With broadcast TV networks scrambling to produce new prime-time game shows these days -- following the success of NBC's "Deal or No Deal" and the slump in reality TV ratings -- it was perhaps inevitable that William Shatner would get a hosting gig.

The former star of the "Star Trek" television series and movie franchise is already all over the dial, starring in ABC's "Boston Legal" and commercials for Priceline.com, hawking his science fiction books (the TekWar series and "Star Trek" novels) and records, and now hosting "Show Me the Money," which airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday. The 75-year-old actor is bit of a live wire, which makes him a nice fit as a game-show host, and his candor was on display during this question-and-answer session last week with national reporters.

Q: Given all your work, was there ever any thought after the "Star Trek" films of following Leonard Nimoy's lead and slowing down from acting?

A: No, Leonard is older than I am. [Nimoy is 75, four days younger than Shatner.] No, it doesn't occur to me. Stop what? I'm having so much fun and making a great deal of money, and I still have time for family and friends. It's great.

Q: Why did you decide to do this show?

A: This game show is more like a variety show. It had dancers and music, and there was a sense of fun about the game that I hadn't thought of before. Game shows are usually cut and dried -- spin the wheel, here's the answer. Then as I got deeper into it, I realized that you could actually begin to examine -- in a superficial way -- the contestants and find out why they were playing, what they would use the money for, what their background was and all those things, and so that became another level of interest.

Q: Does being a host show another side to you, something people haven't seen elsewhere?

A: I never think in those terms. ... I'm me, vulnerable. [As a host], you're in a totally improvisational area. That's very risky. Very risky in terms of entertainment. It's risky in case you're not entertaining, it's risky in case you say something inadvertently. I mean there's a lot going on, there's a great deal of theatrical jeopardy there, and that appealed to me.

Q: You're replacing "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC. Did you choreograph some new routines for the audience?

A: We're making it up as we go along. ... I found myself moving my feet. I'm not a dancer, but I like to dance, very much like I'm not a singer but I like to sing. I guess I dance as well as I sing, which is not at all, but yet I enjoy it. Maybe I can communicate my sense of fun and enjoying the movement to the audience, who's going to quickly realize I can't dance but I'm having fun.

Q: What's the latest word on the new "Star Trek" movie with "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams?

A: I met with Mr. Abrams, and they've got a really good plot going. They're trying to fit in Mr. Spock and Capt. Kirk, the elderly ones. How you get a dead captain to communicate with himself, younger, is going to be very arduous plotting. I'm going to be interested to see how they solve it.

Q: What were your favorite game shows growing up?

A: I never watched game shows. I kind of thought they weren't very entertaining to me, the early game shows -- spin the wheel, find the thing, lucky or unlucky. But then I saw "Deal or No Deal." It was really the most interesting one I've seen, based on that human frailty of greed. The few "Deal or No Deals" I've seen were very interesting from a contestant point of view.

Q: Do you have favorite shows in general?

A: I love to watch sports, I love to watch the news, I love movies -- I love the longer form. I never watch our shows. I don't believe I've seen more than one or two "Boston Legals," and I probably won't watch "Show Me the Money." But I'll get some feedback.