'Star Trek' Writer D.C. Fontana and William Shatner Recalled How He Became Captain Kirk

Photo byPinterest.com

[Note: Unless otherwise indicated, the commentary and quotes in this article are derived from the author's direct interviews with those mentioned.]

Overview

The Star Trek mass media franchise began with The Original Series (as it's now known), which initially aired on NBC from 1966 to 1969. A creation of Gene Roddenberry (a.k.a. "The Great Bird of the Galaxy"), The Original Series made superstars of William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Vulcan First Officer Mr. Spock, DeForest Kelly as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, and others.

Trek writer and story editor D.C. (Dorothy) Fontana (who died in 2019) was not in on the actual casting of these three original and main Trek stars. Those decisions were, as she once noted, "Gene Roddenberry's choices, and only his."

Fontana went on to explain recalled how Shatner in particlar came to play Kirk in the first of two pilots for the show: "The Cage," the un-aired first pilot starring Jeffrey Hunter (King of Kings) as Captain Pike, and "Where No One Has Gone Before," the second pilot, now with Shatner as Kirk (replacing Hunter's Pike).

According to Fontana, "After Jeffrey Hunter's demands to repeat as Captain Pike were too much [for Roddenberry to consider for the second Trek pilot], Gene began to look around at other actors for a new captain. A number of actors were considered, but Bill Shatner got the role as he had a strong personality, an outstanding acting record [in theater and on television], and he was enthusiastic about it."

Shatner's Kirk certainly proved effective over the years. He brought an assertive gentleness and a measure of grace to the role, accenting and balancing Kirk's humanity with his obligations and extensive responsibilities as captain to a ship of over 400 crew members.

Kirk had a job to do, and remained dedicated to that job, but when push came to shove, his inherent sense of justice, even at the potential sacrifice of his position, would always win out.

Meanwhile, Shatner, in a coordinating interviewed, shared his thoughts on all of this. "Captain Kirk was a classical hero…in the classical mold of the hero with a heart that is most frequently placed in an uncomfortable position of having to make a choice between duty and heart, depending on the circumstances. His decision was made, but he was always the humanist.

"He always had a sense of humor about himself and about the world around him, acknowledging the final joke as life itself. And that he was humble at his place in history, in that anybody else could have done his job. But he was there at the right time and at the right place."

In addressing the central relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy, Shatner concluded, "The attempt was to have in one place an emotional human being, perhaps too emotional, being a scientist and a doctor, McCoy, and in the other position [Spock], a living being that attempts to use logic only. Each of those two characters had within themselves a struggle to maintain what they held dear.

"And in the center of those two poles was Kirk, torn between those two conflicting ideals. He emerges stronger for the struggle, bent by the necessity of completing the struggle and uplifted by the success of that struggle."

Conclusion

Had Jeffrey Hunter decided to appear in the second Star Trek pilot, The Original Series may not have even made it to air, let alone spin off into a multi-media franchise.