By Steve Krutzler / 08:45, 20 November 2005 / TrekWeb Features

Few names in the world of STAR TREK have been as much maligned as Brannon Braga's. From accusations of being a hack to charges of TREK illiteracy, he's received just about every criticism imaginable. It might be surprising, then, that even after fourteen years of working on TNG, VOY, and ENTERPRISE, Braga still reads Internet fan boards.

"I read these things and have been ever since the Internet became mainstream," Braga told me when asked about fan reactions. "A lot of it I take to heart, I've always listened to what they have to say, as painful as it is [sometimes]."

With as much commentary as his career has inspired, I asked Brannon whether there are any particular mischaracterizations about him amongst fans.

"Professionally I think the greatest mischaracterization is that I don't know STAR TREK and I don't care about it," he said genuinely. "I lived and breathed this stuff for my entire adult life... I wouldn't have stayed with it so long if I weren't incredibly passionate about it."

STAR TREK seems far away as Braga talks passionately about his first post-TREK project, THRESHOLD, which has met with mixed success on CBS.

"We're getting one or two people a week watching, which is more than I'm used to," he jokes when asked how it feels to be averaging numbers that would've made ENTERPRISE a bonafide hit on UPN. "CBS is the #1 network, they've got 28 million people watching CSI each week so the bar is higher, and our numbers are decent but CBS and I want them to be better."

The show's new timeslot Tuesdays at 10 PM (beginning this Tuesday, November 22nd) presents an opportunity.

"It wasn't until we aired eight episodes that CBS realized, I think quite rightly, that we weren't the best match for GHOST WHISPERER, which is a more female-driven audience," he says of the Jennifer Love Hewitt series now paired with CLOSE TO HOME on Friday nights. "I also think we are more of a ten o'clock show; we are a dark scary show. GHOST WHISPERER, which has its scary moments, is a hopeful uplifting show, and then you turn to THRESHOLD where heads are exploding and the world's going to end. At first glance ghosts and aliens might seem like a good pair but I don't think anyone would dispute that Tuesdays at 10 is a better timeslot for us. We just hope that the people who have been watching, and have been watching consistently -- we have not had a drop in our numbers -- will move with us to Tuesday. The biggest key is to get those new eyeballs tuned in."

And if you haven't tuned in yet, you'll find in addition to Braga, TNG actor Brent Spiner is among the show's ensemble cast and TREK writers Mike Sussman and Andre Bormanis are also onboard the contemporary, conspiracy-themed show. Carla Gugino heads up a team working to thwart an alien bio-invasion, giving THRESHOLD a perspective Braga thinks TREK fans will find novel.

"What it's about is the conspiracy to stop the conspiracy," Braga says when prompted about the similarities between his show and THE X-FILES. "The difference here is that you are thrust into the middle of the conspiracy and you get to watch the conspiracy being created from the inside out. This time you're kind of in the eye of the storm and seeing it from the flip side, and one of the things that makes it different is the characters being the conspirators and being forced to do a lot of morally grey things that they normally wouldn't do -- violating civil rights, plucking up children and telling their families that they're dead -- horrible things but they have to do it."

Eight episodes have aired so far, with five to go, and at least three additional scripts ordered by the network. Braga admits that the show's future rides plainly on how well THRESHOLD performs in this new timeslot. He says those who tune in will not only see an intricate continuing storyline that is leading to frightening and catastrophic consequences, but a focus on the individual players in this growing conspiracy.

"We're going to be getting deeper into the characters, such as [in a recent episode] with Molly's unconscious fears about her plan failing and her guilt about having just killed her lifelong mentor -- she had to shoot down a plane full of senators and her good friend the National Security Advisor, who all became infected. We have emotional journeys planned for all the characters. None of the characters are going to be quite the same."

Aliens and infections might sound like familiar territory for a guy who just spent a decade and a half writing STAR TREK, but Braga points out that aside from the contemporary dialogue, producing THRESHOLD has offered a satisfying opportunity do something STAR TREK could rarely do.

"You go outside the spaceship on STAR TREK, and you have to create it. You can't go downtown, it's expensive and it's hard to make it look believeable," he says. "Ironically they're out in the universe but it's hard to show that stuff. A lot of STAR TREK from the beginning on, most of it takes place on the standing sets. So 'wouldn't it be great to just go shoot?' Of course I've learned there are lots of problems with that -- shooting permits, and moving crews to different locations -- but what I've really enjoyed about writing THRESHOLD and producing it is we are able to make a very cinematic show, where we go to a lot of different locations and really pick up the pace. And that is only possible by being able to use Los Angeles and the surrounding areas, and that's been very refreshing."

A large portion of that time in space was spent with former TREK showrunner Michael Piller, whose memorial Brannon attended just a week ago. Braga credits Piller as a major influence in his career.

"Everything I'm doing now I learned from him really," he says. "When I first started as an intern on STAR TREK I watched Piller breaking stories, writing scripts, coming up with ideas, and I thought 'how does he do this? How is a human's brain able to do all of these things so quickly?' And I worked with Michael for eight or nine years and I learned everything I know from him. And I watched him bring together an amazing group of people. By the time Piller had hired me he had also brought in Ron Moore and Jeri Taylor and Joe Menosky... We all learned a lot from Michael, he really was a mentor to many people and though Michael and I hadn't worked together for several years, he always stayed in touch, more so than I did, regrettably. Piller was just such an incredibly strong, focused, stabilizing presence and I don't hesitate to say something of a father figure to me that you just don't think that something like that could happen to a guy like Piller. Although I was only a small part of his life I am very grateful that I was."

Braga is one of several TREK writers who cut their teeth under Michael Piller who have gone on to success in other realms, running and creating shows. Braga's hanging his hat on THRESHOLD and says the forthcoming episodes will give new and returning viewers many reasons to do so as well.

"There's going to be a giant outbreak and they're gonna actually get to the food supply and hundreds upon hundreds of people are going to become aliens. As it turns out, we begin to deal with genetically modified food and Molly needs to bring in a new team member with a new area of expertise in genetics, and we bring in Catherine Bell [from JAG]."

Much like his protagonist, Braga is planning for the endgame. When and if CBS greenlights a full season of THRESHOLD, the producer says he and his staff have a plan.

"We've got a whole season planned, and that season will end in what we feel is an astounding cliffhanger, with some major, major disasters occurring. They're going to learn that what the invaders are doing now is the tip of the iceberg and by the end of the season we'll see jaw-dropping things happening that will make you wonder."

And if you're wondering what Braga has to say about some of the STAR TREK criticism, he's still taking it to heart.

"Whether my contributions to [STAR TREK] were things that everybody liked, that's debatable. I can't really argue with that because I don't think that everything I've done has been good. But a lot of it has... I think one thing I regret is that I wasn't more in touch with the fans, I think that might have helped fan relations a bit."

THRESHOLD premieres on Tuesday nights this week, November 22nd, at 10 PM on CBS. You can catch up on previous episodes at CBS.com.