William Shatner Kicks Ass

So a bit of a digression to start today. In general, I am not a guy that watches a ton of television... in the past year, the only network shows I watched almost unfailingly were The West Wing, The Office (even though the British version is still better), and Arrested Development. In other words, two-thirds of my regular television viewing was killed by the cruel hand of the network powers that be this year. Realizing the need for mindless diversion in life, I need to seek out some replacements.

One show that will be a given of course, is Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip from West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin (check out a truly excellent 6 minute preview clip here), provided it can overcome the obsessive hordes of Grey’s Anatomy fans in its timeslot. However, I can hold back my rage at ABC for creating this showdown thanks in no small part to the fact that last night, I finally got around to watching Boston Legal, and I think I’m hooked.

If you’re still reading, you’re probably wondering what any of this has to do with music. Well friends, the appeal of Boston Legal lies chiefly in the brilliant performance of William Shatner as high powered legal sleaze Denny Crane, a fact that comes as no surprise to anyone who had the good fortune of coming across a little album called Has Been a few years back. Yes, Shatner did have an ill-advised run in with the record biz back in his heyday, but this makes up for it and then some. Produced by Ben Folds, it’s clear this time Shatner is in on the joke: he knows he can’t sing, and that his trademark dramatic spoken word style makes for a great novelty. Somehow, this yields some genuinely touching moments, including a Nick Hornby penned ode to an estranged daughter and a chilling, almost silent track in which he recounts his wife’s suicide. Other times, it just flat out rocks in the oddest possible way, embodied by his cover of Pulp’s “Common People” that hands-down beats the original. It’s stuff like this that has allowed Shatner to broaden his cult status from Star Trek geeks to the indie geeks, as well as anyone else that enjoys a guy learning to laugh at himself.

William Shatner- Common People