By GustavoLeao / 16:34, 11 October 2005 / General Genre/SciFi

Journalist Maureen Ryan from the Chicago Tribune posted an edited transcript of her chat with THRESHOLD producer Brannon Braga and here are a few excerpts.

On how he got involved with THRESHOLD, which was created by Bragi Schut: "When I was coming to the end of ENTERPRISE, I was going to take a month or two off. What happened was, toward the end of ENTERPRISE, I was writing a pilot for CBS that did not get picked up, another sci-fi pilot. I was going to take a break, but then THRESHOLD came along, so not only did I not get a break, I was writing the ENTERPRISE finale at the same time I was working on the `Threshold' pilot."

On STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION veteran Brent Spiner joining the show: "CBS brought him up, not me. CBS had the idea, and I said, `Brent will never do this.' We were having a really difficult time casting [Nigel] Fenway [Spiner's character]. We were reading different ages, different ethnicities, different archetypes, but we just couldn't find our Fenway. They said, `What about Brent Spiner?' and I said, `Good luck. He'll never do a sci-fi show again.' But he read the script. He had some thoughts, as he always does. He had some really cool ideas, and David Goyer and I revised the character a little bit, and he signed on."

On other STAR TREK veterans on the show: "Mike Sussman and Andre Bormanis we brought over [from TREK]. Andre was our science advisor-turned-writer, he's worked with NASA and has all that experience, so that really helps bring a lot of believability. Two other key writers are Anne McGrail, she worked on CSI: NEW YORK and CSI: MIAMI and BOOMTOWN, she's particularly helpful in constructing these really intricate stories, she came out of that world of mystery shows. Then there's Dan Shannon, he's an old friend, he came from CHEERS and FRASIER, he came out of sitcoms but always has been a sci fi fan and I'd always wanted to work with him. He really nailed the show."

On the future of the show: "We have a really strong first season, if we are lucky enough to get a back order [for nine additional episodes]. The first 13 are essentially written, for the rest, to quote Molly, `we have a plan.' CBS asked us to work out a rough manifest for the first season, they wanted to make sure we knew where we were going. So we've figured out a lot of the turns and twists, but there's still room for inspiration. For a second or third season, we've got some ideas, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.'

On working on a show set in the present day, as opposed to working in the STAR TREK universe: "I kept dreaming of showing tennis shoes and automobiles for 10 years. It's refreshing to use actual locations. Every time you show a vehicle on STAR TREK, it's a space ship. Now we can use a Ford Explorer. It's a welcome change."

More from Braga can be found here.