He called the ship the Ent-E, he forgot Troi's name, and he thought Wesley left with the traveller when he left for the academy. Thats just in the first 45 minutes!
Extremely Detailed Berman Interview
- Thread starter CoveTom
- Start date
None of that is any big deal in a conversation...obsessive trekkies would get it all right every time, I guess, but no one else. Frankly I was surprised that he remembered the name of "the Traveler."
Berman's first script for Star Trek, "Brothers," was remarkably attentive to the details of continuity concerning Data and showed a good deal of thought about the character and the implications of what had been said about him - more continuity porn in there, in fact, than other writers were encouraged/allowed to lard their scripts with. Guess it was good to be the boss.
BTW, for those who find it unbearable to be open minded about this guy for any length of time there are several Archive interviews with less controversial Trek luminaries available at YouTube:
Joe Jennings
Robert Justman
Alexander Courage
Only the same way about Brannon Braga
I don't agree. I was never that in to TNG, I've only seen it in re-runs... but these are basic facts that the person running the whole show should know like the back of his hand.
Now he thinks Riker was going to blow up the Enterprise from "another ship" at the end of BoBW. How can anyone who has seen this iconic cliffhanger get that so wrong, let alone the show runner?
It's not really an agree/disagree kind of thing.
Basic facts? Like, say, the names of one's children?
Are you a parent? If so and you claim that you've never blanked on or confused the names of your children then you have a selective memory for embarrassing moments.
The more familiar that kind of material is and the more of it there is the more likely one is to blank on or misremember bits of it at a given moment. If you truly think that Rick Berman doesn't know that Marina Sirtis played a character named Deanna Troi then you're the one who's out of touch. Or you've confused him with Stuart Baird.
William Shatner has copped to remembering very little about TOS episodes unless someone identifies the guest actress of the week for him.
Now he just said that Nana Visitor played Ensign Ro in TNG and went on to play Kira in DS9.
I think that it's quite common for producers to forget some of the small plot details. They typically don't sit around and re-watch their episodes over and over again like rabid fans do. However, if you mix up your cast and characters...uh... that's pretty bad!
I remember hearing Garret Wang saying in an interview that Berman didn't have a clue what was going on on VOY's sets. He would drop in maybe once a week (if at all), boss people around for a while and then go about his business (which, apparently, was everything except Star Trek at that time).
And yeah, Wang also openly called him an idiot.
And yeah, Wang also openly called him an idiot.
Now he just claimed Jeri Ryan wasnt hired to replace Jennifer Lien. He seemed to imply that she was written off very early on and that Jeri Ryan was brought on much later. They actually were written off/introduced in the same episode.
If Garret Wang said that it was sunny outside I'd carry an open umbrella. He was lucky to hold on to his job.
Don't blame the lameness of his character on him. He wanted them to write some risks and character development for him and they never did.
from the Associated Content interview with Nana Visitor:
Q: Rick Berman. Criticism of his handling of the franchise has been pretty severe. Some other Star Trek actors have said Rick Berman was never a hands on producer and rarely visited their sets. Was that the case with DS9?
A: Producers Michael Piller and Ira Steven Behr were my guiding lights in the show. And I adored and I will always adore them both.
I love the way she says it all with a non-answer.
Only the same way about Brannon Braga
Then your initial point is moot.
No, that's an opinion just as most of all of the stuff we fans post here.
As to the point about Braga, I was not talking about the video with Berman. My point there was to Braga's general tone. He's was consistantly a jerk right out of the gate.
I do enjoy reading your posts, Dennis. They are fun to read.
I love that TrekMovie read my mind and transcribed portions of the interview and highlights for my reading enjoyment! 
Some very interesting insights there.
What I got was a sense of a company man, someone who wasn't going to stick his neck out or take risks. In many instances, it seems like he was "passing the buck", trying to place the majority of the blame on the studio execs after the fact. I'm sure they were to blame for a lot of bad decisions (Voyager especially) but Berman would probably earn some respect by owning up to his mistakes. Even Brannon Braga has apologized for "Threshold" and "These Are The Voyages".
(And his "I told you so" in reference to the Genevieve Bujold situation was hilariously self-serving.)
At this point, Berman has nothing to lose. I'll be very interested in his upcoming book. I'm also interested in which actors-turned-directors he was not "very pleased" with. Can't get enough of the juicy gossip...
Some very interesting insights there.What I got was a sense of a company man, someone who wasn't going to stick his neck out or take risks. In many instances, it seems like he was "passing the buck", trying to place the majority of the blame on the studio execs after the fact. I'm sure they were to blame for a lot of bad decisions (Voyager especially) but Berman would probably earn some respect by owning up to his mistakes. Even Brannon Braga has apologized for "Threshold" and "These Are The Voyages".
(And his "I told you so" in reference to the Genevieve Bujold situation was hilariously self-serving.)
At this point, Berman has nothing to lose. I'll be very interested in his upcoming book. I'm also interested in which actors-turned-directors he was not "very pleased" with. Can't get enough of the juicy gossip...
Goes to show how involved he was with that show.
Okay, I'll ask.
I've not been to this board long, or amassed a large post count. My interest is mostly in the original series (including the JJ reboot) but I also enjoy TNG. I'm not familiar with DS9, VOY, or ENT. But certainly, I've seen Berman's name, and I scanned the TrekMovie.com list of bullet points.
So not knowing the history, but curious, I ask again in good faith, no judgement or confrontation intended:
How did he go out like a punk?
I'll ask too. I see nothing wrong with the question as Berman was responsible for some 25 seasons of ST + 4 feature films (many of which ran concurrently).
How, exactly, did the man who was executive producer of hundreds of hours of television and film entertainment go out like a punk?!? . . .especially considering Gene Roddenbury burned out and checked out of TOS by the beginning of season three . . .
How, exactly, did the man who was executive producer of hundreds of hours of television and film entertainment go out like a punk?!? . . .especially considering Gene Roddenbury burned out and checked out of TOS by the beginning of season three . . .
from the Associated Content interview with Nana Visitor:
Q: Rick Berman. Criticism of his handling of the franchise has been pretty severe. Some other Star Trek actors have said Rick Berman was never a hands on producer and rarely visited their sets. Was that the case with DS9?
A: Producers Michael Piller and Ira Steven Behr were my guiding lights in the show. And I adored and I will always adore them both.
I love the way she says it all with a non-answer.
It was interesting that he skipped past Nana Visitors character bio, and indeed messed up much of the details. Probably reading too much into that, but she was one of the characters who seemed to get a short shrift. Could the dislike have been a two-way street?
Great interview, interesting to hear that him and Brent Spiner are best friends. I have no bone to pick with Berman, I really think the man should be applauded. He steered the ship through 18 years, and with the odd exception - I loved every minute.
You can argue that other people were creative, that other people shaped the shows - but he was the guy at the top. The buck stopped with him, I honestly think the franchise was better with him than without him. He did talk at the end about problems communicating with the fans, which I think he could have addressed. Did he ever attend the conventions like Roddenberry did? Has he attended any conventions? Maybe a bit of face-time with the fans would have improved the relationships. He did come off as a bit aloof really.
Then again, I'm not sure I would want to talk to a bunch of canon-obsessed nuts.
It's not really an agree/disagree kind of thing.
Basic facts? Like, say, the names of one's children?
Are you a parent? If so and you claim that you've never blanked on or confused the names of your children then you have a selective memory for embarrassing moments.
The more familiar that kind of material is and the more of it there is the more likely one is to blank on or misremember bits of it at a given moment. If you truly think that Rick Berman doesn't know that Marina Sirtis played a character named Deanna Troi then you're the one who's out of touch. Or you've confused him with Stuart Baird.
William Shatner has copped to remembering very little about TOS episodes unless someone identifies the guest actress of the week for him.
He looked semi-decent in the interview, although how you manage to screw up basic facts after you worked on the project for so long is beyond me.
But seriously, Dennis, which family member of Berman or Abrams are you?
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