Quoth The Raven ... ... ... nevermore

January 30, 2010 2:55 AM

William Shatner Reads Edgar Allan Poe (SLYT)
posted by fearfulsymmetry (31 comments total)

I honestly thought that was pretty damn good. Shatner's famous for awkward phrasing and pauses in -- mid -- sentence, but this really works for him when you've got a rhymey-poem written with a certain amount of bombast in the first place.
posted by Shepherd at 3:08 AM on January 30, 2010 [2 favorites]

This makes me wish Tim Burton had been making movies when Shatner was younger.
posted by bwg at 3:14 AM on January 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

But can he do it sitting in a waterfall eating a sandwich?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 3:29 AM on January 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

I liked it, like Shepherd says, Shatner makes it work pretty well.

Wonder if we could get him to do Do not go gentle into that good night just to compare it to Thomas' own reading
posted by pupdog at 3:38 AM on January 30, 2010

In 1983 it was possible to have a five minute poetry reading during a prime time TV special.
posted by twoleftfeet at 4:26 AM on January 30, 2010 [4 favorites]

Shatner is famous for pauses in -- mid -- sentence in sort of the same way Sagan is famous for "billions and billions".

The difference is only that Shatner can be accused of doing it in Star Trek (I think), but not so much in his other characters. And Sagan can't actually be accused of it at all.

But the point is it's unfair to characterize either person with such an inherent tendency.

If that makes sense. More so for Sagan but I think the point stands.
posted by pelham at 4:39 AM on January 30, 2010

Shit, that thing would be scary if Barney read it.


In 1983 it was possible to have a five minute poetry reading during a prime time TV special.

And did you see that set??
posted by odinsdream at 4:49 AM on January 30, 2010

It's good, but you can make it AWESOME if you imagine Ricardo Montalban doing the "Nevermore's." (Actually imagining him onstage in a giant raven costume is pretty cool too -- IF the giant raven costume is handled tastefully.)

Also...Ladies and gentelmen, distinguished actor Mr. William Shatner...?? You think that was a standard rider in his 1982 contract?

From now on, I want to be addressed as "Distinguished Metafilter poster Mr. Plus Distance."
posted by PlusDistance at 5:13 AM on January 30, 2010 [3 favorites]

I just remembered that there was a five minute poetry reading during a prime time TV special in 1990.

Yum. Culture.
posted by twoleftfeet at 5:18 AM on January 30, 2010

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox
Spooock!

posted by JHarris at 5:23 AM on January 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Last night I saw Shanter doing a TV commercial for a local ambulance chaser (AKA personal injury lawyer). It was similar to this one he did for a lawyer near Detroit.

I prefer him duking it out with a dude in a lizard suit.
posted by exogenous at 5:46 AM on January 30, 2010

As for treatments of "The Raven," I think I prefer this intro from a Good Eats episode.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:51 AM on January 30, 2010

Shatner in the height of the Captain Kirk era! Love it. Although Christopher Walken's reading of the Raven is one of my favorites. Scary stuff.
posted by WhoseVoice at 6:06 AM on January 30, 2010 [2 favorites]

I prefer him duking it out with a dude in a lizard suit .

This video contains content from CBS, who has decided to block it in your country.
posted by srboisvert at 6:24 AM on January 30, 2010

pelham I just watched Carl Sagan special last night and he said, "billions and billions" two times, once when refering to the number of "suns" in the galaxy and then again refering to the number of galaxies in the universe. He did indeed say "billions and billions" it's not apocrypha.
posted by ExitPursuedByBear at 6:31 AM on January 30, 2010

Shatner's ability to create sincerity and the impression of thoughtfulness with simple mid-sentence pausing is mesmerizing. I thought that I'd be sick of that skill at some point but it hasn't happened yet. Thanks for this!
posted by Hiker at 6:55 AM on January 30, 2010

I could listen ... to ... Shatner read the phone ... book.
posted by bwg at 7:12 AM on January 30, 2010

This was a great find. Thanks.
posted by SeizeTheDay at 7:12 AM on January 30, 2010

This video contains content from CBS, who has decided to block it in your country.

It's this.
posted by exogenous at 7:17 AM on January 30, 2010

He has haunted eyes in this reading. HAUNTED EYES.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:19 AM on January 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Part of me wants my $5 back. Part of me admits just how *awesome Shatner is.
posted by njbradburn at 7:24 AM on January 30, 2010

Shatner in the height of the Captain Kirk era! Love it. Although Christopher Walken's reading of the Raven is one of my favorites. Scary stuff.

Walken could read the label on a bottle of barbeque sauce and make it sound scary.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 8:04 AM on January 30, 2010 [2 favorites]

WhoseVoice: “Shatner in the height of the Captain Kirk era! Love it.”

Hrm... I guess you could say that, considering that he was almost certainly taking a break from filming The Search For Spock when this was shot. But – is 1983 really 'the height of the Captain Kirk era?' That's a pretty bold claim. Personally, I think I'd call it the height of the TJ Hooker era, but then I'm not Shatner, so what do I know?
posted by koeselitz at 11:57 AM on January 30, 2010

A Shatner thread is really not complete without his most excellent and wondrous cigarette-smoking rendition, introduced by Bernie Taupin himself, of "Rocket Man," which (in my mind) bests Elton's easily by being so uncomfortable and strange. "Oh no... no... no! I'm a... ROCK... IT! man!" It's sort of a... er... reading of the lyrics, which haphazardly follows the rhythm of the tune in syncopated fashion.

But Shatner was always doing that. No one should miss his surprisingly fantastic 1968 (which was, ahem, the real 'height of the Captain Kirk era') rock opus, The Transformed Man. The cover of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" alone is worth the price of admission – it's precisely how the song was intended to be played, as the way he does it really does make me feel like I'm going insane.
posted by koeselitz at 12:19 PM on January 30, 2010

Coif, oh coif -- this kind o' coiffeur, forget this lost pompadour!'
Quoth the raven, `Nevermore.'

I love Bill Shatner. Oh yes.
posted by chavenet at 2:04 PM on January 30, 2010

But can he do it sitting in a waterfall eating a sandwich?

Fuck that, I want to see him doing that while taking calls on a treadmill and simultaneously mixing smoothies and painting.
posted by Meatbomb at 2:51 PM on January 30, 2010

Walken could read the label on a bottle of barbeque sauce and make it sound scary.

Walken: "High fructose corn syrup."

/Shudder
posted by telstar at 2:43 AM on January 31, 2010

High... fructose, cornsyrup?
posted by flabdablet at 3:21 AM on January 31, 2010

That was the best performance/reading of the Raven I've ever seen. It is much better than the Cristopher Walken reading or the James Earl Jones reading.
posted by Slash_fan at 10:31 AM on January 31, 2010

No one should miss his surprisingly fantastic 1968 (which was, ahem, the real 'height of the Captain Kirk era') rock opus, The Transformed Man. The cover of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" alone is worth the price of admission – it's precisely how the song was intended to be played, as the way he does it really does make me feel like I'm going insane.

Oh, that doesn't hold a candle to his "Mr. Tambourine Man", with ends with him delivering that phrase in an anguished shriek.

...Then again, I have a feeling I appreciate his performance for a slightly different reason.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:00 AM on February 1, 2010

William Shatner 'sings' the WWE Theme Songs... sooooo tempted to make this a post on it's own. Booyaka!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:39 AM on February 3, 2010