Scope – “Antiquity 1954” (01/02/1955)

According to IMDB, Shatner wasted little time in getting a job in 1955. On only the second day of the year, he was apparently appearing in an episode of Scope, titled “Antiquity 1954.”

 Scope, according to Wikipedia, was a CBC-produced anthology series that aired from December 19th, 1954 to May 1st, 1955. Unlike General Motors Theatre which seems to have produced only dramatic productions, Scope was kind of an all-purpose anthology series. It presented documentaries, ballets, dramatic works and opera. It was a half-hour long, and was broadcast at 10:00 p.m. each Sunday night.

Very little is known about this episode at all. In fact, even the date might be wrong. Wikipedia mentions that “The third episode in January 1955 featured Eric Nicol’s review of the previous year.” Now, doesn’t “Antiquity 1954” sound like it might be a retrospective of the previous year? If it was, then it might have aired later in January of 1955.

And if it was a retrospective, then what was Shatner’s role? Was he interviewed about Stratford? Was he filmed performing some of his roles there? Or was it just filmed footage of Stratford? Was he a segment narrator? Something else entirely? Unknown. And we probably never will know, which makes me sad because I want to know all!

Shatnerweb’s Rating:
Unknown – Not Viewed

Shat Level: Unknown – Not Viewed

Shatner’s Web

It’s time to detail all of the connections between Scope’s “Antiquity 1954” and other Shatner appearances! 

Shatner seems to have some connection to almost every one of his fellow cast members on this episode. The host of the show (again, all of this according to IMDB) was Tommy Tweed. He would appear with Shatner later in 1955 in a television show called The Big Dig along with another actor named John Bethune.

Corinne Conley previously appeared with Shatner in CBC/General Motors Theatre’s, “The Man Who Ran Away” and “The Black Eye.” She would next appear with him six years later on another episode of General Motors Theatre, “The Well.” After that she would not appear in the same production for another 55 years, for the 2015 movie A Christmas Horror Story.

Murray Matheson would also appear with Shatner in a few months for The Big Dig and then one more time in a 1960 episode of Moment of Fear, “A Touch of Guilt.”

Toby Robins, who was in Stratford’s Measure for Measure with Shatner, would next appear with him one month later in an episode of General Motors Theatre, “Never Say No.” Finally, he would appear with Shatner one last time, in 1955’s TV production The Big Dig.

Finally, Wikipedia lists Harvey Hart as one of the producers of the show. If true, and if he produced the episode Shatner was on, he would work again with Shatner 11 years later as the director of an episode of Star Trek, “Mudd’s Women.”

*Update

With the help of commenters on both this episode and on The Big Dig, I now believe that these were one and the same program. The cast listings that I’ve found are suspiciously similar, and the biggest issue is the dating on both episodes. I’m inclined to believe The Big Dig date a bit more than the other one since the CBC archival dates are often more reliable. Regardless of dating, I am thinking these were the same production. I’ll leave both posts up but would like to take both the comment regarding plot and the YouTube video and cross-post them to each blog entry, especially since there is an opportunity for folks to see a snippet of a very little know Shatner appearance!

From commenter “Sheri”:

According to a bio of Canadian composer Louis Applebaum, “The Big Dig” was a script by humorist Eric Nicol. It was about the funny speculations and conclusions drawn by archaeologist far in the future who unearth mid-20th century Toronto. It actually appears to have been broadcast January 1, 1955, according to a chapter footnote.

From commenter “Kenny P.”:

Thank you for all you do. I was watching this CBC 50th anniversary special.

Do you happen to know the Shatner appearance at the 9-minute mark? Apparently, he’s a time traveler from the future talking to a present-day (1950’s woman) and tears are a mystery to him.

Further Studies

Read a little more about Scope here.