137: Shatner in the Seventies (with Jessica Ritchey)

The writer and critic Jessica Ritchey returns to the show for a look at the strange body of work William Shatner put together in the 1970s, the wilderness years in between the end of the Star Trek TV series and the start of the Star Trek film series. 

We focus on four of his films, all currently available to watch on YouTube:

The Horror At 37,000 Feet (1973), a TV movie that combines The Exorcist with the Airport series, with Shatner as a defrocked priest fighting against the demonic possession of a transatlantic flight. 

Pray for the Wildcats (1974), also made for TV, with Shatner as a depressed ad executive forced to go with his partners on a motorcycle ride through Mexico with a rich client (Andy Griffith) who turns out to be a psychotic monster looking for consequence-free thrills.

Impulse (1974), a deranged regional grindhouse feature by scholckmeister William Grefé starring Shatner as a murderous gigolo, the ultimate Florida Man depicted on screen.

Disaster on the Coastliner (1979), an all-star TVM starring Shatner as a charming conman who gets swept up in the takeover of a train by a deranged engineer determined to smash it into an oncoming train (with the Vice President’s wife on board!)

We also discuss the notorious video of Shatner’s spoken-word version of “Rocket Man” at the 1978 Saturn Awards for science fiction, and other highlights from this very strange and adventurous period in his long career.

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Jessica’s YouTube mixtape “Shatner’s Wilderness Years” with links to the programming we discuss in this show.

You can order the Grindhouse Releasing limited edition blu-ray restoration of Impulse here!

Trailer for Impulse (William Grefé, 1974)

William Shatner Loblaws commercial for Canadian TV, 1972

The “Rocket Man” clip from the 1978 Saturn Awards, AI-remastered