Was Ron moore trek's greatest writer

[Baba101]

Let's see this he is mainly responsible for development of klingon culture. Lots of conflict of command episodes. Also lots of political episodes. Responsible for some of best tng and ds9 episodes. Had a hand in In a pale moonlight regarded by critics as best episode of trek. Also created a show that is viewed by scifi fans and critics as best show on tv. Seems he's the best.

 

[MattJC]

I don't hate the guy, but he made the Klingons too damned irritating for my tastes. By the time DS9 ended, I was sick to death of them.

 

[Botany Bay]

Nah, Gene Coon was the best by a fair way.

 

[Anwar]

I'd say it's a tie between Michael Piller, Moore, Fontana and Coon. Maybe Ira Behr as well.

 

[ancient]

aussie said:
Nah, Gene Coon was the best by a fair way.

And how.

 

[Sir Rhosis]

I would also vote for Coon if we are listing just their Trek work.

But anyone want to put a caveat on the question and include work done outside of Trek? If so, I say that Richard Matheson is by far the most accomplished writer to have ever written for Trek. Followed closely by Harlan Ellison and Robert Bloch.

Sir Rhosis

 

[Anwar]

I would think Coon has the edge on Moore, Piller or Behr seeing how he wrote "Devil in the Dark" and "Errand of Mercy", but he also wrote "Spock's Brain" so that makes him more an equal.

 

[Orac Zen]

No. Gene Coon or D.C. Fontana would get my vote. I'd also go for Michael Piller and Peter Allan Fields ahead of Moore, who while a pretty good writer is by no means the second coming. And as mentioned by MattJC, he made the Klingons pretty much insufferable.

 

[MattJC]

This is off topic I know, but I have to admit to having some contempt for him for being involved with a remake. I really wish these writers would come up with something ORIGINAL.

 

[TGTheodore]

As for personally writing and bringing IN good writers, Ron was one of the best.

Great ear for dialogue. And the few of his scripts that didn't hit the bull's eye were frequently written under the gun. But even then, there would still be great scenes in them.

I'm a wee bit prejudiced because of all the staff I pitched to over ten years, I consider Ron Moore and Jim Crocker to be the best listeners and communicators.

Ron would take a pitch that other staff would pass on immediately and start asking questions. What he actually was doing was trying to get me (or the writer) to make it into something he could take to the staff. He wanted you to bring him something they could buy. (As a producer it makes his life much easier than if every single episode is generated in-house)

He took pitches seriously, whereas a number of staff members treated writers as if they had lost an office bet or something.

So good writers can bring other good writers to a show and contribute more than "just a script".

For me, professionally, Ron is definitely one of the good guys.

--Ted

 

[TGTheodore]

Also, there's all the rewriting we DON'T know to take into consideration. I'm sure Fontana and Coon punched up more a few episodes for which they didn't receive credit (nor should they, as it's part of the job of being a producer), but certainly Ron had the greater amount of time with Trek to contribute even more polishes.

--Ted

 

[Good Will Riker]

My vote goes to Gene Coon as the man who came up with the Klingons and Starfleet's Prime Directive.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Ellison by far, followed by Theodore Sturgeon.

 

[AC84]

Anwar said:
I would think Coon has the edge on Moore, Piller or Behr seeing how he wrote "Devil in the Dark" and "Errand of Mercy", but he also wrote "Spock's Brain" so that makes him more an equal.

To this day, I still wonder why Coon wrote Spock's Brain. The fact that he used his pseudonym almost proves something was amiss from the start. Some have speculated that it was a prank (a parody), meant to be a comedy or even a testing of Fred Freiberger.

 

[TimelessTrek]

MattJC said:
I don't hate the guy, but he made the Klingons too damned irritating for my tastes. By the time DS9 ended, I was sick to death of them.

I 100% agree. One of DS9's FEW major faults.

 

[Who_Trek]

Ron Moore wrote a lot of my favorite episodes. I didn't have a problem with what he did with the Klingons: I looked at it like the evolution of the species. IMO, what he did made them more interesting as a species, more ... mythic.

 

[Sharr Khan]

MattJC said:
This is off topic I know, but I have to admit to having some contempt for him for being involved with a remake. I really wish these writers would come up with something ORIGINAL.

Man I hate hate this attitude, it shows a lack of understanding at what really is involved in *creating something* and is very simplistic. More over Star Trek is known for "adapting" ideas from other media or even concepts into its format so Trek fans shouldn't be harping on this idea of "originality" since Star Trek not just likes stealing from other media but has little issue with borrowing from itself.

Originality isn't just about coming up with a blank idea [not that there really are "new ideas" or anything - most timeless stories can be seen established in myths way before "science fiction" was born]

Originality is about placing your artistic touch on something, or finding a new way to make to make something old or not executed correctly better and truer to itself.

BSG is an "original work" much as "The Wiz" is a distinct original idea born from "The Wizard of Oz".

Sharr

Sharr

 

[DWF]

AC84 said:

Anwar said:
I would think Coon has the edge on Moore, Piller or Behr seeing how he wrote "Devil in the Dark" and "Errand of Mercy", but he also wrote "Spock's Brain" so that makes him more an equal.

To this day, I still wonder why Coon wrote Spock's Brain. The fact that he used his pseudonym almost proves something was amiss from the start. Some have speculated that it was a prank (a parody), meant to be a comedy or even a testing of Fred Freiberger.

Gene Coon was under contract to a different show so they couldn't use his name on his season three Star Trek scripts.

 

[Anthony]

Ron Moore?

Not hardly.

That'd be Gene L. Coon.

 

[Keith1701]

Who_Trek said:
Ron Moore wrote a lot of my favorite episodes. I didn't have a problem with what he did with the Klingons: I looked at it like the evolution of the species. IMO, what he did made them more interesting as a species, more ... mythic.

I think over all Ron Moore was good for Star Trek.