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1[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/piller.jpg]]
2 [[caption-width-right:320:Piller on the set of ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection''.]]
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4'''Michael Piller''' (May 30, 1948 – November 1, 2005) was an American TV Screenwriter and Producer.
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6He was best known for his contributions to the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' franchise during the 1990s. His appointment to the ''Next Generation'''s showrunner role in Season Three was ''crucial'' to injecting new life and energy into the show and helping it to become the TNG that people remember.
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8Piller is credited with shifting the show's focus away from aliens/planets of the week into character-driven stories, producing some of TNG's finest hours. Another cornerstone of this success was his then-unorthodox open script submission policy. Through this initiative, Piller almost single-handedly helped discover a roster of then-future prominent Genre TV creators: Creator/RonaldDMoore, René Echevarria, a pre-''Buffy'' Creator/JaneEspenson, and Creator/BryanFuller among others.
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10Following his success on TNG, Piller went on to co-create ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' (with Rick Berman) and ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' (with Berman and Jeri Taylor).
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12Piller ultimately exited the franchise at the beginning of ''Voyager'''s third Season in late 1996. However, he remained a creative consultant on it and [=DS9=] through the remainder of their respective runs. Piller would also return to ''Trek'' for a final swansong as the writer of the third TNG film ''Insurrection'' in 1998.
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14In 2005, Piller passed away from complications related to head and neck cancer at his home in Los Angeles. He was 57 years old.
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16!!Shows and films written by Michael Piller
17* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' (1989–1994) – 14 episodes
18* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' (1993–1999) – 15 episodes
19* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' (1995–2001) – 9 episodes
20* ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection'' (1998)
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22!!Tropes in Michael Piller's work:
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24* AuthorAppeal: Piller was an avowed baseball fanatic, hence it being [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Captain Sisko's]] favorite sport.

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