Manuel “Manny” Coto, known to Trek fans for his work on Star Trek: Enterprise, has passed away. The Emmy-winning writer and producer was 62.
RIP Manny Coto
The Hollywood trades are confirming that Manny Coto passed away on Sunday at his home in Pasadena. According to Deadline, Coto died of Pancreatic cancer. His family says Coto has been fighting the disease for 13 months and passed away surrounded by loved ones.
Manny Coto joined Star Trek: Enterprise for its third season as a writer and co-executive producer, rising to executive producer and showrunner for the fourth and final season. He helped the show transition to more serialized storytelling and his love for Star Trek was evident in many of the season 4 storylines tied into franchise lore.
In a statement to TrekMovie.com, Enterprise co-creator and executive producer Rick Berman offered his thoughts on Coto’s passing and praised the work he did for the series:
If we had been given a fifth (sixth and seventh) season on Enterprise, Manny would have lifted it to levels beyond my imagination. A lovely and surprisingly talented writer and friend. How very sad.
Enterprise co-creator and original showrunner Brannon Braga has said he feels Coto’s fourth season was the best of the series, adding, “That is what Enterprise should have been from the beginning.” This clip from the season 3 DVD features Braga talking about bringing Coto on:
After Enterprise, Coto went on to success as a writer and executive producer on a number of series including 24, 24: Legacy, 24: Live Another Day, Dexter, and American Horror Story. He also created the Fox series NeXt. He won an Emmy for his work on 24 in 2006 and was nominated four times for his writing by the WGA. Before his time with Star Trek: Enterprise, Coto created the sci-fi series Odyssey 5 starring Peter Weller, which ran for two seasons on Showtime. He would later bring Weller on to Enterprise for a multi-episode arc in season 4.
His time on Star Trek was special to Coto. Last year on the 21st anniversary of the series he shared a fan tweet about Enterprise saying it was the happiest time of his career.
Proud to have worked with such an incredible group of people. Still the happiest time of my career. https://t.co/9Njcd1ITHI
— Manny Coto (@mannyhectorcoto) September 26, 2022
Coto even appeared on Enterprise, along with a number of others who worked on the show. In the series finale, Coto played a Starfleet admiral in the crowd watching Jonathan Archer sign an accord that would lead to the formation of the Federation.
Manny Coto (second row from back third from left) in the Enterprise series finale
Star Trek cast and crew remember Coto
Condolences and memories from those who knew Coto are appearing on social media.
On Instagram, Brannon Braga, who also worked with Coto on 24, talked about how much he learned from his friend and collaborator.
View this post on Instagram
Enterprise writer Mike Sussman shared his thoughts and a few behind the scenes photos with Coto
Days of Trek w/Manny pic.twitter.com/ttQ3MY6mTq
— Mike Sussman 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@_MichaelSussman) July 11, 2023
John Billingsley tweeted that Coto was a “mensch”:
Bummed as hell to hear that Manny Coto passed away from pancreatic cancer. What a kind, well read, delightfully astringent, man. I'd say 'flights of angels' and etc., but if memory serves he was an atheist, we had that in common. So just: THANK YOU, MENSCH!
— John Billingsley (@JBillingsley60) July 11, 2023
Legendary art department alumnus Mike Okuda shared his thoughts and a nice photo with Coto and Doug Drexler.
Remembering writer-producer Manny Coto, who brought the fun back to Enterprise's fourth season with his love for Star Trek. Manny had been battling pancreatic cancer and passed away at age 62. Photo: Admiral Manny Coto with Doug Drexler & me during the Enterprise finale in 2005. pic.twitter.com/klHwX7EJQ3
— Michael Okuda (@MikeOkuda) July 11, 2023
Well known Trek Journalist (and Inglorius Trekspert) Mark A. Altman posted on Twitter describing Coto as a Star Trek “legend.”
Heartbroken to hear about the death of MANNY COTO. He was a wonderful guy, talented showrunner and his love for #StarTrek knew no bounds. Not since Michael Piller died of throat cancer has the Trek writing family lost such a legend. https://t.co/Brv55dm1n3
— Mark A. Altman * (@markaaltman) July 10, 2023
TrekMovie offers our condolences to the friends and family of Manny Coto.
That’s very sad. He wrote some of my favorite Star Trek episodes.
This is sad. I really am grateful for what he gave fans and his insight into what made Trek great. As a fan himself, I’m glad he got to realize a dream and make the Trek that he wanted to see.
As much as I loved Coto’s work on Enterprise, that wasn’t the show of his I was introduced to because I had stopped watching it before then. It was actually 24 first, another show I was very obsessed with at the time and more so when Brannon Braga joined it. But that was when I heard Coto’s name for the first time and loved his work on that show. And watched all the other 24 spin off shows he did.
But when I finally got back into Enterprise and made it to the much talked about fourth season, I finally understood why others loved it so much. He brought new life into that show. But I actually loved a lot of his stories in third season like Similitude (still one of the best Star Trek episodes, period IMO), Chosen Realm and Azati Prime. But he did such amazing work in season four and still one of my favorite seasons of Star Trek to this day. I always wished he would come back to helm one of the newer shows too but he left an indelible mark on Star Trek for me and many fans in the last twenty years.
RIP!
Yes, I agree that his work in the 3rd season of Enterprise was very good, even though many fans say the fourth season was the best. The Zindi serial storyline was actually quite good, but I have to concur, Coto’s Similtude was an outstanding standalone episode (probably a top 5 in the series). It told Trip’s backstory and revealed more of the relationship with T’Pol despite him being in sickbay throughout the episode.
It also demonstrated you can have a season-long story arc, but you can still take a break and tell a great character building separate science fiction story within that structure. Something that Discovery really struggled to do, with a few exceptions like Adira’s Trill backstory and Georgiou’s meeting with the Guardian of Forever.
RIP Manny and condolences to his family and friends.
“But when I finally got back into Enterprise and made it to the much talked about fourth season, I finally understood why others loved it so much. He brought new life into that show.”
And new civilizations?
Manny Coto had a hand in some of my favorite television. I loved his work on ENT. It would have been really cool to see what would have done directing an episode of SNW.
Very sad, RIP…
Pancreatic cancer. Well, s**t. Rest easy, Mr. Coto.
What terrible news. In those two seasons of ENT, he put his imprimatur in the franchise. He really got it, unlike most of the current show runners.
Edit: He really got it. Rest in peace.
There’ll be plenty of other threads to take shots at current management.
Feel free to edit your own work, not mine. Thanks.
When I’m being an @$$hole, I will. And have.
Truly a visionary with great respect for what came before in Trek lore. A great loss.
That Altman comment is pretty ill-considered; not to slight Coto, but since Piller, we’ve lost Peter Alan Fields and John Meredyth Lucas — just to name two right off the top of my head — who made major major contributions to TREK.
Probably just based on him having personal relationships with both Piller & Coto (Piller a longstanding professional one based on his Trek reporting days, Coto one of peers as both were contemporaries of TV showrunning)
Accepting it in the vein it was offered is fine.
I’ve never heard of John Meredith Lucas but didn’t know Peter Alan fields died..one of the things I find saddest is all those ppl who KNEW HIM PERSONALLY and WORKED with him probably didn’t know he died until after the fact and weren’t there when he died or said goodbye to him..yet they are perhaps regarded as friends..it’s kind of a crock..we are SO alone in this life and most ppl we meet even friends will not truly know us..how am I I supposed to find thst depressing and go on..Gene Rod#enberry was right when he said In a way we are all aliens on this planet and are lucky if we make one or two connections that are real..how am I supposed to go on and have hope after losing so much of my.famoly.given that is reality
John Meredith Lucas was a producer of TOS’s second season. and he wrote and directed several episodes of that show.
He wrote “The Changeling” and “Elaan of Troyius,” but will probably be best remembered for directing “The Ultimate Computer,” possibly the last great TOS episode put on film. Lucas wanted to take over Gene Coon’s spot as producer after Coon quit, but Roddenberry was never convinced he had the chops for it.
I was convinced.
Not saying JML was going to be another Coon – level performer, but most of what he was responsible for was pretty watchable and rewatchable.
Also always thought he should have used the WGA to go after a piece of the TMP pie, given how close the “carbon units being patterned for data storage” was to Nomad’s directive to ‘sterilize imperfections.’
Well, that’s a provocative take! What about “Day of the Dove” and “The Enterprise Incident”?
The first one I thought of is Dorothy Fontana, who likewise left impossibly large footprints on the franchise.
I’m assuming Altman wasn’t intentionally slighting these others, though, just responding in the moment and forgetting the other titans whose passing came between Piller’s and Coto’s.
I’d say that when it comes to naming those who literally “rescued” the franchise at a moment when it might well have imploded and faded away once and for all, Michael Piller’s name belongs right alongside that of Gene Coon and Nicholas Meyer. I was glad to have been given the opportunity to attend his memorial service, as a way of showing my appreciation for his efforts.
Rest in peace to a good steward of Star Trek. More importantly, may his memory be a blessing to his friends and family.
Sad news. RIP Manny.
Manny Coto saved Enterprise and turned it into a really good show. His passing is very sad. Condolences to his family and friends.
His Odyssey 5 was an intriguing show about five astronauts on the space shuttle when Earth suddenly vaporizes. They get sent back in time five years to figure out why the Earth got destroyed and to prevent it. Unfortunately the show was cancelled after two seasons with the plot unresolved. Coto said that he wanted to finish it up somehow (a novel maybe?), but sadly that will now never happen.
RIP Manny! He was a brilliant writer who brought back the spirit of TOS during his time on ENT. He loved storytelling and it showed in his remarkable career.
This is so very sad. I’ve met Manny several times through mutual friends, and he was an incredibly nice person. Really a sweetheart of a guy. :(
Manny Coto didn’t just close out Enterprise with a bang but the Berman era of Star Trek and Star Trek as a whole till it came back years and years later with the Kelvin era. The franchise as a whole owes him a debt. RIP Manny Coto.
Far too young. :(
So very sad. This hits hard. So very appreciative of what he did for Star Trek. His love for Star Trek was evident in his work on the 4th season of Enterprise. What that show could have become under him if it had continued! As Kirk said in “Turnabout Intruder” – “If only … ” Thinking of his family, their loss is so much bigger that of us fans.
Sad news. Manny’s contribution to Star Trek was huge. I still think Season 4 of ENT may be the strongest season of any Star Trek show ever.
Say what you want about that show, but effectively we got 3 superb Star Trek TV movies in that final season.
That was the LAST time anyone made great TREK on TV
Really sad to hear this. Manny Coto was was an excellent writer and he gave us one of finest seasons of Trek.
He made Enterprise appointment viewing.
So sad and my heart goes out to his family, colleagues and friends. He was the Terry Matalas of the early 2000’s. Best Enterprise season by far! RIP Manny.
Damn he was young. Pancreatic cancer is just awful, I’ve known far too many people who have died from it. Typically, by the time you develop symptoms, it’s already too late. I know he was an atheist, so my thoughts are with him and his family, no need for prayers.
Rest in Peace.
Rest In peace, Mr. Coto, and thank you for your many contributions over the years. That disease is merciless.
Very sad, his work was great and I enjoyed it. Pancreatic Cancer is a silent killer, cancer sucks. RIP
62. Damn.
I got the opportunity to speak with him at a Vegas Con. I told him how grateful my wife and I were what he did for ENT. He mentioned (briefly) what he planned for the show if it went on longer but never had the chance. Thank you again Manny, Rest in peace and now enjoy the time with the Trek stars who have gone before you. Your time at ENT made fans very happy.
This is truly sad. I’ve only seen something like 4 or 5 episodes of Enterprise. I just didn’t get into it, since it just seemed like TNG mk 3 at first.
I heard, though, that Manny Coto’s season 4 was wonderful, and, after rewatching a lot of Quantum Leap with my kids, I’m interested in checking Enterprise out.
In any case, I’d like to offer my condolences and prayers (if Manny, an atheist, is ok with that), to Mr. Coto’s family. I lost my dad to salivary glad cancer over a couple of years ago and it was … truly horrible. So much blood, despair, and pain over four years. And, before that, my beloved mom-in-law to lung cancer, though she had never ever smoked). It’s horrible to see a love one suffer like this, knowing there’s nothing more you can do. Again, my thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Coto’s loved ones, both family and friends.
Enterprise became much more focused in season three when Coto came onboard. The Xindi arc isn’t popular with everyone, but I really liked it. That lead to a unique season four that is made up of several discrete stories told in two and three episode arcs with an underlying arc about the founding of the Federation.
A real pity. And not a pleasant or merciful disease. I would dearly have liked to see where he would have gone with Enterprise, it certainly got its sea legs under his talented supervision. In fact, some of my favorite Trek came from that last season (the finale excepted).
Any kind of cancer just sucks! My dad died from pancreatic cancer 15 years ago at age 65 years old
Indeed; my grandfather died of it 25 years ago this year, aged 74. I was in college, but somehow doesn’t seem that long ago. It’s definitely fresh in my memory.
Linus, I’m so sorry for your loss. : (
I told my wife about his passing today, we agreed, not for the first time after seeing friends go through it, no treatment for us if we get that diagnosis. We spend our money, travel and party until we’re done. I can’t imagine the 13 months Coto went through. RIP.
I recall hearing on NPR, I think, that most physicians die at home—in contrast to the general population—and in a survey, the majority of physicians, if given a cancer diagnosis, would opt for minimal and palliative care over aggressive treatment after the age of 75. I think it’s a quality versus quantity calculation. But of course they’re also a bit more inured to death, given their occupation.
I remember him as a key guy who made 24 what it was!
How sad. RIP, Manny, you legend. Pancreatic cancer is an utter bastard. I’ll make another donation to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
I’m sorry to hear that i loved Enterprise
This guy will be profoundly missed especially for Star Trek fans. He turned Enterprise into a great show and haven’t had Star Trek anywhere close to that good until more recently. A great writer and producer.
RIP