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William Shatnerwill always be known to Trekkies (die-hardStar Trekfans) as Captain James Tiberius Kirk.
But the two-time Emmy Award winner, 90, once made a joke on live television at the beloved sci-fi show’s expense that didn’t quite land withStar Trekcreator Gene Roddenberry’s family.
Gene’s son Rod Roddenberry, who’s also produced several projects for the franchise, called out Shatner over aSaturday Night Liveskit, ina recent interviewwithThe Hollywood Reporter.
In the December 1986SNLepisode, the actor took questions at a fan convention. “Get a life, will you, people,” he proclaimed in the now-infamous sketch.
Although he never knew what his father thought of the skit, as Gene died when his son was only 17, Rod did not like how it portrayed fans.
“Inever really appreciated that skitbecause I think it was demeaning to the fans,” Rod toldThe Hollywood Reporterahead of the original show’s 55th anniversary. “I think it was disrespectful, especially for a character who was an open-minded, intelligent leader.”
“But I don’t condemn it in any way. It’sSaturdayNightLive,and it’s all fun,” Rod added.
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He admitted that he wasn’t immediately a fan of his father’s show himself until he met some devoted Trekkies.
“They were my introduction toStarTrek. They’re the ones who came up to me and said,StarTrekinspired me. And because ofStarTrek, I am now a teacher, a doctor, whatever the case is, and I owe that toStarTrek.' At the time, I was watchingKnightRider— andKnightRiderdidn’t do that for me,” he toldTHR.
Shatner, despite the skit, embraces the franchise’s many fans. He even used theSNLcatchphrase as the title of his 1999 nonfiction bookGet a Life!, for which he did research at fan conventions, before exploring the fandom even further with the 2012 documentary of the same name.
The actor did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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“I directed one of the movies — No. 5 — I had to watch that one,” Shatner added of 1989’sStar Trek V: The Final Frontier.
“But it’s all painful because I don’t like the way I look and what I do.”
source: people.com
