Actor William Shatner is indisputably a Hollywood legend at this point in his long and storied career, and while his part as Captain James T. Kirk in “Star Trek” remains one of his most popular, the man has actually done quite a bit of sci-fi in his time.
It’s true that Shatner has a lengthy resume, and it’s also true that he is, as a performer, somewhat genre agnostic. Despite being known for a defining science fiction TV show, Shatner hasn’t particularly favored the genre, or any particular genre, throughout his work as an actor, and he has very much taken roles in all different kinds of projects.
That said, he definitely has a mighty sci-fi roster to his name, so we rounded up five of the beloved genre’s shows that Shatner appeared in (that, of course, aren’t part of the “Star Trek” franchise).
1. The Twilight Zone
Potentially the most obvious inclusion on this list, Shatner’s work on the iconic horror and sci-fi anthology series “The Twilight Zone” is some of his most compelling. His two appearances on the CBS show came a few years before he would become captain of the USS Enterprise, but they would help cement him as an important talent of the era.
William Shatner’s first “Twilight Zone” episode came in Season 2 with a 1960 telecast titled “Nick of Time,” which followed Shatner’s character and his wife (Patricia Breslin) as they become fixated on an eerily accurate fortune telling machine in their booth at a diner.
His second came three years later in the Season 5 episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.” The acclaimed episode, which is widely considered one of the best “Twilight Zone” episodes, follows Shatner as a man who spirals after seeing a mysterious creature on the wing of the plane during a flight.
2. The Outer Limits
A year after William Shatner starred in his beloved “Twilight Zone” episode, he went on to have a guest appearance on a show that was heavily inspired by that series, “The Outer Limits.” The ABC show, which was also a sci-fi anthology series, ran for two seasons, which was significantly fewer than its predecessor.
Shatner starred in the Season 2 episode “Cold Hands, Warm Heart.” The telecast followed his character, astronaut Jeff Barton, as he experiences increasingly concerning changes in his body after returning from a space exploration mission as part of the first crew to orbit Venus. Interestingly enough, the mission Shatner’s Barton participates in is called “Project Vulcan” — three years before he would become friends with the most famous (half) Vulcan of them all, USS Enterprise first officer Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, on “Star Trek.”
3. 3rd Rock From the Sun
While all the shows on this list are undoubtedly science fiction projects, “3rd Rock From the Sun” is probably the most unconventional of the bunch. The 1996 NBC sitcom’s take on sci-fi starred an ensemble cast consisting of John Lithgow, Kristen Johnson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, French Stewart, and Jane Curtin and was a late-1990s mainstay as the show entered syndication.
It follows a core group of aliens posing on Earth as a standard American family so they can observe humans in their natural habitat. William Shatner plays a recurring role as the boss of those aliens, the supreme leader of their race known as The Big Giant Head. He appears in the flesh in five episodes total during Seasons 4 and 5 — though the character’s voice is featured in the first three seasons — and Shatner really lets his comedy chops fly in a delightful way during his screen time. Plus, considering the nature of the role, it makes sense to have such a sci-fi legend playing an alien head honcho. It just feels right.
4. Futurama
When it comes to science fiction in animation, there’s no better example of excellence than the classic Fox series “Futurama.” The show — a workplace comedy about the crew of the Planet Express interplanetary delivery company, which operates out of a spaceship — has been on and off the air a few times but has been going intermittently since its 1999 premiere.
William Shatner came into the mix during Season 4, the last season on Fox, in an episode called “Where No Fan Has Gone Before.” It’s an inventive and clever episode that sees the main character, Fry (Billy West), put on a death trial for trying to save the lost “Star Trek” series after it’s banned due to becoming a religion many years in the future (for us viewers, anyway). Naturally, Shatner makes an appearance as himself, alongside fellow USS Enterprise crew cast members Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, and Walter Koenig. It was almost a full reunion of the living “Trek” cast members — DeForest Kelley having died in 1999 — but James Doohan declined to participate in the episode.
5. TekWar
While William Shatner is an equal opportunity actor when it comes to genre, he did create a sci-fi series himself in the 1990s — which, honestly, just feels right considering his standing as one of the most important actors in the genre. The show was called “TekWar,” and it was based on a novel series of the same name that Shatner conceptualized and had ghostwritten by sci-fi and fantasy writer Ron Goulart.
The story, which is set in 2044, follows a former cop who does time after getting framed for selling an illegal drug called Tek, but when he gets out, he gets roped into a scheme to go after dealers of the drug for the head of a major security firm. In addition to being the creator, Shatner also stars in the series — not as the former cop, but as the high-powered head of the firm. He plays Walter Bascom, the CEO of Cosmos, who employs ex-cop Jake Cardigan (Greg Evigan).
Despite the series having Shatner’s personal touch, it aired for only two seasons, achieving merely a middling sentiment from critics. Regardless, the show, and Shatner’s part in it, is a lot of fun.
