When Paramount + announced that Jason Alexander would join the cast from the latest “Star Trek” show, that shouldn’t have come as a surprise to fans of the franchise. Alexander, known worldwide as George Costanza from the sitcom “Seinfeld”, lends his voice to “Star Trek: Prodigy”, Where he always wanted to be from the start.

Alexander appeared in an episode of “Star Trek: Voyager” as a character Kurros. This episode, “Thinking group, scored a dream come true for Alexander, as he told StarTrek.com he had been a fan since he was 10 years old.

Voyager’s “Think Tank”

“I had three cousins ​​who were big fans, and they introduced me to that,” Alexander said. “I was addicted to the first episode.”

“Originally, it was the escape fantasy of being a superhero / astronaut that intrigued me,” Alexander told StarTrek.com. “But later, yes, it was the quality of the writing. It was the desire to use gender to explore the social issues of the day in dramatic form. Gene’s vision has never been surpassed despite decades of innovation. It is quite an accomplishment.

Jason as Bill

For years Alexander usurped William Shatner. In August 2006, Alexander organized a Shatner’s Roasted Comedy Central, including Carrie Fisher, René Auberjonois and George Takei.

He posed as Shatner on several occasions, including on the “Late, Late Show” with Craig Kilborn in 2004. This particular example saw Alexander act a scene from “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” with Stephen collins. The latter played Commander Decker in the film.

He also appeared on the comedy show “Thank God You’re Here” in a Trek parody as a Kirk-like Captain, which aired in 2007.

Bill on Jason

Shatner wanted to criticize Alexander’s version of himself in a video of “Vanity Fair”. Shatner said he knew Alexander “pretty well” and invited him to watch “Monday Night Football” at his home a few times. Shatner said Alexander’s impression was “not bad.”

What Shatner liked the most was that Alexander knew the lines of “Star Trek”.

“He memorized the dialogue from the show,” Shatner said – the show being “Back to tomorrow.“

Why Jason became an actor

While all of these situations are humorous, Alexander’s admiration for Shatner is sincere. In a video interview for the Television Academy (the people who produce the Emmy Awards) in 2013, Alexander said that Shatner as Kirk was one of the reasons he wanted to be an actor.

“I was a great Trekkie, and I expressed being a great Trekkie,” said Alexandre in the video.

In a 2012 video, Alexander told an audience Shatner advised him about being famous and dealing with being George Costanza.

“Bill and I became friends when I was in the middle of the ‘Seinfeld’ experience,” said Alexandre on the video. “And he said to me, ‘You have to be aware that you are possibly doing the greatest thing that you will ever do in your career, and you are a relatively young man. But it affects a lot of people, and it looks like it’s going to last a long time.

“And he said when it happened to him he got very irritated,” Alexander said. “And he spent a number of years feeling like it was diminishing him. He said, ‘I was an idiot. I was just stupid.

WATCH: Alexander as Captain Kirk

So in 1999, UPN (which was the over-the-air and cable network created by Paramount) created a special TV show to celebrate “Star Trek”. It was different from some of the other shows created to remember Trek. This one was not linked to any anniversary.

“Ultimate Trek: Star Trek’s Best MomentsWas ripped off by members of the media, including Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who called it a “cheap hour-long clip show” that was at times “funny, but the hour mostly comes across as a pathetic attempt to woo the Trekkers into the tube.”

Either way, it allowed Alexander to portray his idol, Captain James T. Kirk, on a silly time trip to 1990s Hollywood.

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