Carrie Fisher blasts back at William Shatner in "Star Wars vs. Star Trek" feud

Wishful Drinking author Carrie Fisher, who you gotta love for her candor about her past LSD use and electro-shock therapy, is currently engaged in a light-hearted YouTube war-of-words with William Shatner over which is the superior franchise, Star Trek or Star Wars. Shatner started the AARP sci-fi beef back in September, saying in a YouTube interview that Star Trek had better storylines, while Star Wars was all special effects and derivative ideas.

In response, Fisher recently came back with her blaster blazing, saying:

"They're not in the same league. I mean, they have the word 'Star' in the title, and, um, there's space travel — right, where did they go to? I don't really... Klingon? It just sounds like a laundry detergent."

She also took a shot at Star Trek's budget, saying "Maybe they're just, they're effects, they're not called special effects." And responding to Shatner's having suggested that Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and the costume department may have been hiding less-than-attractive Star Wars cast members, Fisher, referencing Princess Leia's metal bikini, said "I had the metal bikini. By the way, Bill has borrowed it." Fisher then suggested they have a costume-off, with her friend saying Leia's bikini vs. Captain Kirk's "sausage outfit." Fisher played up Star Wars' superior merchandising, saying her "space buns are so much better than Nimoy's ears." (I agree with her there.) And somehow, Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney's penis entered the conversation.

These hypothetical, "Who would win" parlor debates are fun, like Ali vs. Tyson, Superman vs. Batman, Debbie Gibson vs. Tiffany, etc. In the case of Star Trek vs. Star Wars, they are, of course, two totally different entities. The original Star Trek series had its share of Shakespeare-trained actors, but they didn't have ILM, though, ironically, later Star Trek movies would go on to use the services of George Lucas' visual-effects house. So the question of which franchise is better will never be answered, though litmus tests like one's preference between Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager and Fisher's Princess Leia and her Frederick's of Hollywood get-up will still retain their usefulness. Alas, the Peter Cushing-Nichelle Nichols feud that might have been.