I'm grateful that Leonard Nimoy isn't alive to see Shatner go to work for Vladimir Putin. pic.twitter.com/frnOnSaM8F
— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) July 1, 2021
Back in the early 1970s, when Trekkie volunteers were putting together our first conventions, it was widely known that William Shatner (a) would show up almost anywhere for a sufficiently large fee, but (b) would be sufficiently demanding and prickly that his prestige value just might *not* be worth it. (In his defense, he had already put in years as a struggling actor, and we nerds weren’t always the easiest to work with, either.)
Lo and behold, almost fifty years later, a new generation discovers that… some things don’t change. Except, of course, that the publicity around Mr. Shatner’s latest gig has already been all RT could hope and more. Shows what a difference professionalism makes…
William Shatner has taken to Twitter to trade blows with journalists who called him out for hosting a new show on the Kremlin’s notorious state-funded network, RT https://t.co/EcK4Ox72JS
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 1, 2021
But these dumb aging celebrity cash grabs are useful peeks behind the curtain, as the same talking points are trotted out to defend them, mostly by the same lobbyists and PR firms on the Kremlin payroll.
— Mig Greengard (@chessninja) July 1, 2021
What this does is build community and trust through loosely described "infotainment," so that when RT runs a misleading broadcast about BLM, vaccines, January 6, the Occupy Movement, etc., there's already a modicum of brand trust with people who watched previous content. (2/)
— Nina Jankowicz (@wiczipedia) July 1, 2021
William Shatner about RT's Margarita Simonyan: "I don't know this woman." A bit late to worry about that now. https://t.co/HEEGhpPstj pic.twitter.com/v0BU97agpQ
— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) July 2, 2021
Baud
Dammit, Jim.
Cheryl Rofer
Yup, that’s how they do it. Build confidence with non-propaganda materal, then drop in the lies.
Always been that way. Shatner is a useful idiot.
Narya
Sitting on the back porch w tier mates
drinking wine and eating snacks
it’s all good
Baud
@Cheryl Rofer:
Reminds me of me.
Another Scott
@Cheryl Rofer: Fox News was the same way, of course.
“Fair and Balanced”
As you say, propaganda has always worked that way. I’m a little surprised that RT lifted the curtain with their Russian tweet so soon.
Cheers,
Scott.
debbie
@Cheryl Rofer:
I doubt RT knew what a joke Shatner had turned into when they picked up his show.
HumboldtBlue
I don’t think I’ever watched a complete episode of Star Trek, but I’ve known for a while that Shatner is a flaming asshole.
AL, would it be possible to get another soccer open thread at 6 p.m. PST when Argentina plays?
The Uruguay v Colombia match is back and forth non-stop action, quite fun.
PsiFighter37
Shatner is a jerk. I am still puzzled as to why Nimoy was such good friends with him, given it sounds like every other Star Trek co-star thought he was a major-league asshole.
He’s also 90 years old, so I am unsure why on earth he feels like he needs to chase Russian money at this point.
Mary G
Galaxy Quest was real until the end of the movie
ETA: @PsiFighter37: probably very susceptible to attention and flattery, which Russians do well.
debbie
@PsiFighter37:
He was hawking portable oxygen tanks not too long ago. Apparently, he’s a whore for the dollar.
Cheryl Rofer
He agrees with me and is proud of it.
Tony Jay
More fool you, Margarita.
You may have thought stuffing money into Shatner’s pockets got you Captain Kirk, but it doesn’t. You’re getting Emperor Tiberius, and he’s supposed to be an authoritarian prick of galactic proportions.
Like seeks like. Enjoy.
sab
@PsiFighter37: He is a socialite. Has a horse charity. Expensive lifestyle.
PsiFighter37
@debbie: So he’s basically Shaquille O’Neal, but less popular.
JPL
@PsiFighter37: IMO He’s looking for love in all the wrong places.
Dorothy A. Winsor
Some day when you have time, AL, would you tell us your favorite tales about your days as a Trekkie?
Kropacetic
@PsiFighter37: O’Neal, so far as I know, has not taken money to appear on behalf of a hostile foreign nation
Cheryl Rofer:
Which party the idiot is useful to matters.
Anne Laurie
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Not unless I want to be hunted down & killed by my former compadres!
PsiFighter37
@Kropacetic: This is true. However, Shaq will hawk anything if he gets paid for it. I follow him on Instagram, and he is all about bringing in the green, even though he’s got to have earned more than enough during his playing career and as a broadcast analyst.
Kropacetic
@PsiFighter37: I just always kind of imagined that Shaq had fun doing these commercials or wants his face on TV screens as much as possible.
tom
Since this is a popular culture thread :), there is a documentary on Hulu called “Summer of Soul”, about the Harlem Cultural Festival, which took place in 1969. It was a festival of, by, and for Black people, in contrast to Woodstock which happened in the same year and wasn’t.
It had an incredible lineup of performers – a young Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Sly and the Family Stone, the Staples Singers, Mahalia Jackson, the Fifth Dimension, and many more. All set against the backdrop of the assassinations of JFK, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr; and the riots/rebellions that happened in urban areas across the country in the 60s.
The footage that was shot during the festival apparently was archived and forgotten, until someone dug it up and made it into the documentary. It features interviews with many of the performers and some audience members who were at the festival.
Highly recommended.
HumboldtBlue
@PsiFighter37: He’s got like 18 kids, he needs the money.
And Argentina is on at 5 PST not 6
sab
@Kropacetic: Shatner lives in the US but is quite outspoken about being Canadian. So the foreign nation thing isn’t so obvious. US is a foreign nation to him.
eclare
I never watched Star Trek, but just seeing him in ads and various appearances, I got the impression he was an asshole.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Repressing Labor, empowering China
An interesting economic analysis that correctly lays much of the world’s current problems at the feet of monetary theory and Reagan. Because US labor was dismantled in the 1980s, wage growth and inflation have remained flat, and China has reaped the benefits. Also, as a consequence, global geopolitical relations resemble those of the early 20th century, when the German Empire became a rival to Britain and France
Most sobering of all was this bit:
bbleh
So, seriously, is there anyone alive who would actually be convinced, or even materially influenced, by ninety-year-old William Shatner’s presence on, or endorsement of, any venture of any nature, political or commercial?
I was a Trek fan from the earliest days, but even so, the only times I’ve found Shatner’s endorsement to be in any way an asset was when he was doing something overtly self-mocking. That, at least, was amusing, and I admit to a weakness for amusing commercials.
But … RT? Announcing with great pleasure endorsement of wery famous Amerikanski acting personality William Shatner? (Star of a nineteen-sixties show that explicitly modeled its Klingon villains on caricatures of Soviet-era Russians btw?) This is going to alter the strategic balance by some fraction of a millimicron … uh … how, exactly?
Oh wait … holiday weekend news. Ok I see …
Hob
“Journalists are hypocrites for criticizing their own government unless they leave their country” is certainly… a point of view.
HumboldtBlue
This Uruguay v Colombia match is madness for a game that has no goals.
On to penalties.
sab
Back when I had TimeWarner for cable I used to watch RT. Didn’t believe anything they said for a second, but it was interesting to hear Russian point of view on current events, since so very different from our perspective. I never watched the Americans on it. Thought then and think now they were mostly traitors. Shatner I have no opinion about since he isn’t even an American, and is he even political at all? I always thought not.
Ken
Now if it were Tom Selleck….
(And when you think about it, don’t reverse mortgages make a lot of sense?)
Peale
I will not jinx the Brewers chances by mentioning the free hamburgers that will fall from the sky if they win tomorrow. I might delay my trip back home to get one. I’ve been a fan for over 40 years, and I’ve never seen them shredding opponents like this. But I will not jinx their chances.
bbleh
@Ken: Lol true that, but Selleck is selling cash flow to people who really need/want it. Always better to have a famous salesman of course, but there it’s the product that’s doing most of the talking.
Shatner is working for the Klingons!
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@sab:
I mean, Canada is a US ally and Russia isn’t any friendlier to Canada than it is the US
SiubhanDuinne
@Ken:
Pat Boone and his walk-in bathtub. LOL.
sab
@Ken: Late for your property tax once and you lose your house. Great idea!
Mary G
sab
@SiubhanDuinne: How lond do those things take to drain? Defeats the whole point of a warm tub if it is followed by a cold draining.
Ken
I thought the Klingons were the Chinese. The original series makeup seems inspired by that of Ming the Merciless, or perhaps John Wayne in The Conqueror.
I also had a suspicion the Romulans were the Russians, but mostly because of the initial letter.
Almost Retired
@Ken: I was thinking about getting a reverse mortgage so I could afford the premiums on my Title Lock insurance.
HumboldtBlue
Colombia goes through on penalties!
sab
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Yeah, Canada is a US ally, but they are not us and their foreign policy is not always same as ours. Shatner is a non-American on a non-American TV channel. I don’t have a problem with it. Canadians might. That is their problem, not mine. We need to recognize that not everyone popular on US tv is American.
ETA: Pat Lang I have a problem with.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Mary G:
Absolutely horrifying
StringOnAStick
We just spent 3 days camping with good friends who moved here 5 weeks ago, both mid 40’s. They were waffling about having kids in 2015 but when tRump was elected they decided not to, figuring fascism plus AGW was too much. Now they told us they’ve had to completely check out from consuming any news because it’s too depressing; I wonder how many other younger people are doing this? They are reliable voters, so at least there’s that. Hell, I wish I could checked out from reading political news; I’d probably be a happier person.
My husband’s uncle, a retired MD, got to meet President Biden today at the big public event in the Midwest and discussed US health care with him for a few minutes. He’s witty and super liberal so I bet it was fun for both of them.
RepubAnon
@Ken: The Klingons were the Russians, the Romulans were the Chinese…
bbleh
@Ken: Ahhh, I thought it was the other way around. The Klingons seemed more … Slavic.
Aw, he was probably the best they could get. And they print their own money. Goddess bless American entrepreneurialism. (“You think Americans are suckers? Just watch us sell to other people!”)
What was it Thatcher said? The Russians are chess players, the Americans are used car salesmen? Something like that …
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@sab:
Canada is also a NATO member and generally opposed to Putin’s global anti-democratic efforts. That puts them in Russia’s crosshairs
Shatner is a traitor in the sense that he’s a traitor to the West. Like if a famous westerner appeared in Soviet propaganda during the Cold War
Brachiator
Chekov wept
Another Scott
Meanwhile, …
history.House.gov
Yup, there are lots of ways to skin the cat, but the Democratic majorities have to be willing to act on them.
(via LOLGOP)
Cheers,
Scott.
Wyatt Salamanca
@Cheryl Rofer:
Shatner was never the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
In contrast, may I recommend another Star Trek alum and genuine class act, Nichelle Nichols. Check out the documentary Woman in Motion about her. Some years after Star Trek, her company basically took over and saved the recruitment of the NASA Shuttle astronaut program. An incredibly smart and talented woman.
Also you get to hear her sing.
Geoduck
What’s really sad about Shatner is that the man does have actual talent, he can turn in a good performance if he can be bothered to make half an effort. And I guess he did apologize to his surviving Star Trek co-stars about his behavior back in the day, so he is also capable of self-reflection. To offer one specific example, his spoken-word album Has Been can be enjoyed unironically. I bought a copy and have no regrets.
But yeah, this move was stupid of him and sucks.
Brachiator
@bbleh:
Was it Priceline that actually got some benefit from Shatner’s endorsements?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Another Scott:
I’ve said before that they should do this. The question is, why won’t they? Would repeal still require getting over the filibuster?
Ken
@RepubAnon: @bbleh: I suppose the canonical answer is that the Kohms are the Chinese, and the Yangs are the Americans.
(“Canonical” here meaning “Rodenberry’s famously subtle writing”.)
zhena gogolia
Must have started when he played Alyosha Karamazov.
Rand Careaga
@Mary G: I hate it when that happens.
The Dark Avenger
@Baud: he’s dead, Jim.
Another Scott
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): One can come up with lots of reasons not to do it (e.g. not enough room in the House chamber, not enough office space, expanded federal bureaucracy, etc.). But there are good, obvious, reasons to do it given the way the GQP has behaved the last 40+ years.
Yes, it would need 60 votes in the Senate unless they change the rules. Everything (except budget thing, the various exceptions, etc.) are subject to cloture/filibuster unless they get unanimous consent. Things can move very quickly in the Senate if nobody objects, witness the Juneteenth federal holiday, but invariably someone does.
Cheers,
Scott.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Didn’t Shatner go there already on Ancient Aliens?
Brachiator
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
This paragraph in particular, as well as the entire article, makes no sense, with respect to logic or economics.
How do you “let” money wage grow faster than productivity and prices? No federal agency exists which could do such a thing, not even indirectly.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Brachiator: I actually kind of liked him as the beauty pageant MC in “Miss Congeniality”, which struck me as self-mocking.
Uncle Cosmo
It should be noted that Tim Allen arguably deserved an Oscar for the bitch-perfect utterly merciless character assassination of one James Tiberius Kirk in Galaxy Quest. As someone pointed out above, the only false note was that Allen’s character actually sucked it up and did good in the end.
Just One More Canuck
@Mary G: I was thinking that I need to give Galaxy Quest another watch
zhena gogolia
@tom:
“someone” is Questlove!
I would love to see it.
zhena gogolia
@sab:
It didn’t use to be so bad.
Brachiator
I wonder what Shatner’s agent or manager was thinking when they let their client agree to this.
It’s not the end of the world, or the Federation, but still…
And ultimately I can only laugh at Shatner’s old man crankiness.
zhena gogolia
@Uncle Cosmo:
“bitch-perfect”? Was that intentional?
evodevo
@eclare: He’s got a place here in KY (he’s into Saddlebreds and keeps a stable in Woodford Co.) ….Mr. Evodevo’s cousin’s wife had some horse dealings with him and is of the same opinion…arrogant prick… oh, wait…I guess DID have..lost it to ex last year…
Another Scott
@Just One More Canuck: One can never see Galaxy Quest too many times. It is a fact.
Cheers,
Scott.
Anoniminous
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
By the mid-80s American plant was long in the tooth and needed to be replaced. Companies found they could either spend a butt load of money to rebuild and then have to pay American wages to American workers or pay a butt load of money and pay workers in low labor cost markets. Either way the products sold at the same price. They chose to buy labor in the low cost market, sell the product in a high labor cost market, and pocket the extra buck-a-roonies.
HumboldtBlue
Neither Ecuador nor Argentina have very melodic anthems.
O. Felix Culpa
@Uncle Cosmo:
I see what you did there. And approve.
O. Felix Culpa
@Another Scott: Agreed. GOAT in its category.
eclare
@HumboldtBlue: Argentina v Ecuador now
Brachiator
@zhena gogolia:
The trailer for Summer of Soul is fantastic.
The movie is available on Hulu and is showing nationwide in selected theaters.
HumboldtBlue
@eclare:
On it, the Colombia-Uruguay match was a fun watch.
raven
@tom: Also watch Wattstaxx.
HumboldtBlue
@Brachiator:
My brother commented on family thread it is fantastic and the unseen footage is amazing.
Just One More Canuck
@Another Scott: Truer words were never spoken.
Shatner likes to keep busy, will show up anywhere you want provided the cheque clears, and will do a good job being William Shatner. No one (especially Shatner himself) takes him seriously, in Canada or anywhere else. If the woman from RT thinks anyone does, that’s her problem.
zhena gogolia
@Brachiator:
Yeah, it looks great.
As I have said many times, I already have too many streaming services.
japa21
@Peale:
Never, and I’ve been a fan since they came to Milwaukee. It would be a stupendous upset if they lost tomorrow considering the pitching match-up. That trade with Tampa Bay, which I wasn’t thrilled with, has turned out to be a masterpiece.
Steeplejack (phone)
A great little item on words.
HumboldtBlue
Messi misses from six yards!
Baud
eclare
@HumboldtBlue: One on one
Mike in NC
When they get old many highly regarded actors do anything for a buck: Michael Caine, Bill Shatner, Donald Sutherland, and Christopher Plummer come to mind.
HumboldtBlue
@eclare:
Millimeters
NotMax
R.T. Hooker?
Isn’t RT also where Larry King ended up?
Doug R
@Cheryl Rofer: https://twitter.com/WilliamShatner/status/1411490393200369664
japa21
@Baud:
Sign me up.
Another Scott
@O. Felix Culpa: I assume you’ve got a copy of the script?
:-)
Cheers,
Scott.
John Revolta
@Brachiator: I wonder what Shatner’s agent or manager was thinking when they let their client agree to this.
He was thinking “Twenty percent!”
HumboldtBlue
Ecuador can only but hope for the halftime whistle.
O. Felix Culpa
@Another Scott: Ooh, I’ve never seen the script. By Grabthar’s hammer, thanks!
prostratedragon
@HumboldtBlue: The Arg team conditions by singing the anthem at the top of their lungs while sprinting across that big boulevard in Buenos Aires. Even better than doing bobs & bubbles to the Star Spangled Banner.
Brachiator
@zhena gogolia:
I know what you mean.
I don’t know whether Hulu has an easy pay per view option. I don’t want to have to sign up for a service and then cancel later.
And I am not quite ready to go back to the movie theater again.
brantl
@Cheryl Rofer: Lots of emphasis on the idiot, not so much on the useful.
Steeplejack
@Mike in NC:
“The beach house isn’t going to pay for itself.”
eclare
@Brachiator: Damn. It’s at the theater 45 minutes away, not the one ten minutes away.
The Moar You Know
@Brachiator: “a gig’s a gig”
HumboldtBlue
Reactions to Summer of Soul are coming in from family and friends, and it’s nothing but rave reviews.
Ecuador seem a bit disorganized.
tom
@Baud: Gross.
Steeplejack
The former guy is tearing it up at his rally in Sarasota.
eclare
@Steeplejack: Wow.
Steeplejack
@eclare:
Chaser from George Conway.
OGLiberal
As I get ready to watch my Friday helping of TOS I will say that while the RT thing is unfortunate, I’ve been a fan for a long time – I had the ridiculously large Star Trek action figures when I was a kid. He may do all the “cons” for the cash but he successfully rebranded himself from being “Kirk” to being “Shatner”. He tweets a lot and unlike Takei – and I love George (who also broke free of the Star Trek guy confines) – he really stays away from politics. The Rocket Man cover is ancient and well parodied on Family Guy but his Ben Folds assisted cover of Pulp’s “Common People” is one of my favorite songs. Mixed feelings and all that.
HumboldtBlue
Ecuador look gassed.
And then they get an attack down the right to get a corner.
And Ecuador is done.
Alison Rose
More proof that Picard > Kirk.
Ken
@Steeplejack: I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if thousands of lawyers suddenly screamed out in horror, and as suddenly returned the retainers.
debbie
@Alison Rose:
Absolutely!
eclare
Well that’s it for Ecuador.
Patricia Kayden
@tom: Sounds great but I don’t have HULU. Dang it!!
Just Chuck
@OGLiberal: Also unlike Takei, just being Shatner isn’t illegal in Russia.
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@bbleh: ben folds erasure.
“… so — now, you have me… completely… figured out…”
MontyTheClipArtMongoose
@Uncle Cosmo: tim allen deserves nothing but a life sentence.
motherfucker is real life walter white.
sdhays
@The Moar You Know: And he’s 90 years old, so it’s one of the last ones anyway.
gwangung
@Just Chuck: Kinda makes it hard NOT for George NOT to deal with politics….just saying…
Morzer
So Captain Shame Free Jerk has joined Jeremy Corbyn and other kooky losers on Mr. Vladimir’s propaganda channel. In other news, the election for dogcatcher is going to a recount.
persistentillusion
@tom: Just finished watching it. Completely agree, it is wonderful and important viewing; two things that seldom go hand in hand.
West of the Rockies
@debbie:
Him and Shaquille..
Never mind… points been made many times over, I see.
Miss Bianca
@PsiFighter37: He’s got a lot of horses to feed. That might be one of the motivators.
JML
Shatner is one of those guys who just has to work. From what I’ve read from people who know him, he’s someone that will never retire and it’s more important for him to keep working than basically anything. Guy is someone that was born during the Great Depression, so I kinda get it. He’s still responsible for everything that comes out of his mouth/keyboard, but at least we know what his priority is.
Chris T.
@sab:
Long. Unless…
You can get tubs that use the jet pump (you need to get a jetted tub for this of course) to push the water down the drain very fast (you need to install an extra-large drain for this). Expect it to cost upwards of $10k depending on details.
They are nice, but they are not cheap and they are not the Pat Boone type.