LOS ANGELES (AP) - William Shatner's Priceline Negotiator isn't a goner, after all. He just went surfing.

Seven months after a commercial showed the Negotiator plunging off a cliff, he's back and featured in a new 30-second TV and online Priceline spot set to debut Thursday.

It turns out the Negotiator pretended to bite the dust so he could start a new life. As Shatner's pitchman explains it in the new commercial, "Surfing is my life now."

Brett Keller, chief marketing officer for Priceline.com, said the discount travel company wanted to find a creative way to bring Shatner's popular character back.

The actor, of "Star Trek" fame, said the Negotiator never should have been thrown under a bus. Shatner said he's proud to play him again.

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