Summary
- In his autobiography, Patrick Stewart admits that he copied William Shatner's recitation of the famous "Space, the final frontier" speech for Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Stewart acknowledges Shatner's perfect delivery and realized he couldn't improve upon it, so he intentionally copied his predecessor's performance.
- Despite initially being in the shadow of The Original Series, TNG eventually became just as beloved, if not more so, than its predecessor.
Patrick Stewart admits one thing for Star Trek: The Next Generation that he copied from his predecessor, William Shatner, on Star Trek: The Original Series. Stewart was cast as Captain Jean-Luc Picard to headline Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987. The bald, stern, and dutiful Captain Picard was a very different commander from the brash, risk-taking Captain James T. Kirk William Shatner portrayed for 3 seasons of TOS and in a successful series of Star Trek movies.
In his new autobiography, "Making It So: A Memoir," Patrick Stewart reveals the one thing he copied from William Shatner's performance as Captain Kirk. Both Shatner and Stewart recited the classic mantra that began with "Space, the final frontier..." that kicked off every episode of their shows, and Sir Patrick admits he modeled his recitation exactly after Shatner's. Read his quote below:
In one very specific aspect, I owe a debt of gratitude to William Shatner. There came the time when I had to record the famous 'Space, the final frontier' speech that opens each episode of 'The Next Generation,' as it did 'The Original Series' ... I carefully listened to Bill's voiceover in preparation to do mine, and realized that there was nothing I could do to improve upon it. He'd done it perfectly, the tone and cadences spot-on. So I basically did his version syllable for syllable — the only time I intentionally copied Bill's performance as the captain.
Patrick Stewart & William Shatner Starred In Star Trek Generations Together
The two Captains of the Enterprise, Jean-Luc Picard and James T. Kirk, finally met in 1994's Star Trek Generations. William Shatner returned as Captain Kirk to hand off the baton to Stewart and Captain Picard as Star Trek: The Next Generation took over the Star Trek movie franchise. Captain Kirk's death was also the climactic event of the film, which was intended to make Star Trek Generations a historic event that Trekkers couldn't miss. While Generations didn't meet with the approval of many Star Trek fans, Shatner and Stewart did become friends.
As Patrick Stewart promotes his memoir, William Shatner also knows a thing or two about writing books. Shatner has published multiple memoirs including Star Trek Memories, Up Til Now, and Boldly Go over the decades, as well as Star Trek novels and the sci-fi series TekWar. Captain Kirk's body also had a surprise cameo in Star Trek: Picard season 3, which revealed that the legendary Starfleet hero's remains are held by Section 31 in Daystrom Station. In Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Anson Mount's Captain Christopher Pike now recites the famous "Space, the final frontier..." mantra, but there's no word yet on whether Mount modeled his recitation after Patrick Stewart's in Star Trek: The Next Generation and William Shatner's in Star Trek: The Original Series.
Source: "Making It So: A Memoir" by Patrick Stewart