Brannon Braga Interview in IF Magazine

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Some fans will follow a show head, writer, director, etc, from one show to another. Look at Abrams fans or Ronald D Moore fans, or Joss Whedon fans. The guys themselves have become brand names.

Incorrect, at least in regards to me anyway.

I guess that would be the point of the opening phrase "some fans," then. You think that might be the case?

 

[Lashmore]

Just to point out that broad terms are a mistake to get your wanted points across. You may not be even statistically talking about a mjaority, since most people will switch a show off if they find it bad, not keep watching just because some guy made it.

Whedon just managed to find a good target audience with his stuff because he knows what sells to them. Chicks fighting vampires - teenagers, majority.

Chicks that are programmed to be how you want them - teenagers and young male adults, again, guranteed decent viewing.

I honestly don;t think anyone just follows a guy cause their name is on the show, people won't watch soemthign they find boring. These people that have constantly good amoutn of viewers is due to: subject matter and targetted audience for such subject matter.

Can't say, without taking a worldwide poll, their constant ratings are due to people following them.

 

[I am not Spock]

People follow Whedon because he (usually) has a reputation for quality. They may give something a try because he wrote it. That's not to say they may not tune out again if they don't find it to be their cup of tea.

Quite a few Trekkies probably won't watch another show which has Braga's name attached to it, conversely. That probably isn't a rational view. Braga's done his share of good writing.

 

[xortex]

People follow Whedon because he (usually) has a reputation for quality. They may give something a try because he wrote it. That's not to say they may not tune out again if they don't find it to be their cup of tea.

Quite a few Trekkies probably won't watch another show which has Braga's name attached to it, conversely. That probably isn't a rational view. Braga's done his share of good writing.

Braga was the only guy keeping Enterprise afloat. The rest were seemingly dead set at abusing it and exasperating and exploiting an already bad situation. I stay miles away from wheadon just because of his name.

 

[number6]

People follow Whedon because he (usually) has a reputation for quality. They may give something a try because he wrote it. That's not to say they may not tune out again if they don't find it to be their cup of tea.

Quite a few Trekkies probably won't watch another show which has Braga's name attached to it, conversely. That probably isn't a rational view. Braga's done his share of good writing.

Braga was the only guy keeping Enterprise afloat. The rest were seemingly dead set at abusing it and exasperating and exploiting an already bad situation. I stay miles away from wheadon just because of his name.

What are you talking about?? There were quite a few great writers on ENT.

Mike Sussman, Judy and Gar Reeves Stevens, Chris Black, Manny Coto, David Goodman, John Shiban Andre Bourmanis..All of whom wrote some great episodes of Enterprise, some worthy of being called great episodes of Star Trek.

 

[Psion]

Most viewers have no idea who writes TV, what a producer does or much about how a show or movie is made. It's just not an important or particularly interesting thing to know, since most people don't live or work in areas where this kind of thing is done.

As much as I like to argue with you lately, I genuinely liked this. A lot of posters might try to make it an association with viewer intelligence or laziness, but you're right -- the production personnel are completely irrelevant to the bulk of viewers who go to work/school in the morning, come home at night to eat dinner, then watch TV to be entertained before going to bed and repeating the cycle.

And you're right about the assumption that a fan base will reliably move from one show to the next in a given franchise, too. As much as I ended up loving DS9, I really didn't like it much at all the first season or so ... I even gave up on it for a while during the second season. But eventually, it grew on me. Same thing with Stargate: Atlantis, although it never quite fired on all pistons for me.

If you look at the set of audience members who are not fans of the franchise, then it's easy to see why they'd only sample the new show and move on to something else. If they're not fans of the franchise, then something else drew them in; a particular character dynamic, for instance. Or a regular location. Hell, maybe even just the timeslot. For every Trek fan who loves the details of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet history, there are ten generic audience members who are just curious about the guy with the pointed ears, and if they don't see that one quirky thing that entertained them last time, they move on to something better.

Even fans behave the same way, although we'll give a show more time to grow on us. Some will leave when they see it isn't about Spock. Some will stay longer and leave when they see it isn't set on a spaceship, and some will leave when they decide Avery Brooks doesn't look like he's going to find his character any time soon. I'm very close to a die-hard. I'll watch anything with a Trek name on it. And even if I give up, I'll likely come back later anyway. Voyager was a curious exception ... I hated that show for the most part, but the effects were so frequent and so gorgeous that I hung on for the eye candy and the one-out-of-eight episodes that I actually enjoyed.

 

[xortex]

People follow Whedon because he (usually) has a reputation for quality. They may give something a try because he wrote it. That's not to say they may not tune out again if they don't find it to be their cup of tea.

Quite a few Trekkies probably won't watch another show which has Braga's name attached to it, conversely. That probably isn't a rational view. Braga's done his share of good writing.

Braga was the only guy keeping Enterprise afloat. The rest were seemingly dead set at abusing it and exasperating and exploiting an already bad situation. I stay miles away from wheadon just because of his name.

What are you talking about?? There were quite a few great writers on ENT.

Mike Sussman, Judy and Gar Reeves Stevens, Chris Black, Manny Coto, David Goodman, John Shiban Andre Bourmanis..All of whom wrote some great episodes of Enterprise, some worthy of being called great episodes of Star Trek.

Yea but all under the tightly reined vision of Berman - so no break outs of the shackles. They were held back.

 

[number6]

Braga was the only guy keeping Enterprise afloat. The rest were seemingly dead set at abusing it and exasperating and exploiting an already bad situation. I stay miles away from wheadon just because of his name.

What are you talking about?? There were quite a few great writers on ENT.

Mike Sussman, Judy and Gar Reeves Stevens, Chris Black, Manny Coto, David Goodman, John Shiban Andre Bourmanis..All of whom wrote some great episodes of Enterprise, some worthy of being called great episodes of Star Trek.

Yea but all under the tightly reined vision of Berman - so no break outs of the shackles. They were held back.

Doubtful. If they were held back by anyone, it would have been from UPN execs tampering with the show to make it more "Star Trek." These would be the same people who added "Star Trek" to the title of the show because they didn't think the audience was smart enough to know that they were watching Star Trek.

 

[xortex]

Hamstringed I tell you. Maybe not deleberately but noone was gonna tamper with the formula under Bermans nose.

 

[number6]

Hamstringed I tell you. Maybe not deleberately but noone was gonna tamper with the formula under Bermans nose.

Sorry but you are misinformed, but please, don't let any of the facts get in the way of your petty hatred.

 

[xortex]

Hamstringed I tell you. Maybe not deleberately but noone was gonna tamper with the formula under Bermans nose.

Sorry but you are misinformed, but please, don't let any of the facts get in the way of your petty hatred.

Sorry but the confining thinking of 'our captain doesn't do or say that' started with Berman. I'm going to sleep now.

 

[number6]

Hamstringed I tell you. Maybe not deleberately but noone was gonna tamper with the formula under Bermans nose.

Sorry but you are misinformed, but please, don't let any of the facts get in the way of your petty hatred.

Sorry but the confining thinking of 'our captain doesn't do or say that' started with Berman. I'm going to sleep now.

Nope. That started with Gene Roddenberry. Sleep well.

 

[xortex]

Sorry but you are misinformed, but please, don't let any of the facts get in the way of your petty hatred.

Sorry but the confining thinking of 'our captain doesn't do or say that' started with Berman. I'm going to sleep now.

Nope. That started with Gene Roddenberry. Sleep well.

Fortunately, Roddenberry has nothing to prove to anyone.

 

[Kryton]

I stay miles away from wheadon just because of his name.

That must be difficult seeing as how you are unable to correctly spell it.

 

[Broccoli]

Sorry but the confining thinking of 'our captain doesn't do or say that' started with Berman. I'm going to sleep now.

Nope. That started with Gene Roddenberry. Sleep well.

Fortunately, Roddenberry has nothing to prove to anyone.

Relevance to conversation = 0

I stay miles away from wheadon just because of his name.

That must be difficult seeing as how you are unable to correctly spell it.

Oh snap!

 

[xortex]

Braga loved Berman's work because he was the head honcho. Berman loved Braga's work cause it was so much better than his work and he wanted Brannon to like his work. That was the dynamic.

 

[number6]

Braga loved Berman's work because he was the head honcho. Berman loved Braga's work cause it was so much better than his work and he wanted Brannon to like his work. That was the dynamic.

Um. Yeah.. Whatever.

 

[I am not Spock]

Braga was OK before he became a producer, I think. He wrote some pretty good episodes of TNG and even Voyager.

Braga should have just written and stayed out of production, and Berman should have let others write, and stayed IN production.

Funny that Braga gets lumped in with Insurrection and Nemesis by some folks, considering he had nothing to do with them! However, he was very much involved with First Contact, which is frequently cited as a fan favourite. Go figure.

 

[Jeyl]

However, he was very much involved with First Contact, which is frequently cited as a fan favourite. Go figure.

Forgive the intrusion, but First Contact isn't one of my favorites by a long shot. The whole concept and execution of Zefram Cochrane was not my cup of tea and served only as a foreshadowing moment of the show ENTERPRISE in which Rick Berman and Brannon Braga would finally sandwich TOS into something they themselves created. Sorry, but their idea of what Star Trek is isn't anything like the ideas I've had. Not saying First Contact is bad, but it has a "Let's fiddle with Star Trek lore and make it our own" written all over it.

Besides, even if First Contact was a fan favorite, Generations for me cancels that out. That movie is the epiphany of plot holes that it makes me wonder why more care wasn't put into it? Even trying to justify some of the elements makes not only the writers come out as douche's but also the characters. Picard didn't want to go back in time too early because it would hamper history. Ya, having someone blow up a Star is alright, but preventing the USS Bozeman from making a course correction is a big nono.

I like how in the interview he said that HE was the one who divorced his so-called wife. I know for a fact that he's lying because if his idea of a valentines gift is in the form of an older "trek" girlfriend, who wouldn't leave him?

 

[M'Sharak]

[...]

Besides, even if First Contact was a fan favorite, Generations for me cancels that out. That movie is the epiphany of plot holes that it makes me wonder why more care wasn't put into it?

[...]

I think you meant "epitome" there.