Shatner: Enterprise Role 'Out Of The Question'

William Shatner (James T. Kirk) returned to Paramount this week to promote his new Iron Chef show, but said he had no plans to also rejoin the studio for its new Star Trek series.

"I know nothing," he said at a recent UPN press conference, speaking to Rob Salem at the Toronto Star. The actor appeared to be a little annoyed at having been written out of the Star Trek franchise. "I have no idea of what they're doing. I lost contact many years ago. And in fact, 'First Contact' was made without me, too."

But Shatner still felt Enterprise would do well. "I know that Scott [Bakula] is a wonderful actor. I'm sure it will be very successful. But other than that I have no knowledge, except that they seem to have taken it back some years before the character I played was born. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything in science fiction."

Even so, the actor said a guest appearance on Enterprise was completely "out of the question." Instead, Shatner is now focusing on his new project, the American version of Japanese import hit Iron Chef.

"It's World Wrestling Federation meets Wendy's," Shatner described the show to Bill Brioux at the Toronto Sun. Perhaps fittingly for such a show, its first two episodes will air on Smackdown network UPN on Friday the 16th of November. If successful, Iron Chef could be turned into a regular series.

The show will see Shatner, in the role of Chairman, overseeing a gladiator-style cooking contest between master chefs from four different cooking schools. According to the actor, there's no category the show really fits. "It's a cooking show, but it's not a cooking show. It's a comedy, but it's not a comedy. It's a wrestling show, but it's not a wrestling show."

Shatner's comments on Enterprise can be found in the original Toronto Star article, while his Iron Chef comments can be found in the original Toronto Sun article.

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