Slanted Fedora's 35th Anniversary Star Trek Convention at the Alexis Park Hotel in Las Vegas kicked off on Thursday and is under way.

After a politely chaotic morning spent registering and settling in, fans were making new friends and seeking autographs in the Athena Ballroom as well as in the corridor outside the main hall, the Parthenon Room. It seems there are so many Star Trek stars here that the hotel doesn't have space to put them all.

Greeting fans and presenting them with complimentary bottles of Starbase-1's Star Trek Altair Water (a welcome sight, given the desert heat) was TNN's Debra Fazio. The Director of Communication for TNN, Fazio is here to promote the cable network's status as the new television home to reruns of Star Trek (see related story here).

Things really got rolling in a big way as Slanted Fedora's Dave Scott gave the congregated fans in the Parthenon Room a few etiquette pointers (or, in his words, "Convention 101"), advising fans to get their photos early and to be sensitive to other fans by not standing throughout.

After the brief business, Scott roused the crowd by introducing the convention's Keynote speaker, Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner.

Shatner, strobed by the dazzling flashbulbs creating multiple shadows across the wall behind him, entreated the fans to keep their ovation short, and quickly started answering questions from the audience.

Reflecting the fan interest in the upcoming and latest Star Trek series Enterprise, the first question posed to Shatner regarded his thoughts about the new show. "I know nothing," Shatner deadpanned. "My thought is a complete blank." He noted that he knew as much as the fans about the latest ship to carry the name Enterprise, admitting that he's never been able to watch much episodic television, drawing a few gasps when he stated he has yet to watch a full hour of any of the subsequent Star Trek series, but then pointed out that he hasn't been able to watch much television in general, let alone Star Trek.

He announced that on Monday he'll be shooting his first appearance as a recurring role in the new series Bob Patterson, which stars another Star Trek alum, Jason Alexander (Kurros in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Think Tank"). The new ABC sitcom is also executive produced by Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine veteran Ira Steven Behr.

Shatner also joked that, in terms of seeing his own film and television work, "I can't stand looking at my face. I wish I looked like Gregory Peck. I'd like to be Brad Pitt." At that moment, a fan shouted out from the audience "You're fine, just as you are!" drawing wildly enthusiastic applause.

When asked about how he prepared for Kirk's death scene in "Star Trek Generations," Shatner revealed that his final words were, in fact, ad-libbed. Lying on the ground, Patrick Stewart ("Jean-Luc Picard") near at hand, Shatner gazed out over the camera and saw, high up, silently moving across the sky, a jetliner. He thought it looked like the Enterprise and he spoke his natural reaction, "Oh my…"

So, with the convention well under way, fans have a lot to look forward to: appearances by Kate Mulgrew ("Kathryn Janeway"), Brent Spiner ("Data"), LeVar Burton ("Geordi La Forge"), Gates McFadden ("Beverly Crusher"), Wil Wheaton ("Wesley Crusher"), Michael Dorn ("Worf") and Marina Sirtis ("Deanna Troi") — who are appearing together under the program billing "Beauty and the Beast" — and many more. And that's just Thursday, with more stars to come throughout the weekend.

The convention is loosely giving a day to each series, with scheduling conflicts unfortunately forcing Shatner and Mulgrew to appear today, which was earmarked for TNG. Other events on Thursday alone include several theatre pieces performed by Star Trek stars. Spiner and McFadden will be performing a short piece together; Rene Auberjonois ("Odo") and Nana Visitor ("Kira Nerys") will be performing playwright A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters"; Wil Wheaton and friends will be performing the improv/sketch comedy piece "Crush This"; and Jerry Hardin (Samuel Clemens on the TNG episode "Time's Arrow") will be performing his one-man Mark Twain show.

Other events planned for the weekend include Klingon Karaoke; a screening of the fan documentary "Trekkies" with commentary from Denise Crosby ("Tasha Yar" and "Sela" as well as the documentary's on-screen host); Sirtis and Dorn performing Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite"; tributes to DS9 on Friday, the Original Series on Saturday and Voyager on Sunday; plus much more, and STAR TREK.COM will be there to bring you the details!