“Captain Kirk is a red-blooded John Wayne he-man authority figure who is also always mocking he-man authority figures…”
One of the things about Kirk that constantly gets overlooked is he is, academically at least, a huge nerd especially when it comes to history. Kirk was valedictorian of his Starfleet class and got better grades than Spock. So you have someone who has studied Strong Men throughout millennia and knows they inevitably are deposed.
Minor typo: At the end of the paragraph before “a Piece of the Action,” you wrote “piece” instead of “peace.”
This article reminded me of some of my very square, silent generation mother’s attempts to keep up in the 1960s. Peter, Paul and Mary, and the Mona’s and the Papas were about as psychedelic as her music choices got. Fortunately for me, she also had all but one of the Tom Lehrer albums, which contributed much more to my education than her taste in music.
I was recently trying to figure out whether Steve Martin was influenced by Tom Lehrer, and was pleased to find this quote (which you may appreciate as well), "A college friend lent me some comedy records. There were three by Mike Nichols and Elaine May, several by Lenny Bruce, and one by Tom Lehrer, the great song parodist. ... Tom Lehrer influenced me with one bizarre joke about an individualist friend 'whose name was Henry, only to give you an idea of what an individualist he was he spelled it H-E-N-3-R-Y.' Some people fall asleep at night listening to music; I fell asleep to Lenny, Tom, and Mike and Elaine. "
I’m a true fan of the Star Trek universe and Captain Kirk is my hero. He’s such a dork and yet so cool at the same time. I really love Picard too, but for different reasons. Thank you for this. I’ll have to see if I can find it.
my tutor when I was like thirteen had previously worked as an entertainment reporter. She interviewed Shatner once at his home/ranch at some point in the 90s I think, and according to her, he was getting pretty distracted by some horse related stuff going on while she was trying to interview him. She told me after the fifth or so interruption she went 'Mr Shatner, am I going to have to ask about the album?' and he laughed and paid more attention from then on. A strange relic for sure.
I'm a fan of TOS and have great affection for that show and the actors who played on it. I remember my mom telling me that she was convinced by some of William Shatner's early work that he'd be the next Paul Newman.
The first time my husband and I heard Shatner's version of "Mr Tambourine Man" we practically fell on the floor laughing especially at the end. For years, yelling out "MR TAMBOURINE MAN!!!!!!!!" at odd times was enough to get us started laughing again. It had been a while since I've heard that piece and sure enough, that ending is still hysterical. But you know, the times were different then; who knows who persuaded Nimoy and Shatner to do those particular albums. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time. They are particular cultural artifacts that I'm glad have been preserved.
Thanks for writing about this today--gave me great joy.
I don't know about Shatner, but in Leonard Nimoy's case he had always been kind of a folkie and, pre-STAR TREK, often got cast as folk singers or beatniks because he could sing and play the guitar about as well as Hollywood thought most folkies and beatniks did!
haha, that's great! I often see Nimoy showing up a Generic Ethnic Guy in old TV shows: native Americans, Italians, etc. as well as "blue-collar" tough guys. He showed up in an old Perry Mason we were watching as the murderer (hope I didn't give anything away!).
Back in the 60s I never went ANYWHERE on Star Trek Night. My best friend's birthday? Schedule the party some other night.
But I never followed up with any Shatner or Nimoy records and I'm not going to start now. Star Trek was its own thing and I loved it for its corn and its message. And the happiest whales ever will stay with me ever from Star Trek IV.
::Shatner turns them both into passionate statements of faith or dismissive acid mockery—it's impossible to tell which.::
BOSTON LEGAL's Christmas episode had the Crane Poole and Schmidt Christmas party where Denny Crane (Shatner) was singing, kind of, in front of the Big Band they'd hired for the event as Alan Shore (James Spader) watched, bemused. When Crane finished and asked what Shore thought, he responded in that oh-so-James Spader way, "Denny, that was...indescribable...." 😂
I can never tell if Shatner is AWARE how he comes off as a singer...or is so deluded about his talent that he thinks those jokes are somehow praise. 🤷♂️ Maybe that's the whole "Hip To Be Square" vibe Shatner radiates, that he's so beyond being a joke that he comes back around to making square sincerity oddly desirable?
In any event, James Spader was the perfect partner for late-period Shatner, sarcastic but loving—the same-sex equivalent of the smart wife of the dopey husband, which the series finally made explicit by having the two men get married so Spader's Alan could protect Denny's interests and not be legally removed.
“Captain Kirk is a red-blooded John Wayne he-man authority figure who is also always mocking he-man authority figures…”
One of the things about Kirk that constantly gets overlooked is he is, academically at least, a huge nerd especially when it comes to history. Kirk was valedictorian of his Starfleet class and got better grades than Spock. So you have someone who has studied Strong Men throughout millennia and knows they inevitably are deposed.
Minor typo: At the end of the paragraph before “a Piece of the Action,” you wrote “piece” instead of “peace.”
This article reminded me of some of my very square, silent generation mother’s attempts to keep up in the 1960s. Peter, Paul and Mary, and the Mona’s and the Papas were about as psychedelic as her music choices got. Fortunately for me, she also had all but one of the Tom Lehrer albums, which contributed much more to my education than her taste in music.
I was recently trying to figure out whether Steve Martin was influenced by Tom Lehrer, and was pleased to find this quote (which you may appreciate as well), "A college friend lent me some comedy records. There were three by Mike Nichols and Elaine May, several by Lenny Bruce, and one by Tom Lehrer, the great song parodist. ... Tom Lehrer influenced me with one bizarre joke about an individualist friend 'whose name was Henry, only to give you an idea of what an individualist he was he spelled it H-E-N-3-R-Y.' Some people fall asleep at night listening to music; I fell asleep to Lenny, Tom, and Mike and Elaine. "
I’m a true fan of the Star Trek universe and Captain Kirk is my hero. He’s such a dork and yet so cool at the same time. I really love Picard too, but for different reasons. Thank you for this. I’ll have to see if I can find it.
my tutor when I was like thirteen had previously worked as an entertainment reporter. She interviewed Shatner once at his home/ranch at some point in the 90s I think, and according to her, he was getting pretty distracted by some horse related stuff going on while she was trying to interview him. She told me after the fifth or so interruption she went 'Mr Shatner, am I going to have to ask about the album?' and he laughed and paid more attention from then on. A strange relic for sure.
great picture choice as well, lol.
I'm a fan of TOS and have great affection for that show and the actors who played on it. I remember my mom telling me that she was convinced by some of William Shatner's early work that he'd be the next Paul Newman.
The first time my husband and I heard Shatner's version of "Mr Tambourine Man" we practically fell on the floor laughing especially at the end. For years, yelling out "MR TAMBOURINE MAN!!!!!!!!" at odd times was enough to get us started laughing again. It had been a while since I've heard that piece and sure enough, that ending is still hysterical. But you know, the times were different then; who knows who persuaded Nimoy and Shatner to do those particular albums. I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time. They are particular cultural artifacts that I'm glad have been preserved.
Thanks for writing about this today--gave me great joy.
I don't know about Shatner, but in Leonard Nimoy's case he had always been kind of a folkie and, pre-STAR TREK, often got cast as folk singers or beatniks because he could sing and play the guitar about as well as Hollywood thought most folkies and beatniks did!
haha, that's great! I often see Nimoy showing up a Generic Ethnic Guy in old TV shows: native Americans, Italians, etc. as well as "blue-collar" tough guys. He showed up in an old Perry Mason we were watching as the murderer (hope I didn't give anything away!).
Nimoy's Mr Spock was always my favorite on TOS.
Also Army Sergeants, which he actually was when he got out of the service.
Back in the 60s I never went ANYWHERE on Star Trek Night. My best friend's birthday? Schedule the party some other night.
But I never followed up with any Shatner or Nimoy records and I'm not going to start now. Star Trek was its own thing and I loved it for its corn and its message. And the happiest whales ever will stay with me ever from Star Trek IV.
::Shatner turns them both into passionate statements of faith or dismissive acid mockery—it's impossible to tell which.::
BOSTON LEGAL's Christmas episode had the Crane Poole and Schmidt Christmas party where Denny Crane (Shatner) was singing, kind of, in front of the Big Band they'd hired for the event as Alan Shore (James Spader) watched, bemused. When Crane finished and asked what Shore thought, he responded in that oh-so-James Spader way, "Denny, that was...indescribable...." 😂
I can never tell if Shatner is AWARE how he comes off as a singer...or is so deluded about his talent that he thinks those jokes are somehow praise. 🤷♂️ Maybe that's the whole "Hip To Be Square" vibe Shatner radiates, that he's so beyond being a joke that he comes back around to making square sincerity oddly desirable?
In any event, James Spader was the perfect partner for late-period Shatner, sarcastic but loving—the same-sex equivalent of the smart wife of the dopey husband, which the series finally made explicit by having the two men get married so Spader's Alan could protect Denny's interests and not be legally removed.