Coto Dreams In Alternate Universes

Executive producer Manny Coto waited in line for an hour to get Walter Koenig (Chekov)'s autograph at a Star Trek convention in 1978, he admitted in a chat in which he also discussed his plans to integrate concepts from the original series on Star Trek: Enterprise.

Speaking to fans at the official site, Coto said that unfortunately he never met Gene Roddenberry, though he now occupies his office, where he worked on writing out the alien Nazi storyline currently unfolding on Enterprise - a twist that Coto noted was primarily the idea of Rick Berman and Brannon Braga - and the Dr. Soong storyline featuring Brent Spiner, about which Coto saids he is "particularly charged."

Spiner, elaborated Coto, "was playing a somewhat nasty character...constantly jibing at our regular characters, which would provoke interesting reactions." Of the arc launched in "Zero Hour" and now playing out in "Storm Front", he said, "I think we were all attracted to the kind of pulpy 'Amazing Stories' feel that Nazis seemed to convey."

A fan of alternate universe scenarios, Coto said he always enjoyed pondering "the 'Hitler Wins' scenario", though being Cuban he wished that the storyline had featured Cuba invading the US. In a similar vein, he added that they have plans for a Mirror Universe episode, joking that it would be an alternate timeline "where Enterprise is still on Wednesday nights and commands 12 million viewers."

Kirk, he said, is his all time favourite character, and he would like to play the captain "because at least in Kirk's era, he gets all the babes." His favourite original series episode was "Doomsday Machine" and he said he was certain that the Romulan Wars mentioned on that show would at some point be filmed. Of upcoming episodes on Enterprise, he said, one of his favourites is "Home."

Coto told one fan that a conscious effort had been made to limit the technobabble and to focus on the characters' emotions. His favourite way to relax, he confessed, is watching Star Trek, "a fact which drives my girlfriend absolutely insane." In addition to characterisation, he joked that his job was taken up with watching beautiful women audition to play Orion slave girls and making certain that Braga "has taken his medication", saying that he never felt creatively stifled by the network but kidding that he sometimes did by Braga. To aspiring writers, he suggested, "Don't believe that this industry is closed to anyone...[even] if you don't have talent, and persevere, you could still become incredibly wealthy."

For more, including Coto's best-loved science fiction writers, see the transcript at StarTrek.com.

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