Walter Koenig recalls William Shatner as being funny on the set of Star Trek: The Original Series. Keonig joined Star Trek as Ensign Pavel Chekov in season 2, continued in Star Trek: The Original Series season 3, and Walter reprised Chekov in seven Star Trek movies. Koenig now reviews his episodes of Star Trek on The 7th Rule podcast with hosts Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk, where his “I was there” insight is illuminating and invaluable.

Reviewing Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, episode 4, “Mirror, Mirror,” on The 7th Rule, Cirroc Lofton enjoyed a moment in “Mirror, Mirror” where the Mirror Chekov wanted to kill Captain James T. Kirk. Lofton joked to Koenig that he “felt the joy” of Walter getting a chance to attempt to kill Kirk, nodding to Koenig’s well-documented issues with William Shatner. However, Koenig set the record straight about how he felt about Shatner while filming Star Trek: The Original Series. Read his quote and watch The 7th Rule video below:

Just for the record, guys, when I was doing the series, I was so grateful to be working… that I did not take umbrage with Bill’s behavior. For one thing, he was funny. He made us all laugh. He was funny frequently, I mean, on purpose. If he blew a line, he dealt with it in a funny way. And, after all, I had just come aboard, and I was the new kid. And I was just grateful that most weeks, they found a few speeches for me to say.

The 7th Rule host Ryan T. Husk asked Walter Koenig about a time William Shatner made him laugh on set, and here’s what Walter said:

Bill was fun. He was really the source of a lot of humor on the TV series. He didn’t have to take himself so seriously because everyone bought into it. He didn’t have to fight to be the principal performer. Everyone just knew it, and when you’re comfortable with your position, and when you know the world is bowing to you as you walk by, then I think your temperament is probably more congenial. We all blew lines. Everybody blew lines. It’s what happens. And Bill had a moment when he blew his line, and he blew it literally ten times in a row. It was hysterical. He kept saying the wrong word… The word was something like – this is not it – but it was something like ‘Paris’, and he kept saying ‘Parrish’ time after time. And we were all hysterical. We were all falling on the floor, including Bill. He thought it was funny as well.

Walter Koenig’s Problems With William Shatner Started In The Star Trek Movies

Koenig had a different attitude when shooting the Star Trek TV series

On The 7th Rule, Walter Koenig also clarified that he didn’t develop problems with William Shatner until they started filming the Star Trek movies. Koenig wished Chekov could have received greater character development in the feature films, but he felt lucky to be part of Star Trek when they were filming The Original Series. Read Koenig’s quote below:

I didn’t really start getting distressed until we started making the movies, I don’t think. Maybe in retrospect, after the series ended, I was wondering, ‘Gee, wouldn’t it have been nice if I’d had the opportunity to do more?’ I certainly felt like I could do more. There was no bitterness in my perception of things. I was just glad to be there. And if Mr. Shatner chose to ignore me, that was okay. I accepted that as the game plan, as the way things were. I didn’t take it personally.

At the time of Star Trek: The Original Series season 2, Koenig was happy to have a supporting role in an NBC television series. In the Star Trek movies, when the emphasis was placed on the main trio of Kirk, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), it left supporting actors like Walter Koenig, George Takei, and the late James Doohan feeling underutilized and personally slighted by William Shatner. But in Star Trek: The Original Series, Walter Koenig fondly remembers William Shatner cracking the cast up on set.