Attendees at the 33rd annual American Film Institute Life Achievement Award ceremony honoring Star Wars creator George Lucas got a surprise from the final frontier when, of all people, William Shatner, Star Trek’s original Captain Kirk, arrived on stage to open the festivities. It happened on June 9, 2005, and it remains an indelible moment of entertainment galaxies colliding.
Shatner basked in the moment, giving a remarkably Shatner-ian performance. He hammed it up, smiled broadly, joked about his hair (comparing it to the honoree’s iconic follicles), and, yes, sang. Upon Shatner's introduction, the faces of Lucas, Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and Chewbacca all expressed shock. Shatner then elicited chuckles with his opening line: “Star Trek changed everything.” He then cracked, “Aren’t these conventions wonderful?” And from there, after two stormtroopers nearly carried him off the stage, Shatner engaged in his signature talk-sing warbling, delivering a Star Wars-themed reimagining of Frank Sinatra’s song, “My Way,” that even made an amusing dig at Howard the Duck, an infamous Lucas-produced box office and critical dud. It builds to a crescendo with more stormtroopers forming a kick line and dancing with Shatner in the middle, before they carry him away. Of course, Shatner gets in the last word, putting a Star Trek spin on his exit, which you can see in the video below.
In addition to Lucas, Ford, Spielberg, Fisher, Hamill, and Chewbacca, the major names in the audience for Shatner’s four and a half minutes on stage included Billy Dee Williams, Warren Beatty, Jimmy Smits, Robert Duvall, Calista Flockhart, and Richard Dreyfuss. Among those not visible in the video: Tom Hanks, John Williams, James Cameron, and more.
Of course, the Shatner appearance at the AFI ceremony is just one of several instances of Star Trek and Stars Wars joining forces in some way, shape, or form. George Lucas and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry shook hands at a convention. Oscar-winning sound effects maestro Ben Burtt worked on both Star Wars and Star Trek productions Likewise, Simon Pegg and Ethan Phillips have acted in several Star Trek and Star Wars projects, and George Takei provided a voice for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. The makers of Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness snuck quick shots of R2-D2 into those films, and Alderaan, a planet familiar to Star Wars aficionados, was briefly referenced on screen in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. And don’t forget that the TNG episode “Sub Rosa” featured a shot in a cemetery, where one tombstone clearly read “Vader” (while another says “McFly”).