Robert Hewitt Wolfe is no longer showrunner and head writer for “Andromeda,” and apparently hasn’t been for close to two months.
Wolfe, the 35-year-old writer-producer whose pre-“Andromeda” credits include stints on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” decided to confirm his departure following the publication of this short item in “Cult Times”:
There's just one month to go until filming on Andromeda's second season wraps, but it's been one heck of a ride this year. The phrase 'Change is in the air' springs to mind as some seriously significant differences have swept into being. First off, co-creator and executive producer Robert Hewitt Wolfe departed for pastures new, leaving the way clear for a whole new approach. one which executive producer and star Kevin Sorbo welcomed with open arms, "Robert is a genius, but was developing stories that were too complicated and too clever for the rest of us to understand. What we now have is a team of very talented people who write standalone stories that can, on occasion, blend together to form a story arc. That simple 'turn-up-tune-in' attitude was what was missing. Now we have that, I really feel we're on track towards making Andromeda an outstanding show."
On Friday, Wolfe posted the following to slipstreambbs.com :
Thank God that's over.
I mean, here I've been, being a good boy, keeping my big mouth shut under the advice of my agent and my lawyer (who are very nice people and very smart and who very rarely tell me what to do), and now Kevin's let the cat (or in this case, the Thanksgiving turkey) out of the bag.
Finally. So now I can say it.
I am no longer the head writer and executive producer of Andromeda.
Ah. That's better. Someone please change my Slipstream gold letters to "Show Developer" or "Former Head Writer" or something. Maybe “Head Waiter”
Okay, so, you're probably wondering, what the hell happened?
Short Answer: Television happened.
Long Answer: As you can tell from Kevin's "too clever" and "too complicated" comments, he, Tribune, and Fireworks wanted to go in another direction with the show. A less clever, less complicated one, no doubt. Basically, they want the show to be more action driven, more Dylan-centric, and more episodic. They also want more aliens, more space battles, and less internal conflict among the principal characters.
Also, they want a lot less continuity so as not to confuse the casual or new viewer with too much backstory.
And finally, they wanted to rework the visual signature of several of the characters, most especially Trance and Rommie, but also Dylan (less uniforms, more civvies).
Anyway, I was trying very hard to work with them and incorporate their changes into the show in a way that would make them happy but not alienate our core audience. After all, it's not like we haven't compromised before, and some of the changes requested by Tribune, Fireworks, and/or Kevin have been good ones. The new production designer, the new sets, and the new costume designer have all worked great. And the way I saw it, my job was to execute their instruction, though never blindly and never without a thorough discussion of the implications of such changes. Unfortunately, they apparently felt that it was better to just let me go and implement their new vision without me.
Like I said, that's television. Fireworks pays the lion's share of the budget, Tribune provides the US stations and has their creative control mandated into all their contracts, and Kevin is the star. The show probably wouldn't exist without him.
So I'm gone. Truth be told, I've been gone since the end of September, while we were working on episode twelve, Ouroboros.
Ironically, it's the episode in which I'd implemented several of the changes Tribune et al wanted, and in which they'd implemented others over my objections. So there's a pretty clear delineation. Pre-Ouroboros is me; post-Ouroboros is Kevin, Tribune, and Fireworks. I leave behind (left behind? This is more confusing than a time travel episode) a very talented writing staff, now being run by Matt and Joe. I also leave behind a very talented cast and crew up in Vancouver, under the capable leadership of Allan Eastman. My hope is that you'll take a look at the remaining episodes (which won't even air until February) with an open mind. If you like what you see, keep watching, tell your friends, and make the show an even bigger hit than it already is. If you don't, change the channel.
And as always, I encourage you to express your opinions about the episodes here and in letters and emails to Tribune, Fireworks and Kevin.
Anyway I definitely hope you'll tune in for the rest of the episodes I supervised. Home Fires, Into the Labyrinth, The Prince, Bunker Hill, and Ouroboros are good episodes and I'm quite proud of them.
Finally, it was my intention to give Christian an interview about all this after production wrapped in late December, since I wanted Slipstream to get the scoop. I'm sorry it didn't work out that way. But instead, I'll give the exclusive interview to the Slipstreamers. You ask, I'll answer, as best I can. Fire away.
Robert
Not to drop names, but your pal Herc was lucky enough to meet Wolfe and the rest of the Andromeda crew, apparently about 10 minutes before Wolfe and the show parted company. If we learn more about this surprising turn of events, we will forward details.
