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Brannon Braga: May Hand Show to Chris Black or Manny Coto; Plus: His New Series

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By Steve Krutzler / 10:50, 25 May 2004 / Enterprise

Image

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE co-creator and executive producer Brannon Braga tells the readers of Dreamwatch magazine he may step back for next season. Speaking in the new issue, just available in the United Kingdom, Braga talks about the ups and downs of the make-or-break third season.

"After 14 years of STAR TREK I can tell you there's always a ratio of excellent to good to fair to poor episodes, and I think this year that ratio has been the best of any STAR TREK show I've worked on," Braga says of ENT S3. "There have been less stinkers this year. I don't know if that's because of the Xindi arc or giving episodes that may have been marginal more urgency."

The future of his role as the show's chief steward is uncertain going into the fourth season.

"I'm not sure what my involvement will be," Braga says. "I may take a step back. I feel like after this season, I'm not sure how I can top myself."

The exec says if he does take a step back, two of ENTEPRISE's writer/producers may be in line to fill the day-to-day "showrunner" position.

"I may well give more responsibility to one of the other writers on the show, like Chris Black or Manny Coto."

Black is currently working on the USA Network television pilot FRANKENSTEIN and his status on the ENTERPRISE staff at this point has yet to be confirmed. Coto joined the group this season and penned such episodes as "Similitude," "Chosen Realm," "Harbinger" and "The Council." Black has been around since season one and contributed fan favorites like "Cease Fire," "First Flight" and "Countdown."

Braga also hinted at the new television series he is currently developing with ENTERPRISE partner Rick Berman. He says it will be more grounded than STAR TREK.

"It's sci-fi but it's sci-fi writ small," he says. "...not sci-fi with people in spaceships, with aliens running around."

For much more from Braga, check out Dreamwatch issue #118, available Thursday in the UK and June 15th in the U.S.



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Season 4: The Last (and GO AWAY BRANNON!) | Report this post to moderator
By: Jodeo (Odo's file, contact) @ 09:42:46 on May 26, 2004

Well this is good news. Yes, S3 was quite good in contrast to several of the seasons of VOY and ENT. But the novelty of the newness of man's first Warp-5 trek into space is gone and ENT is at its base another ship-based Trek.

Enterprise will at least get to 100 episodes, but I can't see it going beyond season 4. Brannon is right in one respect: After a season of arcs, where do you go?

At best, S4 will have more, smaller arcs. They may inject Shatner or even Stewart to pump things up a bit. Q? I hope not -- unless he's the "original" Q we hated and feared vs. the Voyager cutsie Q. And Romulans? Already done -- let's move on.

Assuming S4 is the last, they have to set up the Federation back story and make it something viewers want to watch. Dabble into some TOS landscapes for nostalgia. Cross paths with Kirks ancestors -- or Picards or any other major Trek character. Maybe even meet a Vulcan kid named Sarek. Why not have someone from the mirror universe come to "OUR" universe for a change? And to ice the cake: They have to resolve the Suliban/Future Guy arc and (perhaps) figure out a way to resolve the future that's been messed up.

If that means an altered future timeline where Kirk DOESN'T die, he could be sent back somehow to fix the timeline (to the expense of much of Ent's entire story) and save the future. Or at least show Archer how he could've saved BIG on airline prices... or perhaps represent him in court as Denny Crane.

It's been a great run. I just hope season 4 will bring at least half the excitement Brannon's news. If it does, it'll be the best year of Trek ever.



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RE: Season 4: The Last (and GO AWAY BRANNON!) by Cap'n Calhoun @ 04:45:43 on May 27
    RE: Season 4: The Last (and GO AWAY BRANNON!) by StillKirok @ 11:11:21 on May 27
       RE: Mirror Universe in TOS by Cap'n Calhoun @ 12:44:45 on May 27

Thanks | Report this post to moderator
By: watcher (Odo's file, contact) @ 05:46:59 on May 26, 2004

Thanks a lot Braga.... .. !NOT!

Please please please please please please
Pleeeeeeeeeeze..
* DON'T COME BACK *
, like -forever- if at all possible.

You sure have a talent for ruining perfectly
good ideas.


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So the question is... | Report this post to moderator
By: Cap'n Calhoun (Odo's file, contact) @ 03:30:36 on May 26, 2004

Chris Black or Manny Coto?

Anyone out there with a strong preference? One, the other, both neither, Mike Sussman, Ira Steven Behr, William Shatner, etc.?


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300,000 kilometers per second. It's not just a good idea -- it's the law.


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RE: So the question is... by KazamaSmokers @ 11:33:16 on May 26

Thanks, Brannon. | Report this post to moderator
By: Sim (Odo's file, contact) @ 22:40:25 on May 25, 2004

Yeah ... thanks for all and please leave. But don't forget to take that Berman-guy with you ...

--------

"When discussing death penalty, it's that simple: When the idea of killing someone pleases you, then you support it, and when you don't like the idea of killing someone, then you're against it."



- Frank Black (Millennium)


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Go | Report this post to moderator
By: NAFF (Odo's file, contact) @ 22:11:16 on May 25, 2004

Go now.

Go quickly.

And go to hell.

You and your partner are a disgrace, creating a show of mediocre propotions with toilet-bowl ratings.


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This is truly a joyous and pivotal moment in STAR TREK history! | Report this post to moderator
By: Deslok (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 17:32:14 on May 25, 2004

Well, it appears that the people at Paramount/UPN have collectively woken up and smelled the coffee.

There are people out there with vision, real vision. At least if someone else makes a STAR TREK show and it bombs, it wasn't because it was lazily guided by burnt out producers who have lost interest in the project long ago. I think that L. Ron Hubbard wrote better science fiction than B&B have been responsible for as of late.

To all of those people who have staunchly defended and supported ENTERPRISE, I think we're about to get some real STAR TREK again in the near future. What you loved so about ENT may find itself loaded on the garbage scow of forgettable and regrettable television mistakes. Judging what the studio has been saying about ENT season 4, I think it's actually going to begin to mesh with the rest of TREKdom...finally!!!! All I ask is that they get rid of T'Pol, or at least forget about this stupid Trip/T'Pol romance sub-arc. It's rather pointless and it pisses off more fans than it pleases, it hurts the show, it's time for it to be sucked into a temporal void forever.

I'm sure that B&B's new projects which they're developing for other outlets will be just fine, as long as they're not attached to STAR TREK in any way, shape or form. Interestingly enough, BrannonBraga.com has put up a new title at the top of the page, one which has a sloppy collage of Picard, Janeway, and Archer, and a profile which I can only think is a picture of a constipated Braga straining to create science fiction. I assume this move is an effort to claim ownership of these entities and affiliate himself with them as they're likely to be his chief source of income for the rest of his life, that is unless his new non-TREK series is a major hit.

Well, I am truly happy. ENT may survive the upcoming season, but I'm sure that if someone can turn it around into something worthwhile, it could last ten years with nary a serious complaint lodged at it. It's all about the vision of STAR TREK, something which ENT was sorely in need of. I'm sure that Braga thinks the fans who complain about the show are as clueless as we think he is, but at the end of the dayit is the fans who they need to satisfy. Braga can excercise his atrophied originality on his own time. When it comes to STAR TREK (about the only television I bother watching - good or bad - I still want to be entertained and not bored to tears and frustration with bad continuity, alterations of established facts for the sake of telling a worthless story, etc.

If it hadn't already been used by the STAR WARS movie franchise, I would sub-title ENT; STAR TREK:ENTERPRISE: A New Hope...



--------

Be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm hunting Womuwans.


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re: Braga's comments | Report this post to moderator
By: SirTrekker (Odo's file, contact) @ 15:00:03 on May 25, 2004

He doesn't know how he could possibly top himself??

Boy, he's definately smoking better weed than the rest of us, if he actually believes that statement. This man has obviously not been clued in on the fairly obvious fact that he and his partner in crime, Rick Berman, had NOTHING to do with any success the show had this year. Their writers deserve far more credit, and if it's true that those two are the ones being considered for taking the reins, then I'll be happy to help shove B&B far away from Trek for as long as humanly possible.


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re: Braga's comments by el corredor @ 17:34:04 on May 25

Braga's Series | Report this post to moderator
By: Meglo (Odo's file, contact) @ 13:47:29 on May 25, 2004

I HIGHLY doubt any other network would even order a pilot on a new series from B&B after looking at the ENT numbers. Maybe if ENT had bounced back this season (like David E. Kelly and The Practice) they could have gotten a chance, but not now. This leads me to believe that giving them a chance to make their series at Paramount (at least a pilot to show) could be part of a deal for their departure.

--------

He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing blue aliens in Nazi uniforms, and driven by an unknown force to kick ass...


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RE: Braga's Series by StarWorld @ 15:35:14 on May 25
RE: Braga's Series by ]X-Men[Wolverine @ 14:51:13 on May 25

Translations with commentary | Report this post to moderator
By: Scorned (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:56:03 on May 25, 2004

Quote:' "After 14 years of STAR TREK I can tell you there's always a ratio of excellent to good to fair to poor episodes, and I think this year that ratio has been the best of any STAR TREK show I've worked on,"

B&B (the idiots of Trek) have written 3 or 4 episodes this season. The rest have been other writers. So he is saying that this is the best Star Trek episodes since he started. What does this tell you? All of you B&B lovers take a good note here and see the fall of an "overinflated ego".

Translation....

After 14 years of working on Trek. Having done over 100 episodes. Most of which were shit. (ie Threshold quality) I can honestly say that my writing is crap. I am a half ass hack writer who just saw this season how the effect of new writers/better writers have improved the show that I created. This tells me that I can't write anything good. I am out of what little ideas I had. I have stuck around on Trek because NO other series (Sci-Fi or not) would even consider reading my horrible writing. If it were not for Trek I would be working at McDonalds. I have done NOTHING else except Trek. Real writers do various projects in various fields of writing but since I am incompetent I have not grown as a writer. I have just become stagnet and died. I really had hoped that Berman would of had a heart attack by now. That way I could take over as head of Star Trek.


Quote:. "There have been less stinkers this year. I don't know if that's because of the Xindi arc or giving episodes that may have been marginal more urgency."

Translation.. There are less SHITTY episodes because Berman and I have NOT done most of the writing like we saw in Season 1 and 2.


Lets face facts people. Anyone who can't see through this line of bullshit needs to get some glasses and their examined. He completely IGNORES the fact that they have done LITTLE writing this season. The ego still lives! He can't admit that their writing SUCKS. He can't admit that their writing of Season 1 and 2 were SO bad that it almost cost them the show. I bet Braga hears "songs" when he walks into a room or expects "rose pedals" to be thrown down on the floor as he walks.


Quote:""I'm not sure what my involvement will be,"

How about your involvement will "far, far away"! Say hello to Ginger and Mary Ann for me! You stupid Gilliagan.


Quote:"I may take a step back. I feel like after this season, I'm not sure how I can top myself."

EGO ON HIGH!!! WHAT the hell is he talking about? ?? He hardly wrote anything this season and now he is taking credit for other peoples work?
Who is this asshole think he is?

He "may" take a step back or use that ridiculous excuse of wanting to spend more time on his new show with his girlfriend Berman. The fact is that Paramount is going to say "fuck off".


Quote:"The exec says if he does take a step back, two of ENTEPRISE's writer/producers may be in line to fill the day-to-day "showrunner" position. "I may well give more responsibility to one of the other writers on the show, like Chris Black or Manny Coto."

This will be a Paramount decision NOT Braga's. So don't try and tell everyone you have all this "control power". With new blood the show might have a chance. With new blood of people that have watched TOS the show may have a chance.


Quote:"Black is currently working on the USA Network television pilot FRANKENSTEIN and his status on the ENTERPRISE staff at this point has yet to be confirmed. Coto joined the group this season and penned such episodes as "Similitude," "Chosen Realm," "Harbinger" and "The Council." Black has been around since season one and contributed fan favorites like "Cease Fire," "First Flight" and "Countdown."

Funny these are the episodes that everyone is raving about. So HOW does Brannon say he "out did himself" when he didn't write anything? I guess it is easy to go to the number 1 when you are starting at ZERO.


Quote:""It's sci-fi but it's sci-fi writ small," he says. "...not sci-fi with people in spaceships, with aliens running around."

Translation...

This show is going to suck. If we couldn't pull Trek out of the dump HOW can we possibly do more Sci-Fi?


In my opinion this series will TANK. Nice description of it by the way. I guess they are using the same LIES about the Xindi arc. "Oh yes the arc is laid out" when in fact it wasn't. This series is "sci fi but not sci-fi" SO what the hell is it then jerk off? Sounds like another "Earth Final Conflict" to me.



Quote:"For much more from Braga, check out Dreamwatch issue #118, available Thursday in the UK and June 15th in the U.S.

Don't need to read more. Anyone who knows this jerk and his past history knows enough already.


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RE: Translations with commentary by Steve Krutzler @ 13:02:50 on May 25
    RE: Translations with commentary by Meglo @ 15:44:13 on May 25
    RE: Translations with commentary by Scorned @ 13:29:07 on May 25
       RE: Translations with commentary by Steve Krutzler @ 13:31:16 on May 25
    RE: Translations with commentary by StillKirok @ 13:11:14 on May 25
       RE: Translations with commentary by Rhett Quacklah @ 13:27:23 on May 25
          RE: Translations with commentary by Steve Krutzler @ 13:40:15 on May 25
             RE: Translations with commentary by Scorpius @ 14:04:35 on May 25
                RE: Translations with commentary by Rhett Quacklah @ 16:06:24 on May 25
                   RE: Translations with commentary by Scorpius @ 16:13:25 on May 25
                      RE: Translations with commentary by Rhett Quacklah @ 16:19:28 on May 25
                         RE: Translations with commentary by rumandchocolate @ 19:49:36 on May 25
                            RE: Translations with commentary by Rhett Quacklah @ 15:00:23 on May 26
                         RE: Translations with commentary by Scorpius @ 16:22:51 on May 25
                         RE: Translations with commentary by Steve Krutzler @ 16:21:30 on May 25

Hmmm. | Report this post to moderator
By: Hbasm (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:51:23 on May 25, 2004

I'm a little perplexed, trying to understand this, but I take it exactly the way it was written: Braga says he has given us ALL he can in season 3. This was the maximum power output. Now he needs to cool down and given the circumstances (the low ratings for Enterprise and the threat of cancellation) it may be time to move on. There is not much of a choice, really. Well... In that case I salute him for all the great work he has given us over the years. I wish him good luck whatever the outcome of Enterprise and his new series.


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RE: Hmmm. by Scorned @ 13:00:10 on May 25
    RE: Hmmm. by Hbasm @ 17:17:33 on May 25
    RE: Hmmm. by Rhett Quacklah @ 13:29:53 on May 25

WTF? | Report this post to moderator
By: Jadzia-Dax (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:24:28 on May 25, 2004

From above:

Quote:
"I'm not sure what my involvement will be," Braga says. "I may take a step back. I feel like after this season, I'm not sure how I can top myself."

Image

I can't even begin to do justice to a Scorned TRANSLATION™ of this.

Be my guest Scorned.

--------

"I think the show talked to people through the characters. They're stories that speak to the heart. They talk about love, they talk about friendship, they talk about loyalty, they talk about patriotism, exploration, curiosity, reaching out... And I think all those things still touch people. Even when you look at a 30-year old show, it still has something to say." - D.C. Fontana, Sci Fi Channel Special Edition TOS 1998


----


Outer Space. The last frontier.


These are the trips of the Star Trek Enterprise.


Its 5-year plan...


Calls for us to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations.


To boldly fly where no man has gone in space.




Patrick Stewart on SNL 2/5/94


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UK translation by Scorpius @ 12:34:01 on May 25
    RE: UK translation by Cymro @ 13:39:24 on May 25
    RE: UK translation by Catsofwar @ 13:17:40 on May 25
       RE: UK translation by Cymro @ 13:38:37 on May 25
    RE: UK translation by Jadzia-Dax @ 12:56:30 on May 25
       RE: UK translation by Cymro @ 13:44:08 on May 25
       RE: UK translation by Scorned @ 13:02:42 on May 25
          RE: UK translation by Cymro @ 13:54:24 on May 25
             RE: UK translation by Jadzia-Dax @ 14:02:06 on May 25
          Wanker. (nim) by Cymro @ 13:40:31 on May 25
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