How William Shatner Changed the World (2005)

 

Synopsis: Egotistical old ham takes credit for four decades of technological innovation. 

Blurb From the imdb.com: “William Shatner presents a light-hearted look at how the ‘Star Trek’ TV series have influenced and inspired today’s technologies, including: cell phones, medical imaging, computers and software, SETI, MP3 players and iPods, virtual reality and spaceship propulsion.” 

What Did I Learn?: One of the world’s foremost experts on the history of computers likes to dress up like Shakespeare. 

You Might Like This Movie If: You want to learn more about how William Shatner inspired telecommunications, the search for alien life forms, and um....kerosene heaters?

Really?: I was a bit surprised when Shatner comments on the lower ratings of the later Star Trek series (Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise) compared with the Next Generation, and had a bit of trouble believing his proposed explanation for the popularity dip: viewers didn’t care for the less optimistic view of the future they presented. Gee…I wonder if it had anything to do with Paramount saturating the TV market with too many inferior Trek franchises populated with boring characters….

Rating: How William Shatner Changed the World is a cute, but mildly smug and cloying (at least to non-Trekkers) documentary that discusses Star Trek’s immense cultural influence on the outside world. I could have done without Shatner’s flat-footed comedic bits. 6/10 stars. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814142/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0