During the entire run of the original Star Trek, Bill Shatner stuck to a long-established toupee style, which we call "The Jim Kirk lace". But there are a few examples within Star Trek's run in which Kirk's hair was altered. One such example, perhaps the most subtle, is the third season episode "The Paradise Syndrome".
In the episode, Captain Kirk loses his memory and is left stranded on a planet of primitive yet contended Native American Indian-like people. Kirk inadvertently becomes their god, Kirok, and also falls in love with Miramanee (pictured below).
Crucially, Bill Shatner's transformation into a softer, gentler character in the episode is also reflected by the subtle transformation of the toupee. It becomes less greasy and just a little bit more fluffy. The sideburns - are they real or not (probably not)? Does the hair look more or less realistic overall? Conversely, these kinds of dilemmas cleverly direct the viewer to never become too contented with Kirk's new reality - after all, fluffy toupee or not, the entire planet he is on faces destruction from an asteroid if Spock, up on the Enterprise, fails to halt it.
And on a side note - an interesting bit of trivia: Bill Shatner's moccasins are without the "lifts" that his regular boots contained to make the actor appear taller - thus, Bill Shatner appears noticeably shorter in parts of this episode:
"Jim, have you shrunk?"
Anyway, we think that "The Paradise Syndrome," written by Margaret Armen, is one of the highlights of the often dreadful third season of Star Trek and possibly of the entire series. Most notable is its portrayal of a surprisingly multi-dimensional and emotionally mature Captain Kirk (the episode ends not with the usual humorous banter, but with Kirk facing the death of his wife and future child), underscored by a uniquely soft and sensitive toupee style.
In that last picture, strangely it's not Shat's toupee that attracts the attention.
ReplyDeleteBill is looking good. The fakeness of the toupee only adds here. Season 3 deserves more attention!
ReplyDeleteThanks Shat Toup. I never really noticed that there was a different toupee for this episode but now that I see it, I love it even more. To the layman, you just assume he wore the Jim Kirk lace for the TOS but this is indeed a great find. I'm going to go out on a limb here its possible that this whole episode was written because the usual lace was in for maintenance and they had to come up with a storyline for the replacement. As a side note, does anyone notice the generous amount of pausing and halting speech Shat give here?
ReplyDeleteI think that native americans didn´t know the lace at the time!
ReplyDelete@Most Jerk - our toupologists tell us that rather than a different toupee, the "Kirok lace" is very likely still one of Bill Shatner's regular two "Jim Kirk lace" toupees that he used per season on Star Trek, but probably just styled a little differently to be more fanned out and fluffy. -ST
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the fluffy/windblown look - also the headband. The sideburns are a bit scary though.
ReplyDeleteI liked Season 3. Granted there were some bad episodes, but some were a change of pace from all the comedy and slapstick from the of Season 2. To me, it was that emphasis on all the comedy in Season 2 that really was the beginning of the end of the series.
ReplyDeleteI liked that there were episodes where the ending wasn't always happy and fun. This one was probably one of the more somber endings (I recall in some syndication airings they actually cut away from the actual final scene).
As for the toupee, I think it's a season 3 look. It was longer and darker, and in the wind it got messed up.
The extended sideburns are fake though. If you look in some scenes, you can see his actual sideburns (with the curve) in tact underneath the extensions. Maybe they created a super-long toupee and had some extra, so they used it on his face? :)
you can see the real sideburns through the fake hair they put around them
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bluecorncomics.com/pics/kirok3.jpg
A Shatner Paradise? Where the toupees grow on trees.
Fake sideburns?
ReplyDeleteThe Bill Shatner Comeback Special?
Shat's height is a bit of a mystery, just like his hairline. Eg., in that greek alien telekinesis ep I remember Shat & Nimoy wore togas with gladiator sandals --- there was clearly no room for lifts in the sandals, but Shat didn't look much/if any shorter than usual I thought. Maybe I'm wrong tho.
ReplyDelete"toupburns" also it seems!
ReplyDeleteActually this hair is a little subtle touch of realism. Of course Jim's hair is gonna be dry and fluffy. These natives don't have any of the space-brylcreem he usually uses.
ReplyDeleteExcept for the regular inch or so of heel on the uniform boots, I really don't think Shat wore lifts on the show. He always looked to be of average height. In '68 dead-average height for a man would have been about five-nine. I think the lift myth got started on the Columbo episode where his character's lifts somehow gave him away as the killer.
ReplyDelete