♪ > tonight, beam me up, scotty. i've waited years to do that. >> you're off my list. i'm never going to come on this show again because it irked me so -- for so long. >> the extraordinary william shatner. captain kirk himself opening up about "star trek" and why they hate him. >> what are you talking about? >> how to be remembered. >> blazing in the sky with sky writing with fire. shatner. >> and the greatest moment of his life. what's been the single greatest moment of your life? >> doing "piers morgan" interview. >> well, obviously.

this is "piers morgan tonight." ♪ william, shatner, welcome. i don't want to shock you. >> woke me up. >> do you know i look at you. somebody said to me, you're 80 years old. >> somebody said to me, you're 40. that's -- >> 46, actually. either way. you don't look 80. you shouldn't be 80. >> i don't feel 80 and i don't know how to deal with that. i don't know how to deal with being 80. >> judging by this book, quite miserably. you don't want to be old and 80 and facing death, do you? >> no. as you've already read in the book, i describe getting my 80th birthday getting up and not wanting to get up and realizing that i had to get up because it could all end right now. >> you have been through this before because you talk about your 40th birthday where you lay in bed for days on end. >> did you not feel, 40, what have i done? what shall transpire?

>> yes, but, you've done a lot. that's the point. that's what i don't understand. >> that's relative. done what? >> made some of the biggest -- >> i don't know what dark matter is. >> dark matter? >> that's pushing the universe. expanding the universe. >> why do you need to know? >> that could be the mystery of life. >> do you want to find out the answer of life? >> i'm intrigued. i have palpitations of wondering -- what's going to happen? what is going to happen when we die? >> do you fear death? >> i'm in torment. i'm in terror. i'm terrified. i envy the people -- well, got my name in the golden book and i'm going to be entered in to the pearly gates. >> what do you hope happens? >> that this continues. can't i go on? make a record here and there. write a book now and then. say hello to my wife in the morning would be great. >> are you ever happy? you have worked unbelievably hard your entire life.

you don't need the money. you don't need the success. you have had every success imaginable. what drives you? why do you still put yourself through this? >> piers, if you were given the opportunity to have a great interview, a great interview, but you're sick an you're tired and you're -- wouldn't you get up out of bed? >> yeah. >> and make it? they would say, well, we'll have anderson do it. and you'd say, no. >> dear god. >> dear god. >> even if i was dead i'd gut out of the coffin. >> a wrap and then slowly emerge and you come out. i'm going to do that interview. i'm going to do that record: i have to play that part. write that book. i have to ride those horses. got to. >> why? why do you have to? >> what will happen if i don't? >> you might -- you might be able to relax. >> relax and do what? >> spend more time with your

horses. >> i've got ride my horses. in between this whole routine, i'm doing publicity for the book and the record and then a one-man show and touring canada and in between winnipeg and toronto i fly back to los angeles to ride in a reining show for three days. and then after i finish the tour, two days later i'm in kansas city riding in another group of horses in another -- >> this is the stuff of madness, william. >> is it? >> i think so. >> no. it leads -- >> does it keep you a young man? you do not look 80. if you said you're 60, i'd believe it. >> i look 60? >> i think so. i've had people in here who ought to look 670 and thanks to surgery look about 108. so you're doing it the right way. obviously worked. the vitality is clear in you. >> it is --

>> a way to approach. >> what a fortunate confluence of luck and dna. luck that the health is perfect and the dna that must have come from strong background and nothing's bothering me. that's lucky. and energy is the key to everything that we're talking about. energy is the key to creativity. energy's the key to love. if you're not healthy and feel good, loving is very difficult to do. >> very true. >> and that's the key. >> you've been acting for six, seven decades. you've been singing for all of that time, as well. you've been making hilarious commercials. you've done all sorts of stuff. what is the one thing if you're completely honest that you enjoy above everything else that you've ever done?

>> i like making people laugh. making people laugh is a joyful occupation. first of all, the invention of the joke itself is a crafting art. a good joke about -- has to have commentary, as well, whether it's a human condition or the political condition, whatever it is, a joke makes you laugh at the thing that's scathing usually. a great joke is a work of art. to be able to deliver that joke, to have the sense of comedy and the delicate timing that it takes to extract the most from that laugh is also an art form. imagine creating a joke and be able to deliver the joke like stand-up comics. >> did you like stand-up comedy? >> i wish -- well, i do a form of it with enough good material but -- and i take the material out of my life but what i think of as stand-up material is george carlin, for example. pithy and right there. i think i take too long to get to the laugh. >> your comedy, a lot of it now comes from television and people

laughing a long time after you tape this stuff. do you not fancy -- if comedy gets you going, do you not fancy taking the ultimate risk and going on a stand-up tour? >> i am basically. and the one-man show called "how time flies." i mean the opening joke is have your cake and my mother's whole thing is -- >> i love this story. i love this story. this is why your book. i tore it out. i loved it so much. your mother, god bless her, had this wonderful thing where she would go to any restaurant often with the entire family and say it's her birthday and then you would all get masses amounts of cake. >> well, no. one piece. >> one piece. >> but never her birthday. >> no. it was her birthday once that year. and then she would go to a restaurant with all of us there. >> i love this. >> it's my birthday and the waiters come out an sing happy birthday to you.

thank you very much. in the beginning we sang happy birthday, mother. and then after a while, we wouldn't sing happy birthday and the waiters got annoyed and upset and the may tremendous d once on the phone said, i'm telling you, shatner hates his mother. >> what does she teach you, your mother? >> what does she what? >> what did she teach you about life? >> my mother was an exuberant, silly lady and that silliness which in her part was a little overboard for the silliness. you need to be silly to be funny but you can't be too silly. on the other hand, depending on what kind of comedy it is, slapstick is silly but slapstick is like the slipping -- the por

ten shouse man slipping on the banana peel. it's funny and cruel and observant but that's slapstick, outrageous. you throttle all that back, you have drawing room comedy. and somebody's drops a cup of tea. i mean, it's all related. >> so you have always i think brilliantly been able to laugh at yourself without ever crossing that line where it becomes a bit ridiculous. you've managed to straddle that divide. >> that's the key. you're working without a net and without an audience if -- but laughing at yourself, the whole irony of life, the fact we're here talking about me and the midst of all this chaos, is a bit of a joke. and so it should take its rightful place in the -- >> what's the best william shatner joke you've ever heard? >> i'm such -- i'm terrible at jokes. i can't remember them. i can't -- >> what was the one from your roast most offensive and yet funny? >> oh, the roast was -- oh, well. this actor george decay was given the line that was the

line. i rode in on a horse at my roast and the obvious line is screw you. f you and the horse you rode in on. right? george likes me so much that when he said it, screw you -- >> he meant it. >> it wasn't funny at all. holy cats, george. you know? take it easy. >> we'll come back to that and your relationship with your "star trek" colleagues because that's very amusing in this book. we'll come back to this, your list of questions you asked "star trek" con vengs because you have had to answer these things so bloody often. you have every answer in the book. in need to ask you anymore "star trek" questions. leonard, definitely. the other four, not so much. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol

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beam me aboard. >> energize. >> energize. >> gentlemen, i suggest you beam me aboard. >> 10. 9. 8. >> mr. scott. >> 6. >> try it now.

>> okay. i need to just admit something. >> i don't know what that was all about. a lot of hullabaloo. >> i have to admit something. i loved "star trek." i was a trekkie. i mean, literally bordering on going to a convention. never actually did. >> why didn't you go to a convention? >> no, i didn't. i nearly did. >> why didn't you? >> i should have done. >> why didn't you? >> i would have done. >> why didn't you? >> i just don't think they ever had one in my neck of the woods, a little sleepy village in the south of england. but i loved "star trek." and i used to just crave "star trek." >> you know why? >> captain kirk was like my idol. why? >> it's part of the myth. >> what is the myth? >> joseph campbell. everybody needs a myth. every culture needs a myth. the myth is this promised land of "star trek." the heroes are the captains who played the starship. the ritual is going to a convention. partaking with the autograph and the buying of the various --

>> are you absolutely sick of it? >> no, i'm not sick of it. >> really? >> really. to me it's like a cape that -- following me. how'd the king get to be current -- or was it the queen that was wearing the long -- i mean, someone's got to be lifting it. it's there. it's behind me. it's part of what -- it's why i'm here essentially. maybe. and -- >> do you worry that when you finally leave us the headline will be captain kirk dies, age 176? whatever they can preserve you to. >> no. no. i don't care. you know, i say to other actors, kelly, gene kelly was a great dancer, and they say who? fred astaire. what?

nothing is -- it's so ephemeral. it's so airy. >> is it, do you think? >> it disappears. >> do you not worry about your legacy? >> no. my legacy is my wife and my children and my grandchildren. >> you had an extraordinary groundbreaking moment when i interviewed michelle nichols about this when she came on the show. you had the first interracial kiss ever shown on u.s. television. did you realize at that moment how significant that was going to be? >> not really. although we'd heard rumors that the southern stations -- some southern stations might cut it out. the context of that kiss is i'm being forced to do it by the alien. so it wasn't like i was falling in love and ravishing this beautiful woman whose skin was darker than mine. it was i'm being forced as the -- as her boss to kiss her. subsequently, people talk about it, and i think, well, i guess it was important. but no, no. all those things -- anything you think is important now, we just brushed off back then because in the hurly-burly of making the series -- >> your co-stars from "star trek," with the exception of leonard nimoy, spock, who i know

you remain good friends with, the rest of you -- well, not you, actually. they all seem to have a massive problem with you. >> because they're trying to sell a book -- >> is that all it's about? >> as far as i'm concerned. >> when in doubt, whack captain kirk? >> yeah. why not? everybody else does. >> were you surprised they all started piling in, he stole all my great scenes, he nicked my best lines? >> they didn't have great scenes. they didn't have good lines. there was nothing to nick. but i was shocked. i was interviewing. one of them. and i said, well, thank you. great interview. good night. they said, well, wait a minute, don't you want to know how much we despise you? what are you talking about? i thought i was loved. >> do you care? >> i care that somebody in this world dislikes me. and i care that the enmity has carried over to the point of where we're talking about it.

it's absolute nonsense. i mean, we're going to die. go out the way you came in, with a little innocence. you know? it's ridiculous. >> how has leonard managed to avoid despising you? >> he doesn't know me very well. >> and presumably because he also got a lot of good lines. >> he might secretly. >> are you good friends with him? >> absolutely. i think he's an admirable man and a great human being. >> when you walk into a trekkie convention, i mean, this must be like -- this is like the president -- >> 15,000 people. >> going crazy. >> going crazy. and, piers, you don't know -- you're in front of them and you don't know what you're going to say next. how about that for balancing -- 15,000 people and you're in the actor's nightmare. >> do you have an opening line? >> my mother ate cake. no. what would you like to know? or i might say -- >> do you say something like captain kirk? do you give the -- >> no. >> -- disciples what they want?

>> no. well, i don't know what they want. and eventually -- >> well, if i was at one i'd want you to come out, do that -- >> okay. piers. you're at the convention. you're there. hello, and good evening, and piers, i see you sitting in the audience. what would you like to know? >> beam me up, scotty. >> i hate you. you're off my list. i'm never going to come on this show again. because it irked me so -- for so long, beam me up, scotty. >> did it? why? >> i had built up -- i thought it was derision. i thought it was derisive after a while. after 30 years. i thought it was -- an then by getting in to the 40th year, i thought, what the heck? why are they saying that? it must be their derision. it must be they're laughing at me. then i go see patrick stewart, and he's this great shakespearean actor, and he's dealing with captain picard like it's shakespeare. and i'm thinking, my god, i used to do that. why aren't i doing that? i said, i've been doing this terrible thing. i shouldn't get irked at beam me up scotty. i should say i would if i could. >> yes. embrace it. >> embrace it. atouavleneabout p> d tosgo tng ty' hmol,ie. you're making it better and by -- if you -- >> have you ever said to a woman you're hormonal and made it better? >> well, not at that moment. it takes time to sink in. like a year or two but if you the man realize that there are different here moans flooding in to her body, 30, 28 to 30 days a month, and that each hormonal increment changes her mood, from black to white and shades of gray, then you can go -- you can deal with that. >> does your wife elizabeth go along with this theory? >> no. she refuses to believe it. no, i'm kidding. she is in the studio and i have to -- my wife elizabeth is one

of the great wives, in fact, the greatest wife i have known of what's this? it's progresso's new loaded potato with bacon. it's good. honey, i love you... oh my gosh, oh my gosh.. look at these big pieces of potato. ♪ what's that? big piece of potato. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

my special guest william shatner. james. the kirk was a bit of a ladies man, wasn't he? very smooth. >> not a bit of. >> massive. >> massive, yes. >> ladies man. have you been like that in your life, would you say? >> i have. >> unashamedly so? >> some shame. >> how much? >> eh -- >> what have you learned about women? >> they're hormonal, piers. every day brings a different -- >> what you haven't learned is just by saying that you're making things ten times worse. >> no. you're making it better and by -- if you -- >> have you ever said to a woman you're hormonal and made it better? >> well, not at that moment. it takes time to sink in.

like a year or two but if you the man realize that there are different here moans flooding in to her body, 30, 28 to 30 days a month, and that each hormonal increment changes her mood, from black to white and shades of gray, then you can go -- you can deal with that. >> does your wife elizabeth go along with this theory? >> no. she refuses to believe it. no, i'm kidding. she is in the studio and i have to -- my wife elizabeth is one of the great wives, in fact, the greatest wife i have known of anybody. >> really? why? >> she's understanding. she's loving. she's patient. she's her own woman. she's beautiful. she's passionate. she and i do so many of the same things together that we love to do. riding horses.

family. food. i mean, it's just wonderful. >> as i say, she is your fourth wife. obviously you've been through some tragedy. one of your wives, a third wife, nearing -- she died this awful death. you also been married twice before that. what have you learned about you through this whole process, about the type of woman you needed to be with? >> i don't know whether it's a type of woman i needed to be with. what -- what some people acquire from their parents and from their associations is empathy, sympathy, understanding, sharing, equality. and other people mature later in life with those really ethical human traits. i had to learn them over my experience. i had to learn to empathize more.

and be less concerned about myself. those things you acquire during a lifetime hopefully before you die. >> does a hollywood lifestyle, does -- oi there's no such thing as a hollywood lifestyle. >> there is, isn't there? >> no, there isn't. >> do you not think so? >> i know there isn't. you, because part of your career was working in tabloid stuff and seeking the tabloid headline, for the most part, those tabloid people are not the working people of in this town, for example, or new york. the centers of entertainment. the people who work in the entertainment industry get up at 4:00, 5:00 in the morning, go to bed 8:00, 9:00 at night and working at creating stuff. >> i've interviewed people like dennis hopper, charlie sheen, mickey rourk. people who are genuine hell raisers.

>> you have gone through the list of people who are addicted and whether they were addicted at work, i don't know. it's true. you have hit those tabloid people, wonderful artists, wonderful actors, all of them. they -- i don't know whether they did that at work but if they did that at work too often they wouldn't work. they weren't there. charlie, for example, says that with the exception of occasional -- occasional exception, he was there ready to work. i don't know. i have no idea. but i'm telling you from my experience, let me say that, from my experience. >> it was really interesting. >> i have never seen anybody -- i can't remember anybody not coming to work. i've never not turned up for work. >> i've heard that about you. you are like incredibly reliable. you don't ever turn up late. >> no. late is -- >> a day off sick? >> a what? >> a day off sick. >> no. i've never been sick. >> always turned up? >> never had an understudy, never been sick. i've been sick but i've turned

up. most people, almost everybody, does. it's -- working is too valuable. >> does that annoy you that the hollywood cliche drummed up as you say by the media -- >> it is. people want to read about the -- i lost it. >> you have gone insane. >> it sticks in my mouth like cake my mother used to make. it is -- it is -- if your reputation is sullied by not turning up for work, not knowing your words, not hitting your marks, there are too many other people around who will. so, yes, there's an occasional celebrity who thinks that their importance is more than the group effort, but it's very rare and i have never seen it. >> let's take a break and come back and talk to you about the ethos of the book "shatner's rules" and the number one rule

of shatner life is to always say yes. [ beep ] [ mom ] scooter? the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

back with william shatner. you're a tweeter, aren't you, william? >> i am. i don't physically tweet. i have people who tweet. but i give them the impetus. i tell them -- >> what do you make of the social networking phenomena? >> well, it's extraordinary. it's -- it's a new facet to our civilization, if you will. i did -- mr. halperin wrote about his father, tweeted about his father, ultimately became a comedy, a half hour comedy that i was performing in. it's instant communication. and we use it to tell the people who are interested what it is i'm doing, what it is i'm thinking, feeling, and how they may share in it. >> we talked earlier about mythology and the importance of it actually in people's lives. is one of the down sides of twitter, facebook, and so on that famous people just give way too much of themselves, that they kind of kill the magic? >> yes. there's no magic anymore. that's true. >> does that sadden you? >> from a theatrical point of view it does because what was done with smoke and mirrors and pulleys and wires, now the camera's focused on the wire. like this is how we're pulling him out. here's the cgi. and you're seeing the bare bones. when i was doing this half hour sitcom and the lines wouldn't work and the jokes might not work and we were given new jokes and there's 400 people watching

the actor get the joke, and it was like a nightmare to me the actor, who was used to covering over any mistake so the audience wouldn't know that something else was happening. here they were in on the mistakes. and i had to embrace them and the mistake and say, all right, everybody, you're in on this mistake and you have to tell us whether this line works or not. only by your reaction do we know. so it's a whole other area. yes, the smoke and mirrors is gone and that's a shame. >> one of the great ethoses of this book really is you should always say yes. dot y wa s y. in pcn gndildren. pw. i've been looking for her for seven years. on a television show. and i felt the moment and ad-libbed the dialogue. and did things, unable to touch her and wanting to touch her. wanting to say and not knowing whether to say it. and i was totally invested in the moment. totally the actor was in that one moment. and i think that's the moment, if i could put all those -- the ability to do that in all the moments in a part. >> is that what acting at its purest is? is that what it's all about? >> exactly. >> do you live for those moments? >> exactly. it is in that purity that actors live for. >> let's take another break and come back and talk politics. i would imagine you've got some pretty strong views. and i want to hear them all. i want to suck them out of you, william. >> spit them. hello, everyone. i'm don lemon live in atlanta. here are your headlines this hour. breaking news out of the new york city. mayor bloomberg announced the arrest of a 27-year-old native

of dominican republic on done with smoke and mirrors and pulleys and wires, now the camera's focused on the wire. like this is how we're pulling him out. here's the cgi. and you're seeing the bare bones. when i was doing this half hour >> some discrimination. not pretty much. yes. you have to -- the ethos is say yes. but, i mean, use your sense. the idea behind saying yes is it's easier to say no, especially as you get older. it's easier to say no, i will not entertain that idea. no, i will not take a fresh look at something. no, i will not meet that new person. it's easier to stay at home. it's easier to insulate. it's more difficult and more dangerous to say yes to opportunity. but saying yes to opportunity is

saying yes to life. >> what has been the single greatest moment of your life? the moment if i said, right, i can replicate that moment for you right now, what would you choose? >> doing a piers morgan interview. >> well, obviously. >> can you replicate that? >> well, of course. we can repeat it. let me make it the second greatest. >> well, that's an impossible question. i mean, i'd go through my marriage to elizabeth. i'd go through the birth of my children and my grandchildren. i'd go through the absolute ecstatic joy i feel at moments riding horses. i would go through the moment when the audience and i were in partnership, the feeling of unity -- >> what's been the greatest professional moment? >> there are -- piers.

>> i'm pinning you down. >> no, no. >> i've put a gun to your head. you have to say something. the one thing where you went, wow. that was it. >> i have -- i had a scene where i discover my daughter, my granddaughter. she's been gone seven years. i've been looking for her for seven years. on a television show. and i felt the moment and ad-libbed the dialogue. and did things, unable to touch her and wanting to touch her. wanting to say and not knowing whether to say it. and i was totally invested in the moment. totally the actor was in that one moment. and i think that's the moment, if i could put all those -- the ability to do that in all the moments in a part. >> is that what acting at its purest is? is that what it's all about? >> exactly. >> do you live for those moments? >> exactly. it is in that purity that actors live for. >> let's take another break and

come back and talk politics. i would imagine you've got some pretty strong views. and i want to hear them all. i want to suck them out of you, william. >> spit them.

william shatner, been very daddy, come in the water!

[ gnome ] awwwwwwww. i just feel bloody awful. she told tiffany, stephanie, jenny and becky that she was coming to a place like this! but somebody didn't book with travelocity, with 24/7 customer support to help move them to the pool daddy promised! look at me, i'm swimming! ♪ [ gnome ] somebody, get her a pony! [ female announcer ] the travelocity guarantee. if your booking's not right, we'll help make it right, right away. from the price to the room to the trip you'll never roam alone.

william shatner, been very outspoken about politics in washington. you said the country is torn apart by people with great passion who believe in their point of view and dispa raj that point of view is to argue. do you believe it? >> i believe it because i said it. >> not everything that hollywood stars come out with they believe. >> that's innocuous, isn't it? doesn't take a sign. it just say what is's happening. that's true. that is what's happening. there's a funtdmental argument going on in the country. let's take better care of our people. let's cut back. i mean, as basic at that. everybody says, well, we should cut back because we can't afford to do that. we can't let the poor people suffer. i'm on the horns of a dilemma right now, for example. i've been asked to back the groups that are against extracting oil from the sands in

alberta. and i go, well, of course they're destroying the environment. that's -- the environment of canada. it's pristine for the most part. i've come out against the way they farm salmon but it's a 2,000-mile oil line to be built to houston. and 20,000 jobs are on the line. now, what do you do? i mean, that's a dilemma. >> what are they going to do? >> i don't know what they're going to do but i thought i have to let them work this out. i can't think -- i have to think about 20,000 people and i got to think about the environment. i've got to stay quiet about this in public. >> you can't vote because you're canadian in american election but if you could how are you seeing it unraveling now? >> it's totally -- it's fraught with terrible decisions.

we're spending more money than we got. we got to cut back. where do you cut back? there are people out of work and suffering. and they're -- kids are going hungry. you can't have that. you got to spend the money. it's a terrible, terrible delimb ma. >> why has america got itself in to this mess? there are lots of conflicting views. lots of people to blame. are s there a cultural thing here that went badly wrong? >> i suppose you could say that. it obviously needs the people from both sides of that spectrum to have some patriotism and realize that nobody is the devil here. everybody's got their point of view. and we've got to administer it. we have to assuage it and meet in the center and see what's working. the other argument is, well, that didn't work. so let's try this. it's a dilemma. >> are you a fan of barack obama?

>> i think he's wonderful. i don't know -- you keep hearing this criticism of him standing on the -- sitting on the fence but -- but maybe that's the way to go because there's -- people are tearing at the fence in such passion. >> tea party, what do you think of them? >> well, they're extreme. i mean, that -- you can't have -- you can't cut back. >> are they extreme or as they would argue do they represent vast sways of america? >> well, they are extremely -- they're representing vast -- >> can't you be extreme, extreme implies there's a -- you're a sort of minority. they would say, hey, go to lots of parts of america. you'll meet millions of people saying exactly what we're saying. >> well, if they're saying we can't spend anymore, we have to cut back, that's a nonargument. of course we have to. but where are you going to cut back? cut back on education? space program is gone. the space program.

waved a flag. we are american. there is a mystery out there that is occupied mankind forever. we have to go and take a look. if we take a look, it means jobs. it means expertise. it means fallout industries. no space program. okay. let's take care of the poor. no, you can't take care of the poor and unemployment because we don't have -- i mean, it's such a dilemma. >> take another break and come back and talk to you about music. your new album. there it is. fantastic cover. boldly going where very few hollywood stars have gone before. amazing collection of artists on this. amazing collection. let's come back and talk about it after the break.

hi. i'm lucy liu. in 2008, i had the honor of presenting at "cnn heroes: an all-star tribute." as a unicef ambassador, i am committed to supporting unicef's mission that the 2,100 children dying every day from preventable causes becomes the number zero. i am thrilled to help introduce one of this year's top ten cnn heroes. >> a child of war can be simply described as a kid caught between a rock and a hard place. we have about 2 million kids who die of sanitation issues, mainly because they don't wash their hands. i'm derreck kayongo. >> 800 million bars of soap that the hotels throw away in the u.s. alone every year. we're able to get a lot of soap that we can reprocess and make brand new soap out of it. we clean it, melt it, and cut it

into final bars. box it and ship it. >> welcome! welcome! >> being here in kenya at this orphanage is coming full circle, but with good news. it's very important to have the bar of soap, but also to use it, so they can find off diseases. those are clean. that's very good. do i feel like i'm having an impact on them? yeah, i think so.

♪ heavy boats of lead fills his victims full of dread ♪ ♪ running as fast as they can ♪ iron man lives again ♪ >> intriguing musical style you have, mr. shatner. >> that's heavy metal, man. and when i finished that, i went -- and then i went to zack wild's studio, a guitarist for ozzy osbourne, and he laid down his track, and i thought, what i've done is terrible. that, what you just saw, is awful. so i had to go back in there and match his energy. >> do you think you're a good singer or you're an entertainer? >> oh, no, no, no, no. i'm not a singer. >> more like a creative talker. >> more like a wordsmith. these words are phenomenal.

>> does it ever stray in to singing, do you think? >> no. >> is it an early form of rap? >> yes. well, rap is words and the rhythm of the words and the meaning of the words. >> and you've got some amazing names in here. >> well, they have the musicality. >> featuring richey blackmoore, lyle lovett. >> brad paisley. sheryl crow. >> an amazing collection of people. >> there's 20 of the greatest musician lives today on this album. it's a monumental album. it's about major tom and what happens to major tom after he exits the capsule in the david bowie song. >> it's fantastic. and there you are, heading off. >> heading off into space. >> torpedoing into space. space basically is what it's all about for you, isn't it? finding new frontiers? boldly going where no man has gone before. >> well, that's not space. that is the inner space. >> well, outer space -- >> well, no, that is outer space, but i'm talking about

boldly going, all of us, in our inner space, where no -- where you haven't -- >> where would you boldly go to next? >> i'm going to go next door. anderson is going to talk -- >> all right. because of this irreverence, i'm now going to ask you -- these priceline commercials, i didn't know a lot about being british, but i caught up and got the history. that decision you took, when you thought to yourself, right. i'm not going to take a fee for this. i'm going to ask them for stock. that decision, was that the greatest decision you've ever taken? >> it could have been. well, what happened was, i got stock. i got stock in a dotcom company. you know, mr. shatner, you're locked in for a year and a half. okay, i've got stock. and the thing started going up. and i'm doing these commercials for a year and five months. >> but when you watched the stock going up, what were you thinking? >> i thought, i'm rich, i'm

beyond -- beyond any concept of being rich. the owner of priceline, the guy who thought of it, was a billionaire. he had more money coming to him as a result of the stock than general motors. he was not going to endow a university, he was going to build a university. so the stock went up. but we're all tied down, locked in. and then the dotcom bubble burst. and we all still couldn't get rid of our stock. and we went boom! it was worth pennies. everybody sold their stock. but what we didn't know was how great the company is because from those ashes has arisen priceline.com, which is one of the greatest -- >> and did you keep -- >> no! got rid of that terrible stuff! >> so all this stuff about making $600 million -- >> i would have, could've. >> but that's a bit different making it. >> no! >> did you make any money --

>> no, buy the record, for god's sake, help me. >> $600, i think is what my stock was worth. and half of that in -- >> let me ask something. was your decision to sell your stock when it bottomed out the worst decision of your life? >> it was the only intelligent decision to make. >> was it the worst decision? >> can you think of another dotcom company that exists? >> a few. >> name me one. you see, you have to think about it. >> i agree. >> okay. so priceline.com comes to mind, because it had something to offer other than the air in dotcom. >> so all this sort of impression that you're this billionaire, actually, you need to sell a few records, right? >> you've got to buy my record, and a few books, and the dvd. >> anything else? >> and come in canada when i do the one-man show. >> we've got to bail you out. >> i know. my kids have to go to college. >> i thought you were a billionaire. that's why i was being so respectful