Death of a great writer

Michael Piller 1948 - 2005

For me, after Gene Roddenberry passed away in 1991, Michael Piller became the heart and soul of Star Trek. And while people like producer Rick Berman are needed to help balance the scales, to keep shows in budget and not let the stories get bogged down in ennui, Berman (and his toady Brannon Braga) however, let too much of what Piller started go.

Piller passed away in the early hours of November 1 after an apparent long battle with an aggressive form of neck and head cancer. He was only 57. The writer/producer began his career with CBS News in New York. Subsequently served as managing editor of the WBTV-TV News in Charlotte, North Carolina, and assistant news director at WBBM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Chicago, where he became long-time friend of the late Gene Siskel.

When he moved onto Hollywood, he became a writer-producer for such shows as Simon & Simon, Cagney & Lacey, Miami Vice, Probe, and Hard Time on Planet Earth. In addition, he co-created and executive produced the syndicated series Group One Medical.

Michael Piller came to Star Trek during its second season, writing the much delayed opener. It was during this time -and especially when the third season began - that TNG became the classic series it is regarded today. It was he who masterminded the open-submission policy, which got many into the TV-writing doors.

He helped create Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and let writers like Ira Steven Behr ("I think we created a much more complete universe in which you can have all these characters with all these back stories, all these races, all these supporting characters. You knew more about Garak or Gul Dukat, ultimately, than you knew about Riker. So that to me is the contribution.") go deeper into the stories and characters that led many fans to claim DS9 the best of all the Trek series.

"Without him, lots of writers wouldn't have gotten their first break," said Lynda Foley, a Voyager intern during Piller's tenure there in the show's second season. "When I would get writer's block or have problems with rewrites, he always gave the same advice: 'It's always about the human condition. Go back to that and you'll find your story.'"

And, he helped create -unintentionally, of course - the schism that would divide fans for years. Voyager remains a problem for many and there might’ve been some regret from Piller when he left Star Trek after Voyager’s second season. He told Cinefantastique's Anna L. Kaplan that when he was with Voyager he always tried to find a allegory in the tales. "The whole idea of exploring space is a metaphor for exploring ourselves," he said. "When Voyager did that, I think it did very well. I think the Seven of Nine stories gave us some insight into humanity and the meaning of humanity that the series sorely wanted. It had its moments. But when it did the exploding spaceships and space-monsters and so forth, the problem is that that's what everybody does in science fiction. I have always encouraged the writers to try to find the human elements, the moral and ethical dilemmas, I think there was less an appetite for that after I left."

After leaving Trek -with the motion picture Insurrection being his final script, Piller went onto develop The Dead Zone (co-starring former DS9 actress Nicole De Boar) series with his son Shawn for USA Network, which is now in its fifth season and the recent ABC Family cable show Wildfire, which will return for a second season in 2006 (and starred former DS9 actor Nana Visitor).

"Michael Piller was a class act, a generous soul, and a genuinely nice guy to work for," said graphic designer and scenic art supervisor Michael Okuda, who has been involved with the Star Trek franchise since the original series feature films. "We're all indebted to his talent and his hard work. He left us far too soon, and we will miss him greatly."

His legacy will remains the open-submission policy. With out that, TNG never would've became what it did after it's shakey first season and strike plauged second year. With out it, DS9 never would've lost its episodic roots it needed to become -for some - the redheaded step-child many fans call it. It became a different Star Trek, and that really started with Piller and his desire to find "the moral and ethical" dilemma in the script.

In addition to son Shawn, Michael Piller is survived by his wife Sandra and daughter Brent.