Pun Salad

I've been a mild Star Trek fan for—hm, I think I might need a calculator for this—well, a long time. So this documentary was a must-get for me. Plus, Netflix said I would like it, and they were right. The premise is simple and works surprisingly well: William Shatner interviews the five other actors playing Captains from the other Trek series: Sir Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard in Next Generation); Avery Brooks (Benjamin Sisko in Deep Space Nine); Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway in Voyager); and Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer in Enterprise). And, last but not least, Chris Pine, Captain Kirk in the latest movie.

Shatner is kind of a well-known goof and egomaniac, but manages to engage each of his interviewees meaningfully. Sir Patrick comes across as the competent professional actor he is. And Scott Bakula comes across as the most regular guy, someone you could actually envision having a beer with. Kate Mulgrew probably has a Shatner-sized ego. And Chris Pine is an agreeable and likeable kid.

But Avery Brooks is, well, out there. He's a Rutgers prof, a musician, and answers Shatner's questions in kind of a jazz riff, accompanying himself on piano. And he coaxes Shatner into responding in kind. This is simultaneously fascinating and cringe-inducing.

Interesting bit of trivia: Shatner discusses the impact of being a TV-series star with all the Captains except Brooks. The record is poor: Shatner, divorced; Stewart, divorced; Mulgrew, divorced before the series, but her kids resented her absence; Bakula, divorced. The exception is Brooks, who's been married since 1976 (long before DS9) with three kids.

What that means, I don't know. Fortunately, Chris Pine is so far unmarried. Just as well.

There are also scenes from a Star Trek convention, with Shatner graciously and amusingly interacts with the attendees. (One attractive costuned young lady identifies herself as a "tribble slayer"—I didn't even know that was a thing.) Brief glimpses of Grace Lee Whitney, Jeri Ryan, and Sally Kellerman; brief interviews with series/movies co-stars Jonathan Frakes, Christopher Plummer, Rene Auberjonois, Connor Trinneer, Nana Visitor, and Robert Picardo.

Really quite a bit of fun, although I can't claim to have been enlightened by all the actor navel-gazing.