Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron041.txt

Subj: Answers Date: 7/16/97 00:49:11 From: RonDMoore

<< I wonder if they will have a special episode on either or both shows this year in tribute to TNG's 10th anniversary.>>

There are no plans for a TNG anniversary salute on either show. Ten years seems like an awfully short time for anniversary salutes in my opinion.

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The Sovereign-class will probably not be making an appearance on DS9. The ship and its class are definitely part of the feature franchise and not available for series work.

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We haven't forgotten the line. Our thinking is that the Founders think and plan for the looooong term. The fate of Cardassia has been probably been sealed as far as their concerned, but the final moves may not play themselves out for quite some time.

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We will see the Rotarran again, but not with the same crew. The reason is budgetary. It costs $$$ to use speaking roles in any episode and unless there was some story-driven reason to use those actors again, we would fill the bridge with non-speaking extras (or "background") in a show that took place on the Rotarran, but did not require the appearance of those specific characters in the drama. It's unfortunate, but it's just one of many concessions that are made in producing an elaborate and expensive show like DS9.

<< I have never seen a picture of you-- what do you look like?>>

Tom Cruise, except completely different.

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You'll never guess. It's an old family name (Irish, I believe).

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No plans at the moment.

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Possibly.

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All I can say is that Colm was at work, on the set, on Friday and is still a part of the cast. - Subj: Answers Date: 7/16/97 01:10:09 From: RonDMoore

<<[The Enterprise is] the most important ship in the fleet. It would be at the biggest battle with hundreds of amassed ships.>>

Well, no, not really. First of all, while the Enterprise is certainly a great ship with a proud lineage and has one of the finest crew in the fleet, saying she's *the* most important vessel is taking things a bit too far. In our view, the Enterprise is one of many ships in Starfleet, all of them crewed by the cream of the Federation and all representing the ideals of Gene's universe. I've always opposed the "deification" of the Enterprise (A,B,C,D,E, and the original) as some sort of quasi-mystical ship. (This has nothing to do with the "flagship" designation, by the way -- that's more of an honorific with Starfleet than anything else and is an acknowledgement of the proud tradition of ships named Enterprise in Starfleet.) The Enterprise is special to US, the viewers, and WE can view it as the most important ship, but extending that to the way it's treated in the series (any of the series) would be a mistake. It's confusing the audience's identification with the ship and characters with the reality being created on screen. Yes, it's clearly famous and yes, it's certainly a plum assignment. But if the Enterprise started being treated as *the* most important vessel in SF, then it would cease to get the dangerous missions and would probably start being treated as more of a "showboat" than a real workhorse -- you don't send *the* most important ship in the Federation out to do hum-drum missions like patrol the border, catalog odd subspace readings or any of the other many things we sent the Big-E out to go do. I find that saying that the Enterprise is only one of many actually increases my respect for her and her crew in a funny way.

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Yes.

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Worf: Curzon's name is an honored one among my people.

Dax: (in Klingon) Yeah, but I'm a lot better looking than he was.

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No.

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I've never looked... oh, my god!

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We have nothing to do with this. The video releases are up to Paramount Home Video and they have never solicited our opinions about anything.

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Not true.

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The WGA is here in Los Angeles and the TV Academy is in North Hollywood. They're both listed and you can call them for information (sorry, but I don't have the numbers at my fingertips.)

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Our reasoning (and it's admittedly thin) is that Picard didn't want to go back any further in time than absolutely necessary since he knows the extreme dangers of unexpected results from any tampering with the timeline. Okay, it's not much, but there it is.

Subj: Answers Date: 7/16/97 01:37:37 From: RonDMoore

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1. Dabo boys ain't gonna be hired by Quark, that's just a Ferengi fact of life. 2. Sexy male in love with a (to us) ugly female is an interesting idea and is certainly possible. 3. Exploration of the sexuality of a male character seems to imply discovering that one of our regulars is bi or gay and we have no plans to do so, chiefly because dealing with one's sexual orientation in Gene's 24th century is kinda simple: "Hey, Captain, I think I might be gay." "Okay. Now get back to fixing those transtators." It's not really an issue to these people, so "exploring" it doesn't hold much promise. I liked "Rejoined" precisely because it did *not* explore Dax's sexuality, it simply presented it in the context of a love story and let the viewer deal with their own feelings about it.

You could argue that we *should* do more stories in this vein and that maybe more tales about homosexuality in the 24th century would be a good thing, and I wouldn't argue with you. But it's not something that we're *interested* in at the moment. That's our prerogative -- we're TV writers, not social engineers. We don't have a defined list of "goals" or "causes" that must be advocated or explored as part of our mandate. We write about what interests sometimes limited perspectives. But that also means that we have a *passion* for what we do end up writing.
 * us* and yes, you can say that we're influenced by our own tastes and our own

That, to me, is much more important -- that the writing reflect my very best work and that it say what I want it to say. There are many things I *could* say -- many important and worthy causes I could choose to advance or ills I could choose to condemn -- but there are only so many episodes and so many opportunities. Choices have to be made. So what I'm saying to you is not that I'm opposed to the idea of gay-themed shows or issues of sexual orientation being explored on the show, but it's not one of my personal passions and therefore is not likely to end up in my work. "Rejoined" engaged me, it moved me, and I had a passion to tell that tale. If I hear or think of another story that deals with any of the themes you're concerned about that engages me in a similar way, I'd fight for it. That's the best I can offer you.

<<what of the rumor of McCoy appearing this season on DS9?>>

No truth to this one.

<<do you get overwhelmed with Garak ideas?- and are any so wacky that they get thrown out for being too 'off'? or do ideas get thrown out because they will tend to establish a pattern for Garak? >>

Garak's a tricky character to write for, and yes there are many notions tossed around that are ultimately abandoned.

<< Lastly, as part of the pathetic attention to the minute that Trek nerds tend to show-- Just how big is the Defiant? >>

According to the schematic diagram on my wall, the Defiant has four decks.