Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron108.txt

Subject: Answers Date: Friday Jun 12, 1998 15:00 EDT From: RonDMoore Message-id: <1998061219004800.PAA20073@ladder03.news.aol.com>

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Since the entire set of negotiations broke down, I doubt that any territorial concessions were actually made.

<<I'm curious what your opinion is of the multiple Ferengi episodes that the show does (not including episodes that just center around Quark, which aren't necessarily "Ferengi episodes.") I'll be the first to tell you that the staff should write the shows that it wants to write instead of bowing to the will of the fans (as if even the fans can agree), but I've noticed that the Ferengi episodes are generally the lower regarded episodes every season, with the latest, "Profit and Lace," receiving criticism of a sort I haven't seen since "Let He Who is Without Sin.">>

Why do we write them? We like doing them -- it's that simple. I think the Ferengi shows are (usually) a nice change of pace and a fun running gag. Not all of them have worked, but several have and I think many of the fans are way too harsh on them. I've noticed over the years that there's an element of fandom that hates and loathes the very idea of comedy on Trek, no matter how well done it might be. One need look no farther than "Trials and Tribble-ations" to see vitriolic commentary coming from this group about what was arguably one of the best shows in the entire franchise. The Ferengi shows are broader and campier than the rest of the series and should be viewed and enjoyed as such.

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The writer is usually in on the casting session along with the director, the casting director, Steve Oster and Ira. I've pushed for various "name" actors over the years, but often found that scheduling problems, money, or lack of interest prevented us from using them.

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I'm not sure how much we'll be seeing Keiko & Company this season. I guess she just doesn't like cats.

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We have no plans to bring back Bel.

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Maybe.

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Possibly.

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It was a little sad. Terry gave a farewell lunch for the cast and crew which was definitely melancholy, but after that it was all business. I don't think we would've married them if we knew for sure that Terry was leaving.

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I'm not sure if we'll see Lwaxana again or not.

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This is under discussion right now.

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This comes up all the time and I don't know if we'll revist the Saratoga backstory or not before the series is over. It's always been an interesting area to explore, but we've never found the right story.

< His Way, Valiant > Profit and Lace). >>

We like changing the tone of the series and varying the our storytelling methodology as often as possible. We simply don't want to do the same show week after week -- and unfortunately this often works against us with the audience. By and large, TV viewers like to tune into the same show every week and they dislike not knowing what's in store for them. On the other hand, this is the very thing we love about the series and so we're willing to take that hit.

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We're all back for year seven.

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I'm not sure why, but Paramount seems to think this is the best slot for Trek movies. I don't know what would've happened to First Contact in the spring since a film's boxoffice has a lot to do with the competition it's up against and I can't recall off-hand who the competitors would've been at that time.

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I'm not sure there's a broader comment about Starfleet in this, after all we're only talking about two appearances (Red Squad had nothing to do with Wesley's Nova Squad experience) and presumably Red Squad wasn't out there killing babies between the episodes.

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We like pushing the concept of Starfleet and the Federation itself into uncharted territory. We like to question the ideals and beliefs of the Trek universe and put our characters into difficult situations that may not have easy answers. To be sure, we like Trek and enjoy working in this universe, but we're not satisfied with just painting the UFP as a happy-go-lucky place where everyone gets along and the Prime Directive is always right.

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The cast and crew won't be here until we begin prep on the first episode (seven days before actual filming). Every day since our return, the writing staff has gathered and worked on the opening episodes of season seven, but no one's actually writing a first draft teleplay yet.

<<Second, I've heard a lot over the years about writers working on episodes on which their name does not appear. You mentioned recently that Rene helped Bradley and David on a few of their scripts, and I believe I read once that Rene did a re-write of "The Visitor." You also mentioned once that you did a re-write of "In the Pale Moonlight"; in fact, you mentioned that it was you who came up with the whole concept of the episode being told through Sisko's personal log. Since this seems a pretty substantial part of the episode, why wasn't your name on it? I'm not really asking about that episode in particular, but rather what factors keep a writer's name off a script that he did considerable work on? Is it a Guild rules thing?>>

Taking credit on a rewrite is always a personal decision left up to the writer in question. There can be many reasons why you may or may not want to take credit on a rewrite and it's hard to generalize about what usually happens.

<<I've heard about Terry Ferrell leaving the show, but why is she? All the info I have heard is that she wanted to get into a pilot for the one of the new T.V. shows this fall. Is there a clear answer why? >>

Terry and Paramount were unable to come to terms on a contract for the seventh year of the series and so she decided to move on. She has since landed a role on the new Ted Danson sitcom "Beckett" (?) and we wish her all the best.

<<Hello Ron...I have a question on The Reckoning. Seems like a silly point...but I couldn't understand why there was such a bother made about bringing the relic back to the planet. Why couldn't they just snap a picture of it...or some holographic image...if I remeber correctly they were just interested in decoding the lettering. They didn't need it physically in front of them.>>

Since it was a relic with religious significance, everyone involved wanted the actual relic not simply a photocopy since it was presumed that the stone itself was significant.

<<Has there ever been a proposal for a "Star Trek Musical" episode? What are your opinions on such an episode: is it too corny to even try, or could it work if done just right? Is "His Way" the closest you'd want to get to such an episode?>>

I've been agitating for this since year 5 of TNG. It's a completely insane idea. Which is exactly why I love it.