Wil Wheaton's Epic William Shatner Star Trek Story May Be A Bit One-Sided
The story goes like this: Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," was playing Wesley Crusher on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Hearing word that "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" was shooting on an adjacent studio lot, the plucky young ensign decided to make his way over and introduce himself to the man himself, William Shatner.
According to Wheaton, what happened next would have been a devastating blow to any teenage boy in a Starfleet uniform: William Shatner was mean to him.
More specifically, as Wheaton wrote in his book "Still Just a Geek," Shatner scoffed at his costume and openly mocked the idea of a kid pretending to pilot a pretend starship, saying "Well, I'd never let a kid come onto my bridge." Spoken like someone who's seen Season 3, Episode 4, "And The Children Shall Lead," of the original "Star Trek," right everybody?
Wheaton, for his part, has told the story of his face-off with Captain Kirk plenty of times. But what does Shatner have to say about it? This might shock you, but the answer is "something curmudgeonly."
William Shatner doesn't have time for stories about William Shatner not having time for things
"I have no recollection of this event," William Shatner tweeted about the subject of Wil Wheaton's story in 2022.
"Others on set say it never happened," he continued. "I actually have apologized to him a few times even though I don't remember it and he [...] accepted my apology. Now that must also be forgotten? He must need the publicity for some project." It should also be noted that, considering that he was well into his 90s when he tweeted it, Shatner showed a remarkable amount of emoji literacy, employing eye rolls and shrugs and smirks with an expertise usually reserved for tweens who are about to lose their phone privileges.
With "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry's dream of a world without interpersonal conflict now fully annihilated, what can we learn from this story? That history is written by the winners, perhaps, and since "Star Trek" is all about no-win scenarios, nobody gets to write its history? Don't meet your heroes? "Shut up, Wesley?" Go with whichever one feels right. Sometimes a feeling is all we humans have to go on.