Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron029.txt

--- Subj: Answers Date: 5/6/97 5:45:11 PM From:  RonDMoore

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I didn't have anything specific in mind. The season finale simply gives us an opportunity to make changes if we feel like it, but at the moment, there's nothing in the works. It was just sort of a random thought that I posted -- one of dangers of reading this board is that occasionally the "notions" I post here won't come to pass, so beware.

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I don't think so. I think that at the most fundamental level, DS9 is the story of Sisko the Emissary. Absent Avery, I think the show would lose its focus and its vitality.

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I really don't know what the cartographic relationships are between these planets. It would make sense that Earth and Betazed have adjacent starbases, but Risa is not in the Federation and would not have a base.

<< I heard that Robert Hewitt Wolfe makes a brief appearence as an extra in the season finale since this is his last episode. Is this true, and if so, where in the episode is he and what is he portraying?>>

Robert can be seen as a science officer with a nasty wound being escorted to an airlock just as Dax is coming out of the airlock to talk to Worf.

<< I just saw another of your fine Klingon tales ("Soldiers...") and noticed the thing about it being the year of Kahless 999. Was this perhaps a subtle set-up to explore Millennial themes in the context of Klingon culture next season, it being the year of Kahless 1000>>

This was another random idea of mine. I don't know if we'll do a Klingon millennial story or not, but I wanted to throw it in this episode in case we did want to follow it up later.

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We have only the slightest idea of what Paramount is doing in merchandising and licensing around here. Our impressions are that some of the toys/games/figures/etc. are good and some are bad, but none of us are true collectors or really have a sense of what the real collectors think about the product.

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No. It's actually the face of my dog Binks who is the real inspiration for us all.

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The pace of the beginning is exactly what we wanted in the script. Our aim was open the film with a bang and race right into the tale. If I had more money, I would've pumped up the space battle sequence considerably and then the battle on the hull.

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The Borg are basically the property of Voyager now. That's okay, we have all the other cool races. --- Subj: Answers Date: 5/6/97 6:07:59 PM From:  RonDMoore

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To me, "Soldiers" is an ensemble piece exploring the inner workings of a Klingon ship and showing them to be more than just a bunch of one-note Vikings, while "Family" was a tightly focused character drama about Picard, Worf, and Wesley and their respective families. I never thought of them having the thematic tie you're referring to, but on reflection the Martok and Picard arcs are quite similar. Very interesting.

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There is an English translation that was written for the Klingon CD-ROM (which is where the Klingon Anthem originated) but I don't have them. Does anyone of the House of Martok, instead of restoring the House of Mogh?>>

This seemed like a good next step for Worf. His own House has been shattered, his brother now belongs to another family and I wasn't interested in Worf reclaiming his own House once again. Joining Martok's family seemed like a breath of fresh air that allows us to play more Klingon stuff with Worf without going over old territory. The House of Mogh is dead. Long live the House of Martok. As a member of Martok's family Worf is now under his protection and while this will no doubt annoy Gowron, it's perfectly "legal" under Klingon law.

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Now THAT'S a rumor I've never heard before! I am married, but not to Gail. My wife's name is Ruby and she does not produce any TV shows that I'm aware of. The Trek/Buffy connection is something I may have to investigate. I've never seen it, but maybe it's time.

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Yikes. Here's our reasoning as best I can recall: Guinan, Soren, and the other El-Aurians are in some kind of transitional phase going into the Nexus when their ships begin exploding. The Enterprise-B beams them away at a crucial moment that brings their physical bodies back, but leaves behind some kind of "echo" (at least for Guinan -- whether or not Soren also left behind an "echo" was the subject of much debate and many rewrites, some including a Soren doppleganger and some even including a meeting between the two Sorens in the Nexus). The momentary sensation of being in the Nexus leaves both Guinan and Soren with an almost overpowering desire to return. When Kirk is pulled into the Nexus, there's no transporter beam to yank him away and hence, he's completely left inside. When Picard and Soren enter the Nexus years later, they too are pulled in completely and the idea of an "echo" should not apply since it was the direct result of a transporter fluke in a very specific instance.

With an explanation this simple, it's amazing that Brannon and I seem to be the only ones who understand the Nexus (and I'm not too sure about Brannon). *Apply the appropriate sound of sarcasm to this statement, please.*

Subj: Answers Date: 5/6/97 6:25:10 PM From:  RonDMoore

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Usually the advantages are a familiarity with the cast, the crew and the sets. This gives them an ease and confidence with the show that sometimes translates into a brisk and confident directorial style. But that's about the limit of the advantage. There are no obvious disadvantages except that actors don't always make good directors (and vice-versa) and each of them has to be judged on the merits of his/her own directorial work.

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I think they always bring a certain prestige to the set, but they are still visitors and the regular cast sets the tone more than anyone else. With the exception of Whoopi, I think we've approached most of our "name" guest stars first.

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To O'Brien and to C.S. Forester, who wrote the "Hornblower" books (which were incidentally one of Gene's inspirations for the character of Kirk).

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I don't think it was the Borg. As for the Dominion.... maybe, maybe not. (Aren't I evil?)

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It could be a lot of fun, so sure, I'd do it. But I think that the TNG time frame has just about run its course. I'd want a new series to be set either pre-TOS or post TNG. I also think that the next series (if there is one) should be as big a departure from what's on now as TNG was from TOS and DS9 was from TNG. Like a show set entirely on the Klingon Homeworld.

Hmmm.

<<Was Spock ( horrors! ) WRONG about Klingons not possessing tear-ducts? Was this a great big error in the continuity, or is it a deliberate effort to divorce ST6 from the mythos? >>

Spock misspoke. When ST6 was being written, they never checked with TNG about things like Klingon tear ducts or the color of Klingon blood, so their take on the bumpy-headed guys is a little different from what we were doing on the series. I think we'd made references to Klingon tears well before ST6 came out.

<<Before you mentioned something like, "The staff said goodbye to Robert Hewit Wolfe." Does this mean that he left the show, or just went on vacation earlier?>>

Robert has left the show. He was burned out after 5 years and wanted to do feature film work. The team of Bradley Thompson and David Weddle have come aboard as our newest staff writers for season 6.

<<Mr. Takei was talking about a series featuring him and the Excelsior. He said that the series should come out in 1999. I realize that this could be a wild rumor, but what are the chances of seeing an Excelsior series? Is that a show that you would be willing to take a part in? >>

This is a wild rumor to my knowledge.

<<Would negotiating another 3+ years be so hard? Do the actors think they've got a future in Trek films?>>

It's really more of a question of how many years Paramount and the affiliates want the show to run in first-run syndication than a question of the actors at this point. Season 7 is still up in the air, much less 8 or 9.

Subj: Answers Date: 5/6/97 6:29:38 PM From:  RonDMoore

<<Also, my Micro-Machines U.S.S. Pasteur (Uh, I'm a collector! Yeah, that's it!) has a registry number in the 50000's.  Is that the right number? It seems low. We were lead to believe that it was a futuristic derivative of the Daedalus Class, but its registry number indicates that it was created quite some time prior even to TNG. Huh?>>

I don't know anything about the registry numbers, but my impression is that they're not necessarily chronological, so a lower number shouldn't necessarily mean an earlier launch date.

<<Do you think we'll ever learn who Odo's mysterious Cardassian informant in "Improbable Cause" was? Was it, by any chance, Thrax? After all, he did say he'd changed his appearance since the last time Odo had seen him.>>

This was discussed by the staff and I don't know if we'll revisit this character or not -- if we do, the Thrax angle is definitely a possibility.

<<Also, do you think we'll ever learn Gul Dukat's first name?>>

I thought it was Elmo.