Star Trek

By StarTrek.com Staff

July 18, 2011

Holy Shat! If you’re like us and just can’t get enough of William Shatner, then you’ll be with us in Shatner heaven as EPIX presents an all-encompassing, multimedia all-Shatner event called – what else? – Shatnerpalooza. It’ll kick off with a 48-hour marathon of Shatner’s work airing Thursday, July 21 to Friday, July 22, including the world premiere of Shatner’s documentary The Captains, and the world television premiere of William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet, as well as several Star Trek films, other Shatner-centric features and episodes, and even Comedy Central’s Roast of William Shatner. But that’s not all, as the celebration continues at Comic-Con, with a panel for The Captains on July 22 and a live Shatner Q&A. And there’s more! EPIX will screen The Captains in Los Angeles, on July 25 at Hollywood Forever Memorial Park, and then beam to New York City for a screening on Saturday, July 30 at the Intrepid Air & Space Museum. Shatner will attend both events and costume contests will be held at each event. The grand prize: a meet and greet with William Shatner. 

Where to begin when getting into detail on all this Shatner-y goodness? How about The Captains? Shatner produced and directed this original documentary, which finds him sitting face to face with his Star Trek counterparts, namely Patrick Stewart, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, Avery Brooks and Chris Pine. Shatner speaks candidly with each of them, trading stories and getting to know them on a personal level. The Captains will premiere at 8 p.m. ET/PT on July 22. And then there’s William Shatner’s Gonzo Ballet. Again wearing the producer-director hats, Shatner follows choreographer Margo Sappington as she set about staging a ballet based on Shatner’s 2007 album, Has Been.

Among the Shatner movies that EPIX will air are Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Disaster on the Coastliner, The Intruder, Big Bad Mama, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Broken Angel, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. And, yes, there’s more. The Roast of William Shatner will air at 2:10 a.m. on July 23, while the “Cold Hands, Warm Heart” episode of The Outer Limits will run at 1 a.m. on July 22 and at 10:35 a.m. on July 22. For all the programming and airdates/times, visit www.epixhd.com/shatnerpalooza.

And now on to Comic-Con. Anyone in San Diego should be sure to head over to Room 6BCF from 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. PST on Friday, July 22, for The EPIX Pictures: The Captains Comic-Con Panel, hosted by Kevin Smith, featuring William Shatner, Avery Brooks and a surprise guest. There will also be an autograph signing in Room 28C from 12:30 to 1 p.m PST. Later, at 3 p.m. PST, fans can participate in EPIX Live: Ask Shatner Questions, a live, online forum via Twitter and Facebook. Go to Epixhd.com/epix-live for details.

For those interested in learning more about the screenings of The Captains in Los Angeles and New York City, visit http://www.epixhd.com/the-captains-la-screening/ or http://www.epixhd.com/the-captains-ny-screening/. Any non--EPIX subscribers interested in watching The Captains and the rest of the Shatnerpalooza programming on EpixHD.com can click on Epixhd.com/freetrial-shatnerpalooza  for details about a no-strings 14-day trial. And, finally, keep checking in at StarTrek.com for other big Shatner news, plus, starting tomorrow, a two-part interview with the man himself.