called
Barbary Coast,
in which I played a nineteenth-century government agent and master of disguise. I think it was a great show, but I notice Iâm never invited to speak at
Barbary Coast
conventions.
22. I have written nearly thirty books, and my autobiography,
Up Till Now,
was a best-seller in 2008. You donât need to have read that one before reading this one. But you should definitely buy it. And a backup copy. And the audiobook, too. Just because.
23. Ten years after the original series was canceled, in 1979, Kirk and company hit the big screen with
Star Trek: The Motion Picture,
directed by film legend Robert Wise. Its success led to several more hit films, one of which I directed, and many more Star Trek spin-off TV series.
24. In the 1980s, I played the title role in
T.J. Hooker
, a hit series about a by-the-books LA cop who was always quick to use his nightstick while kicking asses. The final season moved to Chicago, where I was quick to use my overcoat to keep my ass from freezing off.
25. I own a horse ranch in Kentucky where I raise my Saddlebreds. In order to give the place a true plantation feel, I employ many non-paid interns.
26. From 1989 to 1996, I hosted
Rescue 911,
a reality-based program about 911 emergencies, which managed to save 350 lives over the course of its run.
27. A documentary I produced,
How William Shatner Changed the World
, aired on the History Channel and was nominated for an Emmy. A different documentary,
How William Shatner Rocked Your World,
is a pay-per-view thing you can watch in your hotel room.
28. Much has been made of the supposed fortune I earned as spokesman for Priceline.com. And if you are crass enough to bring up this fact in my presence, I will buy and sell you ten times over!
29. Since 2001, I have been married to a lovely woman named Elizabeth. No joke here, folks.
30. After seeing a Priceline commercial, David E. Kelley created the role of Denny Crane for me.
Boston Legal
ran for several seasons and earned me some of the best notices of my career, along with two Emmy awards. It was maybe the best thing to come out of my Priceline work, second only to my massive fortune.
31. Much has been made of my not appearing in J.J. Abramsâs reboot of the Star Trek franchise. More should be made out of the fact that Kirk lands on Delta Vega in the
exact
location that older Spock is. Come on! Itâs a huge planet! As giant as that coincidence!
32. I starred in the sitcom
$#*! My Dad Says
, the first ever show launched from a Twitter feed. A group called the Parents Television Council was outraged over the title. I said to them, âDonât get your [redacted] in a [redacted]!â
CHAPTER 3
RULE: Busy Is Measured in Units of Shatner
A lot of people reading this book (or listening to the audiobook, in which case I would like to deliver a sexy âhelloâ) want to know the rules of being William Shatner, looking at this tome as a map to certain truths of self-Shatnerhood.
Well, if there is one rule you must follow on your scramble up the pyramid of Shatnerâs hierarchy, itâs this: Stay busy.
So busy, in fact, that you wonât have time to sit around and read a book about how busy I am. Put the book down now! (Although you will need to read on to know how to navigate being as busy as I am. This is indeed a conundrum! Keep reading?
Fail!
Stop reading?
Fail! What are you going to
do?
)
RULE: Donât Let Shatner Get into Your Head!
(Even I Follow This One!)
Where was I? Oh yes, sorryâI am an extraordinarily busy man. I donât have time to write this book, much less edit it. Thatâs why things may jump around a bit here in the narrative of
Shatner Rules.
Look at it as âShatner playing with the space-time continuumâ for those of you who need that sci-fi angle.
Here, letâs examine a typical day on my calendar.
March 7, 2011. Iâm using the Earth calendar now, but some of you outer space buffs will
Patricia Haley and Gracie Hill