Movies - TV
One Futurama Star Got A Bizarre Phone Call From William Shatner
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
Prior to recording the “Futurama” episode “Where No Fan Has Gone Before,” which satirizes “Star Trek,” Billy West, who plays Fry, got an anxious phone call from William Shatner.
Shatner was to play himself in the episode, but had concerns. West recalled Shatner saying, “I sort of understand this thing. That you want me to be Shatner. [...] But I don’t …”
West continued, “[Shatner] wanted to just figure out a new way to go, not as Shatner. Maybe as Kirk or whoever.’” He intuited that Shatner thought “Futurama” would deride him.
The voice actor assured Shatner, “‘Listen, you’re not going to get the treatment here. You know, we’re not out to parody you or do anything like that.’”
Shatner went on to do the “Futurama” episode, along with “Star Trek” veterans Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, and George Takei.