A quick google...
...tends to suggest Ilfracombe is indeed a lust-desert.
Lots of Ford Escorts for sale though.
William Shatner has apologised to the burghers of Ilfracombe for claiming, on national TV, that the Devon seaside town is a hotbed of prostitution. However, Shatner undermined the earnestness of his apology by insisting someone must be having sex in the resort for "something of value", the Daily Mail reports. The erstwhile …
Why they keep having race drivers flog watches or tennis players selling cologne is beyond me. Exactly what does a footy player know of the inner workings of an Aston Martin? Now we have a C list actor making inaccurate off-the-cuff comments on things he knows little, if anything of. The mind boggles.
Stick to what you call acting Mr. Shatner and leave the social commentary to those who actually know what they are talking about.
> inaccurate off-the-cuff comments on things he knows little, if anything of.
It was a joke. The whole point was that everyone knew that Shatner had never been to Ilfracombe, prompted as it was by his mispronunciation of the town's name. It was not a attempt at social commentary, FFS. A joke. Mr Shatner was not above making jokes at his own expense, and generally came across very well.
Definitely, just watch his Comedy Roast (only the first 18 mins sadly)
Can we knight the Shat?
Yes and no - Canadians can be knighted, but they don't tend to be because of the Nicle Resolution. However, he has played a part in a show that attempted to envisage a better future world (by fighting and copping off with aliens)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_titles_debate#The_Nickle_Resolution
Town councillor posts don't attract the best talent, though if you are lucky you will have a human being or two amongst them. One mate of mine wrote to our town council, just to enquire into the process of becoming a councillor of of curiousity... they wrote back offering him the role!
Before a rather good woman joined our council, their argument for not reserving space for a skate-park was: "Skate parks attract young people. A group of young people would attract drug dealers. Drugs are bad, m'kay?" Never mind that young people here took drugs because there was fluff-all else to do...
anyone who took Bill's comments seriously is far to stupid to have their opinion considered. It was said on a long running satirical comedy show, and in context could not possibly be offensive to anyone with a brain. Any council member who thought this required an official apology should be fired.
Shatner reportedly emailed him back saying that prostitution meant "sex for something of value" and that "I would be hard pressed to believe that sex was not being had in Ilfracombe for something of value, perhaps a lengthy marriage...."
Did Shatner just suggest that having sex with your spouse is prostitution? Please tell me that I'm misunderstanding the statement. By this logic having sex to acheive an orgasm would be prostitution.
I just tell her: "I think that you don't have enough shoes."
I get nookie, and the shopping problem solves itself. (It was going to solve itself anyway -- no shoe you'd buy would ever be adequate -- even if she bought the exact same shoe you would.)
The "You must've lost weight -- why don't you buy new pants" also works well.
..what really goes on in Ilfracombe.
My lips are sealed, but I will say, it is some pretty sick shit.
On another note:
Did you know that on a clear day, looking out from Swansea bay, one can see Ilfracombe quite clearly on the horizon? Around 20 - 30 miles away. Pre Google maps we thought this was the quaintest thing.
Of course, thankfully, we couldn't see what was 'really' going on.
Thank god.
The last time Shatner was involved about something that wasn't there when somebody said it was and said hello, he wen't back in time, got some whales and dumped them at the location the other person said they were at. Given this and the history of the UK, at some point in time he could of very well been correct and with this - be warned, he does cheat.
I wacthed all of this episode in the XT format (so an extra 10-15 mins) & I foud Bill's performance execrable :( Ham acting, yes; self-parody, yes; but he came across as drunk (poss true - dunno) and/or stoned to me :(
I've seen him before in other shows & his performance was excellent, with just the right touches of above to make it work. For me this above shows his timing is going.. not generally a serious problem with (known) actors but very serious when combined with self-parody & comedy :(
If he's stil as good as I hope he is he should let up on the
serious
or
not
so serious
pauses a
bit - he's overdoing them more than necessary for self-parody
Humph (Humphrey Lyttelton) worked this very well in ISIHAC due to his obvious age (including frequently 'falling asleep'), but it doesn't work so well on TV or nowadays even on radio :(
(Forget the materiel; that's mostly provided by scriptwriters & autocue anyway, another thing I may vent my splen* upon later)
*splen - a much maligned version of spleen. It isn't used much nowadays due to the invention of spelling checkers. Due to this it tends to be much nastier, as it's fighting for survival!