The Doomsday Machine writer says Captain Kirk wasn't the most interesting character

William Shatner was always considered the lead of Star Trek: The Original Series, but Leonard Nimoy's Spock was a strong character which gave birth to a legion of fans. That certainly wasn't because Spock was a better character than Captain Kirk, but the writer of "The Doomsday Machine" opined that Shatner's problem was "he just wasn't given as interesting a character to play as Nimoy was."

In Captains' Logs The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman, Norman Spinrad had the opinion that Captain Kirk "couldn't be the most interesting," adding that it wasn't a "reflection on Shatner as an actor." Supposedly, that is what led to the line-stealing and the general sense of jealousy that took place on set of The Original Series.

Nimoy's Spock was definitely an intriguing character who had more mystery in his life that was explored, but the series really didn't share much about any of the character's backstories. Though we got to see Spock's homeworld and learn about T'Pring and the pon farr, the information we got about the other characters was limited, even though both William Shatner and DeForest Kelley were considered the main cast. So did the extra attention paid to Spock come about because fans were so enamored with the character? Possibly.

One thing is certain: Spock's childhood and past has definitely been plumbed more in other series and movies than any other character from The Original Series. J.J. Abrams' movies gave us a look at Kirk's childhood in a different timeline, but only The Animated Series and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has given us extra information on Kirk. We know considerably more about Spock.

Spock was an alien so it's understandable things would have to be explained to the audience, but was that at the expense of Captain Kirk's character? Personally, I think The Original Series wouldn't have been successful without William Shatner's character. But I feel the same way about Leonard Nimoy's Spock. In my opinion, the two actors worked together as a team. Add in DeForest Kelley's Bones, and you have the trio that established The Original Series. It was those three characters that led to the success the franchise has experienced over the past fifty-eight years.