$#*! MY DAD SAYS, based on the popular Twitter site by Justin Halpern, stars William Shatner (pictured) as Ed Goodson, a forthright and opinionated dad who relishes expressing his unsolicited and often wildly politically incorrect observations to anyone within earshot. 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Do you at all resemble your $#*! My Dad Says character? —Beth Yates, JACKSON, MISS.
The first answer that comes to mind is, No, no, not me. But the second reaction is, Of course I do. I can only bring what I have inside me to the character, so, yes, everything about Ed Goodson is me, and yet it's a totally fictional character. I've been known to be cantankerous and foulmouthed at times, but mostly I'm alone when those [moments] take place.
Do you write your own tweets? How do you think Twitter has changed the entertainment world? —Laura Belli, BUENOS AIRES
This show is a Twitter baby. I write my own Twitters, but I have a couple of young guys who do the finger work because I don't type. But I certainly am very intent on the content and specific words. I know very little about the viral, electronic world, but I use Twitter to communicate not only information that I think some of the fans want to hear about but also ideas. I have Twittered about Immanuel Kant.
What is the biggest misconception about you? —Darla Rogers, TUSCOLA, TEXAS
I host an interview show called Aftermath, and we made some sensational news a couple of weeks ago. Then somebody said, "Did you know who made this finding? William Shatner, of all people." I thought, Why "of all people"? What a condescending, discriminating phrase.
What's it like to be "the" William Shatner? There's nobody else quite like you out there. —Hannah Rowton, DEL CITY, OKLA.
It's better than being "a" William Shatner. What's it like? To me it's normal. Though I did something a little while ago that absolutely flabbergasted me. I took a limo to a private plane, to go visit some people in various parts of the world. Everybody has their 15 minutes, and those 15 minutes should be spent in a private limo and a private plane. It's the ultimate.
If you could share a secret about yourself, what would it be? —Lynne Levandowski, WELLINGTON, KANS.
The secret is, I don't know what the heck I'm doing. I don't really know what I'm doing in anything: relationships, driving, talking to you.
Do you just crack yourself up constantly? —Jessica Barksdale, OAKLAND, CALIF.
[Laughs.] I'm easily set off to laughter, but I try to make people laugh with me. Animals laugh. I've seen my dogs laugh, and I would like to think my horses are sometimes feeling good.
Have you considered a return to live theater? —Ralph Lawson III, UNION, S.C.
Well, I'm really busy in the cinematic world, but I go out a lot to do conventions, not the least of which are Star Trek conventions. I'll talk to people and ask them what they want to know and maybe entertain them with stories. It's very much like live theater. A stage actor has to be 10% aware of the audience as he's performing. And this new TV show, in front of an audience, is every bit as much a stage performance.
Will you ever get tired of doing Priceline commercials? —Mary Kunze, ANDOVER, VT.
Priceline is a really big company, and I'm a part of that. We try to make those commercials fun as well as informative. It's a real art form to make a good commercial, so I am not tired of it. I'm kind of proud of it, actually.
Do you think mankind will ever achieve warp drive? —Nicholas Woodard, DETROIT
To achieve warp drive, which is theoretically possible, you have to expend more energy than comes out of the sun. The truth of it is, we're not going to be around long enough to make that a reality. I'll make the reader a bargain. If we can clean up our world, I'll bet you we can achieve warp drive.
Have you put the Captain Kirk stereotype behind you? —Joe Flavin, MELROSE, MASS.
Probably not, but who cares? It was a wonderful show. So if you want to say, Beam me up, I'm prepared to nod in assent and poke you in the eye.