Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner (Uncensored)

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HOSTED BY JASON ALEXANDER, FELLOW ROASTERS INCLUDE BEN STILLER, ANDY DICK, SANDRA BULLOCK, JIMMY KIMMEL AND MANY MORE.First things first: Where s Leonard Nimoy? When Comedy Central s raucously ribald Roast of William Shatner was originally broadcast on August 20, 2006, it began with Nimoy--Shatner s beloved Star Trek costar--leaving a phone-message to Shatner, apologizing for his absence (hey, the man has class) and begging Shatner to explain why he would subject himself to the indignity of a roasting on Comedy Central. "Is it the food?" Nimoy inquired, noting the Shat-man s expanding waistline over the years, and the roasting was excellently underway. Well, guess what? Due to copyright and other legal restrictions (and possibly to Nimoy s desire to distance himself from a shamelessly filthy broadcast), Nimoy s appearance and several musical cues have been edited from this otherwise expanded DVD release, which compensates by serving up a few perfunctory bonus features along with every foul-mouthed insult in their uncensored glory. Shatner himself makes a grand equestrian entrance, riding a white stallion into the auditorium before flopping his fat ass into Star Trek s original Captain s chair (on loan from Seattle s Science Fiction Museum) and settling in for an 80-minute onslaught of verbal abuse by Comedy Central s stable of vicious comedians. It s pee-your-pants hilarious or painfully obscene, depending on your tolerance for crudeness and profanity. (As anyone who saw the previous Roast of Pamela Anderson can tell you, Comedy Central s roasting policy is unabashedly adult-oriented and strictly no-holds-barred.)

Of course, Shatner s not the only target of playful derision. After an introduction by host Jason Alexander (who, like guest comedian Kevin Pollak, built a career out of impersonating Shatner), nobody emerges unscathed, and some of the insults--particularly those aimed at Farrah Fawcett (whose inclusion here is barely justified)--are more cruel than entertaining. But everyone s a good sport, especially Star Trek s Mr. Sulu, George Takei, who d recently gone public with his homosexuality, prompting nearly every roaster on the panel to make crude (and mostly unfunny) gay sex jokes at Takei s good-natured expense. (He later delivers a barb at Shatner that Star Trek historians will recognize as at least partially serious.) Like fellow roasters Fawcett and Shatner s Boston Legal costar Betty White, Trek veteran Nichelle Nichols endures a few insults about getting older, and in a highlight of the show, Clint Howard (in a video clip) reprises his role as the friendly alien "Balok" (from the classic Trek episode "The Corbomite Maneuver"), toasting Shatner with a beer-bonged shot of "Tranya." As Andy Dick proceeds to lick several of his fellow roasters (and, in the audience, Carrie Fisher--who licks back), Greg Giraldo, Patton Oswalt, Jeffrey Ross, and other Comedy Central regulars lay waste to Shatner s checkered career, including priceless film clips from Shatner s infamous post-Trek career as a "poetic interpreter" of hits like "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Rocket Man." It s all in good fun, and judging from audience reaction (including numerous cutaways to Star Trek: Voyager s sexy Jeri Ryan), everyone had a good time when they weren t slack-jawed with shock from the R-rated barrage of banter. This stuff ain t for prudes, and if you don t know what to expect, you re probably better off watching reruns of T.J. Hooker. --Jeff Shannon