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Comment count is 25
Scrimmjob - 2015-04-21

Nice hair Bill!


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-04-21

I recently saw the first Star Trek movie for the first time in years. It was released in 1979. Does anybody else think that the look of the crew seems influenced by disco fashions? I guess that makes sense; on TOS the fashions seem influenced by Mod.


Two Jar Slave - 2015-04-22

Doesn't Bones show up wearing a disco medallion and white suit? My memory's a bit fuzzy.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-04-21

Loblaws used to be in upstate NY, but it turns out they're mostly a Canadian chain, which may explain how Shatner became their spokesperson. It also may explain the commercial where he appears on an ice rink in full hockey gear. Wish I could have found that one.

I love Bill Shatner. Not the greatest actor ever, but often underrated, and at this point famous for not taking himself too seriously. I respect him for tackling these spokesperson gigs (he also did Promise Margarine) with convincing enthusiasm. Watching him here, I don't feel embarrassed for him like I thought I would. A successful actor knows that a successful actor is an actor with WORK.


infinite zest - 2015-04-21

Shatner's amazing. I can't think of a single actor these days who's as versatile as he is. Will Farrell comes to mind, I guess, in that he can either be the the overly confident guy whose hubris catches up with him, or the doofus who needs someone else to get over some obstacle, and both sort of fail when they attempt to do something serious, which they're both fully capable of. But did Farrell ever learn Esperanto for a film? Yeah that's what I thought.


Scrimmjob - 2015-04-21

I love him in "The Devil's Rain", you also can't beat Borgnine as satan!


TheOtherCapnS - 2015-04-21

Extra stars for making me think of Bob Loblaws Law Blog


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-04-21

Actually it was BLLB made me think of this.


infinite zest - 2015-04-21

I still don't get what's so funny about that. Bah humbug.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-04-21

Explaining a joke is usually a kind of autopsy, but here goes.

"Bob Loblaw" is a perfectly coherent and true to life first name and It's a perfectly coherent and true to life last name that somehow manage to sound like gibberish together, and they also sound like Blah blah blah, which is a good funny name for a lawyer speaking deadpan in a commercial.

I think its hilarious. If you don't agree, I can't find fault with that Peace be with you.


That guy - 2015-04-21

I think it's hilarious and go hump your fist.


betabox - 2015-04-21

Your zest seems strangely finite in this matter.


sasazuka - 2015-04-21

I'm going to say early-to-mid-1980s although I probably wouldn't have seen this spot on television in Montreal as a kid because Loblaws didn't take over Provigo and expand operations into Quebec until 1998.

Maybe I'm wrong, but mid-1970s seems like too soon after STAR TREK for Bill to look that middle-aged.

Fun fact: Loblaws (and Real Canadian Superstore) still uses that same totally 1970s orange and red logo seen in the background.


Billy the Poet - 2015-04-22

I think that if you're of a certain age you just associate that hairstyle and that kind of suit with middle-agedness.


sasazuka - 2015-04-22

Ah, looks like my estimate was way off. Loblaws themselves posted a different William Shatner ad on their corporate Youtube account and give the year as 1975.

https://youtu.be/0lrsMy9MXiQ

I suppose Bill was already 44 when that campaign started.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-04-22

I DID see these on TV in upstate New York in the 70s. Loblaws is long gone from the area, though I can still remember where their two stores were located.

It was after Star Trek TOS and before Star Trek the Motion Picture. The Show was going gangbusters in syndication, but the cast may not have been seeing a whole lot of money from that. Shatner had his recognizable face, and that's what he traded on. After 1980, he did some great Star Trek Themed commercials. (Do we have the one where he plays video games with the Gorn? ) But he didn't have to actually go out and be a spokesman, and say things like "Bill Shatner for Loblaws", which I know he did once or twice.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-04-22

People were older back then.


sasazuka - 2015-04-22

They had Loblaws in upstate New York?


sasazuka - 2015-04-22

Confirmed on Google and Loblaws also operated in parts of Pennsylvania.

I didn't know Loblaws ever crossed the border. Ya learn something new everyday.


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-04-22

I didn't know that Loblaws was a Canadian chain, or that it still existed. My grandmother, used to shop there.


Binro the Heretic - 2015-04-21

Shatner was the only one who could see that penguin.

When he asked, "Does he work here?" the actress and everyone in the film crew was genuinely confused.

And then they played back the video...


BHWW - 2015-04-21

It's the Djinn. There was a time when everybody knew about them, but modern science has "explained" them away.


sasazuka - 2015-04-21

It's Harvey the Rabbit disguised as a penguin.

Or Polkaroo disguised as a penguin.

Or maybe pre-1985 Mr. Snuffleupagus disguised as a penguin.


garcet71283 - 2015-04-21

I feel like this is a dupe...


John Holmes Motherfucker - 2015-04-22

My feeling is that if doesn't come up in a search for "William Shatner", it might as well not be a dupe. It's only a dupe if you can find the original.


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