Between 1963 and 1983, Star Trek star William Shatner was credited with appearing on The Tonight Show ten times. Though Johnny Carson hosted the show that entire time and continued until 1992, Shatner’s February 1983 appearance would end up being his last with Carson. From that point forward, Shatner was only interviewed by guest hosts, like Patrick Duffy and Jay Leno. When Leno finally took over for Carson years later, Shatner showed up more frequently, and has since been a guest of every subsequent host, including Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Fallon.
You can’t help but wonder what went wrong between Shatner and Carson, though, considering their long history. After all, when people get banned from shows, the hosts usually have a pretty good reason for it. But interestingly enough, the pair’s last interview together is largely uneventful. On the surface, it doesn’t play out like anything more than a typical Tonight Show conversation between Carson and one of his guests.
William Shatner Says Johnny Carson Banned Him From ‘The Tonight Show’ for Talking Too Much
However, there are a few telltale signs that something was off that night. As Shatner tries to get through a very long-winded story about the week he’s been having, Carson jokingly asks him, “Did I say, ‘Good evening,’ Bill?” This delays Shatner a bit, but after asking Carson if he can continue, Shatner quips, “You got two words in there.” Carson also seems visibly annoyed that Shatner briefly turns away from him to speak with Buddy Hackett, who was a guest on the show as well.
In his 2011 book Shatner Rules: Your Guide to Understanding the Shatnerverse and the World at Large, Shatner claims that Carson banned him for talking too much and monopolizing their discussion. According to Mark Malkoff’s Love Johnny Carson: One Obsessive Fan’s Journey to Find the Genius Behind the Legend, that was just one of three rules that Shatner broke on the night in question. In addition to his excessive babbling, Shatner apparently did get on Carson’s nerves by talking to Hackett. Lastly, Shatner made the mistake of mentioning that his TV series T.J. Hooker was airing on NBC’s rival network, ABC (the word was muted when the show was broadcast).
You can check out the entire episode, courtesy of Shout! TV, right here.
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