Parodying a Parody

I'm going to post this earlier than I had planned, if only to get the poop thing out of the way. I was in a peculiar mood last night.

I think that most of us are aware of the jokes concerning William Shatner's musical ability. His late '70s cuts are derided by music fans and adored by Shatner devotees. I consider myself a member of both groups so it's difficult to gauge just how I should feel about it. His 2004 release Has Been was less questionable - I found it pretty great and fairly emotive to boot. Shatner has a gift for narration and speech rivalled only by his lack of talent at actual singing. Thanks Heaven that he doesn't try that very often.

The following clip is probably his most well-known performance (not counting his spoken-word covers of "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "Mr. Tambourine Man"). The clip itself is at once a transcendental and unintentionally campy moment of television. More interesting to me is the slew of pop culture parodies that followed. View the clip and check out the related clips if you like.



And the parodies (some might call them homages):

Stewie From "Family Guy" Does Rocketman

Chris Elliot Does Rocketman

JoeBobOneHalf Lip-Synchs to the Shatner Recording (Link removed on account of the huge bong hit he takes halfway through. Seek it out yourself if you want to see it.)