Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 22, 1994 TAG: 9401220360
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON MILLER KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Long
Shatner, the stalwart Capt. Kirk of the original "Star Trek," coined the term "Tekkies" in his 1989 novel "TekWar." They're addicts of a mind-altering electronic "drug" called Tek that permits users to experience adventures in their heads so realistic that they lose interest in real life.
But most observers assume Shatner really was thinking about Trekkies, endlessly watching "Star Trek" reruns, when he dreamed up the junkies of 200 years from now that he calls Tekkies.
In an interview here, Shatner allowed there may be some credibility to that theory. He also realizes he may be hooking millions more by turning his popular "Tek" novels into a series of irresistibly entertaining two-hour adventures for the new, syndicated "Action Pack" of 24 first-run movies from Universal Studios.
First of the batch is "TekWar" (tonight at 6 on WJPR/WFXR Channel 21/27), adapted from the first of Shatner's five novels. Adaptations of his "TekLords" and "TekLab" follow. A fourth "Tek" movie will be an original story that Shatner may use later as the blueprint for another book in the series.
"This is an absolute fantasy for me," Shatner said about the experience of producing and directing the movie version of his own best-seller. He also plays the recurring role of Bascom in all four films and will produce, but not direct, the next three.
Perhaps not his total fantasy, though. Shatner admits he originally conceived Jake Cardigan, the private eye hero of the "Tek" novels, as a character he could play. Jake is in his late 40s in the books, but that wouldn't be much of a stretch for the 62-year-old actor, who still looks young enough.
But producer Shatner finally reasoned it might be more sensible to cast a younger actor in case the "Tek" movies become a long-running franchise, so Greg Evigan ("B.J. and the Bear," "My Two Dads") became Jake and Shatner slipped into the smaller but still colorful role of Bascom, who runs the futuristic detective agency that employs Jake.
The first movie pretty faithfully follows the main plot line of the "TekWar" novel: Disgraced cop Jake Cardigan wakes from the 15-year cryogenic sleep he had been sentenced to for his involvement in an illegal Tek dealing gang, but discovers he's completed only four years of his term.
Puzzled, he learns that strings have been pulled by Bascom, who wants to hire him for a dangerous mission: the recovery of a scientist (Barry Morse), inventor of an electronic system that will instantly ruin the world's supply of Tek, who has been kidnapped along with his daughter (Torri Higginson).
Jake is eager to clear himself of the phony charges that put him on ice, so he tackles the mission. Along the way, he learns that his wife has divorced him and taken their son away. He also meets - and is strangely attracted to - an exact android replica of the scientist's kidnapped daughter, who helps him on his quest.
Shatner acknowledges that some "Tek" readers may be let down by the compromises he had to make for the television versions of his stories, but he's hopeful they'll get swept away by the action, the often dazzling special effects and the general adherence to the original concepts.
Budget limitations forced two substantial changes. The decision to film on cheaper Canadian locations and in Toronto studios means an overall "dehispanification" of the "Tek" stories, which take place in a Los Angeles that's now part of a vast Latin-American landscape that stretches down to Central America.
The other great compromise is moving Shatner's story from 200 years in the future to just 50 years from now - reducing Shatner's futuristic forecasts, made with the help of a panel of futurists he consulted when conceiving his "Tek" world. That decision saved lots of money, but also reduced the number of robots, cyborgs and other Shatner creations "Tek"-wise viewers may expect.
Shatner's literary projection of the future also is much more pessimistic than the one we see in the movie. His pollution-heavy L.A. of 200 years from now made it much easier to understand why so many people wanted to escape into Tek fantasies.
Though Shatner would be delighted to see the "Tek" movies blossom into a regular franchise he'd control, he doesn't think they're likely to eclipse the memory of "Star Trek."
"Obviously, I've used `Star Trek' to make all of this happen," he said, suggesting his books might still be so much computer paper if he'd never played Kirk and turned himself into a marketable sci-fi name.
Right now, Shatner is enjoying good reviews and strong sales for "Star Trek Memories," his volume of memoirs, but doesn't expect to be in any way involved with any of the current "Star Trek" TV spinoffs, including the "Star Trek: Voyager" series Paramount plans as the first attraction of the fifth TV network it plans to launch next year.
"There's talk of having some of us involved in the next `Star Trek' feature," Shatner said of the upcoming "Star Trek VII," which will concentrate on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" stars, "but so far nothing has come of it."
by CNB