Sci-Fi
March 16th, 2005, 09:58 PM
From Star Trek.com:
Grand Slam XIII – Sunday Recap - Writers/Producers Panel (http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/10226.html)
Manny Coto, Mike Sussman, Andre Bormanis, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
The panel of writers who created the bulk of the fourth season of Enterprise were given a special introduction by Eugene Roddenberry Jr., who credited them with bringing "integrity and passion" to the show. And the audience agreed with their deafening applause.
Manny Coto began by thanking the fans for all of their support. "We've had a blast. And, y'know, there've been some rumors about, oh, a cancellation thing, but we're treating them as just that, rumors!" The audience erupted in laughter and applause. "It seems that some of the sets have been taken down, but we're just assuming they've been taken out to be washed!"
The convention-goers were treated to a sneak preview of the upcoming mirror-universe two-parter, "In a Mirror, Darkly," which airs April 22 and 29. Before they showed clips, though, the writers explained the long history of the concept. "We had talked about doing a mirror universe episode ever since we got into Season Four," Coto began. "But then we had the possibility of getting William Shatner. Coincidentally, the Reeves-Stevens [who have worked with Shatner on several Trek novels] were a pair of writers whom I desperately wanted to bring on the show. And they, it turned out, had an idea for a mirror universe two-parter which would feature the return of William Shatner."
At past conventions, Shatner has spoken about a story concept which he himself pitched that was well received. But Paramount and Shatner failed to reach agreement so, as we know, Shatner wouldn't be making a guest appearance on Enterprise. However, the Reeves-Stevens couple (affectionately called "the Bynars" by their fellow writers) were now able to reveal what that pitch was.
"The idea was that the Tantalus Field was not a disintegrator, it was a humane way of dealing with prisoners, by sending them back in time to a sealed penal colony," Garfield Reeves-Stevens explained. "Enterprise NX-01 comes upon the colony — and Tiberius [mirror-Kirk] is there. Tiberius thinks, 'Finally, a ship with a transporter — I can get back to my own universe, my own time.' He basically goes on the NX-01, gets to the transporter, sets it to go back to the mirror universe — the mirror universe doesn't exist." "It hasn't been created yet," Judith elaborated. Garfield continued: "So Tiberius and Archer work together to figure out where the division point is between the universes, what point that one split off into the other. And as it turns out, Tiberius and Archer together are responsible for the creation of the mirror universe."
Coto recounted that Shatner pitched the idea to him, Brannon Braga and Rick Berman over lunch. They loved it, but Berman pitched an alternative concept, which was actually devised by Mike Sussman.
So Sussman explained that: "Shatner was going to be 'Chef' — an ancestor of Kirk. We would find out that at some point in the future the real Kirk got into trouble, got taken out of history. And Daniels would show up, he would grab Archer, he would grab Chef — who of course looked like William Shatner — and say, 'You have to go to the future and impersonate Captain Kirk in some important ceremony.' That was the setup."
"We pitched this to Shatner and there was a long silence," Coto continued. Well, since negotiations fell through, there would be no Kirk story, but they still wanted to do a mirror-universe two-parter. "We started bandying about ideas, trying to figure out a way to get our characters into the mirror universe, because as you all know in the Original Series the mirror universe was pretty much a first-contact situation. What do we do about that? We came up with a concept of doing the story solely in the mirror universe. As if you're watching a Star Trek: Enterprise episode coming straight from the mirror universe, including a whole new title sequence. And there's very little interaction with our regular universe.
They settled on a concept that Sussman had been entertaining for awhile. "For me, it was an irresistible idea that the U.S.S. Defiant from 'The Tholian Web' was still floating out there somewhere in interphase, and we never knew what happened to it," Sussman said. "To me that was a tantalizing story idea I wanted to explore."
They showed two clips from the episode to the convention audience. The first was the "teaser" of Part I. As Sussman explained it, the scene depicted "a pivotal moment from our universe and the mirror universe. And things unfolded a little differently in the mirror universe." Without spoiling it here, suffice it say the convention-goers LOVED it — they were rolling on the floor.
The second clip showed Vaughn Armstrong as the mirror Captain Forrest, the sequence when Forrest orders Archer and his team to board the mysterious vessel from the future. The audience soundly applauded when the Constitution-class Defiant bridge was revealed.
Coto spoke about the experience of working with the Defiant set. "Seeing that bridge was just the greatest thing. We had a steady procession coming onto those soundstages for the week or so that bridge was up — people from all over calling up and wanting to get shots and photos in the captain's chair. It was a great example of how popular the Original Series still is. I hope you enjoy the episode. We had a blast writing it."
During Q & A, Coto revealed how he was able to talk Peter Weller into guest-starring in the penultimate two-parter, "Demons" and "Terra Prime." "Peter wants to direct, so I said to him, 'I want you to come on the show, and I can't spend a lot of money.' And he's like, 'Great, can you offer me some directing gigs?' I said, 'All right — Season Five, you can direct two episodes! And he's like, 'Great, all right!' So he signs the deal, and the day after he signs the deal, we get the cancellation. He calls me up, 'Ya hornswoggled me!'"
:salute: :Nsalute:
Grand Slam XIII – Sunday Recap - Writers/Producers Panel (http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/10226.html)
Manny Coto, Mike Sussman, Andre Bormanis, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
The panel of writers who created the bulk of the fourth season of Enterprise were given a special introduction by Eugene Roddenberry Jr., who credited them with bringing "integrity and passion" to the show. And the audience agreed with their deafening applause.
Manny Coto began by thanking the fans for all of their support. "We've had a blast. And, y'know, there've been some rumors about, oh, a cancellation thing, but we're treating them as just that, rumors!" The audience erupted in laughter and applause. "It seems that some of the sets have been taken down, but we're just assuming they've been taken out to be washed!"
The convention-goers were treated to a sneak preview of the upcoming mirror-universe two-parter, "In a Mirror, Darkly," which airs April 22 and 29. Before they showed clips, though, the writers explained the long history of the concept. "We had talked about doing a mirror universe episode ever since we got into Season Four," Coto began. "But then we had the possibility of getting William Shatner. Coincidentally, the Reeves-Stevens [who have worked with Shatner on several Trek novels] were a pair of writers whom I desperately wanted to bring on the show. And they, it turned out, had an idea for a mirror universe two-parter which would feature the return of William Shatner."
At past conventions, Shatner has spoken about a story concept which he himself pitched that was well received. But Paramount and Shatner failed to reach agreement so, as we know, Shatner wouldn't be making a guest appearance on Enterprise. However, the Reeves-Stevens couple (affectionately called "the Bynars" by their fellow writers) were now able to reveal what that pitch was.
"The idea was that the Tantalus Field was not a disintegrator, it was a humane way of dealing with prisoners, by sending them back in time to a sealed penal colony," Garfield Reeves-Stevens explained. "Enterprise NX-01 comes upon the colony — and Tiberius [mirror-Kirk] is there. Tiberius thinks, 'Finally, a ship with a transporter — I can get back to my own universe, my own time.' He basically goes on the NX-01, gets to the transporter, sets it to go back to the mirror universe — the mirror universe doesn't exist." "It hasn't been created yet," Judith elaborated. Garfield continued: "So Tiberius and Archer work together to figure out where the division point is between the universes, what point that one split off into the other. And as it turns out, Tiberius and Archer together are responsible for the creation of the mirror universe."
Coto recounted that Shatner pitched the idea to him, Brannon Braga and Rick Berman over lunch. They loved it, but Berman pitched an alternative concept, which was actually devised by Mike Sussman.
So Sussman explained that: "Shatner was going to be 'Chef' — an ancestor of Kirk. We would find out that at some point in the future the real Kirk got into trouble, got taken out of history. And Daniels would show up, he would grab Archer, he would grab Chef — who of course looked like William Shatner — and say, 'You have to go to the future and impersonate Captain Kirk in some important ceremony.' That was the setup."
"We pitched this to Shatner and there was a long silence," Coto continued. Well, since negotiations fell through, there would be no Kirk story, but they still wanted to do a mirror-universe two-parter. "We started bandying about ideas, trying to figure out a way to get our characters into the mirror universe, because as you all know in the Original Series the mirror universe was pretty much a first-contact situation. What do we do about that? We came up with a concept of doing the story solely in the mirror universe. As if you're watching a Star Trek: Enterprise episode coming straight from the mirror universe, including a whole new title sequence. And there's very little interaction with our regular universe.
They settled on a concept that Sussman had been entertaining for awhile. "For me, it was an irresistible idea that the U.S.S. Defiant from 'The Tholian Web' was still floating out there somewhere in interphase, and we never knew what happened to it," Sussman said. "To me that was a tantalizing story idea I wanted to explore."
They showed two clips from the episode to the convention audience. The first was the "teaser" of Part I. As Sussman explained it, the scene depicted "a pivotal moment from our universe and the mirror universe. And things unfolded a little differently in the mirror universe." Without spoiling it here, suffice it say the convention-goers LOVED it — they were rolling on the floor.
The second clip showed Vaughn Armstrong as the mirror Captain Forrest, the sequence when Forrest orders Archer and his team to board the mysterious vessel from the future. The audience soundly applauded when the Constitution-class Defiant bridge was revealed.
Coto spoke about the experience of working with the Defiant set. "Seeing that bridge was just the greatest thing. We had a steady procession coming onto those soundstages for the week or so that bridge was up — people from all over calling up and wanting to get shots and photos in the captain's chair. It was a great example of how popular the Original Series still is. I hope you enjoy the episode. We had a blast writing it."
During Q & A, Coto revealed how he was able to talk Peter Weller into guest-starring in the penultimate two-parter, "Demons" and "Terra Prime." "Peter wants to direct, so I said to him, 'I want you to come on the show, and I can't spend a lot of money.' And he's like, 'Great, can you offer me some directing gigs?' I said, 'All right — Season Five, you can direct two episodes! And he's like, 'Great, all right!' So he signs the deal, and the day after he signs the deal, we get the cancellation. He calls me up, 'Ya hornswoggled me!'"
:salute: :Nsalute: