It's hard to talk about the Star Trek franchise's legacy without mentioning William Shatner, one of several stars who helped put it on the map. His history with the sci-fi series has always been a complicated one, however. Despite having many opinions about past and future Star Trek shows over the years, Shatner has repeatedly said he's never been part of the viewing audience. After decades of hearing that sentiment, fans are now getting more answers as to why.
Shatner spoke to Entertainment Tonight recently, and in mentioning that he doesn't have a Paramount+ subscription or any other streaming platform with which he could watch Star Trek, he gave a little insight as to why he puts his attention elsewhere. Readers who were previously oblivious to this factoid will be happy to know he laid out exactly how much of the franchise he has watched. As he put it:
I've never seen another Star Trek and I’ve seen as few Star Treks of the show I was on, I’ve seen as few as possible. I don't like to look at myself, and I’ve never seen any other. I love it, I think it's great, I just don’t watch television per se. I'm watching documentaries, I’m watching the news, I'm watching sports. . . . But I don't watch television for some reason. I've been urged to watch certain shows by my family, 'You'll love this,' and I just never get around to it.
Those who watched You Can Call Me Bill, the candid documentary about Shatner's life, shouldn't be surprised by this news. The actor is very busy and appears at many conventions and Star Trek fan screenings, and even trained to be one of the oldest people in space. His experience in space helped further awaken his inner environmentalist as well. Between all that, he doesn't have time to watch Trek, even if he does frequently make appearances tied to it.
Those appearances have frequently landed the actor in hot water with fans, as William Shatner has shared some pretty blunt opinions about the new direction of Star Trek programming. Many reacted when he said franchise creator Gene Roddenberry would be turning in his grave over some of the decisions made in the new shows, which led some to think it was a stab at increased diversity and inclusion in castings.
Shatner later confirmed to CinemaBlend that he was only talking about romantic relationships between crew mates, even though that had happened in prior shows. Of course, as an actor who doesn't watch Star Trek, he wouldn't know that which complicates the situation when he makes bold statements.
Now that he's 93 years old, I can't imagine William Shatner will suddenly make a point to spend his remaining years catching up on Star Trek. He did say a large amount of money would convince him to appear in the franchise again, but given that he's not interested in reshooting Kirk's death in Generations and is fine with A.I. one day replacing him, I'm not sure I see that happening either. As fans, perhaps we should just be happy he helped jump-start a franchise many still enjoy today and be less concerned about if he'll ever get around to watching it.
William Shatner's documentary You Can Call Me Bill is available to watch on-demand wherever readers prefer to buy it. I definitely suggest that any Star Trek fan watch it to better understand the actor behind the character. It'll give a real understanding of the person he is today.
