The forgotten comedy in which William Shatner parodied his Star Trek character

William Shatner began his career as a promising young actor in the company of the prestigious Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario. But when, despite strong criticism for his performances, he failed to rise to stardom like his Canadian colleague Christopher Plummer, Shatner lowered his sights and embraced the philosophy of a working actor. This is not a hit. He shined in his episodes of “The Twilight Zone” and was magnificent as a racist intruder who fuels violence against the black residents of a small town in Roger Corman’s “The Intruder.” However, he also took on so many guest roles on television that he risked reducing his value by dint of his ubiquity.

Three seasons and several great episodes of “Star Trek” fixed that for Shatner, but throughout the 1970s he became closely associated with a kind of ridiculously serious and easily parodied manner. Serious Shatner’s ne plus ultra might be his portrayal of veterinarian Rack Hansen in the slick 1977 exploitation film “Kingdom of the Spiders.” The movie works as intended, but you’ll snicker as Shatner fights off a biblical onslaught of tarantulas. (It’s like the long version of Indiana Jones knocking the bugs off Satipo’s back in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”)

Eventually, Shatner realized he had sunk deep into self-parody and decided he wanted to have fun. In 1982, he found the perfect project to soothe that silly itch.

“Plane!” is one of the funniest and most quotable comedies ever made, but “Airplane II: The Sequel” is mostly remembered as a pale imitation, if it’s remembered at all. Why is that? For starters, Paramount greenlit the film without the involvement or approval of the original film’s creative team (David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker). Secondly… it’s just not very fun.

When “Airplane II: The Sequel” works, which is rare, it’s usually when William Shatner appears onscreen as Alpha Beta moon base commander Buck Murdock. It is this film’s version of Robert Stack’s Rex Kramer; He also hates Robert Hays’ Ted Striker and volubly attempts to guide the protagonist’s crippled passenger space shuttle to a safe landing on the moon.

The purpose of having Shatner in the movie is to riff relentlessly on “Star Trek” (pretty easy for Paramount since they own the property). There’s a joke about the voice-activated doors (base officers have to rattle the “Star Trek” door to open them), and a moment in which Shatner inexplicably uses an underwater periscope to watch the shuttles’ progress , spies on the Starship Enterprise. His biggest laugh, however, has little to do with “Star Trek.” When he is notified that his base does not have a tower, only a bridge, he storms out from behind a video screen that is revealed to be a door. It’s a lot more fun when you see it.

The goofball act suited Shatner. It also led to acting in television shows such as “3rd Rock from the Sun” and “Boston Legal,” as well as films such as “Free Enterprise” and “Miss Congeniality.”