Like An Old Married Couple Or Something

Shatner and Nimoy, together again at Dragon-Con.

Taking on a roast-like atmosphere from the very beginning, the appearance was like eavesdropping on a conversation between two old friends who enjoyed ripping into each other mercilessly. It was an event that Dragon-Con “Star Trek” programming director Eric L. Watts said he never imagined would take place.

At the start, Nimoy brought up the recent smash hit reboot of “Trek” on the big screen by asking Shatner, “Seen any good movies lately?”

The newest incarnation of “Trek” has been a sore point for Shatner of late, and the remark set him off. No matter how many times Nimoy tried to change the subject, Shatner kept asking, “Why wasn’t I in the movie?” Finally Nimoy, who had a major role in it, gave his best guess, which was that Captain Kirk was killed in the movie “Star Trek Generations.”

Shatner admitted that he has yet to see the movie, though he said its director, J.J. Abrams, had offered to screen it for him. Adding that he also hadn’t watched “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” he blamed his busy schedule and the fact that he would inevitably be asked “Why weren’t you in the movie?” by others seeing it with him at a theater.

A small quantum of faith has been restored to my universe, at least.