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Star Trek: William Shatner's "May the 4th" Greeting to Star Wars Fans

Star Trek icon William Shatner celebrated the franchise's sci-fi "rival" Star Wars on "May the 4th Be With You" with a friendly greeting.

William Shatner never misses the opportunity to remind fans that Star Trek walked in space science fiction before Star Wars could run, knowing he also owes a lot to the George Lucas franchise for helping to make The Original Series films a reality starting with 1979's The Motion Picture. Taking to social media, the 95-year-old Canadian actor shared some words to celebrate Star Wars, "Some people use the Force… 🤨 I prefer a well-timed toast and a five-year mission. 🥂May the Fourth be with you… if you must but let's be honest; I've been boldly going since before it was cool. 😉🚀" The graphic shows Shatner toasting a champaign glass in front of the Star Trek insignia behind his right side, and Star Wars' Death Star and Tie Fighters behind his left with the words, "May the Fourth Be With You. – From One Spece Legend to… [shrug]? [Wink]" Below is "May the Fourth Be With You" in Star Wars font with the Star Trek catchphrase below, "Live long and propser."

Star Trek Icon William Shatner Celebrates Star Wars on Its 49th Anniversary

As Star Trek helped give birth to modern American sci-fi as we know it, TOS premiered in 1966 on NBC, lasting three seasons, thanks in part to a fan campaign that brought that third and final season, but with the caveat of severe budget cuts that hampered the series' quality that only delayed the inevitable. While the series enjoyed a second life in Filmation's Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973, it only lasted two seasons due in part to budgetary reasons. As creator Gene Roddenberry was looking to have a foothold back into live-action television developing Star Trek: Phase II, Lucas released Star Wars (now A New Hope) in theaters in 1977, which its popularity allowed Paramount to refocus its efforts to TMP, and the remnants of Phase II became repurposed for the big screen.

With Star Wars completing its original trilogy with subsequent sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983), Trek would retain TOS, develop a new look with uniforms for five more films starting with 1982's The Wrath of Khan, 1984's The Search for Spock, 1986's The Voyage Home, 1989's The Final Frontier, and 1991's The Undiscovered Country. Trek would also make its return to TV with 1987's The Next Generation with a new cast from Roddenberry in a new home on syndication that allowed the franchise to thrive without network TV pressure, where it would last seven seasons, spawning continuous shows in Deep Space Nine, return to network TV with Voyager, and Enterprise through 2005. You can check out all the shows, most of the time, the films, and the franchise's streaming originals (except for Prodigy) on Paramount+.

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