08.15.2006
Holy Shat! Insults Fly at Comedy Central Roast
Riding in on a white horse and perching himself in his original captain's chair, William Shatner smiled, laughed, grimaced and groaned as a barrage of outrageous aspersions were cast his way and all about the stage at Comedy Central's "Roast of William Shatner," which was taped Sunday night in Studio City.
And two of the Roasters who jabbed the man of the hour from a very unique perspective were original crewmates Nichelle Nichols and George Takei.
The Comedy Central special will air this coming Sunday, August 20, at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, and will immediately repeat three times late into the night, and again the following weekend. The nearly three-hour event will be edited down to 90 minutes for its initial broadcast, but a full uncut, uncensored version will be available in the near future on pay-per-view, DVD and download-to-own, according to a Comedy Central spokesperson.
Jason Alexander ("Kurros" in "Think Tank") hosted the festivities as Roast Master, and aside from Nichols and Takei, the dais was a Who's Who of comedy, including Andy Dick ("EMH-2" in "Message in a Bottle"), Shatner's Boston Legal co-star Betty White, long-time Shatner impersonator Kevin Pollak, 70's icon Farrah Fawcett, plus comedians Fred Willard, Jeffrey Ross, Patton Oswalt, Greg Giraldo, Artie Lange and Lisa Lampanelli.
Others in attendance not to be on stage, but to be seen prominently in the audience included Rene Auberjonois and Jeri Ryan, both of whom have Boston Legal in common as well as Star Trek. Brent Spiner was also there, but he did not walk the red carpet (so we have no pictures of him), and we don't believe he was shown on screen at any time. (By the way, Jeri was there with her new fiancι, French chef Christophe Emι. To catch a glimpse at what he looks like, see the Photo Gallery at left.)
Carrie Fisher, Alan Thicke, David Carradine, Adrian Zmed and Dick Van Patten were among the many other celebrities enjoying the Shatner-centric evening. There were even stars from Comedy Central's Reno 911!, which seemed vaguely appropriate given Shatner's Rescue 911 connection.
But where was Leonard Nimoy? That question came up many times during the evening, but in fact, Nimoy was involved he taped a segment in advance with Shatner that served as the intro piece of the special, where the two traded some hilarious barbs. You can see that segment now along with other clips at ComedyCentral.com.
We hope you relish it as much as they
Another pre-taped segment involved Clint Howard, reprising in exacting detail the Star Trek role he played as a child, Balok the character now fully grown and partaking in a little too much tranya along with an overdubbed impersonation (we don't know by whom) of Vic Perrin's original "Balok" voice. Alexander, a super Trek fan, was downright gleeful as he introduced the clip and invoked "The Corbomite Maneuver."
Sarah Silverman ("Rain Robinson" in "Future's End") and boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel (also a big Trek fan) pre-taped another roast segment in which they were stuck in an airport on a layover, unable to make it to the show because they bought their plane tickets on Priceline.com. Ben Stiller and "Miss Congeniality" star Sandra Bullock contributed other video roasts.
This roast followed the classic Don Rickles tradition set by the Friar's Club and the Dean Martin-hosted specials of years past: fling the insults fast and furiously, but lace it with immense love and respect. As Alexander explained beforehand on the red carpet, "With a roast everybody has to understand, we throw arrows that, if we meant them, we couldn't throw them." Giraldo furthered, "Y'know, you have to kinda like a person to roast them properly. So you can be real mean and then at the end you say something sincere and nice."
Sincerity and brutality were all rolled up together in one big mush throughout the evening. For instance, Nichols started off her set saying: "Star Trek was a program that was devoted to utopian ideals, on camera and off. The crew of the Starship Enterprise proved that individuals of different races and creeds could be united in the common belief that Bill Shatner is a flatulent, selfish lardass who would crap on the last piece of pizza, just so you wouldn't enjoy it."
"I've always been impressed by you, Bill. In the 60's, African-American actors were often treated poorly and paid less. But you made sure everyone who worked with you was treated poorly and paid less," was another one of Nichols' lines. But she concluded, "Unfortunately, Bill, no matter how many jokes I make, I really love you for your humor, and your humanitarianism" her voice actually cracked in emotion at that point "and for the countless times you stood up for me on the deck of the Enterprise. Bill, you have great warmth, you're a man of dignity."
"I didn't know I was that gay!"
The above jokes from Nichols were some of the cleanest of the whole show, believe it or not. Takei had one in which he pointed out his name rhymes with "Toupee" but other than that, his set was as raunchy as any of the others with more experience at late-night comedy clubs. But Takei was in the very unique position of being a recent newsmaker regarding his public outing as a gay man, so he was the target of more than his share of zingers throughout the night.
Takei told us at the after-party that he was surprised at the quantity and intensity of jokes directed at him. "I didn't know I was that gay!" he exclaimed. Of course, being the trooper that he is, he laughed heartily at all of it.
Takei also explained that he conceived most of his material himself, but he turned those ideas over to the Comedy Central writers to polish them into the standup-style cadence of the roast format. Only a couple of his jokes were scripted entirely for him. (And yes, there was a teleprompter sorry to break the illusion.)
In the soundstage where the show was taped (at the CBS Studio Center in the San Fernando Valley, not far from where Shatner lives), there were about 2,000 audience members, sitting at tables and on bleachers along the sides. The roasters lounged comfortably on stage, and were served drinks by several green Orion Slave Girls (who were barely seen on screen but were mentioned a couple of times by the speakers). And there was a white horse waiting behind a side curtain for Shatner to ride in on, upon being introduced by Alexander.
Throughout the show Shatner sat in the seat of honor, which was the actual captain's chair from the Original Series retrieved from its current home, the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle. (We trust it will be back in time for the 40th anniversary convention there September 8-10.)
The photo gallery on the left consists of pictures we took from the red carpet as well as from the after-party. More photos can be found at the ShowBuzz link below.
Broccoli's the way
From the red carpet, Shatner's friends and co-workers all had comments about him. "The great thing about Bill Shatner is that he has such a great sense of humor about himself," said Auberjonois. "We were sitting around on the set [of Boston Legal] last week and I said, 'Are you ready for this? Y'know, because they can get pretty mean.' He said, 'Aw yeah, I'm gonna get the last word in. And they're paying me a lot to do it.'"
"I just really think the world of him and he really does a lot of great things to give back," said country star Brad Paisley, who has participated in Shatner's Hollywood Charity Horse Show. "It's gonna be really interesting to see how he fares this evening. I think they're gonna absolutely destroy him. But he can take it. Are you kidding me? He's been roasting himself now for 20, 30 years."
Betty White said she's had a crush on Captain Kirk since she first saw him on TV. "I'm a big Trekkie," she confessed. "I have copies of all the Star Trek movies, I've got the whole thing, I wouldn't part with them."
Along similar lines, Jeffrey Ross described Kirk and Spock as "the Lennon and McCartney of sci-fi."
So how did Shatner prepare for the evening? "Push-ups. Jumping jacks, push-ups..." he responded wryly. He was asked by one reporter what makes Captain Kirk and all his other characters so virile with the ladies: "Broccoli. Broccoli's really good for that."
There are advance clips from the show at the Comedy Central link below. If you will be at the Las Vegas convention that starts on Thursday, Creation Entertainment will be screening clips throughout the weekend. But before you go, don't forget to set your TiVo or VCR!
Again, that's Sunday night, 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, with several repeats afterwards. Check your local listings.
I don't really understand roasts. I wouldn't want someone insulting me non stop, but that's just me.
i did watch it and it had its funny parts. It was SUPER vulgar, I kept cringing at some of the comments. I did giggle a few times though. All that I got from the show is that you can pretty much do or say anything on comedy central. ridiculous.
oh, and I hate andy dick a little more each time i see him.
"I'm looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can't-live-without-each-other love." - Carrie Bradshaw
"The danger of an adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort" - Paulo Coehlo
Live your life like it's your last day on earth
Life is not how many breaths you take, but how many moments take your breath away.
illuminate said this in post #5 : I don't really understand roasts. I wouldn't want someone insulting me non stop, but that's just me.
i did watch it and it had its funny parts. It was SUPER vulgar, I kept cringing at some of the comments. I did giggle a few times though. All that I got from the show is that you can pretty much do or say anything on comedy central. ridiculous.
oh, and I hate andy dick a little more each time i see him.
I don't watch that channel that much, but it seemed like it was HBO. They pretty much said anything they wanted, cept they would bleep out the F word.
But the vulgar sexual stuff, and the racist remarks, and detailed body functions, it was a bit over the top. I bet Heck! loves it.
Whidden said this in post #6 :
But the vulgar sexual stuff, and the racist remarks, and detailed body functions, it was a bit over the top. I bet Heck! loves it.
You damn skippy. I was cracking up! I watch Comedy Central as much as any other network station and the language they let through is par for the course. On the weekends, at midnight, they show movies uncensored sometimes.
Anyway, the roast was fan-diddly-freakin'-tastic. I wish I could quote some of my favorite lines. I can try though... Greg Giraldo (speaking of Shatner's movie career) said he's been in more turds than Andy Dick's *censored*. I was howling!
I would love to go to one of these, I would be rolling on the floor! I just wish it could have gone on longer and they were a little tougher. Seems like they eased up a little.
quote:
gaboman said this in post #7 : Andy Dick got pretty wasted before this, apparently, and made a wank of himself... what'd he do exactly?
I always hated that twerp anyway.
Andy Dick is a giant toolbox. I have a story about him somewhere on here. Anyway, dude went all stupid during Patton Oswalt's turn, I think, and he mentioned some music video where Dick licked a roller skate or something. Then dude jumps up and licks Oswalt's face. Then he licks Farrah's face, then Carrie Fisher, mostly while other people are doing their routine or whatever. He's just a huge talentless idiot.
Wonder what was up with Leonard Nimoy. I know he is retired but still. Walter Koening is still kicking.
I saw Brent Spiner, Rene Auberjonois and Jeri Ryan in the audience. How can you not bring up Jeri Ryan. Man. I do declare that lady does give me the vapors.
HECK! said this in post #12 : Wonder what was up with Leonard Nimoy. I know he is retired but still. Walter Koening is still kicking.
I saw Brent Spiner, Rene Auberjonois and Jeri Ryan in the audience. How can you not bring up Jeri Ryan. Man. I do declare that lady does give me the vapors.
-HECK!
He did the pretaped phone thing at the beginning, I don't know if you saw that part or not. If not, it's on Comedy Central .com
"I'm looking for love. Real love. Ridiculous, inconvenient, consuming, can't-live-without-each-other love." - Carrie Bradshaw
"The danger of an adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort" - Paulo Coehlo
Live your life like it's your last day on earth
Life is not how many breaths you take, but how many moments take your breath away.
08-20-2006 09:15 PM
I'm gonna have to stay up late and watch it I guess.
