Shatner for what he is, a damn fine actor, an inspiringly vigorous human being and the best captain Star Trek ever had.

Thanks for starting...

He was great in the role :sigh:....

Thanks for starting sum.

Shatner recently had the opportunity to actually go to space. Pretty cool for a man in his 90's

You're welcome. :)

Yes, Shatner was great in the role. No amount of overacting can invalidate the very genuine high quality of his characterization of Kirk.

Yes, going into space in his 90s is impressive. Shatner doesn't seem to feel the weight of age quite like ordinary mortals. :lol:

he doesn't :lol:

Bringing this over

Thanks for that Chris :high_five:

It was quite the opportunity for him.

had to be done..

It's amazing that he was still physically up to the experience at his age.

Shatner is unusually vigorous for his age. He's powered by that same energy that he used in TOS.

I'll try and look around for some gifs for the OP..

That´s great!

I´ve seen him on stage ten years ago at a convention and it was pretty cool. I thought his panel was intersting and I didn`t have a problem with his attitude at all so yeah it was all good.

I've seen him a couple of times on stage I think, many years ago

I've never met any actors. William has certainly had a long and varied career.