William Shatner needs no introduction. For three years he portrayed Captain James T. Kirk on the original Star Trek television series. In the years since then he has starred in seven Star Trek feature films.

William Shatner: I'm thrilled to be on the web site with you all and I'm looking forward to answering as many questions as I can.

Question: Just a couple things, I am a huge fan of your work Mr. Shatner, I think you are a fantastic actor and one of my favorite authors. I was wondering what your plans were for the Tek series. Is there going to be a new game based on it? Also are you going to be writing any more Trek novels, yours are without a doubt my favorite. Thanks for your time and I wish you and your family well in all future endeavours.
Lance L.

WS: Thank you, I wish you and your family well, too.

The TEK series is essentially over. All good things come to an end and my plans are many and varied. "Man o' War" one of my novels, is in all likelihood going to be a four-hour miniseries for Showtime. I've just finished two films and "Spectre" the next Star Trek novel, will be out in the spring.

But I'm also excited about this new venture I'm into which is prepaid telephone cards. This is an obscure card in America today and we hope that with the help of AT&T to make it less obscure. It's collectible because it will have Star Trek images on it, including my round little face. This is a new venture for me. I've developed the company, I've placed the people in the company to run it and we're working with the largest telecommunications company in the world, AT&T. But the thrill for me, most of all, is pushing the envelope of telecommunications. The Web that we're on right now is a huge advance in the dispensing of information around the globe. The fact that I'm talking to you in a written language... to a complete stranger on one end of a modem and I'm sitting here at Paramount Studios surrounded by young men and women who don't quite know the limits of what their fingers can do because this Web is so innovative... this is exactly the position I like to be in: Looking at new horizons. New frontiers. And this prepaid card is on the horizon of telecommunications.

Q: Why would I buy a prepaid phone card?

WS: The future is the smart card. The future is the non-paper society. The future is just about on us and you and I and the rest of you at this Web site are there at the beginning. So, we're all being thrilled together. What a nice sensation.

For the Star Trek fan, I would imagine that having these cards would be a first for a number of reasons: First, from the collectible standpoint, you'll see some new and unusual images that are exciting and will be a part of a series of sets that AT&T plans to release based on the fans' response -- the only telecommunications carrier to exclusively offer these special Star Trek cards.

Q: Will there be new cards for the next Star Trek movie as well as sets for the other movies and more sets for the television series?

WS: AT&T plans to let consumer demand and reaction to this first set help them decide what they will make available the rest of the year - it's up to the fans! if you want more cards, you need to show it by immediately getting the cards. Initially, there will be four cards available, featuring scenes from all four series. A 15 minute card with Captain Kirk from the original series, a 100 minute card with Data and Worf from ST:TNG, a 30 minute card with Captain Sisko and Jadzia Dax from ST:DS9 and a 60 minute card with Seven of Nine from ST:VOY.

Q: Are you going to go back to Canada when you retire?
Barclay

WS: I'm going to go back to Canada often and frequently. It's one of the most beautiful countries and should be visited by all Americans at least once, for a short time... In the winter. :-) But my home is in Los Angeles and at this very moment as I speak to you I'm swimming my way upstream to my house. It's an El Ni?o rain.

Q: You have certainly had a most fascinating career, and have written many novels and your "Memories" books. But have you thought of writing your Auto-Biography, perhaps an interview with questions asked? A Biography of your whole life, not just Star Trek?
Kevin R.

WS: I have never thought my life sufficiently interesting to warrant more than a five page letter, which if you wish to receive, I'll have to get around to writing it someday. More to my liking are my adventures with people and in this case interacting with the Star Trek audience, so I am working on a book on conventions called "Get a Life" and because of my research for the book, I have evolved from being neutral on conventions and the people to being a passionate admirer of the audience and why they are there. I could say so much more about how emotionally involved I am with this convention book, but hopefully that emotion will translate itself into the novel, which will be out sometime in the next many months.

Q: Being Canadian, How do you feel about the USA's women's hockey team showing Canada the way it is supposed to be played?
Kevin F.

WS: The women of Montreal are very beautiful and I found several Toronto girls very attractive. But there's a great deal to be said for the leggy blonde beauties of Los Angeles. So when it comes to women, the country they come from is of little meaning. ;) But in actual fact, I was thrilled to watch the game and I didn't know which team I wanted to win most! So it was one of those games where I was totally able to see the quality of the playing and have a third eye as I watched. And it turned out the way it turned out -- and that was fine with me.

Q: Do you have any Morgan Horses on your farm in Ketucky?
Kathryn

WS: To us saddlebred owners, Morgans are all right but not terrific. I breed saddlebreds and quarterhorses. End of question.

Q: Would you consider a guest shot on either DS9 or Voyager, coming back as a hologram to assist either Captain Sisko or Captain Janeway get out of a tough situation?
Sylvia and Ben

WS: Quite frankly, I've never thought about doing an appearance on some other Star Trek series. Somehow it just doesn't seem right. I suppose if the right story came along that I found intriguing I might do it but as of now, my feeling is that I won't.

Q: Mr. Shatner, Would you ever be available to visit a youth camp we have in the Tetons during the summer? This camp is dedicated to offering kids an outdoor challenge in hiking, rock climbing and canoeing, among other things. A visit from you would be a real treat for them and inspire them to better themselves. Thank you.
Jeff M.

WS: Thank you. It doesn't seem practical for me to visit you directly but I do work with children's charities here in Los Angeles. One, called Ahead with Horses, deals with handicapped children who get therapy with horses. Then there is another charity dealing with native American kids and we put on a celebrity horse show every year. Over the past many years, we have raised several hundred thousand dollars to help children in need. Children and animals are the charities I work for, but it's not practical for me to come to yours. Paramount has given me permission, which they've never done for anybody else, to use Star Trek's name, so our logo for the horseshow is "Star Trek Goes Country." Every penny we raise goes directly to the children's charities. Nobody gets paid. There's no money for bureaucracy. Every donation ends up helping. Which, by the way, if you care to make a donation, make a check out to the Hollywood Charity Horse Show. I promise you that some child will be very grateful.

The address is:
Hollywood Charity Horse Show
760 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069

Q: Mr. Shatner, which of the Star Trek devices/gadgets did you think was the most interesting /fascinating from any of the series? Did any of the gadgets from Star Trek inspire you in your "Tek War" books?
Rowan

WS: The gadgets were many and varied and always had multiple uses. The gadget that has come to haunt me is that little flip-top phone which I own. Can you imagine how embarrassing it is to be in an airport with my flip-top phone and somebody walks by and says, "Beam me up"? The prepaid card is an antecedent to all those gadgets; stemming from that card will be the technology that I imagined in Tek War. I first created Tek War six or seven years ago. I imagined then a card for which everybody had the hardware and every transaction could be handled immediately and personally. I think that's now a year or two away.

Q: Do you have a relative here in Houston, Texas by the name of "Bruce"? He says you are his Great Uncle. Are you part owner of a trading card company?
Tom R.

WS: Bruce who? By the way, a trading card is not a phone card.

Q: Mr. Shatner, Did you have any thoughts or memories about starring in the movie "Kingdom of The Spiders?
Kent T.

WS: My most vivid memory of Kingdom of the Spiders is working with those tarantulas. I'm here to tell you that it's true... Itching powder is made from their droppings.

Q: I think I speak for all the millions of fans around the world when I offer up this plea: PLEASE GIVE US ONE MORE WITH WILLIAM SHATNER. (movie) also, how can I get his autograph?
Thomas P.

WS: Send your request directly to Rick Berman. Demand, beg, request, plead and supplicate him. You will find him unrelenting. Nevertheless, you'll keep him busy for a few minutes.

Q: Of all the uniforms that you had to wear, which ones did you like the best? (I thought the crew looked best in the maroon ones with the flaps on the front, though I heard they were hot and itchy).
McCoy

WS: I liked the tight one. The one that showed my washboard abs and my gluts.

Q: I remember that you were involved in a huge conference call with Patrick Stewart and fans worldwide - are you planning to do another one of these and how can I find out more?
Byron G.

WS: I want to do another conference call. It is such an exciting technological feat as well as a kick talking to all of you on a conference phone. The way it works is you buy a ticket and you get a telephone number. You connect directly to the two stars who are going to answer the phone. We had room for 4,000 people in each of the three time zones when Patrick and I did that conference call. Imagine talking to 12,000 people in an evening. We all had a ball.

Q: Would you like to follow John Glenn into space? Who else would be more at home than Kirk?
Mike B.

WS: It depends how close I follow John Glenn. The hydrogen engine of that rocket is mighty hot. I'd have to keep a safe distance. And then, if I followed him, I'd need a rock-solid, no-breakable-clause contract that I would come back.

Q: I'm a 14/f. Did you know that there are many kids younger than I am that are fans of yours and watch ST:TOS? How does that make you feel?
McCoy

WS: It makes me feel like a rock star who is evolving into being a rap star. You may laugh, but a real event is going to happen in the near future. I have just laid down the tracks and shot the music video of me doing Shakespeare with a rap group. You're going to love it. Fourteen/younger/older... I hope. -- Or else you're going to hate it, and I will be a total jerk -- I need your sympathy, McCoy.

Q: I see you love horses. How many do you have and which one is your favorite?
Fernando

WS: My business people told me not to buy anything that eats while I sleep. I didn't listen to them and now all I can hear are the sounds of little mouths chewing while I toss uncomfortably in my bed. But horses are my passion and you can never have enough horses or be too thin.

Q: I'm from Italy. In the real life, do you are a good friend of Nimoy and Kelley ? Do you have done something together like the camping in ST:V?
Rino

WS: Yes I am good friends with Nimoy and Kelley. Nimoy was the best man at my wedding and I've dedicated "Spectre" to him and DeForest.

Q: In all the years of doing ST:TOS, did you ever get... bored?
Adair

WS: No, I never got bored doing Star Trek. It was happening so quickly it was more like being intimidated than being bored.

Q: Is there ANY way that we can get just one more Star Trek movie starring the original cast? You have brought Captain Kirk back to life in your books, and I'm sure that they can use that plot to do the same on screen. PLEASE!?!?!!? I haven't had enough of the original series.
Craig J.

WS: No. Paramount has decreed in all their wisdom that we are dead, dying or too old.

Q: How were you able to avoid the pitfalls of being typecast as Captain Kirk and turn it into an advantage that led you to a lengthy and impressive movie and television career?
Sylvia and Ben

WS: Pure luck, I imagine, avoiding being typecast. Although there was an awful lot of running around involved as well. Mostly in circles.

Q: Mr. Shatner, I really enjoyed "The Ashes of Eden" and "The Return". What did you think when you saw footage of you taken in 1967 on the "Enterprise" bridge set interact with footage of Avery Brooks in the Deep Space 9 episode that used Forrest Gump technology?
Stanley B.

WS: I didn't see that show ["Trials and Tribble-ations"], I heard it was really good and that shows again how technology is creeping up on us, changing things as quickly as El Ni?o.

Q: How many more Star Trek books are in your future? I love your narration of them, sounds like you're having fun.
Kevin H.

WS: I just finished narrating "Spectre" and I was struck again by how much editing needs to be done to fit the book into a 2 hour tape. So I urge you to buy the audio and then read the book. I've enjoyed writing these books because in a very real way, I am portraying my own personal involvement and making it part of this fictional character, Kirk. Simon and Schuster has ordered a total of 8 books at this time. Spectre will be the fourth and it will be available sometime in the spring.

Q: Do you regret that your acting days on Star Trek are pretty much over, or are you glad to hand it all down to the next generation?
Joshua F.

WS: I'm really very sad that I won't be Capt. Kirk in this lifetime. I enjoyed playing the part so much and I'm a real Star Trek fan. But all things change. And evolve. And who knows where that evolution will cause a revolution. Stay Tuned.

Q: My question is, what do you think of the successors to Star Trek (i.e. the various Trek shows, Babylon 5, and other Sci-Fi programs that have sprung from the success of the original Star Trek?
Mark S.

WS: I think Science Fiction is a wonderful forum to tell stories. It takes the place of the epic films when they had 10,000 extras. Now that's no longer affordable, but what can be done is to make computer-generated images look like 10,000 extras -- witness Titanic. Every new show that comes on the air, or appears on the screen, adds to our library of effects and knowledge and history of Sci-Fi. So, the more Science Fiction shows the better. Hopefully, I too will add more to the history of Science Fiction, which seems to be my milieu.

Thank you for being in this chatroom with me. Although I can't see you, I can feel you. Apparently we have hit a record number of thousands of questions. Obviously I can't get to all of you but I'll do more of these chats. I'll say hello to you then and not good-bye to you now.