Michael Piller has Died

Michael Piller, a huge influence on modern Star Trek as well as the co-creator of Dead Zone has died today from cancer.

Piller joined the TNG team in its third season, and is responsible for some standout episodes (“Best of Both Worlds”, “Ensign Ro”, and “Unification”). He co-created both DS9 and Voyager and wrote a number of episodes for both including both pilots and the controversial Voyager episode “Death Wish.”

In an age of lackluster Star Trek, this is a loss that is heavily felt in our community.

2 replies on “Michael Piller has Died”

  1. Michael Piller, RIP
    I wasn’t even aware that he had cancer. My friends and I have occasionally talked about how he revitalized Star Trek: The Next Generation to make it the great show that it was. Seasons 3, 4 and 5 are the highlight of the series because of him. He will be missed.

  2. The Best Of All Worlds
    Hundreds of Star Trek episodes on hundreds of worlds have been imagined into existance, and his was the very best – The Best Of Both Worlds. This was the ONLY Trek ep that when they broke for the cliffhanger, you had NO IDEA what was going to happen next (and as I recall reading, the cast and crew didn’t either!). I spent months almost twenty years ago (!?!) wondering – a season of Captain Riker and Commander Shelby? Or Picard and Shelby? Maybe there would be a whole season of Borg War with Locutus at the helm of the Cube, with Riker chasing him, er, them thru the galaxy like Ahab after the White Whale – something I still regret not seeing that would have been a daring break from the new-setup-of-the-week approach all Trek has taken except for maybe DS9.

    Trek never really took the plunge of imagination that would have taken it over the edge into greatness. But Piller came closest of all, and certainly far beyond where The-Bs-Who-Must-Not-Be-Spoken ran Trek aground.

    Maybe he’ll be up there with Scotty soon – he deserves to be.

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