Our most recent poll asked for your take on what goes through Bill Shatner's mind when he sees himself without his toupee. 6% said "That is the real me"; 15% suggested that he doesn't really emote on the matter at all; 31% said "That's not the real me" and 46%, the greatest number, suggested that he simply can't bear to look.
Thanks for voting! Now for a quick roundup of other toupee-related news:
We wanted to bring to our readers' attention a recent appearance by Bill Shatner on The Howard Stern Show, notable for two key reasons: firstly, Bill Shatner came on with his wife Elizabeth - a very rare occurrence indeed. Secondly, the level to which this married couple good-naturedly subjected themselves to some of the most intimate, explicit and incredibly personal questions was really something to behold.
Here's a video clip from the show's YouTube channel:
After listening to the Shatners answering an endless stream of questions about their sex lives, one can't help but think "This is OK, but the toupee is off limits?" How can that be? Perhaps offering the public more in this arena (the couple would certainly have known beforehand to expect such deeply intimate questions - that is, after all, what Howard Stern does) is a way to compensate for the lack of discourse on the toupee.
Or was this a subtle signal by Elizabeth to her husband that if he decides to open up about the toup, she will stand by her man? Is she perhaps even pushing behind-the-scenes for more disclosure?
The people must hear the truth about the toupee.The entire audio is currently up on YouTube in three parts and we certainly recommend this fascinating and very funny exchange to our readers.
Next, the good folks at My Star Trek Scrapbook have posted an interesting snippet from a 1987 issue of the spoof magazine Cracked (which as of 2007 exists only as an on-line publication). Here's the crucial image...
Notice the detail of the toupee - the overlapping lace at the front is perfectly rendered. ...click over to My Star Trek Scrapbook for more context.
And finally, a trailer for the 1974 William Shatner TV movie Indict and Convict recently appeared on YouTube:
This is a movie our staff (and other Bill Shatner fansites) have long sought to locate in order to conduct a thorough toupological analysis. The following quote from an IMDb user review may help to explain our enthusiasm for tracking down this particular title:
A lost classic? William Shatner in the 1974 TV movie Indict and Convict.
"Without divulging anymore than the title of the movie does, I can tell you this: ABSOLUTELY, SPECTACULAR, TOTALLY OVER THE TOP PERFORMANCE BY WILLIAM SHATNER. Completely out of control with his searching looks, pauses (extended) during dialogue, made every effort to steal every single scene in the move. (I wouldn't have respected him if he hadn't) But wait... there's MORE. He's wearing those Gow-Awful Choclote [sic] Brown double knit suits complete with matching vest, plaid collared shirt with no button down collars... but worst of all... It was the dreaded and feared 1970's Necktie."
Need we say more?
Image sourced here.
Add to all of the above, the movie also has a soundtrack scored by none other than Jerry Goldsmith - there's a clip of the score here ("Perhaps my #1 unreleased Goldsmith grail!" notes a commenter at Film Score Monthly's board).
If any of our readers can help us track down a copy, we would certainly be very grateful!
And that's it for this post!
A lost classic? William Shatner in the 1974 TV movie Indict and Convict."Without divulging anymore than the title of the movie does, I can tell you this: ABSOLUTELY, SPECTACULAR, TOTALLY OVER THE TOP PERFORMANCE BY WILLIAM SHATNER. Completely out of control with his searching looks, pauses (extended) during dialogue, made every effort to steal every single scene in the move. (I wouldn't have respected him if he hadn't) But wait... there's MORE. He's wearing those Gow-Awful Choclote [sic] Brown double knit suits complete with matching vest, plaid collared shirt with no button down collars... but worst of all... It was the dreaded and feared 1970's Necktie."
Need we say more?
Image sourced here.If any of our readers can help us track down a copy, we would certainly be very grateful!
And that's it for this post!
I thought you'd like that cartoon when I posted it!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Frederick. Keep up the good work! -ST
ReplyDeleteTake a look at one of the panels in this spoof page that addresses the issue also, from my most recent post: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B0kkBWINMn8/T1-DlzZbBAI/AAAAAAAAAZg/dYjfG3bcd0k/s1600/cracked_st4_02.jpg
DeleteOff topic question but now that Blagojevich has reported to prison will we now know if he wears a toupee? You'd think they'd make him take it off as he could hide things in there. Is a celebrity reporting to prison the ultimate toupological truth teller?
ReplyDeleteI remember listening to the Howard Stern Show back in the days it was on the radio. I recall Bababooey or Howard saying a day or two after an interview Shat put all hair questions off limits. If they wanted him to be on the show in the future, they couldn't go there.
ReplyDeleteThe Indict and Convict clip wasn't so much a trailer as it was a clip from a one-off special hosted by Faith Ford. The special highlighted pilots that never made it to series. It was called The Greatest Shows You Never Saw.
ReplyDeleteThe greatest toup on earth. Roll up, roll up. See the amazing 54 year, cover-up. Lol. Great work, btw I have seen another shot of tactic 1959, and sorry shat toup, unlike a town has turned to dust, which is his real hair, this is just the normal jkl. And as for the first photo, I now believe it's a toup, but due to the light, and the angle, may appear to be something else.
ReplyDeleteWhy doesn't that behind the scenes still photograph from 1960 on the set of Judgement at Nuremberg count as a toupless pic?
ReplyDelete@adidas. Thanks for your comment. For the sake of other readers, the picture you refer to is here and part of this toupological analysis.
ReplyDeleteThe reason is we're rather like news networks on election night - hesitant to make a definitive call unless we have sufficient data. In that case, our toupological staff are still seeking out more info before we can make a final hairline projection. -ST
Is'ot amazing, how much like elvis the shat could look, the 2nd close up photo from indict and convict is elvis too a tee. Btw there is a couple of rather interesting, pieces of shats hair issues on the net. One is a facebook, spoof on youtube, about unfriending people on your facebook page. The interesting thing is his hair, looks rather diffront, thicker almost simi tj hooker like? and a very interesting and recent photo, on i think broadway. Com ( may have got the website wrong) where there again the hair looks very diffront? then two weeks later, the hair is short agian rather strange? He either has two or more toups ( i think thats quite unlikely) or he had a hair transplant.
ReplyDeleteI've been a long-time reader of this blog (well, going back at least almost two years ago), and it's helped convince me that William Shatner is absolutely a toupee-wearer. That's not such a bad thing, though. He pulls of the 1950s through 1960s "Jim Kirk" toupees, and his more recent short one. I've got to add though, this blog is a part of what's inspiring me to take up writing my own. Have to hand it to you, you irrefutably put forth the fact that Bill wears hair pieces, all-the-while maintaining respect for Mr. Shatner himself. Congratulations.
ReplyDelete@Romantic Modern Hero (great name) thanks so much for your kind words about our work. To quote Leonardo da Vinci: "The noblest pleasure is the joy of understanding."
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your writing endeavors and if in doubt, perhaps Bill Shatner's toupee can provide inspiration and even strength!
-ST
@MJ: Stern won't talk toup: All Shatner has to say is "Richard Farrell."
ReplyDeleteI suspect that this IMDB user who rated "Indict & Convict" as a spectacular must-see was trying to be funny.
ReplyDelete@tintorera: yeah, you got it right. I did see this TV movie and it's a very standard type of TV series pilot without much interest. Shatner really doesn't anything in it.
ReplyDeleteRecently, on YouTube I saw him in an old episode of The Magician with Bill Bixby. Shatner's acting was pretty good as a man who's getting played by his wife.
A real shame that this movie doesn't appear to be a lost classic... Alas, our staff must still do its duty and conduct a thorough toupological analysis. -ST
ReplyDelete