Berman Hints At New Internet Star Trek Project

Former Enterprise executive producer Rick Berman hinted at a new internet-related Star Trek project and remembered his fellow executive producer Michael Piller in a new interview discussing the state of the Star Trek Universe.

Speaking to Star Trek Magazine (via SciFi Pulse), Berman did not offer any information on the state of his proposal for an eleventh Star Trek film, which he said "does not seem to be imminent", nor about any changes that might ensue from the Viacom-CBS split that has left the television franchise with CBS Corp. while Paramount Pictures and its video distribution division keep the films and DVDs. However, he did say, "There's something going on with the Internet, something Star Trek–related, but it's something that's way too early to discuss."

Berman recalled Piller as a friend and co-worker, crediting him with taking the Next Generation writing staff from "in chaos at that time" he joined it to the excellent team it became later on. "It was not in any way a traditional writing staff, which was what Michael had worked with in the past," explained Berman. "Michael came in and took a chaotic group of writers that weren't really working within any kind of general structure." After 12 years of working with Berman, Piller left Star Trek to pursue other projects, yet the two "remained friends and we continued to talk to each other on a very regular basis."

Asked whether he thought his more recent collaborator, Enterprise co-creator Brannon Braga was "done with Star Trek" as he had been quoted as saying, Berman noted, "I looked at the whole statement somewhere on the Internet. It was very overrated. All that Brannon said was that he's on another project and he's not doing Star Trek right now." As for himself, added Berman, "I have no idea if I'm done with Star Trek. Since there are no Star Trek projects in television even being discussed right now and since the idea of the next Star Trek movie is far away...I can't make any kind of definitive statement on that."

Though he was not a great fan of the original series, Berman said that he often screened episodes while working on the later shows. "A lot of fans like to berate me with the idea that I don’t care about the continuity of the series," he protested. "It was something that I in fact cared greatly about, and it was something we always tried not to hurt."

More of the interview is in issue 125 of Star Trek Magazine. These excerpts are from SciFi Pulse.

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