Nov 23 | Chuckreturns to NBC with a special two-hour show on Sunday, Jan 10, 2010, before returning to its regular time slot, Mondays at 8pm on the following night. It's return to prime time television can be attributed to a successful fan renewnal campaign last year. CHUCK is a one-hour, action-comedy series that follows Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi, "Less Than Perfect") -- a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government's most vital secret agent. This upcoming season will include some special guest stars, including Brandon Routh of "Superman Returns" who will play CIA agent Daniel Shaw in an episode, and the addition of SUBWAY restaurant as a major advertiser to the show. Chuck averaged a 4.0/6 rating last season, about eight percent better than the recently cancelled "Trauma". Ratings-challenged Heroes moves back an hour when Chuck returns on Monday nights. STAR TREK VOYAGER's Robert Duncan McNeill serves Chuckas a supervising producer and director.
Nov 17 | Originally hired as co-executive producer to help with the second half of the show's first season, Kevin Murphy has now taken the reins of Caprica, the Battlestar Galactica prequel on Syfy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He now serves as an executive producer along with Ronald D. Moore, David Eick and Jane Espenson and oversees the day-to-day functions of the show.
Nov 12 | Star Trek star Zachary Quinto is loosely attached to star in the romantic dramedy Whirligig, reports Risky Business.Quinto would play the lead role in the independent Canadian film, which is aiming to shoot early next year. The movie centers on a man who, in a misguided attempt to woo an older woman, befriends the woman's adopted son.Chaz Thorne is directing the pic, based on a screenplay by Michael Amo, creator of the Canadian supernatural series "The Listener."
Nov 11 | The CNS Foundation, is hosting an on-line charity auction at www.charitybuzz.com. One of the items they are auctioning is a signed movie poster of the new Star Trek movie which has all the cast members and writers. The president of our organization is Carol Abrams, JJ's mother, and she arranged for the donation from Bad Robot Production Company. J.J. Abrams is also a major donor to their organization. The funds raised will go to help find a cure to neurological disorders in children. The auction link is here.
Nov 10 | Candice Bergen, Charles Lisanby, Don Pardo, Gene Roddenberry, Tom and Dick Smothers and Bob Stewart have been selected as the next inductees into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame. They will be honored at a Jan. 20 ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel. "This year's inductees have challenged and shaped popular culture, changed television for the better and entertained us royally while doing so," TV Academy Chairman-CEO John Shaffner said. More info at the Hollywood Reporter
TrekWeb was pleased to bring you a live ENTERPRISE chat event last night. Visitors expecting to hear from executive story editor Andre Bormanis were surprised to learn that writer and producer Mike Sussman (recently promoted from co-producer) offered to step in when Andre was unable to attend.
Sussman has been credited with writing and co-writing many of ENTERPRISE's memorable episodes, including "Shadows of P'Jem," "Future Tense," "Regeneration," "Anomaly," and this week's very own "Twilight." Sussman came to ENTERPRISE from VOYAGER and worked with partner Phyllis Strong for several years before going solo in ENTERPRISE's third season.
Special thanks to Mike for the quick turn around on the chat and for answering questions for a full two hours! We hope he'll be able to join us again some time!
Transcript: 11/06/03
SteveKrutzler: Welcome everyone to TrekWeb's first live chat in a year!
Our scheduled guest Andre Bormanis, ENTERPRISE's executive story editor and
science consultant, was unable to attend but his colleague Mike Sussman graciously
has agreed to step in for him tonight!
MikeSussman: I apologize to everyone who was expecting Andre... please
keep the questions about string theory to a minimum.
(We hope Andre can join us online soon!)
SteveKrutzler: Thanks, Mike, for joining at such short notice, and we
hope to see Andre soon.
MikeSussman: Andre sends his best and he's sorry he couldn't make it.
SteveKrutzler: Mike Sussman is a writer for ENTERPRISE, and has recently
been named a producer on the show. Mike has written many of the prequel series's
episodes, including "Shadows of P'Jem," "Future Tense," "Regeneration," "Anomaly" and
most recently, last night's "Twilight". Mike previously worked with
writing partner Phyllis Strong and this season has been credited solo on "Anomaly" and "Twilight." Any
opening remarks you'd like to offer, Mike?
MikeSussman: Just that this is my first online chat... ...and thanks for
having me. :)
SteveKrutzler: We're very happy to have you and again, thanks for coming
at such short notice!
MikeSussman: No problem.
SteveKrutzler: Well, let's begin with questions! Everyone, please send
your questions for Mike by typing: /msg SteveKrutzler your question here. Dex
asks: I really enjoyed "Twilight", as I thought
that episode was extremely well executed consistently on all fronts. However,
the one gripe I have is that Archer not remembering anything. I was wondering
why you wrote it like that. Thanks
MikeSussman: Hmmm..."Archer not remembering anything" was really
the basic idea for the show. The central notion was that someone with Alzheimer's
disease, in some ways, could be thought of as a time-traveller...
SteveKrutzler: deannatroi asks: First of all just wanted to say how much
I enjoyed "Twilight" last night. It is now my favourite Enterprise
episode. I especially enjoyed the wonderful Archer/T'Pol interaction. I thought
it was interesting how T'Pol didn't answer Archer's question of how evolved
their relationship had become. I'm curious, would you like to see their relationship
go beyond friendship in later seasons?
MikeSussman: Thanks, deannatroi, I'm glad you liked it. I'm not sure...
I thought Scott and Jolene did a wonderful job and have such great chemistry.
SteveKrutzler: *technical difficulties* (gotta love 'em) Mike is back
with us...
MikeSussman: Sorry guys
SteveKrutzler: The_Tom asks: Hey Mike, hopefully this will be yet another
question from someone totally fawning with praise after seeing "Twilight." A
quick question about the Xindi who got Cochraned in the throat -- did you
or anyone on staff intend more nefarious arc-on-the-whole reasons behind
why he was specifically looking for Archer? It seemed like our reptilian
friend seemed very committed to finding Archer's cabin and killing him.
MikeSussman: Good question. I think the Xindi was going into Archer's
quarters because there was a guard posted outside... And he figured there might
be someone or something important in there... OR... he may have been specifically
looking for the Captain for some reason. Perhaps he didn't get the memo from
Admiral Forrest that T'Pol was now in command.
SteveKrutzler: NX-02 asks: Mike, another question. I believe this one
is a reall interesting one. About the Xindi, as they are building a planet
killer, why not make it as the cone shape (EP: The Doomsday Machine - the planet
smasher) object that James T Kirk encounter later on in the future instead
of that Xindi ball shape device?
MikeSussman: If I remember the "Doomsday Machine"... The Planet-Killer
was in fact from "another galaxy",
if you believe Spock. Could I be a bigger geek for knowing that off the top
of my head. Since the Xindi planet-killer (great word, isn't it?) is
from the Expanse, it probably wouldn't be the right thing to do.
SteveKrutzler: Reklaw: 'Fusion' and 'Stigma' were great elaborations of
Vulcan society and of T'Pol specifically. Can we expect more episodes that
will add dimension to the Vulcans? And, is T'Pol's degenerative condition going
to be followed up on?
MikeSussman: We're certainly keeping T'Pol's condition in mind... I'm
not a hundred percent certain you'll see it followed up this season... I'm
not a hundred percent certain you'll see it followed up this season... Whoops,
I'm caught in a temporal loop
SteveKrutzler: at least you can remember it ;-)
MikeSussman: I'm sure it will be followed up eventually.
SteveKrutzler: RedFyre: Would you like to push the envelope as we saw
in Twilight, but not hit the reset button at the end of the episode?
MikeSussman: If we didn't hit the "reset button" I don't know
what next week's show would be! Probably just an hour of floating debris
and corpses... yeech
SteveKrutzler: cubbie866 asks: I think "Twilight" is the best
Enterprise episode so far. Will you be writing many more Xindi arc episodes
this season? Keep up the fantastic work.
MikeSussman: Thanks, cubbie. I'm working on another Xindi show right now.
I probably can't say much about it without getting called into the principal's
office tomorrow. But it's a fun show centered around a Xindi-Humanoid known
as Degra. He was in last week's episode, "The Shipment."
SteveKrutzler: Dominic Keating just recently mentioned that he may be
intimately involved in a Xindi Council episode coming up...?
MikeSussman: You know, I read the news item on Trekweb, but honestly,
I know nothing about it. I've been in seclusion while working on my new script,
but it wouldn't surprise me.
SteveKrutzler: Seclusion? That sounds interesting... care to discuss briefly
your writing method? I'm sure many aspiring scribes want to know!
MikeSussman: My "method" (if I have one) is to get to the office
early and just start writing... ...that way, I can get all of the "goofing
off" out
of the way and by the time normal people roll into work, I'm just getting
started.
SteveKrutzler: Longtime Trekker asks: One of the most under rated villians
in Star Trek history is in my opinion the Gorn. Do you see any chance of
the Gorn storyline devoloping in the near future?
MikeSussman: Whoa! I love the Gorn. We talked about a Gorn show last season...
David Goodman was working on it, if I remember. David, you're here, aren't
you? Like you've got anything better to do. I kid Mr. Goodman. There are some
continuity issues with the Gorn.
SteveKrutzler: David is a pretty big fan of the show from what I've read
MikeSussman: "Arena" seemed to be a "first contact" scenario,
so if we did use the Gorn, we'd have to be very careful. I'm not overly
optomistic that we'll see them anytime soon.
MikeSussman: David, is, like me, a huge TOS fan.
SteveKrutzler: NX-02 asks about "Similitude": Mike, I was reading
that in an upcoming episode Tucker will be in an accident, and therefore
the doctor will be doing some kind of cloning. How do you explain how they will
bring back all the memories & knowledge of tucker in that new clone? WIll
T'Pol be performing someking of Faltorpan (The refusion) like Spock in the
movie Serach for Spock?
MikeSussman: I wish I could tell you more about "Similitude".
It's written by Manny Coto, our new Co-EP
SteveKrutzler: [co-executive producer, formerly of ODYSSEY 5]
MikeSussman: But I can tell you there will be no faltorpan ceremony in
the show.
SteveKrutzler: HybridStatement asks: Are there any plans for the Romulan
War to be featured on the show?
MikeSussman: There are no immediate plans... Earth has its hands full
with the Xindi at the moment. I heard that John Logan had a pitch for one
(or more) episodes revolving around the topic. We've certainly talked about
it at length. Obviously there are all sorts of continuity issues... Will we see
their faces, etc. If we can find a way to do it, I'm sure it'll happen.
SteveKrutzler: I've always thought you could do it by showing Romulans
on their ships or home planet, but never have the main characters make
visual contact. Sort of like the Dominion leadership scenes in DS9.
MikeSussman: That's an interesting approach. That's how they did it in "Balance
of Terror," come
to think of it. Until the very end of the episode of course.
SteveKrutzler: Shepherd asks: Mike, your work dominates most everyones
top 10 list...at least 6 of my top 10 are your eps including the top 3.
That being the case, I was wondering how much does your new producer duties give
you added influance on the direction of the show as opposed to just being
a writer?
MikeSussman: Thanks, Shepherd. My former writing partner Phyllis certainly
shares in that I don't think the title really means all that much. Writing,
breaking stories, coming up with new ideas... That's been the job since I got
here and continues to be the focus.
SteveKrutzler: I've noticed less episodes explicitly written by Rick and
Brannon this year. Has there been any significant difference in the writing
process this season?
MikeSussman: Not really... What you learn very quickly once you're lucky
enough to be working in TV is that the name on the screen isn't necessarily
the person...
SteveKrutzler: *Steve juggles to entertain the crowd for a moment during
technical glitch*
MikeSussman: What I was saying is that Rick and Brannon do a tremendous
amount of work on every episode not just the ones that say "teleplay
by Rick and Brannon". For instance... People have said some very kind
things about "Anomaly," and
I appreciate that. But it was a difficult script... Brannon easily wrote
half of it. He's entirely responsible for what I think is the best part
of that show... ...the confrontation in the airlock with the space pirate.
But that was all Brannon; his concept, his dialogue. I think I burned all
copies of my pass on that scene. I just wasn't getting it. So in a roundabout
way I'm saying that Brannon and Rick are as busy writing and developing
stories as they've ever been.
SteveKrutzler: Htown asks: I think twilight is the best episode of Enterprise
yet. However, once again Ensign Mayweather was given nothing to do. He
got a single line, then died with no acknowlegement of his passing. For your
next script, can you please give Travis something to do? :)
MikeSussman: Travis is a fine character and we could certainly find more
for him to do. I know it must be frustrating for some of the other actors
since most of ours scripts focus on Archer, T'Pol and Trip. Travis initially
had more to do in "Twilight," but
I screwed up. He was in the teaser and some other scenes, but I had to
write him out after I realized he was already "dead". I'd hoped
the impact of his death would underscore the dire nature of their situation.
It wasn't meant as a slight to the character or to Anthony. We killed off
the entire crew, after all... but I agree Travis may have died too soon.
SteveKrutzler: MattJC asks: I know this isn't a question regarding "Twilight" but,
have there been any plans to bring back Colonel Grat or any Tandarans?
They seem to have disappeared after 2 episodes
MikeSussman: To my knowledge, there aren't any plans. It was great having
Dean Stockwell on the show. Love to have him back if we have a story for
him. I read online somewhere that he should appear on our show
as "Al." -- "Sam, you're not REALLY a starship Captain."
SteveKrutzler: degra asks: in Twilight' s teaser we see the probe emerge
from energy portal with two or three ships. Two questions: Did Enterprise
chase the ships all the way from expanse or did they all emerge from portal?
Were those xindi ships escorting the weapon why if it just appaeared out of
nowhere? Could you clear up that scene?
MikeSussman: Hmmm... I think Enterprise followed them through the vortex.
I don't know how else the ship could've gotten to Earth in time. There may have
been other portals... or vortices as the Xindi call them... that we didn't
see. We've established (I think) that most of their ships can travel through
one of these "subspace vortices."
SteveKrutzler: When I read an interview with RDMcNeill (the director "Twilight"),
he indicated the challenges of the script calling for the bridge blowing
up scene. When I saw the episode I noticed it was mainly just a visual FX shot.
Was something more elaborate (from the inside?) originally planned or written
and abandoned due to time/budget?
MikeSussman: I think the shot as initially proposed showed some of the
destruction from the POV inside the Bridge... We talked at one point of putting
people on wires and flying them off the set. But they did something similar in "Nemesis".
I was blown away when I saw the final effects shot! I thought Dan Curry and
his team did a stupendous job on "Twilight"
SteveKrutzler: Someone mentioned the Vulcans earlier and in "Twilight" I
noticed that Soval seemed rather uncaring or unconcerned at the fact that
a neighboring planet of a 100-year ally had just been completely obliterated.
Was there any discussion of this decision or did it come out the way you envisioned
it?
MikeSussman: I'm sure they were very concerned. At one point, we considered
showing a Vulcan cruiser making a valiant last stand at Earth. And we did establish
that they were trying to aid the Earth convoys. If Soval seemed "uncaring," it
may have been that Earth had been destroyed many months prior. He was now concerned
about the convoys... and more specifically, T'Pol.
SteveKrutzler: Mike will still take "Twilight" questions...
Here is a question that is a follow-up on an earlier one and many people have
asked a similar version so I'll ask it directly... There was a clear hint at
a T'Pol/Archer intimacy in "Twilight." Are
there any plans to take this further? Is romance in the air or will this
always be only a tease?
MikeSussman: Maybe they'll release the NC-17 version on DVD... We left
it open-ended, but if there was intimacy, I don't think there was a lot of
it. Just my opinion. I think T'Pol was stuck on Ceti Alpha for twelve years...
she goes into heat once every seven years... ...just a matter of doing
the math. ;)
SteveKrutzler: (nice!) lol... ok.... Jadzia-Dax asks: Mike - was Archer's "You'd
make a good Nurse" comment at the end of "Twilight" a nod to
TOS?
MikeSussman: Er... no. :) There were plenty of TOS "nods" in
that show without people making up their own.
SteveKrutzler: degra takes a break from plotting the death of humanity
to ask: The scene of the gigantic wepaon in the teaser was magnificient
but I was wondering how much is Xindi ingenuity and how much is future faction
input?
MikeSussman: Good question, Degra. As the architect of the weapon, I would've
thought you'd know, but whatever...
SteveKrutzler: he's playing nice Xindi tonight
MikeSussman: In all honesty, I'm not sure if it's been decided yet. The
weapon is probably a mixture of Xindi and future technology. As for the
percentages... I'm not sure.
SteveKrutzler: Shepherd asks: How does the "mean Xindi" in Twilight
play off the "nice Xindi" in "The Shipment"...can we
expect to see our heroes play one off the other a good deal?
MikeSussman: I'm not sure I understand the question, but I think we'll
see Xindi with differing opinions on the conflict with Earth. The Xindi are
obviously a species with a lot of "issues" to
work out. They should be in therapy.
SteveKrutzler: Ok everyone, here is the last question coming up, and I
know it gets a little into the future.... You mentioned that the Xindi
have a lot of problems, and earlier you mentioned that Degra would get some more
screen time. Recently I've been marvelling at how much depth the characters of
Weyoun and Dukat had on DS9, some of the franchise's best villains in my opinion.
Weyoun had a blend of evil with comedy that made him so memorable... will Degra
or other Xindi leaders get similar scene-chewing time to really flesh out their
characters?
MikeSussman: The show I'm working on now is, I hope, one that will flesh
out Degra... we'll learn more about him and his motivations. It'll also
tell us more about the Xindi and the real reason their Council was formed...
I don't know that he'll be chewing any scenery, though. On a related note, I'm
told that Jeff Combs was devouring some of our sets today. "Proving Ground" is
going to be a great episode for all the Shran fans out there. Wonderful script
by the great Chris Black. Chris, of course, is #2 on Xenoclone's
Power Rankings.
SteveKrutzler: I recall last we saw him in "Cease Fire" (is
that right?) that Shran had some great dialogue and started to really take
on some dimensionality ala Weyoun
SteveKrutzler: Well with those teases, we'll call it a night! Thanks,
Mike, for spending much longer than you anticipated with us tonight, and on
short notice!
MikeSussman: My pleasure
SteveKrutzler: Xenoclone, as in TrekWeb's Xenoclone?
MikeSussman: Yes, I believe it may be the same person
SteveKrutzler: We hope you'll be able to join us again some time and thanks
for all your work on ENT. We know sometimes the Internet isn't the most
friendly place but despite all our opinions, I think I speak for most fans
when I say that we all wish the show the best.
MikeSussman: Thanks, Steve.
SteveKrutzler: With that, I'll let people start talking... thanks Mike!
yeah, me too.......moderator's perogative, I assume.
--------
"Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly.
-- Winston Churchill
(Picture Main Street Salt Lake City UT, Circa 1900)
I received far more questions than we had time to ask and since we changed guests at the last minute, I was trying to find some good questions related to Sussman's episode that just aired. Although I try to ask questions that encourage revealing a few tidbits, usually chat guests aren't going to reveal any major upcoming plot arcs--only Brannon or Rick themselves are really in a position to reveal those kinds of things at their discretion.
As for Trekker121's question about a gay character, I just felt it has been asked a million times of a lot of different people and I wanted to try and keep the chat centered around Sussman's particular work, especially since "Twilight" aired this very week.
--------
It's a rip-off. / We're stepped on, and cheated! / We're flat, stone-cold lied to / But we're not defeated / No!
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