William Shatner reveals truth behind ‘Star Trek’ Tribbles scene, sliding doors

LOS ANGELES ― While still helming the U.S.S. Enterprise as rugged Captain James T. Kirk, William Shatner couldn't fathom the concept that fans would be discussing the 60th anniversary of the first "Star Trek" episode, which aired Sept. 8, 1966.

The eventual seminal TV sci-fi series lasted just three seasons, from 1966 to 1969, before NBC canceled the ratings-challenged show and filled the network's Friday night time slot with the now-forgotten drama "Bracken's World."

"If you polled the entire human population and asked, 'You know that mediocre, barely surviving television show on Friday nights at 10 o'clock with nobody watching?'" a still-bemused Shatner, 95, tells USA TODAY during a "Star Trek" anniversary interview in his Studio City, Los Angeles office. "I don't think you'd find anyone saying it would still be in our consciousness 60 years later."

But Gene Roddenberry's vision of the 23rd-century final frontier found a passionate new audience in syndicated reruns and ultimately spawned a universe of movies, spinoff TV series and generations of devoted Trekkies. Shatner says he missed out on any residual payments, calling himself "famously poor."

He laughs that off amid the global 60th celebration that has been marked with movie screenings and TV…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/entertainment/