Young William Shatner as Captain Kirk in yellow Starfleet uniform

William Shatner

2006viral video / internet personalityclassic

Published October 7, 2026

William Shatner is the Canadian actor who played Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek and later turned himself into a long-running internet figure through dubbed clips, a spoken-word Rocket Man cover, and candid Twitter replies about 4chan boards. His stilted delivery and willingness to engage directly with fans turned decades-old footage into some of the earliest reusable video memes.

star trek memes celebrity reaction memes mashup video memes late 2000s memes youtube culture memes

Overview

William Shatner is a Canadian actor best known for playing Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, and his overacted line readings made him a natural target for YouTube remixers once the site took off1. The two most-circulated edits are a 2008 spoken-word performance of Elton John's 'Rocket Man' and 'Shatner of the Mount,' a 2009 musical remix by Fall On Your Sword that chops a Shatner interview about mountain climbing into a hook3.

Shatner's own online activity feeds the meme. He runs the @WilliamShatner Twitter account personally and replies to strangers at a rate most celebrities avoid, including answering questions about which 4chan boards he visits2. The mix of straight-man Star Trek footage, karaoke-adjacent music videos, and unfiltered posting is what keeps older Shatner clips in rotation on Reddit and Twitter3.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (video edits) / Twitter (direct replies)
Date
2006

The earliest documented Shatner meme video predates most of the celebrity's online footprint. On March 12th, 2006, YouTuber Des Sherwood posted 'William Shatner: Captain Kirk farts,' a short Star Trek clip dubbed with fart sound effects, which pulled over 1.8 million views on the platform1. The clip set the template later edits would follow: take existing Shatner footage, add something absurd, let the delivery do the work.

Two more remix videos pushed the format forward. A January 2nd, 2008 upload captured Shatner's 1978 spoken-word 'Rocket Man' performance for a new audience, and on May 30th, 2009 Fall On Your Sword released 'Shatner of the Mount,' editing a Shatner interview into a music video3.

How It Spread

Shatner moved from recurring punchline to active participant once he launched @WilliamShatner on Twitter in June 2008, an account that pulled past 2.53 million followers over the next nine years3. His official Facebook page followed in February 2009, and the /r/WilliamShatner subreddit opened on February 19th, 2013 as a hub for fans tracking his posts and interviews3.

The clearest viral moment of his Twitter era hit on May 7th, 2017, when Shatner answered a follower's question about which 4chan boards he browsed, naming /tv/, /b/ and /x/2. The reply pulled over 4,100 likes and 2,300 retweets within 48 hours3. Later that same day he dismissed Baneposting as 'ridiculous' in a follow-up tweet, giving the /tv/ community its own Shatner artifact to screenshot4.

The older YouTube edits kept pace alongside the Twitter output. The original Rocket Man clip and 'Shatner of the Mount' remain the go-to embeds whenever his name comes up in meme threads56.

Timeline

1966-09-22

Second Star Trek pilot airs, Shatner's first appearance as Captain Kirk[3].

2006-03-12

YouTuber Des Sherwood uploads 'William Shatner: Captain Kirk farts,' the earliest widely-shared Shatner edit[1].

2008-01-02

YouTube upload of Shatner's spoken-word 'Rocket Man' circulates to a new audience[5].

2008-06

Shatner launches the @WilliamShatner Twitter account[3].

2009-05-30

Fall On Your Sword posts 'Shatner of the Mount,' remixing a Shatner interview into a music video[6].

2013-02-19

The /r/WilliamShatner subreddit is created[3].

2017-05-07

Shatner tweets that he browses /tv/, /b/ and /x/ on 4chan, then calls Baneposting 'ridiculous' the same day[2][4].

Loading tweet...

Frequently Asked Questions