I'll admit it. I didn't shed any tears when I heard William Shatner wouldn't be involved with J.J. Abrams' forthcoming Star Trek reboot/prequel.

But apparently some folks still can't get over it - chief among them, Shatner himself. Speaking to AMC's Sci-Fi Scanner, Abrams addressed the issue of not using everyone's favorite ham:

"It was very tricky. We actually had written a scene with him in it that was a flashback kind of thing, but the truth is, it didn't quite feel right. The bigger thing was that he was very vocal that he didn't want to do a cameo. We tried desperately to put him in the movie, but he was making it very clear that he wanted the movie to focus on him significantly, which, frankly, he deserves. The truth is, the story that we were telling required a certain adherence to the Trek canon and consistency of storytelling. It's funny -- a lot of the people who were proclaiming that he must be in this movie were the same people saying it must adhere to canon. Well, his character died on screen. Maybe a smarter group of filmmakers could have figured out how to resolve that."

Boys and girls, what you just read was Abrams' diplomatic way of saying: "Bill Shatner is miffed we didn't stroke his ego by making the whole film about him! So he ran off to film Priceline commericals and more episodes of Boston Legal that no one will watch."

Uh, Bill. This is a reboot - i.e. a brand new interpretation of the characters, mythology, etc. using new actors. Granted Abrams' film is supposedly a hyrid of prequel and reboot that sorta follows classic Trek lore. And it does bring back Leonard Nimoy as Spock.

But still, I digress. You're dead, Jim! Get over it!

Besides, you'll get your wish. This new Trek film is about Kirk - albeit not you, but new-comer Chris Pine.

Star Trek beams into theatres on May 8, 2009.

Source: Sci-Fi Scanner