William Shatner on the Star Trek prank that enraged DeForest Kelley

Eric Pesola / Heavy

William Shatner on stage in Richmond, Virginia

Like a dynamo with infinite energy, William Shatner keeps going. On the weekend of March 18-19, 2022, Shatner performed at GalaxyCon Richmond in Virginia. He did the usual things a star does when visiting fans — signing autographs, posing for photos, and interacting with them.

GalaxyCon weekend in Richmond also attracted stars from the Star Trek Universe including Brent Spiner (Data), Jeffrey Combs (Shran) and David Gerrold (the author behind the classic episode The Trouble with Tribbles). There were hundreds of retailers selling Trek items including one gentleman who stocked almost every MEGO Trek figure. Trek fans came out at Starfleet’s best, and there was even one Cosplay Klingon who stole the show.

But it was Shatner who took the stage at the Greater Richmond Convention Center and spoke about almost everything to thousands of people. As he took the stage, the crowd erupted in applause and he began to delight the audience with his stories.

Spacebar and back again

Shatner said he thought a lot about his journey into space and how it affected his life after returning to Earth. This is not one of his missions on the fictional Enterprise, but rather his real journey into space aboard one Blue Origin rocket in October 2021. Shatner said that he and his musical partners composed a song about the trip.

This new song should be on the follow-up to his album “the invoice.” But when he returned to Earth after the flight, he realized that what he envisioned in space and what he was were two very different things.

“When I got back on Thursday one of the first calls I made was Rob [Sharenow]’ Shatner said. “Everything we wrote about what it would be like to go into space – fuggedaboutit! Nothing like that.”

Shatner said he and the team came up with a song that better reflected his experiences in spaceflight. This new song is called “So Fragile, So Blue”. Shatner will perform in concert at the Kennedy Center on April 29, 2022, where he will perform the song publicly for the first time with musicians and staff Ben wrinkles.

The prankster

Anyone familiar with Star Trek: The Original Series outtakes can attest that Shatner was someone who enjoyed the set. Thanks to the numerous blooper videos available on YouTubeFans can see that while the show was hard to work with, the cast and crew managed to make some fun.

Since someone in the audience asked about a “bromance” moment between Shatner, Leonard Nimoy (Spock), and DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), he took a few minutes to share a classic prank from the era.

Shatner said he met Kelley at the craft table one morning, where the cast and crew were getting a bite to eat. On one particular day, Kelley confessed that he had trouble remembering his lines.

“You know, Bill, I’m really scared,” Kelley said. “I think I’m losing my mind. i am losing my memory I can’t remember names. I can’t remember lines, Bill!”

“Oh, DeForest, don’t be silly,” Shatner said. “Memory isn’t like that. Everyone goes through such phases. Don’t be afraid to forget.”

Kelley popped a bagel into a toaster and waited for it to warm up. Shatner notices that Nimoy is also in the room and asks the Spock actor to distract Kelley. He asked Kelley to help him remove something from his eye. Meanwhile, Shatner quickly took the bagels out of the toaster and ate them.

When he returned to the toaster, Kelley was clearly upset. He grabbed another bagel, put it in the toaster and watched.

“Now you could tell he wasn’t waiting for joy anymore,” Shatner said while the audience snickered. “There better be some bread in there!”

Shatner once again distracted Nimoy Kelley, and Shatner stole the bagels like the first time. When the toaster banged again, there were no bagels.

Kelley looked at Shatner and yelled, “Oh, you son of a bitch!”

With that, Shatner left the stage and the audience rewarded him with a standing ovation.

READ MORE: Star Trek: Discovery Explains Why Harry Kim Was Never Promoted