Boldly going where no one had broken the rules before and loving every minute of it!
Creator Gene Roddenberry’s science fiction universe introduced the non-interference Prime Directive almost from the very beginning with Star Trek: The Original Series. The Federation’s one, unwavering rule was that Starfleet should never interfere with life on other planets, so that each civilization the USS Enterprise encountered in TOS could develop in its own natural way.
However, don’t tell that to Captain James T. Kirk. No, William Shatner’s hilarious take on the Prime Directive in Star Trek gave everyone a good laugh at this year’s ST: CHI Trek to Chicago. Shatner said via TrekMovie.com:
“Of course we interfered with the Prime Directive. How do you spell Prime Directive? I mean it was a beautiful — ’Thou shalt not kill.’ Except in warfare. Except in when you are angry. Except when you can’t control yourself. Except in self-defense. I mean, you can go on. Thou shalt not kill. The worst thing, to kill someone, take somebody’s life? Yeah! Self-defense!”
Shatner also addressed a specific episode of The Original Series as an example during his panel. The actor said:
“Was the Prime Directive violated? By who? The Directive was infinitely malleable. If you didn’t improve — I think one of them was: you can’t interfere with a civilization. Sorry, no show. That was the plot! You got to go down there and kick somebody’s [expletive]. That was the show! You are worshiping a rock? Are you crazy. Blow the rock up.”
Shatner was specifically referring to The Original Series season 2 episode “The Apple,” in which an innocent and peaceful race of aliens is worshiping Vaal. As Shatner alluded to, Vaal’s head, which is carved out of a huge rock on the planet surface, looks like a kaiju straight out of a Godzilla movie. Now, what makes Shatner’s story even funnier is the fact that he didn’t know the name of the episode he was being asked about, as evidenced by his hilarious response:
“It was so many years ago, I don’t even remember the studio, for god’s sake.”
It was Desilu, Bill, at least in the beginning. Obviously, William Shatner’s iconic character is famous for breaking the rules, any of them, all of them, and repeatedly throughout Star Trek: The Original Series and the feature films which featured Captain Kirk and company. Now, do you agree with Shatner’s take on the Prime Directive? I certainly do, and I couldn’t stop laughing when I heard his response. Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!