An interesting moment during an April 27th 2010 interview by Joy Behar of "The Joy Behar Show" (on CNN's sister network HLN), with Bill Shatner. After showing Shats a clip from the Star Trek episode "This Side of Paradise", Behar asks:
"Tell me - does [Nimoy] ever regret that hairdo?"
Shatner laughs before replying:
"It's mine I was worried about!"
Watch below (fuller exchange here in which Shats, seemingly lightening up in old age, also cracks a joke about his weight) :
The question is: what did Bill Shatner mean by that? Truth is, the statement seems like one of those completely meaningless jokes a person makes from time to time in public; once you've made it and seen the other person inexplicably laugh, you wonder what the hell you just said. In Bill Shatner's case, making a joke about his hair adds a whole other layer of meaning.
Surely, Bill Shatner wasn't saying "I'm the one that wore a toupee! It's worrying about that, which consumed my time, not Nimoy's bowl-shaped do!"?
Or was it, conversely, an affirmation of the 'hair is real' falsehood: "I, with my very real hair had an interesting hairstyle too."?
Entire books could be written about this tiny exchange (The William Shatner School of Toupological Studies is already working on several), analyzing both overt and unintended meaning. What was consciously said? What slipped out unconsciously? Did Bill Shatner, as he appears to, realize the weight of what he had said the second it came out? One thing is sure: Bill Shatner is a master of his craft - like any great performer, his toupee revelations always leave the audience wanting more!
Surely, Bill Shatner wasn't saying "I'm the one that wore a toupee! It's worrying about that, which consumed my time, not Nimoy's bowl-shaped do!"?
Or was it, conversely, an affirmation of the 'hair is real' falsehood: "I, with my very real hair had an interesting hairstyle too."?
Entire books could be written about this tiny exchange (The William Shatner School of Toupological Studies is already working on several), analyzing both overt and unintended meaning. What was consciously said? What slipped out unconsciously? Did Bill Shatner, as he appears to, realize the weight of what he had said the second it came out? One thing is sure: Bill Shatner is a master of his craft - like any great performer, his toupee revelations always leave the audience wanting more!
