Global announced Wednesday that ubiquitous Canadian actor William Shatner will guest star in the Season 3 opener. But Shatner, who starred as the police sergeant of the title role in T.J. Hooker from 1982 to ’86, won’t play an officer.

He’ll play Henry McLeod, a drunk driver with a secret and a serious grudge against the police, Global says.

Rookie Blue, which is shot in Toronto with mainly Canadian actors, is adding another rookie to the cast: Peter Mooney (Camelot, Falcon Beach), playing an ex-soldier who joins the force.

The series stars Missy Peregrym (Reaper), Gregory Smith (Everwood), Travis Milne, Enuka Okuma and Charlotte Sullivan.

The 81 year old promised to treat one lucky user on the site to a meal if they helped him clock up a million fans, and he kept true to his word.

Uploading footage from the Tuesday night dinner onto YouTube.com, Shatner revealed, “I had the opportunity to have dinner with Troy who was my one millionth Twitter follower and his wife while on tour with my one man show in Charlotte (North Carolina).”

In addition to being a charming presence on the screen, the man is an entertainer through and through.  I had the pleasure of seeing him speak in 2010 at Wizard World Chicago.  Not only were his stories entertaining, he knew how to keep the crowd enthused and engaged.  He had thousands of people’s attention for a solid hour, never once losing any of it. 

Shatner has now taken his one man act around the world to share his delightful stories.  The Broadway show “Shatner’s World, We Just Live In It” is currently on tour in the US stopping in only 12 cities.  If this is anything like that I have seen, audiences are in for a delight.  I recently had the opportunity to ask him a few questions about the show and being William Shatner.

Marjorie Carvalho (MC):  A one man/woman show seems to have come back en vogue lately.  What inspired you to take your tales to the stage?

William Shatner (WS):  Essentially the inspiration to do this show came about because Australia asked me if I would come and entertain them for a couple of hours which I think I did for a six city tour. Then I thought that would be the end of it. But Canada asked me to do it as well so I shaped the show a little better and did a tour of Canada. Then Broadway asked me and it was then that I realized that I would be held to a higher standard and re-wrote and re-staged everything. I had extreme anxiety about opening on Broadway. Once the good notices were in and the crowds started to come to the theater not only was there relief but it occurred to us that a fifteen city tour of the US was in order and that is why I am in St. Louis as part of the tour. So I would say it was a gradual increasing of the ambition to do better work as we went along.

MC:  Given you’re incredible resume and all of your amazing experiences in the industry, how difficult was it to pare down your great stories into only one show?  Was there anything you had to cut that we can expect to hear about Shatner’s World Part 2?

WS:  Well that is an astute question because I had to conform to the producers’ idea of how much time I should be on stage which was about 90 minutes without an intermission. So as I began to rewrite the show, I began to discover what the show was all about and oriented the stories towards that theme. So I think the show now is lean and mean and I am tempted every so often to add more material.

MC:  Another one of your personal projects I greatly enjoyed was your interview show William Shatner’s Raw Nerve.  Can you tell me of a time you touched on a guest’s nerve so raw that you thought you went too far?

WS:  I never thought I went too far in Raw Nerve but there were very few people that weren’t emotionally moved in a way that they had never been in other interviews. So touching a raw nerve which can lead to tears and laughter was my object and I was frequently successful at doing it.

MC:  It was rumored early on that you were in talks for a role in the upcoming Star Trek movie, much like Leonard Nimoy had a role in the last one.  I’ve read that is now not happening.  Can you tell us a bit about the behind the scenes there?

WS:  The behind the scenes is sushi whereby I took JJ Abrams out to eat and we discussed the fact that I was not going to be in his movie just because.

MC:  While in St. Louis are you visiting the Star Trek: The Exhibition at the St. Louis Science Center or have you seen the exhibit elsewhere?

WS:  My visit to St. Louis is short and brief and to the point which is to get to St. Louis and get as much rest as possible, get on stage with as much energy possible, entertain as best I can for 90 minutes and then leave town for Cincinnati as fast as I can no matter what the notices are like.

You can see Shatner’s World, We Just Live In It on April 12 in St. Louis at the Peabody Opera House.  Information about the show and tickets are available at Shatner’s World .

Did you know that last year Shatner released a star-studded, space-themed album? (More on that later.)

Shatner, 81, hits on some key points in his career in “Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It,” his one-man retrospective that moved from Australia to Toronto to Broadway and is on the road with a stop Thursday at the Peabody Opera House.

“It seemed like a good idea, and it was easy enough to do without a lot of prep,” Shatner says of his reaction when approached about doing the show.

The show originally played out as two men onstage in an interview format but was tweaked when the show moved to Broadway. Shatner needed to figure out how he could do the show differently for the States.

“I knew I had to make it a whole new show, hold myself to a higher standard than what I was doing,” he says.

His solution was to make it a one-man show. As his New York opening approached, he became more and more terrified about the change but says he was met with good notices from both critics and fans.

“This was the show I should have done from the beginning,” Shatner says.

Here, Shatner speaks on some of his random hits and misses over the years. ž

“Star Trek” TV series (1966-1969)

Shatner played Capt. James T. Kirk in the NBC television series and in seven films of the franchise.

“It was so successful and had such importance on this culture that continues to this day. I owe my celebrity to that.”

“The Transformed Man” record album (1968)

Shatner’s spoken-word debut combined classic literature and pop lyrics. The album, which includes dramatic readings of “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” and “Hamlet,” was panned when it was released but has become a cult classic.

“That is one of those elements in my life that could be termed a mistake, but a mistake only in that I learned a great deal from making that mistake, as one does by mistakes. It’s unfortunate that, as an actor, when you make mistakes, it’s in the public. But my mistake was clarity of purpose, choice in material and lack of explanation. I had a decent concept, but I didn’t make that work.”

“The Devil’s Rain” (1975)

John Travolta and Ernest Borgnine were also in the cast of this low-budget horror movie about satanic worshippers.

“I felt like my life was in danger. I was deep in Mexico. It was a cult movie, but for me it was a job. It will not stand the test of time.”

Inspiring the mask for the movie “Halloween” (1978)

In the film, serial killer Michael Myers wears the eerie mask.

“The mask was taken of me during ‘Star Trek’ for makeup purposes. Somehow it got out to the public, and the producers of ‘Halloween’ grabbed it as something they thought was frightening. We all laughed.”

“T.J. Hooker” TV series (1982-1986)

Shatner played a tough police sergeant in the ABC series that also starred Heather Locklear.

“It was speed, fast and electric. We were outside in fast cars all the time, jumping over the hot roofs of buildings in summertime LA. I got to direct a large number of the them, and it was the time of my life.”

“Rescue 911″ TV series (1989-1996)

Shatner hosted the show that featured re-enactments of 911 calls.

“That was a feel-good show that saved at least 300 lives … but we think there were as many as 3,000 people saved by the knowledge they gained.”

“The Practice” / “Boston Legal” (2004-2008)

Shatner won an Emmy for his role as lawyer Denny Crane. The character was introduced on “The Practice” on ABC and continued on the spinoff “Boston Legal.”

“‘Boston Legal’ is probably the highlight of my TV career in terms of acting and finding nuances as an actor that I had just learned. … I just discovered how to be an actor last year. I think I finally figured out how to be a decent actor.”

Priceline commercials (1998-2012)

His popular character, the Negotiator for travel-discount website Priceline, was killed in a bus crash in a commercial this year.

“I’m inordinately proud to be associated with someone that offers the quality of services they do.”

“Seeking Major Tom” album (2011)

The album features Shatner speaking the lyrics of space-themed songs (“Rocket Man,” “She Blinded Me With Science”) paired with top musicians such as Brad Paisley, Lyle Lovett, Steve Miller, Sheryl Crow, Peter Frampton and Bootsy Collins.

“With great satisfaction to the musicians that came aboard, I should have made it smaller. I overreached in terms of material, but it was very successful in the execution because of the number of wonderful people who came into the record.”

William Shatner’s “Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It”

When 7:30 p.m. April 12 • Where Peabody Opera House • How much $42-$297 • More info Ticketmaster

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/william-shatner-talks-about-hits-and-misses-over-the-years/article_19a4e995-c06a-562b-a571-f7afcaa8a382.html#ixzz1rVXXhSmC

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/year+planning+awards+show+dares+compete+with+world+best/6374174/story.html#ixzz1qY5lVQsW

His secret to life: Having fun and making people laugh, even interviewers

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/entertainment/irrepressible+William+Shatner/6366520/story.html#ixzz1qY5JolLG

He recently returned to Broadway for the first time in over 40 years with a new solo show, Shatner’s World: We Just Live In It. In the 90-minute performance, Shatner talks about his childhood growing up in Montreal and reflects on his many acting roles with an assortment of photos and video clips.

Shatner tells Fresh Air‘s David Bianculli that when he gets on stage each night, he doesn’t think about his performance. Instead, he thinks about the show in the same way one would learn to ride a horse or ski or perform any other difficult skill.

“When you’ve done the technical part, you’re then into the joy, the zen, into being,” he says. “Technology no longer exists for you. You’re then into the mystery of the thing you’re doing.”

Read more at NPR

via ComicBook.com

William Shatner is about to go where he’s already gone once before: tomorrow, the former Captain Kirk will reprise his role as Juliet’s father on USA’s Psych.

Shatner’s episode sees his con-man character, whose charming personality was played for shades of gray in his previous appearance as he had to win over his daughter’s trust after years of having abused it.

Fan-favorite series co-star Tim Omundson will also be live-tweeting a commentary on the episode and answering fan questions as it airs at 10 p.m. EST on Wednesday. In spite of Shatner’s much-hyped return to the series, it’s Omundson’s character (Detective Lassiter) who will be the focus of the episode, which parodies The Shining. Says USA,

“After Lassiter moves into a new condominium building and strange things start happening to him, he is forced to hire Shawn and Gus to figure out what could be causing the supposed paranormal disturbance.”

The popular series, which revolves around a supremely talented (but untrained) detective who pretends to be a psychic in order to get contract work from the local police department, returned from its midseason hiatus on February 29 and recently announced that it will come back for its seventh season next year.