REVIEW: William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge
A review for William Shatner's latest foray into the stars of Star Trek.
Some may know William Shatner as the guy from the Priceline commercials, or that old chap who stopped aging in 1986, but most know him as James T. Kirk, captain of the starship Enterprise from the impetus Star Trek series. Shatner’s legacy orbits Star Trek like the Earth orbits its sun, unable to escape and clinging to it for life. So it’s no surprise that Shatner continues to return to the interminable Star Trek vein, lending his voice for video games, his pen for books, and his celebrity for documentaries. His most recent dip into the Star Trek well is William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge, a documentary offering behind-the-scenes insight into the creation of Star Trek follow-up series StarTrek: The Next Generation and its contentious first few years.
At the source of much of this contention was franchise creator Gene Roddenberry, who after reluctantly consenting to the follow-up series, felt the need to micromanage his brainchild down to the minutiae. And as is no surprise, such bullheadedness in a room full of creative minds leads to problems compounded by chaos. Consequently, Chaos on the Bridge devotes much of its time to the tiffs, quarrels, and dissension between Mr. Roddenberry and the rest of The Next Generation crew, as well as the show’s ensuing rocky first two years. As this 60-minute doc highlights, Mr. Roddenberry, with all his staunch creative visions, discarded writers so often that a board, appropriately located next to a toilet, was overflowing with names of those who had come and gone, like a monument to fallen soldiers. But as easy as it would be to have a 60-minute Roddenberry trash session, Shatner tells this story through the lens of several perspectives including 1986 President of Paramount, John Pike, as well as Next Generation writers, producers, and even the second to don the role of Enterprise captain, Sir Patrick Stewart. This inclusion paints Roddenberry in several lights, mostly dogged and sometimes toxic but also inspirational and revolutionary.
While Shatner’s documentary adequately highlights the forces working against the series revival—fan revolt, incessant infighting, syndicated release—it’s highlighting much of what devoted Star Trek fans likely already know, without chronicling anything new or insightful. This is, of course, problematic for a product marketed at Trekkies. And sure it’s interesting listening to various perspectives on Gene, his contemptible lawyer, the innumerable discarded cast and crew members, and the overall undulation of The Next Generation’s first few years, but it’s nothing a quick Google search or the show’s DVD special features couldn’t turn up.
Perhaps the biggest fault of Chaos on the Bridge is Shatner packs too much into one hour. Recounting a few years of controversy in such a short runtime doesn’t offer the chance for the insight and freshness this documentary so desperately lacks. In what feels like several blips from a focus group edited together, there were several moments I wanted to stop to spend more time with an interviewee as they shared something intriguing or humorous but was unfortunately robbed of the opportunity. I would have enjoyed hearing more of Gene’s unanimously despised lawyer, Leonard Maizlish, and how Next Generation writer David Gerrold dreamed of pushing him out of a window. But it felt like Shatner, as the displaced face of the franchise, worried more about proving his objectivity rather than letting the documentary gain momentum in any one direction.
However, through several interviews and succinct editing, the documentary as a whole does coalesce into a solid but abbreviated overview of the initial development and creation of The Next Generation. If Trekkies are unaware of or foggy on this subject, they’ll find William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge to be an informative hour. For hardcore Trekkies, this will likely be a bore with few redeeming moments mostly in the form of humorous anecdotes, namely from Sir Patrick Stewart.
