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Shatner. William Shatner.
Listen to this articleI saw a link the other day to this MSNBC story with the title, “Lindsey Vonn to appear on ‘Law and Order.” Admittedly, before I read the tagline (“Gold medalist says crime drama is her favorite TV show”), I didn’t know who Lindsey Vonn was. But, I think sometime during the Olympics I heard she was a skier. I get half a point for pop culture knowledge (I’m typically deficient in that area).
But, the story got me thinking. We all have our favorite shows, and although we non-celebrities are not likely to get the chance to play out Ms. Vonn’s fantasy, it is fun to daydream about it.
The Question: If you could appear in one TV show (or movie, or play, or whatever), what would it be?
My Answer (without hesitation): anything Star Trek. Star Trek encompasses five television series (six, if you include the animated series) and 11 movies, not to mention a sizable book empire, fan-created media and numerous video games. Yes, GenJD reader, I am a Trekkie (which I prefer over Trekker). And, if you’re still reading after this point, you just might be, too.
My mom and I used to watch the original series (commonly abbreviated as TOS—the one with Shatner as Kirk) in reruns when I was a kid. It was our bonding time. I remember anticipating the first episode of The Next Generation (TNG—the one with Patrick Stewart as Picard) when I was in fourth grade. I watched that show religiously, as I did the other spinoffs.
So, if I ever had the chance to play a Starfleet officer, or a villain (Ricardo Montalban’s Khan being the paradigm, of course), or even an expendable red shirt, I’d do it in a heartbeat. Of course, now that all of the television shows have run their course, the only chance for such stardom is in the movies with J. J. Abrams’ rebooted Star Trek. The reboot is what passes for controversy in the Trekkie community—is it really Star Trek (yes); is it good (yes); does the creation of a new time line disparage the past 44 years of Star Trek canon (no); was the movie good science (decidedly no).
And, to bring this blog back to the law, if I couldn’t be on a Star Trek episode or movie, this blog post’s title answers the question (a variation on Fight Club), “if you could act with anyone, who would you act with?” I’d love the chance to be in anything that William Shatner is in. He started the Denny Crane character in The Practice, which he continues in Boston Legal (not as good as The Practice, but I catch an episode from time to time). He’s an acting legend, but no matter what character he plays, he’ll always be Captain Kirk.
