DVD Review: The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner (Uncensored)

By Jeff Swindoll Mar 18, 2007, 22:49 GMT

It\'s William Shatner\'s turn to step in to the celebrity hot seat for the latest installment of The Comedy Central Roast. A parade of Shatner\'s friends have gotten together to boldly go where no one has gone before: on William Shatner\'s sh*tlist. Tune in as some of Shatner\'s closest friends hang out, have a few drinks, listen to a live performance by one of the hottest bands around, and then ...more

William Tiberius Shatner is the subject of the raw ribbing of the comics of Comedy Central.  Some of his Star Trek alums also join in to make sure that the “Shat” is burnt to a crisp.

Following in the footsteps of Pamela Anderson, the brave captain of the Starship Enterprise beams himself before a gaggle of comedians to have them crack jokes (some of them pretty raw) about the guest of honor. 

Captain, my Captain

However, the roasters themselves are also open to have themselves flailed at the hands of the other roasters.  The roasters include roastmaster Jason Alexander, Andy Dick, Greg Giraldo, Lisa “the Queen of Mean” Lampanelli, Artie Lange, Patton Oswalt, Kevin Pollak, Jeffrey Ross, Betty White, and Fred Willard. 

Star Trek alums Nichelle Nichols and George Takei along with Farrah Fawcett are along for the cookout.  Videotaped contributions come from Sandra Bullock, Ben Stiller, Clint Howard (recreating his role from a Star Trek episode), and Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman.

Some sets are better than others and others border on the surreal.  All the while, the guest of honor and other roasters have to grin and bear it.  George Takei’s sexual preference is made much of as well as Shatner’s Trek days, career as a singer, and hairpieces. 

Some of the surreal occurrences are Andy Dick as Kock, the illegitimate son of a coupling of Kirk and Spock and Farah Fawcett.  Not to mention that Andy feels the need to lick a lot of folks.

Kock, the son of Kirk and Spock

Fred Willard, Nichelle Nichols, and Andy Dick’s roasts appear to be only portions of their remarks, or at least it seemed so to me. This seemed strange to me since this was supposed to be the extended and uncensored version that wasn’t shown on Comedy Central.  Each of the roasters have a mixture of good and bad jokes, some of them hit the mark and others fly way a field. 

What’s really cool is that Captain Kirk has returned home, in a sense, since he’s ensconced in the original captain’s chair from the Enterprise set (still missing the same buttons Shatner quips in the behind the scenes footage). 

The Roast is presented in fullscreen as it was originally shown on Comedy Central.  Special features include 9 minutes of Red Carpet interviews with the roasters.  There’s also 4 minutes of behind the scenes footage and a 2 minute “making of” featurette. 

There are also Comedy Central quickies - which are basically clips from The Colbert Report, Drawn Together, and Reno911.  Finally there are previews of other Paramount DVDs. 

This DVD is definitely not for the kids since it is pretty raw.  The jokes are mostly accepted by the recipients, though some of them seem to be laughing a little too hard if you know what I mean.  The comedy is a mixed bag but anyone who has appreciated William Shatner in any portion of his career will find something to laugh at. 

Sometimes George seems to laugh a bit too much at some of the gay jokes

Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner (Uncensored) is now available at Amazon. As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.