From: <DekonElig@aol.com>
To: <xfiles@mindspring.com>
Subject: RDM  finally!!!!!
Date: Tuesday, June 08, 1999 7:23 PM

Subject: Answers
Date: 6/8/99 2:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: <A HREF="aol://3548:RonDMoore">RonDMoore</A>
Message-id: <19990608145656.09350.00002122@ng-ba1.aol.com>

Hello and welcome to the Delta Quadrant.

<<How is that musical Idea coming?>>

I haven't given up on it yet.

<<Actually, do you think it will be difficult to write on a "Every Week Is a 
New Adventure"  Show again??>>

Not at all.  Doing episodic adventures is actually much easier than trying to 
maintain continuity across the season.  Writing the final arc of DS9 was a 
very difficult and taxing experience and while I'd love to try it again (on 
an even larger level, say, a true sci-fi serial) it's a nice change of pace 
to get away from it for a while.

<<Okay, Ron, spill it. Did you get a peek at the couple reportedly playing 
bounce the watermelon on the 4th floor at the wrap party?>>

This incident, which was widely reported and seems to be true, somehow 
escaped my notice at the wrap party.  

<<Did you and/or the writing staff consider letting Worf keep [the 
Chancellorship] instead of giving it to Martok?>>

No.  We always intended to give the Empire to Martok.  I didn't think that 
the Klingons would accept Worf as their leader after all that's happened.  
BTW, there was a nice scene that got cut for time at the end of the show 
where Ezri asked Worf what it was like to stand at the pinnacle of the Empire 
for a moment and Worf said he remembered wishing his father had been there to 
see it.

<<Why didn't Sisko take the Defiant's dedication plaque before leaving?  It 
seemed he had a few seconds (or did he order one from the Franklin Mint). 
Also, does DS9 have one (a dedication plaque)? >>

Sisko does receive the commemorative plates, but not the plaques.  DS9 does 
not have a plaque since it was dedicated by the Cardassians, who presumably 
wouldn't have bothered.

<<Since you hadn't been in the Voyager loop, officially, how did you prepare 
for writing your first Voyager story?  In both TNG and DS9 you came in, as a 
staff writer, in the 3rd season, I believe.  But since Voyager is finishing 
up its 5th season with over 100 eps in the can, did you watch past episodes 
(any or all <g>), or did TPTB give you a synopsis of each character's 
development and the ship's past encounters of interest?  Did your preparation
for writing this series differ from preparing to write for either TNG or DS9, 
and if so, how?>>

I've been watching the tapes, but mostly I've been talking to the VOY writers 
for a couple of months now about the show and the direction they want to take 
the characters.  On all three series, I've pretty much just jumped into the 
process and learned the show as I worked on it.  On DS9, my first script was 
the season three opener and now my first show will be the second episode of 
the year.  I've found that sitting down and actually writing the
character voices and learning what they're all about is the quickest and most 
rewarding way of discovering the show.

<<Are you and Brannon going to collaborate on any scripts like you did for 
Generations and First Contact?>>

It's certainly possible, but we don't have anything in the works.

<<In "Tacking Into the Wind" it is stated that Section 31 has been in 
operation for over 300 years.  Since it was established in TNG that the 
Federation was founded in the year 2161, how is this possible?  I remember 
hearing in a past episode that Section 31 was founded at the same time as the 
Federation.  It should only be about 215 years old now.>>

Chalk this up to my notoriously bad math.  It seems like I'm forever screwing 
up dates in relationship to what's already been established.  My apologies.

<<One off topic question: Have you see The Phantom Menace yet and if so what 
did you think of it? >>

I saw it two weeks ago and while it didn't knock my socks off, I didn't end 
up loathing it either.  I went into the movie with extremely low expectations 
after hearing so many negative comments, so perhaps that helped, but I didn't 
think it was nearly as bad as many people are saying.  Personally, I think 
the film is a tragedy that doesn't seem to know it's a tragedy.  All the 
characters that are set up in this movie are doomed in one way or another,
from the Jedi Council to the Republic itself, and so viewed in that context I 
found the movie to be strangely bittersweet.  Watching young Obi-Wan, I 
couldn't help but think of what was eventually going to happen to this 
character:  the loss of the other Jedi, the collapse of the Republic, his 
failed teaching of young Anakin, the eventual betrayal of their friendship, 
and finally his death at the hands of his erstwhile student.  Likewise, the 
brave
boy will turn into the scourge of the galaxy and the queen will (evidently) 
fall in love with him but be forced to send their two children into exile.  
Viewed through the prism of operatic tragedy, the film works as a 
quasi-historical epic.  However, the movie seems blithely unaware of its own 
tragic overtones and insists that it's only a bubble-gum fantasy even though 
it ends with the head villain not only winning, but actually becoming even 
more
powerful than he was at the beginning.  

<>

Actually we're going the other way.  Several of the Voyager characters will 
be appearing in the WWF ring.

<<Watched "Extreme Measures," but it was kinda unbelievable. >>

Yeah, I wasn't too happy with it either.  It's one of those shows that 
sounded good in the development stage when we were laying out the arc, but 
just never came into focus when it went into production.  Initially, our 
thought was to have Odo going into Sloan's mind and having a surreal 
adventure where he eventually ran into Dr. Mora and learned that it was his 
own "father" who created the changeling disease.  Unable to really mine this 
concept for
all it was worth, we junked it and decided to make one final Bashir and 
O'Brien adventure, but I think maybe we were closer with the original idea.

<<If Molly O'Brien and Naomi Wildman had a fight, who would win?>>

Naomi would head-butt her and it'd be all over.

<<So, who moved into all the extra office space at the Hart Building?>>

As part of my deal, all new office space here will be given over to my large 
and ever-expanding collection of Klingon erotic sculpture.

<<Any plans to see more of that night-shift helmsperson (Jenkins?) on Voyager 
(from "Warhead")?  >>

It's possible.

<<Who came up with the name for the Defiant's replacement and why did they 
chose it?>>

I did and the USS Sao Paulo is an homage to the Steve McQueen flick, "The 
Sand Pebbles."  So's the line, "Hello, ship," which is a variation on 
McQueen's line, "Hello, engines" which he says at the top of the film.

<<A few comments on the Dogs of War:
	I loved when Quark said that the line must be drawn "HERE"! All he 
needed was the accent. Did you put that in? It seemed like your wacky (and 
much-loved) sense of humor.>>

I take great glee at mocking my own work.  See also "In the Cards" for a riff 
on Picard's rather pompous "we don't need money" line.

<>

We talked about several possible storylines that involved Jake, but none of 
them ever gelled for us, so we didn't pursue them.

<<Ron, to your knowledge, is Rick Berman in fact working on a mini-series or 
TV movie for DS9?>>

No.

<<Why was Jadzia excluded from Worf's Memories of DS9?  Is there some 
animosity between Terry Farrel and the ST Execs?>>

In order to use a clip of someone from a previous episode, you first have to 
obtain permission from the actor in question.  Usually permission is 
routinely granted and a nominal fee is  paid (unlike writers and directors, 
who receive a flat fee and don't get the option of saying yes or no).  In 
this case, we were unable to obtain permission.  And no, we weren't real 
happy about it.

<<Why didn't the Prophets bring Jake to see his father along with Kasidy?>>

This was under discussion right up until the very end, but we felt that the 
scene became too unwieldly and lacked focus with three people.