Happy Birthday, William Shatner!

Can you believe that William Shatner is 80 years old today? Have you seen him lately on his CBS sitcom, or on his really good talk show Shatner's Raw Nerve on the Biography Channel? He's incredible. He has more energy, more curiosity, more wisdom and more wit than almost anybody else out there, certainly anybody his age or many much younger. William Shatner has become, by dint of his prodigious career over the past sixty years, a certified pop culture icon and well deserves his place in the hearts and minds of contemporary society.

If you love television, you have to love William Shatner. He's been on it from the beginning, starring in several series and guest-starring on dozens and dozens and dozens of all the most prestigious drama showcases of the early TV years and also on just about every classic TV show of the past half-century. Shatner IS television.

You really just need to take some time and look over his credit list, as actor, director, producer, writer. Check out his IMDb listing and be in awe of this man.

We thought we'd just bring you a few clips of Shatman, only a mere sprinkling of the greatness that is out there, but we hope we intrigue you enough to spend a week or so looking at all the wonderful material that's out there. We wish to particularly call out YouTube user Zainin666's astounding collection of William Shatner clips -- what a labor of love!

So how about a little bit of our favorite starship commander battling the treacherous lizard creature The Gorn, from Star Trek episode "Arena"?



Would you like to watch him doing his famous "Rocket Man" interpretation from 1978, at the Science Fiction Film Awards?



And we really like this snazzy video showcasing Captain Kirk's ladykilling, made by the talented ImaginarySanity as seen on YouTube.

We could go on forever about Shatner, but let's merely say what's on everybody's mind today --

Happy Birthday, William Shatner!