Zicree on 'Star Trek'

While others may just be having fun, "...my goal is to change the history of television, says writer of Deep Space Nine's: Far Beyond the Stars.

Speaking as a guest columnist for TV Guide recently, Marc Zicree admitted that he has been a fan of Star Trek from the very first night it aired. "One thing was certain," he said in reference to the first episode aired on September 8, 1966. "Television would never be the same. And neither would I."

That pivotal night set him on the road that led him to becoming a writer-producer and a director. "I was hardly alone in being warped and altered by Star Trek," said Zicree. "In 40 years, that number has grown by many millions."

He first heard of New Voyages while on a Star Trek panel with Walter Koenig at a science fiction convention. "I went online, checked out the previous two episodes, and was hooked," he said. "More than that: I remembered a terrific Sulu story my friend Michael Reaves had pitched to Star Trek Phase II, a series Paramount spent a year developing from 1976-77. With the success of Star Wars, Paramount decided to make Trek movies instead, and thus Michael's story never got made (or even written, in fact).This seemed the perfect opportunity. I asked Michael if he'd like to write the script with me. Fortunately, he said yes, and James Cawley said yes, and — most importantly — the endlessly kind and talented George Takei said yes." The story became World Enough and Time.

In World Enough and Time, Sulu find himself stranded on an alien world for thirty years as the result of a spatial anomaly. He ages and fathers a daughter, but when he is returned to the Enterprise, finds that only minutes have elapsed, not thirty years and that the solution to the ship's problems may cost him his daughter.

To read his guest column, head to the link located here.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!