William Shatner Reveals the Origins Behind His ‘Boston Legal’ Catchphrase

On Boston Legal, Denny Crane was the flamboyant senior partner at the fictional Boston law firm Crane, Poole & Schmidt, who was as famous for his courtroom victories as he was for his oversized ego. Played by the iconic William Shatner, he was an eccentric legal eagle who claimed to have won more than 6,000 cases and famously repeated his own name as a reminder to everyone around him that he was, in fact, a “legend.” Also known for his deeply affectionate, if politically opposed, friendship with fellow attorney Alan Shore (James Spader), Denny became a primetime favorite and one of the most memorable characters of Shatner’s career outside of Star Trek,.

While speaking with TV Guide Magazine’s Rob Edelstein for “60 Years of Star Trek,” the one-time Captain James T. Kirk took a break from talking about warp cores and shuttle bays to look back on his years at Crane, Poole & Schmidt on David E. Kelley‘s Boston Legal, including a little personal insight into the extraordinary Denny Crane.

Shatner pointed to two particular Denny quirks that helped shape his performance, including the character’s strange habit of using his own name as a battle cry.

“I’ve seen lizards stick their tongue out, and lizards stick their tongue out to scent the air, you probably know that, ‘What’s out there? What’s out there? What’s out there?'” explained Shatner. “This guy, Denny Crane, and seeing how you react to his name, he wants to see the reaction to his name like a lizard with his tongue, and that’s how I played it. ‘Denny Crane, Denny Crane, Denny Crane!’ It made sense! ‘How you react to my name!'”

Then, Shatner explained that the second insight into Denny’s character was when Denny’s famous fourth-wall-breaking “cue the music” moment. Denny uses the line to talk directly to the camera before the show’s opening credits roll in Season 3 Episode 2, “New Kids on the Block.”

“As for ‘cue the music,’ the last show David [E. Kelley] writes, ‘You know, I always thought of my life as a television show.’ Of course! I’m gonna do an interview. ‘Cue the music,'” said Shatner. “It’s an observation on his life! ‘And cue the music! I’m ready for the interview!'”