Seven Silly Questions for William Shatner

Be afraid. Be very afraid. First, the Sci Fi Channel made a deal with cheese whiz Charles Band to broadcast a whole bunch of his company's creature features, among them Shrunken Heads and Castle Freak. Then, the cable network retained as ringmaster of the B-movie showcase one of the most shameless thespians in history: William Shatner. Now, the prospect of tuning in each week to William Shatner's Full Moon Fright Night (starting Saturday at 11 pm/ET) has given us such a terrific case of the willies that we wonder how we'll ever stop our teeth from chattering long enough to ask the erstwhile Star Trek captain seven silly questions.

TV Guide Online: A lot of people may not realize it, but you are uniquely qualified to introduce Fright Night's low-budget thrillers — you did, after all, star in the 1977 cult classic Kingdom of the Spiders. What was the hardest part about making that movie — being pelted with tarantulas or keeping a straight face?
William Shatner: The tarantulas. Tarantula hair is used as itching powder, and they would dump tarantulas on me daily. So it wasn't [a question of] keeping a straight face, it was [all about] keeping my skin from breaking out. Everybody tried to make a good movie.

TVGO: Speaking of terrifying things... Your commercials for Priceline reminded the world of your, uh, gift for singing. Since you've returned to the music biz as host of VH1's One-Hit Wonders (airing Mondays at 10 pm/ET), are you tempted to record a follow-up to 1973's The Transformed Man?
Shatner: Not really, although Priceline and I are getting together, and we'll start another TV campaign in September.

TVGO: Suppose Captains Kirk, Picard, Janeway and Archer were to get into a rumble. Who'd come out on top?
Shatner: I think Janeway would come out on top, being a woman. But on top of what, we're not going to get into.

TVGO: Tell the truth — do you have some tribbles locked away in a safe-deposit box in case you ever need to raise some dough fast?
Shatner: I did, and they multiplied in the safe, broke the safe, and somebody took them. So they were more trouble than they were worth.

TVGO: Everybody knows that the T in James T. Kirk stands for Tiberius. But what the heck was T.J. Hooker's full name?
Shatner: T.J. Hooker and James Tiberius Kirk shared that legendary name that is represented by a T.

TVGO: TV Guide recently named your 1968 pilot Alexander the Great one of the 50 worst shows of all time. What were we thinking?
Shatner: At the time, it was designed to be Combat! in drag. How can you name a series that has that kind of costuming the worst?

TVGO: Your latest book, I'm Working on That: A Trek from Science Fiction to Science Fact, is all about the emergence of new technologies. What big breakthrough are you most looking forward to?
Shatner: I'm looking forward to cryonics keeping you alive after you die. I think I'm going to die.