Template:Realworld Michael B. Piller (30 May 1948 – 1 November 2005; age 57) was a writer and Executive Producer of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and co-creator of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. He is probably best known for co-writing "The Best of Both Worlds" and the pilots of both Deep Space Nine and Voyager ("Emissary" and "Caretaker", respectively). A 24th century chemical element, pillerium, was named for him.
Biography
Piller, a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, began his career as a news producer for CBS News in New York. He later produced news programs in North Carolina and Chicago, eventually winning two Emmy awards for news journalism. In the late 1970s, he moved to Los Angeles and became a censor in the CBS television docudrama unit. His creative writing career began in the early 1980s, when he wrote numerous teleplays for hit shows, including Simon and Simon and the innovative Miami Vice. He also produced (or co-produced) many of the episodes he wrote.
Following a long illness, Piller died of head and neck cancer in his home in Los Angeles in 2005. He is survived by his wife Sandra, and his children Brent and Shawn.
Star Trek
Written by Michael Piller (1998)
In 1989, Piller's long-time friend Maurice Hurley called upon him to script a few episodes for Star Trek: The Next Generation. His stories were widely acclaimed, and Piller eventually became an Executive Producer of the series. His tenure is noted for its character development, rather than for exploiting sci-fi gadgetry of the future. In 1992, Piller (along with Rick Berman) began the creation of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and he contributed to the series' writing, casting, and budgetary direction, all the while continuing his duties as executive producer of TNG. Piller was an avid baseball card collector, reportedly with a collection numbering in the hundred-thousands (hence Benjamin Sisko's affinity for the game). After two seasons with DS9, Piller left the show to help create Star Trek: Voyager, which launched in 1995 as the "flagship vessel" of the newly-created UPN (United Paramount Network). He left the staff of Voyager in 1996 after seven continuous years with the Star Trek franchise, but remained a "creative consultant" for Voyager. He subsequently returned to write and co-produce Star Trek: Insurrection in 1998.
Later works
During his Star Trek years, Piller only made one major venture outside the franchise. The result was the unusual sci-fi western series Legend, which he created with Bill Dial and which starred John de Lancie. This series had a very brief run on UPN in 1995.
In 2002, Piller co-developed (with his son, Shawn) the television series based upon the Stephen King novel The Dead Zone. That series featured DS9's Nicole de Boer and TNG guest star David Ogden Stiers.
Piller wrote a screenplay called Oversight, which he described as a Washington-based thriller that is not a big action movie but rather a "small personal character story." The screenplay has yet to be produced.
In early 2005, he created and produced a new television series, the family drama Wildfire, which starred DS9's Nana Visitor.
Writing credits
- TNG Season 3:
- "Evolution" (teleplay, story with Michael Wagner)
- "The Enemy" (with David Kemper)
- "Booby Trap" (teleplay with Ron Roman and Richard Danus)
- "Yesterday's Enterprise" (uncredited)
- "The Best of Both Worlds"
- TNG Season 4:
- "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II"
- "First Contact" (teleplay with Dennis Russell Bailey, David Bischoff, Joe Menosky, and Ronald D. Moore)
- TNG Season 5:
- "Ensign Ro" (teleplay, story with Rick Berman)
- "Unification I" (story with Rick Berman)
- "Unification II" (1991) (teleplay, story with Rick Berman)
- "The Masterpiece Society" (teleplay with Adam Belanoff)
- "The Perfect Mate" (teleplay with Gary Perconte)
- "Time's Arrow" (teleplay with Joe Menosky)
- TNG Season 6:
- "Rascals" (story with Ward Botsford and Diana Dru Botsford)
- DS9 Season 1:
- "Emissary" (teleplay, story with Rick Berman)
- "A Man Alone" (teleplay, story with Gerald Sanford)
- "Captive Pursuit" (teleplay with Jill Sherman Donner)
- "The Passenger" (teleplay with Morgan Gendel and Robert Hewitt Wolfe)
- "Move Along Home" (story)
- "If Wishes Were Horses" (teleplay with Nell McCue Crawford and William L. Crawford)
- "The Forsaken" (teleplay with Don Carlos Dunaway)
- DS9 Season 2:
- "The Siege"
- "Melora" (teleplay with Evan Carlos Somers and James Crocker)
- "Rivals" (story with Jim Trombetta)
- "Whispers" (tekeplay with Paul Robert Coyle)
- "Playing God" (teleplay with Jim Trombetta)
- "The Maquis, Part I" (story with Rick Berman, Jeri Taylor, and James Crocker)
- "The Maquis, Part II" (story with Rick Berman, Jeri Taylor, and Ira Steven Behr)
- "Crossover" (teleplay with Peter Allan Fields)
- VOY Season 1:
- "Caretaker" (teleplay with Jeri Taylor, story with Rick Berman and Jeri Taylor)
- "Time and Again" (teleplay with David Kemper)
- "Ex Post Facto" (teleplay with Evan Carlos Somers)
- VOY Season 2:
- "Tattoo" (teleplay)
- "Death Wish" (teleplay)
- "Meld" (teleplay)
- "Basics, Part I"
- VOY Season 3:
- Star Trek: Insurrection (screenplay, story with Rick Berman)
Other information
In an online chat, Piller stated that his favorite TNG episodes were "The Inner Light", "The Measure Of A Man" and "The Offspring", "because they had remarkable emotional impacts. And they genuinely explored the human condition, which this franchise does better than any other when it does it well." (AOL chat, 1997)
Piller was interviewed on 1 October 1992 about the creation of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This interview was later used as part of the DS9 Season 1 DVD special feature "Deep Space Nine: A Bold Beginning".
See also
- Archive of Michael Piller's AOL chat