“I got a call from my agent the next day telling me that Star Trek was a go, and I must tell you, I was thrilled. Thrilled with the victory, thrilled with the promise of steady work and thrilled that I was about to gain national exposure by working in such a quality vehicle. It was a day I’ll never forget, and a day that officially began one of the most labour-intensive, backbreaking, and happy periods of my life.”

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Star Trek Memories

by William Shatner with Chris Kreski (1993)

Like many of you, I have such fond memories of watching Star Trek in my youth. I was born after the show went off the air so my memories are of watching the show in syndication. I seem to recall it aired in the early evening and my brother and I would watch it with supper. We both loved the show and had some of the many toys that were sold through the 1970s. More recently, I bought the complete original series on Blu-ray and have been working my way through it. I watch the episodes only intermittently and so I’ve been going through the series for years.

Also recently, I went on a sort of book buying spree and at least three of the ones I found in thrift stores were written by William Shatner, including Star Trek Memories. When I told my friend I was reading a Star Trek book she asked if I was a fan. Right away I thought to say no as I thought of all the so-called “Trekkies” out there that attend all the conventions, engage in cosplay and generally live and breathe the show – it is one of those phenomenons. So I’m not on that level but I’ve always been intrigued by the Star Trek universe and the way it has told its stories.

I’ll note quickly for those who don’t know; Star Trek was a landmark science fiction television program that ran from 1966 until 1969. Good Canadian boy Shatner portrayed heroic James T. Kirk, captain of the Starship Enterprise. As well as being an actor on TV and film and a recording artist, Shatner – alive as of today, aged 94 – has always had a way with words and is also a prolific writer. His TekWar novels actually became a universe unto themselves and Shatner also co-wrote a clutch of Star Trek novels and many non-fiction books including the one we are looking at today. Star Trek Memories – and other of Shatner’s memoirs – was co-written by author Chris Kreski who was a head writer for the World Wrestling Federation in the 90s before dying prematurely of lung and brain cancer at 42.

Star Trek Memories is unique in that it is the detailed story of the creation of an iconic television program told by the star of that program. Shatner starts off with a thorough backstory telling how Gene Roddenberry created the iconic show and he starts right at the beginning when Roddenberry was but a child. Shatner slowly lays the foundation of the show’s inception telling the reader all you need to know without descending into too much detail. Consider that at the book’s halfway point, the program had yet to hit the airwaves.

Shatner’s jokey persona shines through brightly as he runs down how the cast and crew were assembled. He heaps much praise on those behind the scenes and says that they were all top-notch artists and craftsmen and describes without cliché the workplace as a fun if hectic place where people who considered each other family came together all loving their work.

While Shatner makes this shared love of the work clear, its also driven home to the reader that there was immense pressure in play to stage this show weekly, filling it with engaging content while always being mindful of budget restrictions. He explains that Desilu was a small studio at which to launch such an ambitious show and the studio – and this is an old story – was tight with the purse strings. Things came to such a head at times that Bill describes men suffering nervous breakdowns and uncontrollable weeping.

Shatner then provides details on the show as it took shape through the filming of early episodes. He describes the studio’s misunderstanding and flat out dislike of the Spock character. He notes that he himself as Kirk had it easy – just be heroic – but Leonard Nimoy had to constantly strive to put in a nuanced performance and regularly had to battle the studios to maintain the integrity of the character. Shatner also boldly notes that he suffered jealousy when Spock became so popular. And the studio pulled a classic switch when they began sending memos to Roddenberry questioning why Spock wasn’t being featured more.

In an engaging and breezy style, Shatner heralds the hard work and ingenuity of the crew in creating the episodes week to week noting that the show was so unique that it couldn’t just access pre-existing props or costumes but had to regularly invent. He shares the inner workings and nuts and bolts behind the series. He describes the touching reason behind his favourite episode, the fact that Desilu and the showrunners actually got mean when dealing with Nimoy, how Davy Jones contributed to the adding of Chekov to the cast and he explains how silly bean counting, schedule changes and budget slashing wrecked this show that became an institution.

And the epilogue is fascinating. To write Star Trek Memories, Shatner did a good job of meeting with the cast and crew to interview them for their perspectives on the show. In the final chapter, Shatner perhaps scores points when he shares that Nichelle Nichols was the first to admit to Bill, at the end of their time talking together, that she often actually despised him while they were making Star Trek. Shatner owns up somewhat to being difficult on set and shares that others he interviewed felt the same way. Fellow Canadian James Doohan who played Scotty harboured such vociferous hatred that he actually refused to be interviewed.

Star Trek Memories was a successful book that Shatner followed up with Star Trek Movie Memories. You may not be among the show’s most devoted fanbase but you may like me have real fond memories of watching the show at one time or another. But whether you’re a fan or not, there is much to enjoy here. You’ll get a really engaging story about how a television series got made in the mid-1960s with fun and humourous anecdotes. Fascinating to learn how little Star Trek was valued by the studio considering what the franchise has become.