“The Big Bang Theory” has finally landed William Shatner as a guest star — after trying several times to nab the elusive “ Star Trek ” icon.
Shatner, 87, will appear in the upcoming (Feb. 21) episode “The D&D Vortex” along with fellow celebs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Joe Manganiello and Kevin Smith.
“The gang finds out that [recurring guest star] Wil Wheaton hosts a Dungeons & Dragons game with some of his celebrity friends and they’re all desperate to get invited,” says series executive producer/showrunner Steve Holland. “It becomes a little bit of a competition between everybody about trying to get into Wil’s game.”
Shatner was first approached about appearing on “The Big Bang Theory” several years back. “For one reason or another it didn’t quite work out, whether it was scheduling or whatever,” Holland says. “But this time, coming into the final season, we knew we had a wish list of people we still wanted to be part of the show, and [Shatner] was at the top of our wish list.
“So we reached out to him again,” he says. “I got on the phone and chatted with him about what we were thinking about for the episode — at that point we didn’t have a script — but I think he felt like he wanted to be a part of this before it came to an end.
“I think what changed going into the final season is that he knows [series co-star] Kaley [Cuoco] from doing [Priceline] commercials together and they’re friendly.
“When I got on the phone, one of the things he asked was, ‘Will I get to play a scene with Kaley?’ ” (The answer: yes.)
Shatner isn’t the first actor connected to “Star Trek,” or one of its spinoffs, to appear on “The Big Bang Theory.” The late Leonard Nimoy was referenced several times and lent his voice to a Season 5 episode. Wheaton (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) has been a recurring character (as himself) since Season 3, while George Takei, Brent Spiner and LeVar Burton have all appeared on the sitcom.
‘It’s a sort of different version of Shatner as himself than we’ve seen before. He was certainly willing to poke fun at himself.’
Holland says Shatner will play a comedic version of himself on “The D&D Vortex” episode. “It shouldn’t be surprising that he’s good — he’s been doing this a long time, especially playing himself — and it was really interesting to watch him work,” he says.
“He would play a scene for a couple of takes until he found a delivery he liked and then really locked into it. He’d play around with a line a little bit and find what felt right to him and lock into that.
“He was nothing but receptive,” Holland says. “He’s made fun of his persona over the years, but if he’s doing something, he wants it to be different from what he’s done before. When we were first chatting, one of the things he thought was funny was if [in the episode] he was really into the [Dungeons & Dragons] game — so anytime someone would go ‘Let’s go,’ he’d say, ‘C’mon, guys, let’s get back. We’re playing Dungeons & Dragons here!’
“He took that tack,” he says. “So it’s a sort of different version of Shatner as himself than we’ve seen before. He was certainly willing to poke fun at himself.”
Holland is asked why “Star Trek” has played such a big role on “The Big Bang Theory” over the years.
“The writers are fans [of ‘Star Trek’] and therefore the characters are fans,” he says. “I think, in a weird way, the original ‘Star Trek’ was almost ground zero for pop culture fandom, and this show is so rooted in pop culture and pop culture fandom. I don’t think you’d have Comic Con or Marvel movies without [‘Star Trek’].
“If you go back to this weird little sci-fi show that only ran for three seasons in the 1960s and then got cancelled … to blow up into this giant community … it became such a huge part of our culture.”
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