William Shatner’s “Priceline Negotiator” Character Dies in a Blaze of Glory

Naomi Price is going to be spending less time bargain-hunting with the Priceline Negotiator, and more time looking for a new partner. After a good run, William Shatner’s character, (the eponymous Negotiator) is being killed off.

The 80-year-old actor’s character will go out in a blaze of glory in a TV spot finale set to debut next week. In it, he rescues tourists from a bus about to plunge off the side of a bridge.

“I’m in grief mode,” Shatner said. “It’s not the first time I’ve had an iconic character die off.”

Shatner has been with Priceline for 14 years, and has spent 5 of those years portraying the Negotiator. Priceline is best known for offering customers discounts based on bidding, but the company also offers a set discount-price booking for over 200,000 hotels in 140 countries, and wants to focus on advertising this service as it changes direction for the future.

Peter Sealey, adjunct professor at the Claremont Graduate University’s school of management, had this to say:

“It’s a tough decision, but the bottom line is Priceline had to do it, […] They’re changing their business model from a name-your-price model to a fixed-price approach… Had he been less effective, he could have been allowed to fade away. I don’t know if I would have gone as far as the bus exploding.”

“It was a great run,” said Shatner of his Priceline gig, “If the management says this is the end, this is the end.”

Priceline is hoping to avoid some backlash for killing off Shatner’s iconic character. Christopher Soder, CEO of Priceline.com North America said this:

“We certainly hope not. We had a great, long association with Mr. Shatner, […] I didn’t mean to use the past tense. He’s still under contract with us.”

What’s next for Shatner? The Emmy Award-Winning actor is set to debut his one-man show “Shatner’s World: We Just Live in It” on Broadway next month.

Are you going to miss Shatner’s campy Priceline commercials?