Star Trek is 'old hat' - Shatner

William Shatner, who 37 years ago first took command of the Starship Enterprise, never watches the Star Trek TV series or films now because he thinks they are “old hat”.

“It needs something new,” Shatner told reporters. “The people responsible for it have lost its way and they need to find it again. They need a whole new group of talent to give a fresh approach. By doing too many things, they have lost Star Trek’s way because of greed.”

Star Trek has spawned five weekly television series – the original, Next Generation, Voyager, Deep Space Nine and Enterprise – a cartoon series and ten big-screen adaptations.

Shatner and several members of the original cast reunited this week for The TV Land Awards in which Star Trek won the Pop Culture Award, “presented to a show which has crossed the line from television series to pop culture phenomenon”.

Shatner commented: “Here I am winning a Pop Culture Award and I am disconnected with pop culture. Whenever I get on these shows and they ask about pop culture I never know what to say.”