"Kirk, you're still alive, my old friend"

What to hear something that will make you feel old and tired, as if the world were ending tomorrow (the opposite of the "Genesis Effect" for you Trekkies out there): William Shatner turns 77 years old today.

It's at this point that I usually make my case that today's birthday honoree enjoyed his finest days in the 80s. And I'll do that momentarily. But if you haven't seen Shatner's performance in 1998's "Free Enterprise," where he plays a (hopefully) comic version of himself, you're letting the best of life pass you by.

Still, between TV's "T.J. Hooker" and the Star Trek movies of the 80s, it's a wonder we don't call that the "Shatner Decade."

OK, that's pushing it. Still, what red-blooded (or green-blooded) life-form doesn't weep uncontrollably as Kirk breaks down during Spock's death in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan? That's where we all learn that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few ... or the one.

Leave it to Shatner to prove him wrong in Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW, YOU CAN LEARN FROM CAPT. KIRK:

• "Galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young."
• "The Klingons don't take prisoners."
• "We learn by doing."
• "The needs of the one outweighed the needs of the many."
• "Nobody pays any attention to you unless you swear every other word."
• "You know that pain and guilt can't be taken away with a wave of a magic wand. They're the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves."
• "I've always known I'll die alone."

Comments

[jane]

Denny Crane.

Wow -- two auspicious individuals born today: The Shatner and The Daly. A cause for celebration indeed.

In honor of today, I give you perhaps my favorite Shatner moments. While this little gem is from '78, I figure it's close enough to Our Favorite Decade to merit a mention...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DvQwXOCKNLY

[Marissa]

Oh, that's so disturbing on so many levels, but it was Shatner at his best or worst ... is there a difference?

The end of this is a Family Guy parody on The Shatner's rendition of Rocket Man.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Tr1-lzRhzJQ

[jane]

I can see where it might be disturbing -- but I find it totally over-the-top and fabulously self-aware. And hysterical. Much like the man himself, at least as I see him. He's one of a kind (and actually kind of a stud in those '60s Star Trek epis I catch on TV Land.) Even with his rug.

Yeah, I'm a fan.

some other famous birthdays today include:

Reese Witherspoon, Bob Costas, Matthew Modine, and Chico Marx

http://www.famousbirthdays.com/mar.html#22

[Christopher]

Fav Kirk line ever...

"You've managed to kill everyone else but like a poor marksman, you keep MISSING the target."

[DoctorDrew]

Words to live by:

"Spock, the women on your planet are logical. No other planet in the galaxy can make that claim." :-p

I agree with Jane. Shatner is very self-aware. Like postmodern art, Shatner is acutely aware he is a product. He knows his value is in his "Kirk - persona."

[Marissa]

Dr. Drew, perhaps we women are just on a superior level of logic that the men of this planet are incapable of comprehending. Just a thought ::hair flip::

[Rock_Vbrg]

I wanted to be Kirk when I grew up. I am not ashamed to admit I was a big fan of the original series. But it was from the movies that I learned the most like:

Not in front of the Klingons. (Undiscovered Country)

I'll lied. I'll kill you later. (Search for Spock)

I changed the rules. (Wrath of Kahn)

Jane, you are right on the money about Shatner; he knows exactly who he is and how he got there. His roles as of late have been great as he plays a parody of himself. To quote a 007 flick "nobody does it better."