William Shatner's Tek War Show, Films & Books Recap (with Cliff & A-aron!)

[00:00:00] This podcast is a production of Unfiltered Studios. If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios, please visit our website at unfpod.com for more information. In the year 2044, the most powerful drug known to man is called tech. An electronic mind stimulant so powerful that fantasy and reality seem one and the same. And if you deal in tech, you'd better be able to pay the price.

[00:00:30] The court finds you guilty and sentences you to 15 years in cryogenic incarceration. Now, sentenced to a state of frozen suspension, ex-cop Jake Cardigan, wrongly convicted of dealing tech and the death of his partners, is about to return to the living. One slip, one contravention of your parole, and it's back inside.

[00:00:54] Determined to prove his innocence, he begins a relentless search to find his unknown enemy. And there's one man that can help. Jake, if there was something more I could do for you, what would that be? Help me clear my name. And with Jake's new partner... I'm an android. A level 10. At least. They're about to embark on a deadly game where there are no rules. Are you a sports fan, Cardigan? If you don't back off, the tech lords will kill you.

[00:01:23] We have some unfinished business, Jake. I don't do business with tech lords. Why are my partners all dead? I'm still alive. What's real, what's not, isn't always easy to figure. This is where you killed your partners. Right where you're standing. You know where he is, don't you?

[00:01:45] Fuckle to survive in a future world where things aren't always as they seem. Nick African, Eugene Clark, Tori Higginson, with special appearances by William Shatner and Sheena Easton. Hucker up.

[00:02:18] All right, gang. So, again, we did various discussions with the Predator Movie Minute and Gonzo Minute. Summary guys known as Cliff Stevenson and Aaron Ladderville. Again, badass motherfuckers. I still hang out with the Mad Conventions and do crossover collaborations. And so, yeah, we were doing all kinds of different various William Shatner discussions and we decided to...

[00:02:44] One of the discussions was on William Shatner's sci-fi books turned TV movies and syndicated USA network TV sci-fi channel show, Tech War. Again, set in the 22nd century. Follows tech and legal addictive mind altering digital drug in the form of a microchip. These are very morbid curiosities. There were nine books total.

[00:03:11] There was even a comic book, as we'll talk about later, the Tech War Chronicles. And, yeah, the four movies, some of them were done by William Shatner. There was Tech War the movie. There was Tech Lords. Yeah, which co-starred Tori Higginson pre Stargate Atlantis. There was Tech Lab. When you wake up from... No, it was Tech Just. Yeah, my bad.

[00:03:40] I'm getting the episodes mixed up with the movies. Let's go back to the movies. So, actually, yes, it was Tech Lab. And, yeah, that got crazy. And then there was, yeah, Tech Justice. So, if you're a cyberpunk completist, you love everything from Free Matrix, Giant Emonic, Altered Carbon, Blade Runner, watch it anyway.

[00:04:07] You won't find it great, but you won't downright hate it. Devil's Due Digital in 2010 and Blue Water Productions re-released some of these comics. I have not read those, but they seemed okay. And as we talked about in the other YouTube video that covered it, they did a way better job than that. So, yeah, I mean, of the four movies, three of them were adapted from the books, while one of them was just an original idea.

[00:04:37] The TV show lasted a full season of 18 episodes from 94 to 96. It was actually two seasons. My bad. But, yeah, it was during when Universal was doing just serialized, action-packed action and sci-fi stuff. You know, everything from Viper to a take on their movie Midnight Run to even Vanishing Sun. Just fun times filmed in Canada.

[00:05:06] Good music by David Michael Frank. He did a lot of action sci-fi movies. The theme music was by Warren Zeevon. Yeah. Can't believe that. That's crazy. Greg Evigan plays the main former police officer turned private eye working for the cyber company. And Greg Evigan seems like a nice guy. Again, been in everything. General Hospital. Various indie TV movies and Hallmark stuff. Melrose plays Seventh Heaven.

[00:05:35] My Two Dads and BJ and the Bear. Other American Canadian stuff. Other American Canadian stuff. Again, working TV actor. You've seen him in any kind of B-movie or TV movie. And he did pretty decent here. I put it in his top roles. Because he plays it straight without seeming like a shallow hunk or annoying guy. Shatner is more calm here. Just because he doesn't have to do all the carrying. He's basically...

[00:06:02] I think he was on good behavior because he's like, I'm just glad that you're adapting my ghost-ridden books. It was Ron Gillard who technically adapted it from Outlines. He passed away in 2022. He's worked under different synonyms. And he's done everything from just nonfiction. Like everything from like the funnies, which chronicled a hundred years of American comic stories to...

[00:06:32] Standalone sci-fi and mystery books. To bringing back novels based on the original Flash Gordon and The Phantom and Vampirella. As well as other stuff just inspired by comics and so and stuff. Even doing books about the on-screen persona of Groucho Marx of all people. So he's done short fiction and this was another mercenary job. Again, I can't do those books any justice.

[00:07:02] And given how Shatner writes, that would not be my forte anyway. So based on the show, it's perfectly acceptable. It's probably the best way to go. Just do the show. You'll get all of it across. You can probably find most of them on Tuvi or YouTube or Amazon. Or dirt cheap on DVD. And again, it made sense for him to do something like this. Just because cyberpunk and William Gibson inspired stuff aside. It was just easy to make.

[00:07:30] You know, remember, you know, this is a pre, you know, post X-Files and forever night type. Canadian sci-fi action show, you know, so this is before we get more respectable fare like the 90s outer limits and Stargate SG one. And, you know, it it rides that line between average cheese to watchable, decent time killer time filler.

[00:07:55] And Shatner doesn't overreact because I guess, you know, he was just glad to, you know, keep his career alive. And basically he wrote down notes like while he was making the infamous Star Trek five. And he claimed and like there's three different sources claiming he wanted to mix elements of his earlier Star Trek and TJ Hooker persona. And it's like, well, I don't know about the TJ Hooker persona. There's definitely no car jumping.

[00:08:24] There's no jumping on the hood of a car. That's for sure. And Star Trek, it's only comparative in that much like next gen or using holograms and cyberpunk type stuff. But there's no more type minions. It's just really only that it's a sci fi type stuff. And he's a brave type character. He's a more reserved Captain Kirk, if you will. So, but yeah, there's all kinds of stuff.

[00:08:48] Basically, it's crime fighting, but doing all kinds of stuff, you know, drug trade, futuristic police academies, all kinds of stuff. So no one gets hurt in this. It gets straight to the point, but enjoy the rest of our chat as we kind of just go through just deciphering just funny stories about Shatner's persona and ego. Enjoy.

[00:09:54] He's been Captain Kirk and TJ Hooker, and he's shown us how lives are saved on Rescue 911. Now, William Shatner's own creation, Tech War, is being made into a computer game. Shatner spoke to us about his creation along with Intercourt President Lee Rothschild. I was at Liberty while a film I was working on, a Star Trek film that I was working on, had been struck by the Teamsters.

[00:10:21] It was several months had gone by and I couldn't do anything. And I started doodling around with the story idea. I essentially put a policeman in the future. I played policeman in series and knew a little bit about policeman life, just lurched into putting it into the Star Trek future.

[00:10:43] But when Marvel Comics came to me to do comic book of it, I decided to put the whole thing 50 years from now because I thought the storyboards from the comics books would be handy to have. So that started it being 50 years from now. I found out how to write the books as I wrote them. The first one was more rambling and diffused. The literate media of the novel doesn't lend itself in film.

[00:11:12] Although I knew that, I would go even further now. As I was doing the movies of Tech War and when it was sold as a series, I realized, because I had been reading and doing some research into CD-ROM games, that this thing that I had invented would lend itself to a game.

[00:11:39] So I was sensitized to what we call ancillary rights in Hollywood of Tech War. What I didn't understand and have only now begun to realize was the limitations of the technology of compressing that amount of information onto a CD-ROM disc.

[00:12:02] And then I became familiar with the compressions and the KPEG compressions from 4 to 100, maybe more. And all that is just around the corner. Oh boy. Oh my God! The two Stooges joined their third! Cliff and Aaron are here. Yes, yes, with my narwhal cup. Yes. Narwhal's sitting in the ocean. I'm drinking narwhal brain right now. It's very delicious.

[00:12:30] We are Cliff and Aaron from Predator Minute. Awesome. I just turtle. I'm pretty excited because usually when we're on the show, we're in with part of a larger group. We're talking about a bunch of topics. And I believe Cam, you came up with this when we were all together. Yes. When we finally met in person at the convention that we should be more of a targeted one. That, you know, rather than one big topic with 10 people, it's like just one person or, you know, two of us and 10 topics, which I love.

[00:13:00] So take us away. All right. Take us away. So welcome again, everybody, to Shatner September. You've heard two weeks of Stallone September and Samuel L. Jackson September. So now it's time for another guy. His surname ends with an S and that is William freaking Shatner. Oh, my God. So. William Tiberius Shatner. Yeah. Oh, yeah. There you go. I am Shatner. No. The dude is awesome, isn't he?

[00:13:30] Now he's how old is Shatner now? Oh, God. Yeah. So let's do the math. And by math, I mean, let's have Google do it for me. Um, so yeah, wait for yes. He'll be 99. Actually, he will be 95 by the time. So yeah, there you go. Yeah, he's in great shape for you. Yeah, chip. I'm doing this. I know he's a Star Trek guy, not Star Wars, but he's right. Star Wars number now. Oh, okay. I mean, Bay 94. Anything is possible.

[00:14:00] 94. Yeah. March 22nd. Uh, so if this comes out then, then happy birthday Shat. You'll be 95. Ah, we, we, we promise not to Shat on your career. Um, I hope he's got at least, I hope he's just now hitting middle age. No. True Captain Kirk style. If he has a middle name, it is not mentioned on his Wikipedia page. Oh. That's a shame. His character, the character he's best well known for. TJ Hooker, of course. Yeah.

[00:14:31] To the Chris. That dude's got a middle name. Yeah. Yeah. Whatever the, uh, the captain was from the detective agency in, uh, tech war. Oh, yeah. Thank you for sharing that video. What else did he do? I don't think he did anything else. I mean, he was, he was in that twilight zone. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But remember, he's the only one that they filmed twice. Cause they're like, let's try that one again. Right.

[00:14:59] But, but, but remember there's that other one he's in earlier. People forget Nick of time. Yeah. Oh, he's, Oh, the car breaks down in Ohio of all places. And they're at a fortune telling machine season two. Ah, yes. Good job. It's so simple. That's why you're in charge here. But it's so similar to the, where is everyone? Episode. Yeah. Yeah. He's a man who does confusion very well. Ah, yeah. And, uh, truth be taught, told there's times where I'm wondering if he even knows if the mic is turned on or not.

[00:15:29] Huh? He, he's pretty interesting. I don't know if we want to get right into it. Do we want to get into it? We jump into it. Let's get into it. So what are the things that's interesting to me about Shatner, as opposed to many other actors who were kind of known for just one role or known for being, uh, kind of have a strange delivery. Like let's use Christopher Walken as an example. Oh, I was going to tell you. Yeah. Famously does that, but he leans into it. He gets it. He didn't like, he's always been like, oh, all right. That's how I talk.

[00:15:58] And he would even play himself on like an SNL doing an exaggerated version of that. Yes. Whereas Shatner seems to go back and forth. You like, sometimes he's like, haha, like in the movie, I think it was called free enterprise. Yeah. He's like, oh, he's kind of leaning into it, but he's also kind of like, no, the, you guys are dorks. You shouldn't be so obsessed, but you know, he's letting himself be sort of made fun of and then sometimes we see that they'll bring up where he goes, why do people make fun of that?

[00:16:24] I'm like Shatner, you know, I saw one recently where they have these, I think it's, I can't remember who does these. Is it wired? Anyway, they'll do, uh, actors breaking through their GQ. That's what it is. And they're like, oh, reacts to their famous roles. Or this one was reacts to people doing impressions of him. So, you know, it's got, you know, famous sort of impressionist, uh, comedians or whomever

[00:16:52] or people doing it and he's getting angry. And he's like, I don't sound anything like that. I do not know why people say that I sound like that. You know? And it's like, but he's doing, he's not doing a bit. He's mad. It's like, pick a lane Shatner, either, either embrace it. It's like, he'll embrace it for a bit. And then all of a sudden he'll stop doing that. You don't normally see people do that. Right. They're like, fine. It's fine. That's who I am. And he just goes back and forth all the time between being like, no, take me seriously to like, fine, whatever. I just want to get paid.

[00:17:21] That's what's so funny too, is just, he also downplays his feud with other people and never takes any responsibility for it. It's like, oh, Shatner, come on. Oh yeah. Like the feud with George, uh, he just keeps going back and forth. I don't know why that man hates me. Oh, he must be because he's gay. But what's interesting that does the excuse that he gives actually relates back to his line

[00:17:48] delivery because apparently that line delivery comes from, he says that when he was in the original series, like he had more lines than anyone else, which is absolutely true. But he, uh, he said he had horrible time trying to remember his lines. And so he was constantly like, like away from everyone else trying to memorize his lines. And then during his delivery, he was always trying to remember what his lines were supposed

[00:18:13] to be, which led to this long drawn out, uh, sort of delivery, which is, it's fascinating. I guess, uh, George Takei took offense to him, like always isolating himself because he was always busy trying to memorize his many, many, many, many, many, many lines. Yeah. But, uh, yeah, I guess that kind of relates back. It's kind of, it's so funny though. How then he goes, why didn't he invite me to his wedding? I'm like, if you were bringing a horse's ass, would I invite you to my wedding?

[00:18:41] And I have here, uh, a copy of it rhymes with Takei by George Takei. So it's really talking about Shatner's books. I think we should also promote this wonderful graphic novel. Ah, yeah. George Takei did. That's awesome. Uh, and it's meant to be amazing. I'll, I haven't read it yet. I just got it over the holidays. It's a recent, recent one. Yeah. I think, yeah, it was just the last few years anyway. That's awesome. Very, very recent.

[00:19:08] Uh, and, uh, let's see, I'm looking right now to see what year it first came out. Uh, but, uh, yeah, fairly recent one way or the other, but, oh yeah, 2025. So, uh, but yeah, I, I pre-ordered and I'm very excited to give that a read. I love it. Who's not a horse's ass ever. Allegedly. Wonderful man. Allegedly. Oh, but you know, you, you think of horse's asses now, uh, he went up on a, what was it?

[00:19:37] Blue origin or something? Uh, uh, it was, uh, we're talking about George Takei. No, no, no, no. Um, the other guy, William Shatner. Yes. He went up on Jeff Bezos rocket with Jeff Bezos. Yeah. Just to say he could do it is like, I actually went to space. That wasn't, that's actually an interesting story. So when they came back down, uh, William Shatner was actually, uh, humbled. Yeah. He was thrown for a loop. Like he, he was sort of devastated cause he thought he was going to go up there and see

[00:20:03] space and be all like excited and have this, uh, this romantic realization about humanity and the earth. And instead he, he, he had this profound, like almost like this letdown, this depression. Like he looked at the earth and he was like, Oh yeah, it's fragile thing. And then he looks out in space and he's like, it's just desolate death. Right. And it really, it really stuck with him hard. And so he goes back down and, and, you know, he gets out and all these reporters come up

[00:20:31] and start interviewing him and they want to interview him. And he's trying to convey this, this feeling that he had, uh, this profound experience. And then here comes Jeff Bezos. She's just like, Oh yeah, we went to space and pops open a champagne bottle and just starts spraying all over it while Shatner's trying to give us like emotional report. Uh, and Jeff Bezos just kind of steps all over it, you know, swinging his dick. So it's kind of like, Oh man. Yeah. Jeff Bezos. So yeah. What a character.

[00:20:58] The first time Bezos has been a dick, let alone showed his, well, his rocket looks like a big penis. And then on top of it, I just recently saw, um, uh, Austin powers, I guess it was the spy who shagged me and he takes off in like a giant rocket that looks like a ticket. It's like, you know, it's Dr. Evil. He's like fricking bald and shit. I'm like, Holy shit. That's fucking Jeff Bezos and blue origin. Oh man. Very, very poetic here. All I saw was death. Yeah. This is Shatner.

[00:21:28] The contrast between the vicious coldness of space. Sorry. I'll just, this is actually a nice quote. The contrast between the vicious coldness of space and the warm nurturing of earth below filled me with overwhelming sadness. My trip to space was supposed to be a celebration. Instead. It felt like a funeral. Wow. Yeah. And he's trying to convey this solemn message. But he did. And then Jeff Bezos just like, yeah. Yeah. I'm not going to say he's not human, but it is just so wild how it's kind of a mixture

[00:21:56] of spirituality mixed in with only you talk that way. Shatner. Well, I think it's Spock who was the most human. Yeah. He is more human than human. Yeah. But yeah, it's just crazy because you see this juxtaposition of personalities. You have Shatner. Yeah. You know, who really comes across as a poet at that point in time and a real human. And then Jeff Bezos who comes across as just something unfeeling like narcissistic,

[00:22:22] just horrible, totally bent on self accomplishment and nothing else is really important. You know, money. Shatner to me is fascinating. But this speaks again to what we kind of sort of put out as a theory at the very beginning of what makes them so fascinating because you get someone like, oh, Chevy Chase, who's like, okay, he's decided he's going to go the asshole route. And that's all he is like, you won't, you know, he's like, oh, I don't, you know what?

[00:22:51] I'd take this super seriously or whatever. Or some of the comedic actors who now take stuff seriously and they won't admit to being silly anymore. They're like, oh, that's past me. And like Shatner goes back and forth. He sometimes the money is good. Yeah. Sometimes it records an album and so he has no self-awareness. And sometimes he's hyper self-aware. I have been folds of all people keep working with them. You know what? I think he's just, I think he's just human. You know, he's like human beyond human.

[00:23:20] I decide what I want to be. Depending on the day. This is certainly not a new observation. He's constantly like evolving, trying to reinvent himself or, you know, trying to figure himself out, I guess is probably a better way to describe it. This is not a new observation, but it is often overlooked or, you know, it's something that you hear as a kid and then it's like, okay, you have people made that before. But anyway, that the first original series was like the Greek gods, right?

[00:23:48] They were, they were powerful and they got into very human adventures. You know, there was sex and power struggles. Yes. They were, they were both infallible and highly human. And constantly questioning morality, trying to do the right thing, but never really given the opportunity. Yeah. Yeah. They were coming down and always ambiguous. You know, they were constantly breaking the first record, which is, uh, you know, the prime objective.

[00:24:13] And, uh, which is so funny because in the next generation, it's very much the Christian pantheon, right? They're aloof. It's more about theory than practice. You know, everything's cerebral. Everyone's always right. Yeah. And, you know, they're, they're getting these big universal concepts. It's a different kind of ways of looking at gods and religion. And so it's funny that Shatner, uh, sort of embodies that ethos of being like this, both

[00:24:40] larger than life, more human than human and just human. And just a jackass, super clever dumbass, you know, as I say, just not as I do. It's like what you call our group chat, the galaxy brain dumbasses. He would fit in. He truly was in the galaxy. I need to rename that. Uh, there's a wonderful YouTube host SAS, uh, YouTuber. We'll just call him Madular.

[00:25:07] Uh, who recently did a very in depth, extremely well-researched and funny look at all of the tech war, but the books, the games, uh, the movies. And he made a point during that, when he was talking about the games that apparently Shatner, uh, was involved somewhat in the games and just like the books, we'll never know how much, you know, his name slapped all over everything. Yeah. But from interviews, he apparently mentioned that he did some gaming and even if it was

[00:25:36] just like missed or even, you know, some light games, he was already in his sixties. Most people do not take up a new hobby. When video games came in, he was already past the point when people do it. So for him to embrace a new technology and a new medium, whereas most people just said, nah, fuck it. That's not for me is shows an open-mindedness that you don't normally associate. Interesting that he played missed like that.

[00:26:01] No, I'm assuming when he said he played games, I have to guess, but yeah, that's probably just me being aegist for all I know. He was playing fucking call of duty and 12 year old. I'll be like, you just got. You're going to get a headshot. Love it. Oh, but I did. No, I did. Super fine.

[00:26:27] Um, but yeah, I, I did see that Ron Goulart is one of the uncredited ghost writers. So much like Russell Stevens and. Oh, what's the other guys who worked on enterprise? Um, uh, so yeah, to Judith and Garfield, uh, Reeves Stevens. Yes. We're the kind of the coauthors of the Shatner verse.

[00:26:53] So I take it definitely as the other guy was doing all the heavy lifting and he's probably just saying, here's what my character is going to do and what you should write down. And of the, for, you know, like I said, Magillard did a very good breakdown of this and I kind of follow along with what he sort of comes up with, which is that through various interviews and different outlets, it's, you could easily make a case for Shatner wrote the thing and the guy just, you know, cleaned up the language to Shatner has no idea there's books.

[00:27:21] So you could find different quotes to support you, but there's some things in there where you're like this character, this has to be a Shatner thing because almost like how stupid it is. And I mean, it's in a way that like any author is probably like, no, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to be like, uh, I mean, look at everything's just like, like what's the one he makes a point of where he's like, Oh, I'm sending him a cyber facts.

[00:27:47] And it's like, that is the most boomer ass way to think of how technology works. Like, Oh, it's like a fax, but in the future, no, that's dumb as fuck. That Shatner, you know, he said something. He's like, his fax machine wasn't working. He's like, Oh, Oh, make it so that things work in the future. Like my, cause my fax machine sucks. Well, and that's just dead is like in the future faxing is not going to be a thing anymore. And he just seemed to think, I just want to do the same thing, but different.

[00:28:16] And it's like shatter, shatter. So I have tried in the past, unfortunately, regrettably to get into any of those. And each time it was always a head scratchers. Like why? I, I, non ironically, well, because that hadn't been invented yet in the nineties or eighties. Yeah. Cause it was, I think it was eighth grade when it first came out. Yeah. So it's great. And you know, my dad and I would, cause there's really not that many original series episodes.

[00:28:46] We could go to blockbuster. Video store. And you just get the tapes. So what, you know, and just go through them in just like a quick couple of weekends. So I've seen original series multiple times over multiple times. And, uh, just, just thought he was the greatest thing. Just bees knees. Shatner's the coolest. Like, no, it's awesome. So when I saw a book with his name on it, which is another one really quickly, just, I do think that he will sometimes be self-effacing about the book too, where he'll be like, Oh, it's just something you're supposed to see at an airport. Uh, while you're waiting for a flight.

[00:29:17] Oh my God. And then sometimes he's like, you know, like this is, you know, better than the Bible. So it's like, it just kind of depends what mood he's in. But anyway, so I remember reading it and really liking it and not understanding how ghost writers and stuff work. I wish I could say I was a little older because like 12 or 13 and should have known better, but it was like, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. And I was like, I can't believe Captain Kirk's also like a kick-ass writer. Uh, and I've read a lot too. So I really should have had some sort of critical ear. I, but I did.

[00:29:44] I read the first, but they're not good. I think you can suss it out just by comparing it to, was it, was it final frontier? Which one was star Trek final frontier was the one he directed. Yeah. And you can kind of see how character development goes in that. And if you see that in a book, it was probably Shatner, you know, cause it's, uh, uh, it wasn't, it wasn't great. Yeah. And it's funny seeing fans who will apologize for anything in the franchise. It's doesn't take long to get them to admit.

[00:30:13] And yeah, the Shat's full of himself. Yeah. That one sucked. It's funny that he's so, he just strikes me as so American as a Canadian. Yeah. Yeah. It's funny because the show was filmed in Canada for budgetary reasons. Mm-hmm. Tax breaks. So he's trying to recreate star Trek. And it's like, wow, I can't believe everyone's Canadian. That just really worked out. It looks like a better way. It looks like a zero budget episode of half line five. I actually, and that says a lot. I think I watched season one, episode one, and then never again.

[00:30:41] By that point I was well past thinking it was cool. I, I, I've barely seen the shows. I did see all four movies back in the day. I went in. Well then you're more expert on the man. Well, but see, they're just so forgettable, but. Yeah. I see why they would fascinate people because. On the surface. You think this looks like a William Gibson type cyberpunk, you know, infiltrator corporation, virtual reality movie, but. And much like the video we were re looking at that looked at the dissect.

[00:31:10] It's again, it's watchable, but it's not entertaining. And at the same time, the mediocrity is kind of. It's so appropriate that Shatner is in this because he is the king of so bad. They're good movies, but it's now. He's this is patent before Boston legal. This is after TJ hooker. And I think he's. Yeah, he's probably a big generalist or something like he's. He probably has these big thoughts, but you know, he's not someone that can. That can make it. Make it.

[00:31:39] Make it so that it's relatable to everyone else. You know, I don't know. I definitely feel like tech war. He found interesting, but he's definitely. And going back really quickly to the books. I wanted to look up some dates and make sure I was. 89. Yeah. So 89 was the first tech war. Well, Neuromancer kind of the beginning of the modern. Yeah. William Gibson Neuromancer was probably the beginning of what we would call modern cyberpunk. Cyberpunk. So we're talking just a few years later, and he already knew that he knew the term.

[00:32:09] Right. Right. When you hear him talking about it, he sounds like an old man or like, you know, a mom trying to describe a video game or something. You got a Mario over there. Like he's like, oh, there's this thing called cyberpunk. It's a cyberpunk. It's like punks, but cyber, you know, he doesn't quite get it, but he knows it's a thing, but he's remarkably on. And I think that's one of the reasons as a kid and a lot of people found it fascinating. Cause yeah, it was mediocrity with a passion. You should definitely trademark that. Uh, but it was, he got, that's the next podcast. We do.

[00:32:37] There wasn't a lot there. Yeah. You know what I mean? In the cyberpunk genre and to do like, oh, a detective novel, cyberpunk, you know, Blade Runner. Like he's, he, he was all those elements. He understood the zeitgeist without doing what a lot of older people do, which is like, this sucks. Cause I don't know it. Instead. He does this thing. Other rich people do, which is how do I make money off this thing? Kids are doing, but he fuck it. If he didn't do it. And like, at least did it sort of non-cynically.

[00:33:04] Like he tried his okay-est, which is all he or Kirk has ever done. You know what I mean? He tried to be artful. He just, like I said, he, he accidentally created something great. Basically. And, but it is so funny how, like you guys say, there's not a lot of many interviews you can find. I see him promoting all his Shatnerverse books, but I can't find one of him talking about tech war.

[00:33:29] I think I saw a mildly one Conan clip where he's about to promote it, but it's barely, they barely even close up on it, you know? So I think. Yeah. There's an early one on like Johnny or, or maybe it might even be Canadian show. That's the one I was talking about where he, he's like, yeah, it's a cyberpunk. It's a cyberpunk, but he just keeps saying the word. It doesn't seem clear that he's a hundred percent sure. But you know what? Like I said, it's remarkable that he is basically Kirk, you know? Yeah. And it is.

[00:33:58] It's kind of like people who play computer geeks, but they don't know how to use computers. That's been common with the Mac kids and everything. If there were an actual, like we discovered space flight and stuff. Like, honestly, I would say Shatner would be one of the people I would pick. I'd be like, look, he, cause he has a, seems to have a problem distinguishing face reality. Anyway. I was like, he's pretty much been training for this. You know what I mean? Cause he acts of confidence in a way.

[00:34:26] For all we know, Cliff, maybe he's a cultural plant, but doesn't realize it. He just was put there. He's a time traveler. Oh, there you go. That's what they always do in these things. And it's funny because obviously zap Branigan is based on him with his like, you know, both his outfit and his brashness, but it's missing that. And then there was a, there was a character in hyper drive. There's a TV show that the captain watched. I can't remember now. Oh God. Yeah. He's one of the big spoofed people Shatner is.

[00:34:55] So many spoofs. Rarely do they spoof TJ hooker though. They're always spoofing. Well, no, no, no, no, don't worry. It's already. Everyone's a superhero. Everyone's a captain Kurt. They got a, they got a Netflix show coming soon. So he's jumping on that. Shall we say a naked gun bandwagon. So he will be kind of referencing himself. I believe so. Kind of. All right.

[00:35:24] Now, realistically, I think it's just going to suck, but we're still going to laugh at it anyway. Cause that's just kind of the amusing part of Shatner. He's interesting. Even when he absolutely fails, it's like seeing a mad scientist who occasionally shows those moments of brilliance, but ultimately is, you know, distorted by money and greed and fame. Yeah. But I mean, I mean, 94 fucking years old, a hundred years, near a hundred years old. And he's still out there making films. Still active.

[00:35:53] The guy's a stud as we're recording. Yes. I can't say he's bored at all. He's keeping himself totally busy, but. I mean, he is, he, he looks fantastic. Yeah. He looks fucking fantastic for 94. There's gotta be some. Sounds good. He's sharp. You know, he's. He has nanites in his bloodstream. I'm convinced. He might. He might be a super secret cybernetic cyborg creation. I don't know. That's just voting Alex Jones. The Shatonator. There you go.

[00:36:22] Um, but yeah, it is funny how he was attached to the side hustle. And when I look at tech war, it's kind of like the many different epic mini series and movies that came out pre Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. You know, we had stuff like Conan adaptations and dragon slayer, you know, but yeah, it was years before those actually finally got adapted. And then everyone's like, now we can make movies like that. Now that we're seeing a return on our investment.

[00:36:52] So I feel like in many ways, all these made for TV, briefly seen in theaters or direct to video cyberpunk movies are how we get better stuff like the matrix. Yeah. Yeah. Altered carbon. All right. I'm going to play a little game. This is just on the tech war book series. Okay. I will name four books from the tech war series. One of these is fake. Okay. See how we do.

[00:37:24] Let's do it. All right, here we go. Tech war. Tech light. Tech lords. Tech lab. I don't think tech light sounds like an actual title. Oh, but who knows? Tech lords. Tech lords is real. Cam was right. Tech light. I'm about to say, that's the only one that doesn't sound zany enough to be. All right. Ready? Yeah. Next set. Tech vengeance. Tech secret. Tech power.

[00:37:53] Tech fight. Tech fight sounds kind of like a B movie. Tech vengeance. Tech vengeance is real. Cam wins again. Tech fight was the fake one. I swear, I'm not even looking at this. I'm just- Yeah, he just reads them all. All right. Last set. I'm going to probably get this one wrong. Hang on. I got it. These ones, these are all some fake. It's hard to come up with a good fake one, but these ones are ridiculous. Yeah. It's like, it's too good to even be real.

[00:38:23] It's just like- All right. Here we go. Tech money. Tech kill. Tech world. Tech net. Tech kill. Tech kill is real. Ah, it's got- I was going to go with kill as well. It has to be tech money then. Tech money is real. Tech world was the fake one. Oh my God. That sounds like, oh, those are so ridiculous. I couldn't come up with a good fake. I would have gotten that wrong either way. Yeah, money.

[00:38:52] I was like, Shatner's all about money. I don't think he'd be- That's so- Yeah, he was trying to manifest it. He's like, what am I going to get that fucking tech money? This one's going to sell a lot. Yeah. Tech money. Yeah, he told his agent. He's like, if I don't get some tech money, you're going to get tech killed. I wonder if there's any- He's like, those are the names of the books. Okay. I wonder if there's anything prophetic in them. Uh, probably just- Not the facts. Yeah, definitely not the facts. Definitely the mention it built for Michael Caine. I wonder if the AI in it is like-

[00:39:21] So fake that it's like, just like real life. Yeah. Well, this isn't necessarily prophetic, but the central, maybe not central conceit, but kind of the action that starts it all off, uh, is that the central character- Oh God, you'd think I'd know this, but it's been a long time. That guy. Let's say Jake. Um, he has been accused of whatever crime he didn't commit, whatever. Oh, actually I think he did, but it doesn't matter. He used to be a crime he didn't commit. And if you can find- The fugitive.

[00:39:50] So the way, the way prison works and later on they have to get another guy out is that, you know, you get 15 years, they put you in cryo sleep. Yeah. That makes no fucking sense. Yeah. It's like, oh, you've done 15 years of your life. Yeah. I guess you miss your family. But if you're like a murderer, you're like, cool. So you just come out 15 years and you didn't learn shit. Yeah. So you're like, you come back in 15 years. Like I'm ready to murder again. Like, well, everyone's slightly older now. He's like, great.

[00:40:15] That's definitely one of those where it blurs the line between is the screenplay commented on something or is it just as stupid as real life? It's stupid. Well, this is the book, not the screenplay, but, uh, but even still, I do think it's maybe not prophetic, but there is like, uh, somewhat of something like you'll see it in other movies. Yeah. People have had this dumb ass idea. You know what I mean? I think they did it in a demolition. Demolition man.

[00:40:44] They, they reprogrammed you while you were under and Wesley Snipes. They of course gave him like Kung Fu skills. And yeah. So that's just so long. They taught him how to knit, but that, that, that still is a good point though. Cliff, how some of those just feel like a first draft is like, if the prison is that incompetent, you still need to let us know they're incompetent instead of that's an underdeveloped idea. It doesn't make any sense. Yeah.

[00:41:11] I, I think this definitely is a check in the column for did Shatner have a heavy hand in creating these books? I think it points to yes. Cause I can imagine that conversation that what you just said was the ghostwriter who I'm blanking on his name, but I can look it up. Yeah. Saying that to him and go, okay. Yeah. I like that. That's futuristic, but how would it work? And Shatner goes 15 years. They wake up in 15 years. He's like, cause Shatner would only think of himself. He's like, that would suck. I wouldn't be famous anymore.

[00:41:40] I know what to know about me. And he's like, yeah, but think about someone else. Like 20 years. I see what you're saying. 20 years. He's like, no, you know what? Sure buddy. Just give me the check. That tells me Shatner. Keep shouting out numbers until it won't make any sense ever. But it'll make less nonsense, I guess. See what it did there. So yeah. So I've been really heavily focused on the tech stuff. Cause that's what I know.

[00:42:09] There's the show titled Tech War, the new sci-fi series that premieres next month on CTV. And the program's familiar face among Star Trek fans, actor William Shatner. He not only co-stars in Tech War, he is also the show's executive producer. And he wrote the novels on which the series is based. And he's involved in comic books and God knows what else. William Shatner joins our program this morning. Thank you for showing up. Well, I'm amazed you can get up this early with all the work that you've done. I'm still on California time.

[00:42:38] So as far as I'm concerned, it's five o'clock in the morning. I mean, this is crazy. Tech War opens up on this station across the country in December. A new novel of Tech War called Tech Power. Which is number what? Six. Is on the book stand. And you've got a new Star Trek movie. A new Star Trek movie opening. Gosh, I'm glad you reminded me of that. Yeah. There's so many things I've got to sell here this morning. You're going to sell the comic books while you're at it?

[00:43:05] I'm going to sell the station and put Arthur Weintal out of business. I imagine. Yeah. So go see the movie. Go buy the books. And definitely watch Tech War on this station December 1st and on the USA Network in January. Yeah. Well, no, no, no. On this station. Oh, yeah. Watch the book. No, no, no. You don't understand. It's going to be so good that you'll want to see it twice. You'll want to see it twice.

[00:43:31] Actually, it ought to be pretty good because you've just done it big time. And the technology to do it here in Toronto is there, right? The technology is in Toronto. They're done by a company in Toronto called Core. This is really very much a Canadian production. And the film that I'm seeing is of first quality. It's a wonderful show with some wonderful stories. Who ought to see the phones? They're ringing off the hook.

[00:44:00] People are really mad at the Power Rangers. Well, they wanted to see the Power Rangers. Well, of course. But watch Tech War. Yeah. Now, but what disturbs me even more greatly is the fact that your next movie, which comes out next month, I gather. Uh, Star Trek? Yeah. Star Trek comes out this month. Is it this month? Unless you know something I don't know. No, you'd know better than I. I don't know. I don't know anything. All I do is sell things like Tech War. Well, what I hear is that you die. Nobody told me that. What?

[00:44:29] Well, it's true. Something terrible happens. Yeah. But there's always Tech War. I know, I know. On December 1st, on CTV. I don't want you to get weepy or anything, but the idea of letting Captain Kirk, that whole thing go must be a little tough. If it looks like I'm weepy, it's merely the contact lenses in this dry studio. Ha! But, there are many things happening in my life that I'd like you to all know about. And, uh...

[00:44:59] Well, you're sure as hell busy, and that's nice to see. Um, I mean, you're producing all these books and a new television show. Right. I'm busy, and yet when I come back to Toronto, this is such a beautiful city. Yeah. I came in yesterday afternoon through the customs and breezed on through. They now know me. Hi! No, never mind the passport. No, go. No, it's okay. Carrying anything? No, I'm like, okay, go. And suddenly, the fresh air of Toronto. And the coolness.

[00:45:29] And I walk the streets. Yeah. And the shopping here is fantastic. Pretty good. The buildings, the atmosphere, the people, it's so different from any place else. I love Toronto. Yeah, well, it's kind of that fresh air exists coast to coast. The fresh air from coast to coast? It's nice north of the border. Very pleasant. Canada is a great country. And I see where we Canadians, because I'm a Canadian, continually put it down. And we shouldn't. Because it is a great place. And a lot of people want to come here.

[00:45:59] In fact, we're limiting the number of people who can. It's such a good place. Gold figure. Thank you so much for coming in. Thanks. We'll return after these messages. Hi folks, Hal's back here. We've got a 90 minute weekly Shack Stop. It's growing all over the world. Find it at 2pm and 10pm Eastern Time on Mondays. Then 3pm on Wednesdays. Then 7pm on Thursdays. You can catch it on many more radio stations.

[00:46:28] 99.9 KERV. 1pm Central Time. 2pm Eastern on Mondays. Then catch the Encore on Thursdays at 5pm Central Time. 6pm Eastern. Then catch it Wednesday mornings at 11am Eastern Time. 10am Central on 1077 K-Twins. Then hang out with us Wednesday afternoons on MXTR and Hal Shack Radio. 3pm Eastern Time.

[00:46:56] Then Thursday, get up bright and early with us on 95.7 Web Radio at 6am Pacific Time. 9am Eastern Time. 7pm Eastern Time. Find everything on HalShack.com HalShack.

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[00:47:53] Do you ever find yourself thinking about who would win in a fight between Goku and Superman? Hi, I'm James Gavsey and on the Who Would Win show, me and my co-host Ray ignore anything important happening in the outside world and debate fictional battles between characters from comics, movies and video games. We got a new show every week and almost always am I the winner. Yeah, not true Ray.

[00:48:13] In the past, we've discussed such matches as Captain America versus Darth Vader, Solid Snake versus the Iron Giant, classic matchups like Robocop versus Terminator and even the Muppets versus Sesame Street. That one was crazy. So if you're a fan of geek culture and love a spirited debate, check out the Who Would Win show wherever you get your podcasts or check us out at who would win show dot com.

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