From SciFiPulse:
Season Four Wasn't The Manny Coto Show!
By Ian M. Cullen
I guess with recent events in Star Trek land we can only really say that ‘Those Were The Voyages' a sentiment which although not popular is shared by as many people as there are those who feel that there is still life in the franchise. At present there is still much anger and condemnation amongst fans who will be debating what went wrong with Star Trek: Enterprise for quite some time to come. It is also fair to say that much anger over the last few years has been aimed squarely at Executive Producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. In a recent interview for Starburst Magazine Berman addressed fan criticisms as well as gave some insights about the series finale which will get its Network Premiere next weekend in the US on UPN.
In addressing his critics Berman offered the following. “When you are perceived as the person in charge, which is not always necessarily the case, you're the person who takes the blame when there are problems,” Berman says.
“There are a tremendous number of misconceptions we pick up from some of the more verbal fans. They believe that when we took Manny Coto and we promoted him from co – executive producer to executive producer that he just suddenly took over and it became The Manny Coto Show. That's just nonsense. Manny was very involved in the third season as one of our three or four top people, and he remained the same in the fourth season. My involvement and Brannon's involvement in the fourth season, in all the stories and scripts was really no less than it was before, but people perceive it as The Manny Coto Season.”
Having said this Berman went on to add that he has a great deal respect and admiration for Manny Coto and praises the writer for having hung tough with the rest of the creative staff on the show. He also adds that much of what is written on the internet about him and Brannon Braga is pure fiction.
Of course the criticism towards Berman and Braga has increased somewhat since it was revealed that the Enterprise finale titled ‘These Are The Voyages' would essentially be a Star Trek: The Next Generation story which acts as a sequel to the 7 th season episode titled the Pegasus and would guest star both Jonathon Frakes and Marina Sirtis in their TNG roles.
In Pegasus it is revealed that Riker was once involved with a Starship Captain who was illegally experimenting with Cloaking Technology in spite of a Federation Treaty with Romulus which forbids the UHF from having cloaking Technology on their ships. ‘These Are The Voyages' picks up a day or so after the events of Pegasus and see Will Riker contemplating the issues he has had to deal with, and with some urging from Counsellor Troi (Marina Sirtis) Riker takes it upon himself to study a tragic incident involving the NX – 01 which led to the signing of the Federation treaty.
“I think it was me [who devised the idea of incorporating The Next Generation], but it was never a question of going back to that era,” he states. “It was a question of finding a way to put this group of [ Enterprise ] characters into a historic perspective. In order to do that, the idea of looking back at a very crucial point in the lives of these people, right prior to the signing of a document that would lead to the foundation of the Federation, was what we decided to consider. And then there was the thought, ‘What if this were Riker being somewhat indecisive about something important in his life? And what if he goes back to this critical day to try to get some insight?'”
Indecision however was not a problem with regards to getting Jonathon Frakes and Marina Sirtis to agree to come back in their roles. “They were delighted to come back. I'm in close touch and quite friendly with both of them. Jonathon was in London, preparing to move back to the States, and Marina was here in LA. So everybody was happy to come in and do it.”
One major concern with fans of Star Trek: Enterprise is the fact that they fear that the cast of Enterprise are going to be pushed back onto the side lines in order to allow Frakes and Sirtis star status on the episode. Berman however does not think that this is an issue. “I don't believe in any way that Enterprise gets lost. I believe this was a way to honour this show, to look at these characters in a perspective that wrapped them into the last 18 years of Star Trek. Everybody is so critical of us, and when I say everybody I'm talking about the usual people we see on the Internet.”
You can read more of this revealing interview with Rick Berman in issue 324 of Starburst Magazine which is out now priced £3.99.
Berman: Season Four Wasn't The Manny Coto Show!
