Shatner Unveils Trek Tour

Original Star Trek star William Shatner waxed nostalgic about the franchise as he unveiled a multimedia touring exhibition of Trek memorabilia in Long Beach, Calif., on Jan. 17.

"I must tell you I walked in this morning and went to look at the bridge and felt this surge of nostalgia," Shatner told reporters in a news conference in the Queen Mary Dome, referring to a re-creation of the original bridge of the starship Enterprise. "It was quite incredible. I hadn't been on the bridge set ... since I made the last movie."

Shatner is the official ambassador for the exhibition, called Star Trek the Tour, which has its North American debut in the California city through Feb. 17 before moving to San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit.

It wasn't all a pleasurable trip down memory lane, Shatner joked. "I looked over at the uniform that I was supposed to have worn back 40 years ago, and I thought, 'That couldn't be me.' [It was] a little small," he said, evoking laughter from the crowd of journalists.

The tour, produced by SEE Touring Productions and presented by Metropolitan Talent, features re-creations of several Trek sets, including the bridges of the original Enterprise and The Next Generation's Enterprise D. The 50,000-square-foot exhibition includes costumes, props, ships and other items from all five Trek TV shows and 10 movies. The tour also features a multimedia theater and several flight-simulator rides.

Shatner was eventually asked about the upcoming 11th movie, a reboot of the franchise by director J.J. Abrams. Will he appear in it? "I think they're about halfway through shooting, something like that, or coming toward the end," Shatner said. "They've got another three weeks to hire me [laughs]. I don't think you'll be seeing me, unfortunately. I would love to have been in it. For some reason, I'm not. I don't know the reason why. But I'm sure it'll be a wonderful film, and I wish them all the best. I only hope that Star Trek continues." Star Trek the Tour opens Jan. 18.