MTV got a chance to grill Star Trek director JJ Abrams about what we could expect in the inevitable sequel. Of course, screenwriters Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have not yet started on the announced sequel, so anything at this point is just speculation. But Abrams admits that the alternative universe timeline allows them to deviate from Trek canon. When I polled the slashfilm followers on Twitter a week ago, the three most popular ideas were: The Original Crew vs. The Borg, the return of William Shatner and of course, KHANNNN!!!! The last two pose a big problem. Shatner’s Kirk died on in the climax of the 1994 film Star Trek: Generations. – From SlashFilm
The cast of the new ‘Star Trek’ film reveal whether they were fans of the TV show, while director JJ Abrams explains why William Shatner didn’t make it into the movie.
CHRIS PINE wrote to his STAR TREK predecessor WILLIAM SHATNER following a reported feud with movie bosses – because the young star was determined to make peace with the Hollywood veteran.
Shatner, who played Captain Kirk in the original TV series and following film franchise, allegedly fell out with studio executives over their refusal to give him a brief appearance in the new prequel film.
Pine, who plays Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, heard about the row – and decided to contact Shatner in a bid to defuse the situation.
He says, “I wrote William Shatner a letter and explained who I was because I heard there was bad blood between him and the studio. I said, ‘I’m just an actor who happened to get a role that happened to be James T. Kirk, and I’m not trying to usurp your status or anything’. He replied, ‘Thank you very much for the letter. I wish you the best of luck.’ I have it on my fridge.” – from Contactmusic
Is Evangeline Lilly leaving Lost? Rumors are out that she’s auditioning for roles for new shows next year – even though the show is scheduled to run for another year. Frankly, the writers have given her crap to do since 2nd season – except whine. I don’t blame her for wanting something better. They turned a great character into a whiner.
The Simpsons have been renewed two more years. Already in its 20th year, it will go on forever. I think a great gag in the new Star Trek movie or some other scifi show would be for them to be watching new Simpsons episodes. This ensures the show will surpass “Gunsmoke” as the longest-running prime-time US television series.
Jerry Seinfeld is coming back to TV with a reality show – The Marriage Ref. The will “feature opinionated celebrities, comedians and sports stars who will candidly comment, judge and offer different strategies for real-life couples in the midst of a classic marital dispute.” Hmmm…I guess we’ll wait and see on this one. It is Seinfeld, so hopefully is will subvert and twist the reality convention to the extreme.
In an exclusive interview with Jenna Jameson, she talks about her interview with William Shatner on his talk show “Shatner’s Raw Nerve” and how sexy she thinks Bill is. Bill, there’s a reason JJ didn’t include you in the new Star Trek Movie. Stay Classy San Diego!
Shatner’s Raw Nerve premieres Tuesday (10 ET/PT) on cable’s Biography Channel. The half-hour, 13-episode series features the popular star probing celebrity psyches, from Judge Judy to Jon Voight. Nerve eschews the prototypical talk-show format of guests plugging pet projects and answering softball questions. Instead, Shatner, 77, tries to delve deeper into personalities, probing for anecdotes of childhood, relationships and life-changing events — the “raw nerve” that Shatner envisioned for the show’s title. – from USAtoday
“Shatner’s Raw Nerve” puts its host’s peculiar brand of intensity on full display. The set looks like the cavernous basement lounge in a Balinese hotel. Mr. Shatner sits in an armchair that butts up against his guest’s on a diagonal: he is so up close he looks as though he is going to spoon-feed whoever is seated there in front of him. I kept expecting the opening question to be, “So how about a spring roll?”
But Mr. Shatner is much more probing than that. What does he want to know? He wants to know what Valerie Bertinelli thinks about sin. This Lifetime television star is the first guest on the show, and what she has to say about sin isn’t going to put Thomas Aquinas out of business. (Yup, she has done some sinning, and she feels really bad about it.) But Mr. Shatner is clearly modeling himself after the sort of interviewers who prod and prod for specificity. He just keeps going until he arrives at a question like this: “What lie lurks behind the eyes that you think is unforgivable?”
With a TV show carrying the title “Shatner’s Raw Nerve,” you naturally expect one crazed spaceman to show up with phasers set to kill.
William Shatner recently blasted his one-time “Star Trek” colleague George Takei for not inviting him to his wedding and branded him psychotic (“dilithium, meet crystal” – Hiyo! Nerdy “Trek” joke) and seems to be in a running snit with J.J. Abrams over the big-screen remake of “Star Trek” warping into theaters next year without him.
Can the TV icon and self-parody really get his Shat together to host his own Bio talk show (debuting Tuesday night at 10)?
