First things first: Where's Leonard Nimoy? When Comedy Central's raucously ribald Roast of William Shatner was originally broadcast on August 20, 2006, it began with Nimoy--Shatner's beloved Star Trek costar--leaving a phone-message to Shatner, apologizing for his absence (hey, the man has class) and begging Shatner to explain why he would subject himself to the indignity of a roasting on Comedy Central. "Is it the food?" Nimoy inquired, noting the Shat-man's expanding waistline over the years, and the roasting was excellently underway. Well, guess what? Due to copyright and other legal restrictions (and possibly to Nimoy's desire to distance himself from a shamelessly filthy broadcast), Nimoy's appearance and several musical cues have been edited from this otherwise expanded DVD release, which compensates by serving up a few perfunctory bonus features along with every foul-mouthed insult in their uncensored glory. Shatner himself makes a grand equestrian entrance, riding a white stallion into the auditorium before flopping his fat ass into Star Trek's original Captain's chair (on loan from Seattle's Science Fiction Museum) and settling in for an 80-minute onslaught of verbal abuse by Comedy Central's stable of vicious comedians. It's pee-your-pants hilarious or painfully obscene, depending on your tolerance for crudeness and profanity. (As anyone who saw the previous Roast of Pamela Anderson can tell you, Comedy Central's roasting policy is unabashedly adult-oriented and strictly no-holds-barred.)

Disappointing

The DVD may be "extended and uncensored" but it is not complete. Entire segments are lost, most notably most of Nichelle Nichols' turn at the podium. Other comics we have never heard of who spent more time roasting each other than Shatner got more DVD time than Nichelle. Ben Stiller's relating George Takei's coming out with molesting children is offensive beyond even roasting. And the entire segment shown on TV of Leonard Nimoy's phone conversation with William Shatner is entirely eliminated. In the end, Shatner's closing remark that, despite all the material he had given the roasters to work with and they still couldn't nail him, was RIGHT ON! (Major points however go to Takei for the toupe' remark!!!)

To Star Trek fans with class: stay away from this one like the plague

Parents, do not let your children get near this movie.

There was so much good Shatner material to satirize. Why did they stoop so low? My guess: laziness.

This was the first Comedy Central roast I've watched. Are they all this lame and boorish?

"Don't you laugh at no elderly jokes, Shatner!"

The star of this roast is Lisa Lampanelli. Listen to the audience reaction, listen to her timing and delivery...like a prizefighter. Greg Giraldo and Jeffrey Ross score on attitude alone. The Air America crowd won't care for Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange's assessment of comedy diva Janeane Garofalo, but c'est la vie. Betty White gamely plays along with the locker room humor. Watch the extras on this DVD and you'll learn that she didn't go as far as she was asked to. In a similar vein, the legendary Fred Willard takes a stab at four-letter funnies and seems a little out of place. Maybe that's why he got a couple of lines instead of a full segment. Ben Stiller appears in a pretty funny taped segment about what happened when, as a kid, he respectfully requested an autograph from "Captain Kirk." There are plenty of TJ Hooker jokes...can't go wrong with them, especially the ones targeted at Adrian Zmed (in the audience, but not one of the roasters). The jokes at George Takei's expense get old after a while but he's a good sport throughout. On the downside, Farrah Fawcett's appearance is disturbing...no other way to describe it. The single greatest mistake at this event was asking her to participate. Andy Dick isn't funny, and while he provides a convenient target for many of the comedians, he's just...not...funny. Jason Alexander is an "OK" host...some of his delivery is really forced (but his David Spade joke hit the bulls-eye). Kevin Pollak doesn't add anything to the proceedings and Patton Oswalt looks like he'd really like to be one of the gang but his heart's just not in it. There's no shortage of racial humor directed toward Nichelle Nichols, who shrugs it off for the most part. The roasts were built on the premise that everyone's a target, everyone's fair game, but in these days of excruciatingly "correct" behavior, that premise may not be appreciated by all who watch. An audience reaction shot of Reno 911's Cedric Yarbrough after one of the Nichols jokes illustrates that point. Shatner's closing "rebuttal" to the roasters is funny enough, but with Shatner, he IS the joke...and yes, he "gets it"...the clips of his TV appearances and excursions into song are priceless. 50% killer stuff, 50% groaners and jokes that miss the target...about par for any celebrity roast. But...BECAUSE we're talking...about William SHATNER, you...MUST...buy it...NOW. The disc holds up to repeated viewings but unless you have it on for background noise, you WILL fast-forward through some segments. A three-star effort that gets its fourth star entirely because of Lisa Lampanelli...she's one funny lady.