Star Trek veteran William Shatner, who played James T. Kirk in The Original Series and reprised the role in a number of films, shared that he believes the show’s creator Gene Roddenberry would disapprove of how newer series have ditched his strict rules.
William Shatner speaking at the 2018 Phoenix Comic Fest at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Shatner was asked, “Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had strict rules about what was appropriate for his show. Were you privy to what informed that thinking?”
Shatner answered, “He was in the military, and he was a policeman. So there was this militaristic vision of ‘You don’t make out with a fellow soldier.’ There are strict rules and you abide by the rules. Around that, [the writers] had to write the drama. But within that was the discipline of ‘This is the way a ship works.’ Well, as Star Trek progressed, that ethos has been forgotten [in more recent shows]. I sometimes laugh and talk about the fact that I think Gene is twirling in his grave. ‘No, no, you can’t make out with the lady soldier!’”
William Shatner as James T. Kirk in Star Trek Generations (1996), Paramount Pictures
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Shatner was then asked a clarifying follow-up question, “When you joke that Gene is twirling in his grave, you mean he wouldn’t approve of onscreen romances between crewmates on the later shows?”
The actor answered, “Yes, exactly. I haven’t watched the other Star Treks very much, but what I’ve seen with glimpses of the Next Generation is yes, the difficulty in the beginning, between management, was all about Gene’s rules and obeying or not obeying those rules.”
William Shatner speaking at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Later in the interview while asked about Star Trek V, Shatner seemingly put the blame on himself for Star Trek going off in a different direction.
He was asked, “You directed a big-budget feature, Star Trek V, in 1989. It was considered a disappointment, but it has its fans today. Were you hoping to expand what a Trek movie could be by filming around the world?
Shatner replied, “I wish that I’d had the backing and the courage to do the things I felt I needed to do. My concept was, “Star Trek goes in search of God,” and management said, “Well, who’s God? We’ll alienate the nonbeliever, so, no, we can’t do God.” And then somebody said, “What about an alien who thinks they’re God?” Then it was a series of my inabilities to deal with the management and the budget. I failed. In my mind, I failed horribly.”
“When I’m asked, ‘What do you regret the most?,’ I regret not being equipped emotionally to deal with a large motion picture. So in the absence of my power, the power vacuum filled with people that didn’t make the decisions I would’ve made,” he shared.
William Shatner as James T. Kirk in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Paramount Pictures
He reiterated, “It is on me. [In the finale,] I wanted granite [rock creatures] to explode out of the mountain. The special effects guy said, ‘I can build you a suit that’s on fire and smoke comes out.’ I said, ‘Great, how much will that cost?’ They said, ‘$250,000 a suit.’ Can you make 10 suits? He said, ‘Yeah.’ That’s $2.5 million.”
“You’ve got a $30 million budget,” Shatner said. “You sure you want to spend [it on that]? Those are the practical decisions. Well, wait a minute, what about one suit? And I’ll photograph it everywhere [to look like 10].”
William Shatner as James T. Kirk in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Paramount Pictures
Shatner has made similar comments about Roddenberry turning in his grave in the past. Back in July 2022 at San Diego Comic-Con, The Hollywood Reporter shared that during a Q&A portion of his panel, Shatner was asked if he believed any of the new Star Trek series were better than The Original Series.
“None of them,” Shatner responded. “I got to know [creator] Gene Roddenberry in three years fairly well. He’d be turning in his grave at some of this stuff.”
William Shatner as James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Paramount Pictures
What do you make of Shatner’s recent comments about new Star Trek eschewing Gene Roddenberry’s rules?
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