Star Trek's William Shatner Created And Starred In This Underseen '90s Sci-Fi Show

William Shatner is best known for portraying Captain James T. Kirk in the original "Star Trek" TV series, but the Canadian actor's lengthy and varied career has also seen him appear in numerous films and TV shows (including one of "The Twilight Zone's" best episodes), in a voyage into real-life space with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company, and in over 20 dramatic spoken-word cover albums — including a heavy metal album.

In addition to all that, William Shatner is also a bestselling author, penning multiple non-fiction books and sci-fi novels, including a series of loosely-connected "Star Trek" books, affectionately referred to as the "Shatnerverse." But this isn't Shatner's only notable book series. Back in 1989, he began writing a sci-fi screenplay that quickly snowballed into the creation of the first "TekWar" novelghost-written by Ron Goulart, launching a successful franchise that has been adapted into a comic book series, video game, and a criminally underseen '90s sci-fi show.

Adapted for television by Stephen Roloff, the "TekWar" TV series first aired in 1994 in the U.S. And Canada, with the first season consisting of four two-hour movies ("TekWar," "TekLords," "TekWar: TekLab," and "TekWar: TekJustice") and the second season following a more traditional TV show structure, featuring 18 episodes, each running 46 minutes.

The series follows former policeman Jake Cardigan (played by "DeepStar Six's" Greg Evigan) who lost his badge and was sentenced to 15 years in cryo-detainment after being framed for dealing in an illegal, virtual reality narcotic called tek and murdering his fellow officers. Upon his early release from incarceration, Cardigan begins working as a private investigator for security firm Cosmos' CEO, Walter Bascom (played by Shatner), hunting down Tek Lords in return for Bascom's help clearing his name.

Unfortunately, the "TekWar" TV show was short-lived. Following a strong debut, ratings gradually declined in both the U.S. and Canada, leading to USA Network cancelling the series in 1995. Due to a simulcast agreement, this meant both USA Network and CTV in Canada pulled the series from the schedules, leaving four of the second season's episodes unaired. Fortunately, in 1996, CTV and the Sci-Fi Channel in the U.S. aired these remaining episodes.

It's been over 30 years since "TekWar's" final four episodes were aired, but it may not have been the last time we'll see William Shatner's sci-fi thriller on our screens. In 2021, Deadline reported that Shatner and his Shatner Universe had teamed up with Pure Imagination Studios to develop a mixed-reality, adult animated series based on the "TekWar" novels.

Mixed reality is a technology that works like magic, mixing physical and virtual worlds by blending high resolution digital elements with your real surroundings. For example, when playing the horror game "Shattered" on Meta Quest 3, digital monsters will appear as though they're standing in your actual home. How this tech will work for Shatner's animated series hasn't been confirmed, but we do know that viewers will be able to interact and participate with the show through technology, including mobile and wearable devices or tablets.

Matt Michnovetz – former writer on "24" and head writer for the "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" TV series — is attached to develop and write the immersive series, with producers telling Deadline in 2021 that it will be "the first step in building a real-time multiverse around a property and Shatner." However, five years on, there's been no further update on this animated series, so whether we will actually see the concept of a mixed-reality adaptation of "TekWar" come to fruition remains to be seen.