Bryan Fuller joins the Series VII team

The news of Bryan Fuller joining the new TV show's team has been making the rounds, and I thought I'd chip in some thoughts.

Fuller's recent work includes an upcoming TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, plus Hannibal.  He also worked on Mockingbird Lane, an updated Munsters, and among other credits is known for the cult TV favorites Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, and Wonderfalls.  He wrote some of the better-received episodes of Heroes, including "Company Man" and "Cold Snap."

And he's worked on Star Trek before.  Contributing the psychologically-charged "Empok Nor" and "The Darkness and the Light" to Deep Space Nine, he then went on an extended run with Voyager, where again he contributed to deepening the mythology of the series.  Here are the episodes he worked on:

"The Raven" (exploring Seven's backstory)
"Mortal Coil" (Neelix suffers a near-death experience)
"Retrospect"
"Living Witness" (one of the show's most clever episodes)
"Drone" (a rare Voyager Borg fan favorite)
"Bride of Chaotica!" (the series at its comedic best)
"Gravity"
"Dark Frontier, Part 1" (returning to Seven's past)
"Course: Oblivion" (one of the best fake-outs in franchise history)
"Juggernaut"
"Relativity" (one of the key later time travel episodes in franchise lore)
"Barge of the Dead" (one of the best Klingon episodes in the franchise)
"Alice"
"One Small Step" (one of several franchise odes to today's space program)
"Spirit Folk"
"Fury" (controversial final appearance of Kes)
"The Haunting of Deck 12"
"Flesh & Blood, Parts 1 & 2" (finishing out the Hirogen in the series)
"Workforce, Parts 1 & 2"
"Friendship One"

These were all episodes that spoke to either the characters or the concepts at the heart of the series, in ways that made it easier for fans who liked what Voyager was doing like it even more.  They represent a full gamut, besides, of what the franchise was capable of, from classic sci-fi adventures to innovative stories that pushed the series to new depths.  The biggest complaint about Voyager was that it wasted its premise for more of the same, and yet in these episodes one can see how unique the series really was, and how easily it fit the storytelling instincts of a creator other pockets of fandom found incredibly endearing.

In short, this is the guy to pull off the new series. 

Joining him are some other guys I have a tremendous amount of faith in.  Alex Kurtzman's Star Trek credentials have been established in the last two films.  He's also been involved with Sleepy Hollow, Limitless, Hawaii Five-O, and Scorpion, and I have a particular soft spot for the guy thanks to his work on Alias and Fringe.

And with Fuller and Kurtzman will be Michael Green, who has done work on such diverse shows as Smallville, Everwood, Jack & Bobby, Kings, and The River (which featured Bruce Greenwood, by the way).  He also worked on Heroes, like Fuller, and the Green Lantern movie, which is a personal favorite of mine.

I have every faith that this will be a rewarding experience, and a fine return to television for Star Trek.