Found in my files, under “Why the hell didn’t I know about this?” (which is a frustrating category of file to have,) is Chase Masterson’s series of audio interviews for theFandom.com, done in 2005, with many Trek notables (and a couple other genre favorites–I’m starting with Forrest J. Ackerman.)
Lisabeth Shatner also did some, and a few are on Chase’s site. There are apparently more at theFandom.com, but I’m getting 403 errors when I try to access it.
OSSIM find, Pike. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Is there anyone who doesn’t love Chase?
Chase Masterson is creamy goodness.
Forrest J. Ackerman reads the last page of books. I do that. ahem Yeah, I thot that was cool.
He coined the phrase sci-fi. It was originally scientific fiction.
Oh yeah, right.
I don’t get that. Someone at work overheard me talking about Star Trek and blurted out, “Oh you’re one of those Trekkies!” My nerdness perked up and thot about correcting her saying, “It’s Trekker.” I realized that she’d already labeled me and I was about to give her more justification. Instead I said, “Have you ever seen the show?” and found a closet fan.
He also brought Perry Rhodan to the states. I will always be in his debt for filling so much of my childhood with those stories. He was a great, great man.
I just downloaded Chase’s 2005 interviews with Ronald D Moore and Brannon Braga.
In the Ron Moore interview, Chase talks about RDM’s success with his new hit show BSG. It was a great interview and worth listening to just because of how gracious and cool Ron Moore is.
Now on to the really shocking stuff…for me anyway. In the Brannon Braga interview, I expected him to justify killing the Star Trek franchise with the ever popular, “Star Trek needs a break.” In the past I have been very vocal about my contempt for Mr. Braga. After the fandom.com interview, I am reluctantly retracting some of those statements.
The interview began with promoting Braga’s show ‘Threshold’. Then Chase read some questions from the online participants. Many of the audience asked questions I would ask and I was impressed with how Braga answered them. He didn’t dodge any of them and seem more comfortable answering the more difficult questions than the easy ones. I won’t get into every detail (you can listen to the interview and make your own opinion), but my impression was that Braga is an artist and takes risks. You can’t fault him that. Sometimes risks pay off, sometimes they don’t. He didn’t try to defend the Enterprise finale but instead explained it. He joked and said, “I thot it was a good idea at the time. We wanted to not only send off Enterprise with the respect it deserved but all of the franchises. It didn’t work out that way.” He was honest about the fans disgust and the actors dislike. He said the finale came off as flat because the actors were not happy.
As the interview progressed I found myself agreeing :eek: with Braga! I know, I’m as shocked as you are. There was one point where a fan asked, “Why did you kill Star Trek?” To which he scoffed, “I didn’t kill Star Trek! There’s a ton of factors that keep a show on the air. Star Trek viewership was down and Paramount decided to pull the plug.” Then when asked about future movies he said something that had me stop in my tracks, “I would like to see Star Trek return for like a 2 hour TV movie, just to visit those characters again.” I literally stopped walking home and my jaw dropped. I had expressed that very same sentiment. I would love a Star Trek mini-series every 2 or 3 years.
Anyway, Mr. Braga, if you’re reading this, consider this an open letter apology from frakkintalos.
I still blame you for everything that went wrong ever.
There has to be that one guy. I’m he.