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Living in TV Land

 

“I know what you think. Does he think he can sing? Is he for real?”

William Shatner

 

 

“I don’t know if I would call Bill a singer. That’s…I…I don’t know.”

Leonard Nimoy

 

 

During the course of the show William Shatner and TV Land try to answer those questions and many more that come to mind when his name comes into play. Among his colleagues Leonard Nimoy and Candice Bergen (Boston Legal) get interviewed and the camera also travels with Mr. Shatner and Mr. Nimoy on a flight to a Star Trek convention in Las Vegas.

“Actors in Science Fiction are not necessarily perceived to be doing the kind of work that is honorable in the sense that we honor them be giving them awards.” Leonard Nimoy

William Shatner lets us in on the good stuff that happened in his life lately: being happily married, getting any number of awards, his daughters being married to great guys – but – there is one thing that always comes back to haunt him: He wishes he could sing. (You can watch a preview for Living in TV Land on the TV Land website)

Not that that would stop him in any way from doing a concert (sponsored by Priceline), where he is performing songs from his album Has Been with Ben Folds and his Band . We also get a peek at some of the preparation for the concert and recording sessions and hear Mr. Shatner’s reason for getting in front of a microphone again. Has Been evolved from his anger about someone being called a “has been” and finding the term applied to himself.

As mentioned before, William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy travel to Las Vegas together. The question how retirement works out for Leonard leads to hilarity and a conversation about how to make coffee right (Leonard grinds it himself) and Leonard’s life being all about the classics. He himself, William Shatner declares, meanwhile is very passionately in love with his current wife, Elizabeth.

 

“Passionate is an understatement. He’s volcanic.” Leonard Nimoy “I don’t think he changes. He’s the same energetic, fun loving, mean person.” Leonard Nimoy

 

This segment is interspersed with one of Mr. Shatner’s songs that you might have come across on YouTube and which has a refrain that might ring a bell that goes, “I want you to be you”. (The song is Ideal Woman) The way it plays out it seems to be a generic Shatner style homage to his friend Leonard Nimoy (see quote above). From the clips used from Star Trek and the T.J. Hooker episode that Mr. Nimoy guest starred in one could almost suspect he was dipping his hand in territory close to a slash vid. But he wouldn’t do that, now would he?

 

“I think his recent work is good, recent work is very good. He’s dealing with some very serious musicians.” Leonard Nimoy

 

When watching William Shatner in action one gets the impression that he couldn’t be serious to safe his life.  He appears to love, embody, and have fun with excess to the fullest extent of the word. In his songs, though, one seems to get a good dose of what lies beneath that mask and have some of the real person perk through that has to be there when no lens is pointed his way. Like in the song about there being a difference between the real person who just pretends and the heroics delivered by the character he plays.

When it was announced that Star Trek would be redone and Leonard Nimoy was signed first, it seemed the logical thing to do. It seemed a smart move (when I was still believing William Shatner would be in it too), because Leonard Nimoy for many in the fan community stood and stands for quality and credibility whereas William Shatner would sign on for anything as long as the paycheck would be big enough. Living in TV Land actually managed to do something I didn’t expect of it. It regained some of the sympathy for the actor I, never a Shatner fan in the first place, had definitely thought lost for good.

 

My thanks to shatner-news for making the program available to me. I've been made aware of a discussion whether or not William Shatner is responsible for the 'music video' in the clips. While I cannot ultimately answer this question, I can say this: the credits at the end of the show say Executive Producer: William Shatner. Draw your own conclusions.

 

 

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