William Shatner Was The Villain In This Failed Sherlock Holmes TV Adaptation

Despite featuring William Shatner as one of the most cunning Sherlock Holmes antagonists, the made-for-TV film "The Hound of the Baskervilles" was all but forgotten upon release.

Originally produced by ABC in 1972, the television adaptation of one of the most iconic Sherlock Holmes mysteries starred William Shatner as the devious George Stapleton opposite Stewart Granger's Holmes and Bernard Fox's Dr. Watson. ABC designed "The Hound of the Baskervilles" to be the first in a series of made-for-TV films starring famous fictional detectives, but when "The Hound of the Baskervilles" broadcast to low ratings and poor critical reception, the idea was abandoned. 

The original "Hound of the Baskervilles" novel follows Holmes and Watson as they journey to the English countryside to investigate the possibility of a supernatural hound that haunts the prominent Baskerville family. Along the way, they encounter several intriguing characters, including Jack Stapleton — called George in the 1972 adaptation — the murderous seeker of the Baskerville fortune. Although the original "Hound of the Baskervilles" sparked a nationwide revival of interest in the Sherlock Holmes character, the story's legacy failed to fortify ABC's doomed 1972 adaptation — thrusting Shatner's depiction of a landmark Holmes villain into obscurity.

William Shatner became a household name in 1966 when he was cast as USS Enterprise Captain James Kirk. But in the wake of NBC's 1969 cancellation of the original "Star Trek" series, Shatner struggled to get casting directors to see him as anything other than the heroic leader he played for three years. The part of the antagonistic George Stapleton in "The Hound of the Baskervilles" stood in sharp contrast to the gallant Captain Kirk — and might've helped his career if the movie had been a hit.

Not long after his performance in the failed "Hound of the Baskervilles," Shatner's career once again found footing when reruns of "Star Trek" cultivated a revival of interest in the show. Although Shatner put himself back on the map through multiple movie reprisals of his Captain Kirk role, he also vastly expanded his presence on television, scooping up starring roles in the '80s police procedural "T.J. Hooker," which had seasons on ABC and CBS, as well as the 2000s ABC dramedy "Boston Legal."

"I've had an interesting life ... I've had tough years, and I've had tough moments," Shatner told the Television Academy in a 1999 interview, reflecting on the hiccups throughout his career and his legacy-defining role of Captain Kirk. 

"It's been a journey of ... a lot of adventure [and] trepidation... you can give up in trepidation. And I've never given up."