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"SHATNER
TAKES A SHOT" Well, he may not be going where no host has gone before, but at age seventy-one Bill Shatner is still pushing his personal envelope in new directions. As the titular ( Insert Beavis and Butthead laughter here) host of the Sci-Fi Channel's new WILLIAM SHATNER'S FULL MOON FRIGHT NIGHT, the man who brought television it's first intergalactic, interracial kiss embraces the roll of tv horror host with the same tongue-in-cheek aplomb that we've come to know--and occasionally be rubbed the wrong way by--for over forty years. The questions have been hanging out there since Sci-Fi's initial press release... "Shatner ?" "SHATNER ?" "SHATner...?!?" (Say the name out-loud about ten times in a row and it becomes really funny...) How would he play it? The initial promo pics had him in graveyard, decked out in a black leather "Goodfellas" jacket, and attempting to menace the camera. Was he going the straight AMC film-historian route? Would we play it "scary", or would he continue working the angle of puncturing his own pretentious balloon that began with his classic appearance on Saturday Night Live in the late 80's, and continued through his stint as "The Big Giant Head" on Third Rock The Sun? (If you are a Twilight Zone fan and haven't seen the Third Rock episode with ol' John Lithgow and ol' B.S. recounting their mirror-image experiences with gremlins on the wings of airplanes, you've been missing out on a big, BIG laugh!) For the past few weeks I've purposely avoided reading or overhearing any speculation on Full Moon Fright Night, just to keep the blank-slate that is my mind a little blanker than usual. I wanted to go into the experience as obliviously objective (objectively oblivious ?) as possible. Having successfully dodged most preconceptions, I sat last Saturday night fully prepared to enjoy the equivilent of a train wreck in slow-motion. Much to my surprise though, T.J. Horrorhost proved to be quite a hoot! Digging deep into the archives of time-tested material and classic spookshow corn, Shatner is unabashedly smarmy and isn't afraid to go completely over-the-top. In other words, the man is a BORN horror host. He's not above slipping into a costume now and again for comedic effect, and the pompous-to-the-point-of-self-effacing style he has perfected over a career now seems to have all been a leading to this gig. It's all clear at last; he's not a pretentious wanker--he's a pretentious wanker like US! The only complaint I have about the show is that Shatner's hosting segs are too short and too far between. I want to see more of big B.S.! He's a FUNNY guy! Granted, he's nowhere NEAR as entertaining as his Sci-Fi U.K. counterpart, Nina ( Mmmm...NINA...), but still light-years ahead of anything that our Stateside Sci-Fi has had to offer since MST3K. The Full Moon Fright Night set is enough to make any host a bit envious. Spacious and layered with macabre brickabrack, it harkens back to the BIG sets of Vampira and Zacherley. The setting is a cobweb-covered hotel lounge which brought to mind a downclassed version of the bar from The Shining, The Schoenling All Night Theater with Bob Schrieve ( a show I grew up with here in Dayton, Ohio ), as well as The Baron Mondo Von Doren & El Sapo De Tempesto's Nightmare Theatre from Pensacola, Florida. Gotta have a sidekick, right? Chucky is a mute, Golemesque bartender, who's enormous spud-head makes him look a little more like a side-item at a Texas steakhouse than a sidekick. His cranium is probably the only thing on the set bigger than the hosts ego! Shatner's career has been rich and interesting. He has done everything from Shakespeare to commercials, and worked with the likes of Rod Serling, Roger Corman, the Zucker brothers, and of course Gene Roddenberry. He's played cops and robbers, bigots and peacemakers, authored books, and even put out his own bizarre series of "musical" recordings (His spoken-word interpretation of Mr. Tamborine Man ranks right up there with Steve & Edy singing Black Hole Sun !). He's done cartoon voice-overs, and even been immortalized in plastic as an action figure. He's definitley no stranger to our bizarre little corner of the entertainment world, and judging by the infectious twinkle in his eye, he feels right at home introducing and giving background on Charles Band schlockfests like The Vampire Journals. This guy has a definite appreciation of good baloney, and knows how to lay on the cheese to go with it. So much for Mad Tv and SNL, my idle Saturday nights are going to be happily frittered away watching William Shatner's Full Moon Fright Night. I, for one, wholeheartledly welcome Bill to the fold of the horror hosting family. As we say at the HHU (well, ok we ripped off The Ramones... ), "Gabba Gabba, Hey! We accept you as one of us!" So what next, Joe Esterhaus writing for Creature Feature??? 'Til next we swing here on The Gallows, stay loose ! Your ol' pal,
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