That’s a great thing and
hopefully it will just get even more insane as the show gets on the air.
Reviews start pouring in.
SPACE.com: Isn’t it
sort of strange that we have all these sites and a definite fan movement
for a show that no one’s seen?
RHW: It is a little
unusual, I think, yeah. I that because of Kevin [Sorbo] and because of
Gene Roddenberry there’s a lot of interest out there. And that interest
is definitely reflected in all these sites popping up with a lot of following
the pre-production process, and now the production process, all leading
up to the premiere.
I certainly hope that when
it comes on the air that everyone who’s doing websites on the show really
continues to like it as much as they are anticipating it. And I think they
will.
On one level it’s flattering,
and on another level it’s a little scary cause there’s a lot of pressure,
man. Got a lot of people out there who’re gonna watch this show. And we
want them to like it.
SPACE.com: They did
a poll on Slipstream as to what was the big draw. And you were in a statistical
dead heat with Gene Roddenberry and Kevin.
RHW: I think that
that’s an Internet skew. I think that in the general public if you walked
up to someone on the street who wasn’t hooked into the Internet stuff,
I think that my name would barely register, if it registered at all.
But because I was fairly
active on the Internet with Deep Space Nine, I think that there’s
an awareness in that specific community of who I am, and what I’ve done
before.
But obviously, if you’re
someone who’s buying a show or deciding to turn into a show for the first
time I think it’s much more likely you’re gonna tune in because it says
Gene Roddenberry or Kevin Sorbo on it than Robert Hewitt Wolfe.
SC SPACE.com We’re
getting to the point where writers are becoming a brand name?
RHW: Woo-hoo! We rule!
SPACE.com: I’m thinking
of David Kelley and Aaron Sorkin. . . .
RHW: Sure. Yeah.
SPACE.com: And they
have a signature. What would you say your signature is?
RHW: Oh God, I don’t
know, I hope it’s that I’m not boring. Let’s get the show on the air and
see if I have a signature. I just wanna tell a good story and have fun,
interesting characters, and I think people’s style, to a certain extent
a head writer always imbues their own personal style on the show, and I
couldn’t sum up what David Kelley’s style is in five words or less.
And he’s had a lot more opportunity
to establish a specific voice. I’ve done like 30-some odd episodes of Deep
Space Nine by myself or with Ira (Steven Behr), one TV movie [Futuresport]
that’s actually been on the air, and an episode of Star
Trek: The Next Generation, so that’s a nice body of work, but I
don’t know that it’s enough for a distinctive voice to come through. I’d
like to think I have a distinctive voice, and we’ll see when the show comes
on the air.
SPACE.com: How much
of the heavy lifting are you doing?
RHW: I’m the head
writer so everything has to pass through me. But I have a great staff,
and they work very, very hard, so it’s definitely a team effort.
SPACE.com: How is
it different when you’re trying to fit in the Star Trek template
versus creating your own?
RHW: Well, the head
writer is much more receptive to my material. It’s fun in that we get to
establish our own set of rules on this show, myself and the rest of the
writing staff and everybody who’s putting it together up in Vancouver,
everyone involved with the show.
We’re creating our particular
universe based on the stuff that Gene did, yes, and with his values, yes,
but there’s also all-new characters and an all-new universe and all-new
rules and so it’s fun. It’s kind of neat to be able to have an influence
on the rules of the game from the start rather than picking up in the middle
and having to stick to the rules that are already established.
SPACE.com: Those rules
aren’t really about how warp drive works, but a specific tonality that
Star
Trek had that a lot of writers felt constrained, in that it was a conflict-free
universe, specifically within the personal dynamics of the crew?
RHW: Well, not on
Deep
Space Nine it wasn’t. Not the last time I checked. I think that’s a
perception, there was certainly a great deal of conflict from time to time
between, and there always has been in the Star Trek universe. I
think that there may be less conflict than on other shows, but it’s not
completely free of conflict. I can remember some good to-do’s that Picard
and Riker had from time to time.
But I think that there is
a popular perception that it was less based on character conflict than
is common in fiction, and some people really like that. They really like
seeing this family work together as this well-oiled machine. And other
people missed a little bit more spark.
SPACE.com: Now the
fans are reacting to something they haven’t seen yet. Do you see them drifting
into areas, or they have ideas about the show --are there misconceptions
already about the show?
RHW: I think most
people are keeping their opinions fairly open. I think there’s a lot of
speculation about what the show might be. I don’t think that there’s been
a lot of, "this show is going to be this."
Very early on there was a
"Hercules in Space" sort of opinion expressed by a limited number
of fans, and obviously on the Internet you have to remember that sometimes
it’s a very small group of people, especially early in the life of a show.
I understand that misconception and I know where it came from.
That’s the first thing you’re
gonna jump on, right? Half the time it’s what the headline is if someone’s
doing an article on the show. The other half of the time it’s some pun
on The Andromeda Strain.
But I don’t think anyone
has their mind made up about the show yet, either for the better or for
the worse. I think some people are hopeful and some people are concerned.
Hopefully there are more people out there that are hopeful than people
that are concerned, and hopefully we’ll deliver on expectation.
SPACE.com: And those
people who are concerned, you can quote William Shatner ["Get a life"]?
RHW: No, no, no. I
mean, look, I’m concerned, I was very concerned about the X-Men.
That doesn’t mean I don’t have a life, that means I like that particular
franchise and I wanted it to be good. I wasn’t rooting against it, I was
worried that it might be disappointing, and I quite liked it, I thought
it was a lot of fun.
I’m concerned about Lord
of the Rings, I really want it to be a good show, and hopefully it
will be. I think that it’s normal when you have an identification with
a certain property or actor or the work of someone like Gene Roddenberry
to both anticipate and be concerned. You want to see it, but you don’t
want it to suck.
And I think that that’s a
good thing that there’s that anticipation. And sometimes things deliver
on that. I think X-Men delivered very nicely on expectation. I’m
hopeful that Lord of the Rings will do the same thing, and I certainly
hope that we can do it.
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