I was saddened to hear of the loss of one of the truly great
Star Trek writers of my generation, Michael Piller.
I give a lot of credit for the success of the
Trek franchise in the late 80's and through the 90's to Piller. It was Piller who stepped in with a vision of how to guide
Star Trek: The Next Generation in the third season and took it from an OK show to a great one. Piller wrote one not only the finest hours of
Trek but also TV's best hours and best cliff-hangers of all time, "Best of Both Worlds, Part 1." If hearing the words "Mr Worf, fire..." send a chill down your spine, thank Piller.
Piller went on to help co-create
DS9 and
Voyager and he was the excutive producer of
The Dead Zone. Piller worked on
Dead Zone with his son, Shaun.
Over the years, Piller has given me a lot of enjoyment in my television watching. As an opening credits reader, I quickly found that the credit of "Written by Michael Piller" usually meant that nine times out of ten, you were in for a great episode of whatever show you were watching. Sure he had the occasional clunker of an episode, but more often than not, his episodes were something to write home about.
Michael Piller left the world too early--he was only 57. He leaves behind his family and friends all of whom shall be in my thoughts and prayers.
Thank you Michael Piller for so many great hours of entertainment. You will be missed by this
Star Trek fan.
posted by Michael Hickerson at 11/02/2005 08:58:00 AM |
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