Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 23, 1993 TAG: 9311230055
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ian Spelling
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The word is out: "Star Trek: Voyager," a new "Trek" spinoff, will be the cornerstone of Paramount's new network when it is launched in January, 1995.
"There certainly seem to be perked ears," says Rick Berman, the co-creator (with Michael Piller) of "Voyager," as well as the executive producer of "Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine" and the forthcoming "Next Gen" movie.
"People seem interested in learning as much as they can about `Voyager.'"
So what will the new series be about?
"I can't tell you a thing," Berman says.
Fortunately, he is joking.
The third Trek spinoff will focus on the travels of the U.S.S. Voyager, a new type of Starfleet starship, Berman says. "It'll be a ship carrying about 200, as opposed to 1,000, a ship with few or no families on board, unlike the Enterprise-D," he says.
The crew will include a Vulcan male, a half-human/half Klingon female, an American Indian male from a North American tribe that left Earth in the early 23rd century for another planet, three other humans and a holographic character.
"We also have two characters from a new part of the galaxy in which this series begins," Berman says by phone from his studio office. "They're from two separate species, species we've never run into before."
Might one of the humans on board be a "Next Gen" character?
"It's possible," Berman says. Berman and Piller have already devised a back-story and character "bible," as well as a 40-page treatment for the two-hour "Voyager" pilot.
The pilot's complex plot finds the Voyager crew stranded at the galaxy's edge along with a ship of ex-Starfleet officers they have been chasing through space.
Once the crews settle their differences and join forces, they seek a way home, exploring a brave new world in the process.
"We'll deal with whole new groups of species, not Cardassians, Klingons or Vulcans," Berman says.
That's not to say they won't pop up.
"Basically, we'll be in a section of our galaxy that has a unique group of good guys and, hopefully, a unique group of bad guys we'll run into."
"Voyager" will be available only to independent television stations affiliated with the Paramount network, which, with its partner Chris-Craft, is currently negotiating with affiliates across the country to carry its programming.
But the new "Next Gen" film will be available to movie audiences across the country.
Preproduction work on the film has already begun, Berman says, and a director and line producer will soon be signed.
Meetings with George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, which will handle the special effects, have been held. Script revisions are being made and budgets finalized.
Though cast members from "Trek"-classic will appear in the "Next Gen" movie, which is scheduled to be released during the 1994 holiday season, Berman says he does not see it as a "crossover film."
"We're not relying on elements of the original series to help us."
With two series on the air, another in the wings and a film on the horizon, Berman is extraordinarily busy - and happy.
"`Star Trek' has been very good to me," he says, "and I think I've been pretty good to it. I'd like to continue the relationship into the future."
TREK SPECS
William Schallert, who played Nilz Barris in the "Trek"-classic episode "Trouble with Tribbles," guest stars in the "DS9" episode "Sanctuary," which will air the week of Nov. 29. . . . Diane Carey's "Trek"-classic novel "Best Destiny" is now available in paperback from Pocket Books, as is the original "DS9" paperback novel "The Big Game," by Sandy Schofield (the pen name for a husband-wife team making their writing debut). . . . Pocket Books will publish autobiographies by George Takei and James Doohan in late 1994 or early 1995.
TREK ALERT
If you have Trek news or trivia to share - or if you have questions relating to "Star Trek" - write to Ian Spelling, in care of the Features Department, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491. Be sure to enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you would like a reply.
by CNB