William...Shatner Presents..."Chaos.....On The Bridge"

Chaos On the Bridge (2014)

Unrated

Written and Directed by William Shatner

The Story:

In 1987, the fledgling UPN wanted to revive the Star Trek franchise and have it boldly go where no previous Star Trek had gone before: First Run Syndication! Go with William Shatner as he talks to the actors, directors and producers who struggled to get the franchise off the ground.

I liked Star Trek growing up. Watched the original series in syndication after school when the cartoons, Brady Bunch and Gilligan's Island were over.

I've even seen a few of the movies.

In 1987, I think I saw an episode or two of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I've probably seen 5-7 total episodes from their 7 year run. And that's most likely bits and pieces, but rarely an entire episode. I know I saw Generations as well.

You would think that a revival of a franchise that a generation loved would be smooth sailing, especially when you have Gene Roddenberry at the helm to oversee the production.

Well, it turns out that one of the biggest obstacles to the show even seeing the air was Roddenberry himself.

It's an eventful, fun and surprising hour of your time at the backstage politics of bringing a show to life, especially back then for a network trying to establish itself as a real channel.

This was before the days of Netflix, Amazon and dozens of other channels trying to launch their own shows to grab your attention.

So it's a time capsule of another time trying to launch a show that would itself become beloved for another generation.

Shatner makes for a genial host, only inserting himself into the proceedings when he really feels it necessary, otherwise he simply walks us from point to point on how the show went from an idea, to a show, to a franchise.

Currently streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: B- (your love of Trek could push this one much higher)