comedy central insider
(Keith Phipps, self-confessed Trekker, with cat Oscar)
[On Sunday, August 20, Comedy Central will air the Comedy Central Roast Of William Shatner, a sure-to-be reverent tribute to the man widely considered to be the finest actor of his, or any generation.
To increase viewers’ appreciation of this event, Keith Phipps, editor of The A.V. Club, the entertainment section of The Onion and a lifelong Shatner fan will be guest-blogging a refresher course on the life and passions of the man named Shatner.]
First a clip, explained below:
What kind of man is William Shatner? To understand the mystery of Shatner, we must go back to the source of many mysteries: Montreal, a strange land of clashing cultures living without the benefit of a Neutral Zone. It’s there that Shatner was born and attended school.
But you won’t understand Shatner from the bare details of his life, his Bachelor Of Commerce degree, or even his Shakespearean training. To understand Shatner you must put yourself in his place for a moment, if you dare. This is a man who walked the sleepy streets of Montreal in the ‘40s and ‘50s and thought, “I’m bigger than this. I can get beyond this. I can go somewhere where the street signs are in only one language.” This is a man who sat in the movie theaters and thought, “I can project my voice further. I can tilt my head more suggestively. I can. Pause. More—dramatically than. That!”
This is a man who came of age watching Robert Mitchum, James Stewart, and John Agar thinking, “My eyes can twinkle just as invitingly. I can leer just as lasciviously. What they can do I can do.”
What kind of man thinks that way? Is he a god? No he is not. Shatner bleeds like the rest of us. He’s a man, to borrow a phrase from Conan The Barbarian creator Robert E. Howard, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth. He’s like us but bigger, and possibly better. He is, in short, a hero.
And like many heroes, he began humbly, playing sidekick to Howdy Doody, starring in low-budget films such as The Intruder—still Roger Corman’s favorite—getting overshadowed, albeit just barely, by a plane-devouring gremlin on The Twilight Zone. Yes, Shatner kicked around Hollywood and did it all in the early years, even battling the supernatural in Esperanto in a film called The Incubus. (Long thought lost, it was restored in 2001, hence the trailer above.) But this was not a man to be confined to the margins. This was a man destined for greater things. Where? The answer would soon become clear: The stars.
Shatner link of the day:
My co-worker Tasha Robinson’s 2003 interview with the man himself.
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I watched the roast a couple of times, knowing there'd be a lot of commentary later. IMO, Shatner looked faintly appalled. I was embarrassed. If he's to be roasted there's some genuinely funny incidents in his past that could have been used, that he might have even given permission to be mocked for. Vulgar smuttiness is so cheap and easy. Where was the fun and talent?
I was also disappointed in the "roast". Shatner's a funny guy, and seems to be good at laughing at himself. There was way too much meanness and foul language in this roast, for me. Too many gay jokes. Too much Andy Dick (any Andy Dick is too much … does this jerk have any talent at all, other than being queer??).
I thought Jason Alexander was not bad, and Patton Oswalt, too.
Takei was way over the top, and just plain crude …. I mean "the room smells like pussy" … come on. Whatever happened to ladies and gentlemen?
I watched as much of the William Shatner roast as I could stomach. I was very disappointed with the show. I feel that a roast should be funny. This show was not funny, it was a terrible waste of air time. It was an insult to the art of comedy, and should be an embarrasment to all those involved. If you can't come up with anything better than copying the previous so-called comedians, then you should not be on stage. Rewording a supposedly funny line about Tekei being gay, or what Farrah looks like, or any of the other repeated references of the night does make for a joke. I saw one person after another get up and do pretty much the same lines, they just reworded them. I watched Dean Martin comedy roasts when I was a kid, those were funny this was not. I felt very dissappointed. If this is an indication of the future of comedy roasts on comedy central then I well imagine they will be short lived. The only audience that could actually enjoy this show would likely be high school, or early college kids, who don't have a clue that humor is not achieved by repeating the same gross reference, over and over. That simply shows a lack of talent. I could see the look on Shatners' face, He wanted to be beamed out of there. I don't blame him. Humor has obviously gone to the wayside when it comes to this show. I did not see the Pam Anderson roast, I can see now that I likely didn't miss anything.