How did the opportunity to write for CP come up?
I had worked with Joe Straczynski on The Real Ghostbusters and we had had a good time with that, and on Spiral Zone, which wasn't so much fun. But it lead him to CP, and when he got the gig he asked me to come on board.
What projects are you working on at present?
A series of dark fantasy novels for Del Ray Books, and a few freelance TV assignments. I finished a stint not long ago for DreamWorks SKG as writer-producer on a show called Invasion America.
What projects would you like to work on?
Hm. In TV I'd like to get back into more live action work. Also, I have some feature scripts I'd like to see produced.
How old are you?
47.
Any hobbies or personal interests?
Not really, other than my family. I'm rather dull, I'm afraid.
How long have you been in tv/animation?
Since the mid-Seventies, God help me.
How did you get your start in tv/animation?
I was given my first few assignments by a very nice man named Arthur Nadel, the creative director of Filmation Associates. Both Arthur and Filmation have passed on, but so far I show no signs of stopping.
Can you give me some background as to how the scripts that you wrote 'Flame Street' and 'And Study War No More' materialised? What were the themes/ ideas about the Captain Power universe were you looking to explore in your scripts?
"Flame Street" was Joe's idea and story -- he wanted to do a cyberpunk style CP. I was fairly enamored of Bill Gibson's "Neuromancer" stories at the time; in fact, I wrote what is probably the first cyberpunk story on TV -- it was for an episode of a cartoon called "The Centurions". The show I wrote was called "Zone Dancer". Nowadays, of course, you see cyberspace stories on everything; it wouldn't surprise me if "Baywatch" has done one. But back then it was new, so I took the assignment quite gladly. "And Study War No More" was my idea -- I liked the concept of the Power team in a pacifist society. I'm always fascinated at the moral and philosophical lengths people will go to avoid confronting hard truths -- in this case, that there could be no half measures against Dread and his New Order.
Any comment on your perception of the characters of the Captain Power universe? Who was your favourite character or who did you enjoy writing about the most?
I liked the setting and the premise of the show very much. It was much more science fiction than what was usually being done. As far as any preferences for characters -- no, I don't think so. It's been so long that it's hard to remember.
Were you going to write any of the scripts for Captain Power in the second season of CP?
I did -- I wrote a three part episode that was one of the best stories I'd written to date. It never got made, of course.
Any memories of the show? Good or bad that you can remember?
I remember that all of the writers were very jazzed over what we were doing. We thought we were creating something memorable. We were very disappointed when it became the target of rampant political correctness and was cancelled.
Any thoughts on working with J.Michael Straczynski?
I always got along fine with Joe. I know that others have said different, but he always treated my work with respect.