Rick Berman Richard Keith Berman is a veteran writer and producer of American television . He was the executive producer of ( - ) and co - creator of , and " " . He also produced and co - wrote four . Throughout his long tenure at " Star Trek " , Berman had his name on several occasions referenced : In addition , Berman was honored by SkyBox International with an individual card entry , no . 37 , in their 1993 specialty " " trading card set . Biography . Early life and career . Born in New York , New York on December 25 , , Rick Berman earned a bachelor ' s degree in speech from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1967 . In 1970 , Berman worked as production assistant on and ' s experimental short film , " Fly " , which was one of his earliest jobs in filmmaking . A prolific documentary filmmaker in the 1970s , Berman traveled extensively throughout the world , visiting over ninety countries . As an independent producer in the 1980s , Berman produced several informational series for HBO and PBS , including " The Big Blue Marble " for which he won an Emmy Award in . Coming to Paramount Pictures in , Berman served as director of current programming and executive director of dramatic programming during which time he supervised television series including " MacGyver " , " Family Ties " , and " Cheers " – appearing in the final episode of the latter as a bar patron . " Star Trek " . In , recently promoted to vice president of long form and special projects for Paramount Network Television , Berman was called to a meeting with Gene Roddenberry , early in the development of his television spin - off of " " . Berman recalled the meeting in his foreword for " " : Upon their second meeting , the two men discussed their travels – Roddenberry with the army and Berman as a documentary filmmaker – Berman described the meeting as a bonding experience , " love at second sight " . Within days , Berman was offered a position as a producer on the fledgling " Star Trek " sequel , a move which would require him to resign his post as an executive and return to production . However , Berman was not acquainted with " Star Trek " , or with science - fiction in general for that matter , only vaguely recalling one or two episodes he had seen as a kid , and needed a crash course , being " personally mentored by Gene Roddenberry on the " rules of " Star Trek " " and vowed never to break them " , as author Sue Short would have it . ( ; " Star Trek and American Television " , p . 40 ) Berman described his new working relationship with Roddenberry as a blending of the " Star Trek " creator ' s fantastical imagination with his more " Earthbound " sensibility . David Gerrold recalled the events differently , pointing out that Roddenberry disliked Berman , who was hired as a " watchdog " by the studio who still blamed Roddenberry for the perceived failure of . " " Gene didn ' t like Rick , at all . But Rick was installed on the show by the studio as a way to keep a control on the show . . . to keep the budgets in line , make sure that the scripts were done . Ultimately , Berman ended up in control rather than Maizlish " [ remark : Roddenberry ' s attorney ] " because Berman played the politics of the studio more effectively . " " The later , 2014 documentary " " , amply demonstrated that Roddenberry actually fought tooth and nail to the bitter end to retain creative control over , what would become , . Officially credited as " Supervising Producer " ( somewhat affirming Gerrold ' s assessment ) , Berman worked closely with fellow supervising producer Bob Justman , casting the new crew of the and campaigning heavily to secure Patrick Stewart in the lead role in " The Next Generation " . ( " " ) Actually , accepting his new position , formally constituted a demotion , as Berman moved down from the executive ranks ( usually enjoying tenure ) to production ranks ( usually contracted on a per production basis as Justman was , though in this case Berman was an exception ) . " The Next Generation " and " Deep Space Nine " . With the departure of Bob Justman following TNG ' s first year and Roddenberry ' s declining involvement in the day - to - day production of the series , Berman quickly ascended to the role of executive producer , a title he held alone following Roddenberry ' s death in . Overseeing all aspects of the production of " The Next Generation " , Berman described his position as monitoring both the aspects of the series that changed and those that remained the same , in order to retain a balance . " " My job also includes monitoring the ' degree of bend ' . . . letting the shows and the films evolve , but keeping Gene ' s vision true to course . I ' m not quite fluent yet , but I ' m getting there . " " Berman would later recall , " " I learned Gene ' s vision directly from Gene . It wasn ' t my vision of the future , but it was at the foundation of " Star Trek " . It was like learning a foreign language . I studied it . " " ( " " , p . 3 ) Keeping a small bust of Roddenberry on his desk , Berman often referred to what Roddenberry would have done had he survived to continue running TNG . When any one of the writers would propose an idea that Berman felt was explicitly contrary to that edict , Berman would " blindfold " the bust . ( " " ) With the success of TNG and mounting production costs , Paramount , in the guise of newly appointed studio head Brandon Tartikoff ( former head of NBC and for whom Berman had actually provided the hit series " Cheers " ) , soon approached Berman and his associates to ready yet another spin - off , one to run concurrently with TNG before supplanting it on the airwaves . In " " ( pp . 154 - 157 ) , Berman had recounted that he had a series of meetings with Tartikoff , starting in the summer of 1991 . As a former television network executive , Tartikoff was acutely aware that even the most successful series had a limited , economical life - span for a variety of reasons , ranging from psychological cast fatigue , through naturally increasing production costs – if only for the annually inflation adjusted production staff wages as ordained by the Hollywood Unions , and not in the least for star cast salaries habitually inflating exponentially with each sequel – , to increased competition with itself for scarce syndication time - slots the longer a series runs . Together with Berman , Tartikoff decided upon an optimum " Star Trek " series run of seven seasons , meaning that The Next Generation had at that time only three seasons left to go . Though enamored with the " Original Crew " movies ( he had overseen the production tail - end of ) , Tartikoff was well aware that they too had run their course , if only for the age of the cast , but figured this was the perfect time to pass the baton to " the next generation " , thereby starting a new " Star Trek " movie franchise . He instructed Berman to start looking into that , and have a movie ready at the end of " The Next Generation " television series ( by which time the new " Star Trek " series had to be up and running for two seasons ) , preferably one in which , one way or another , featured the transition of the " Original Crew " to " The Next Generation Crew " . Given his marching orders , Berman was sent on his way to his most daunting year in his entire career , 1994 . For all intents and purposes , it was Tartikoff who had come up with the leap - frogging seven - season format of the modern " Star Trek " television franchise , and the start of " The Next Generation " movie franchise . What was to become would be Rick Berman ' s first " created by " credit . Despite criticism that the second " Star Trek " spin - off , co - created by Berman and Michael Piller , was darker and grittier than previous " Trek " outings , Berman consistently and steadfastly disagreed . In the " " , Berman recalls : Nevertheless , in a January 1993 " Los Angeles Times " interview , Berman also admitted that Roddenberry had never known what the new series exactly entailed , " " He was not well at the time . He was quite ill , and I never got a chance to tell him what the ideas were , what they were about . But I definitely discussed things with him enough to know that he trusted me and had given me his blessings , " " hastening to add that , " " Our Starfleet officer s are still Starfleet officers in the true Roddenberry spirit . There is no conflict between them , " " but by , " ( . . . ) " twisting the location of the show a little bit to this strange uncomfortable place , by adding a back story where we have alien characters who are not at all that crazy about having our people there , it allows us numerous new vehicles of conflict that make the stories a lot more compelling . " " The movies and " Voyager " . Following the end of the seven season run of " The Next Generation " , Rick Berman ' s duties as executive producer segued into the responsibility of overseeing the continuation of that series on the big screen . With the process of creating a TNG movie beginning as early as , the situation was nevertheless rushed according to Berman in the " " : One of the few producers to successfully transition from television to feature films , Berman ' s eventual was a financial success , securing his place in the world of " Star Trek " - features , cemented with the run - away success of the subsequent one , . Despite the general prosperity of " Deep Space Nine " , Paramount pressured Berman for yet another television series . So close to the end of TNG and running alongside DS9 , Berman admitted in a interview that he felt many aspects of what came to be , unfortunately , didn ' t work . Yet again citing studio pressure for a quickened turn - out pace , Berman said : Actually , the studio had overriding , commercial reasons for pushing ahead with " Voyager " , since it had slated the production to serve as the flagship for the studio ' s own recently established UPN television network . While " Voyager " would fail to achieve the same audience numbers that " Star Trek : The Next Generation " and even " Deep Space Nine " once did , Paramount and UPN still considered it a profitable and desirable commodity . With the end of " Voyager " s seventh season , Berman was once again approached to create a new series – one to air in the fall of , mere months after the final broadcast of " Voyager " . As " Rick Berman Productions " , Berman contributed in a creative consultancy and producer role to the 1998 " Klingon Encounter " - ride of the " " - attraction ; six years later , he reprised that role for the additional " Borg Invasion 4D " - ride . " Enterprise " and " Nemesis " . Partnering with TNG veteran Brannon Braga , Berman co - created and executive produced " " , arguably the most controversial of his endeavors . Credited for polarizing the apparently dwindling " Star Trek " fan base , " Enterprise " was , at Berman ' s insistence , drastically different from previous outings . Debuting with a relatively large audience , " Enterprise " quickly lost viewer - ship and inspired criticism of both the series and its creators , with fans – and as it turned out after - the - fact by production staffers as well – criticizing alleged violations in established continuity . With the additional failure of , at the box office in – hard on the heels of the near equal dismal performance of – , outspoken critics clamored for the removal of Berman . Berman ' s somewhat placating remark , made long after - the - fact , belied however the ferocity with which the outspoken critics pursued their goals . Partisan elements of The Star Trek Fan Association ( STFA ) united in the " Save Star Trek Campaign " , a major initiative calling for sweeping changes within the " Star Trek " franchise leadership and creative direction with the goal of " restoring " the franchise to Gene Roddenberry ’ s creative precedents . Part of the initiative was the organization of their December 2002 online petition to Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone and Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing , in which they demanded the removal of the " current leadership of the franchise from their positions , including Rick Berman , Brannon Braga , and their entire staff " , and instead install a " Board of Star Trek Trustees in their place : a group of 5 individuals who can properly run the franchise in accordance with the ideals and vision of its creator , Gene Roddenberry " . Seemingly unfazed at the time , Berman reacted with a dismissive commentary , " " There are people who probably think that the quality would improve greatly , if I were to be hit by a truck . " " ( " Star Trek and American Television " , p . 40 ) As it turned out however , Berman had not been too keen on embarking on " Enterprise " himself for practical reasons , as his former partner Braga divulged in 2014 , " Star Trek " was wearing out its welcome . Rick Berman didn ' t want to make a show so soon but Paramount did . I think it was too soon for another show . It was a quality show , but the ratings weren ' t really what they should be . And I don ' t think the network – the new regime [ at UPN ] – I don ’ t think they treated the show with the tender loving care that it needed to thrive . " " What Berman had feared was , what " Star Trek " author and historian Larry Nemecek had called , " franchise fatigue " , but Nemececk has concurrently added that he suspected a case of " producer fatigue " as well , unsurprisingly perhaps , as Berman had already helmed the franchise for nearly fifteen years by this time . According to Nemececk , the addition of Braga as Berman ' s equal was an implicit acknowledgement of the latter . ( ENT Season 4 Blu - ray - special feature , " Before Her Time : Decommissioning Enterprise ) Berman himself divulged that , in the case of " Enterprise " , the relationship between UPN and " Star Trek " , which had been a warm one during the production of " Voyager " , had by then soured considerably and had taken a turn for the worse , " " Our relationship with the network was distant . And it wasn ' t embracing and warm and . . . a sense of working together that had existed in all the years before . " " ( ENT Season 3 Blu - ray - special feature , " In a Time of War " ) Several of his former subordinates , both cast and production staff , have subsequently corroborated Berman ' s assessment , coming forward with instances of network meddlement which was detrimental to " Enterprise " , and which had disturbing similarities with what had befallen between " The Original Series " and NBC back in the 1960s , especially in regard to ratings and air time scheduling . Exemplary of this was , according to Braga , their decree , if the series was to be renewed for a fourth season – the network actually already of a mind not to do so – , to get rid off Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer , which Berman fought tooth and nail , successfully as it turned out . ( ENT Season 4 Blu - ray - special feature , " Before Her Time : Decommissioning Enterprise " ) Nevertheless , while already indicating cancellation with the approach of the end of the third season of " Enterprise " , so too did Paramount and UPN indicate the apparent end of Rick Berman ' s tenure as the overseer of " Star Trek " productions . Whether or not influenced by the petition and though remaining credited , franchise management indeed virtually relegated both Berman and Braga to the role of figurehead at the end of the third season ( admitted as such by Braga in 2007 ) , and their places were " de facto " filled for , what turned out to be , the last season by Manny Coto and " his " second man Mike Sussman , under whose tenure much of the perceived continuity violation was redressed , aided by writers such as Judith & Garfield Reeves - Stevens , who , like them , had an equally thorough understanding of " Star Trek " lore . That the series was renewed for a last season , was in no small part due to the fact that strong backing was received from an unexpected corner ; Scott Bakula has unequivocally cited Garry Hart , the former UPN head and " Star Trek " supporter , who had just been promoted to another position within the conglomerate , as the driving force behind the renewal , thereby thwarting the cancellation intents of his successor ( s ) at UPN . ( ENT Season 4 Blu - ray - special feature , " Before Her Time : Decommissioning Enterprise " ) While the season as a whole was generally well received – though it did not save the series – , both Berman and Braga yet again took firmly hold of the reins when it came to producing the last episode , , also turning out to be the very last of the whole television franchise for the time being . Intended to be " a valentine to all the Star Trek shows " , as Braga had coined it , the well - meant intention was again met with intense criticism , creating yet another violent backlash from production staffers and fans alike , causing Berman to concede years later , " " I would have never done it if I had known how people were going to react . " " With the end of " Enterprise " , word came from Berman and Paramount that an eleventh feature was in the works in 2005 , with Berman partnering with screenwriter Erik Jendresen on what was tentatively titled " " . Another prospective collaborator who had been named , was former Paramount Television President Kerry McCluggage , cited by many " Star Trek " actors and producers as a strong supporter of the franchise during his tenure at the studio , but who had left three years earlier to become a movie producer in his own right . However , by , new leadership at Paramount under Brad Grey suggested that Berman ' s involvement in " Star Trek " had ended and the producer had moved on to other projects . Speaking with , Berman described his departure : Working relationship with " Star Trek " s creative staff . The role of an executive producer in a motion picture production is by all objective yardsticks not an enviable one , especially not for an ongoing production . As the highest responsible production manager , which Berman became after first Robert Justman and subsequently Gene Roddenberry left , the executive producer is the intermediate between the highest echelon of studio executives , to whom he is answerable , and his own production staff . Berman continuously operated in a tension field where the interests of both parties did , all too frequently , not correspond . The studio ' s primary concerns were the commercial aspects of the production , which can be summed up as " the most humanly possible bang for the least humanly possible buck " , whereas his production team ' s primary interest were the creative aspects of the productions . It was Berman ' s job to reconcile these conflicting interests in an everlasting balancing act , meaning that it was also part of his job to frequently say " no " to his creative staff ' s proposals for budgetary reasons , or as Berman had once put it himself , " The Buck Stops Here " . ( ENT Season 4 Blu - ray - special feature , " Before Her Time : Decommissioning Enterprise ) On the other hand , it was also Berman who had to fend off creative meddling from the side of uninitiated studio executives , especially when it interfered with , and / or went contrary to the creative integrity of the productions , such as was the aforementioned case with Scott Bakula . Essentially , being an executive producer entails being both an chief executive officer as well as being a studio politician . ( " " , pp . 1 - 7 , 150 , 152 ) It was maintaining the creative integrity of the productions , which was as equally an important part of the executive producer ' s responsibility and his team of subordinate producers . To this end , when conceiving a production , a framework in which the occurrences of a production takes place , is established at the conception of the production by the producers . Details of this framework were then at a later stage hammered out in a list of do ' s and don ' ts , which in the case of the " Star Trek " television productions were formalized in their respective internal " Writers ' / Directors ' Guide " production documents , dubbed " " Writer ' s Bible " " s , after the one already utilized for . In Berman ' s spin - off television series cases – save for " The Next Generation " , which had already been done by Roddenberry and Justman – , these documents were even more paramount , as the " Original Series " already had established a framework , known by heart by television audiences worldwide . Contrary to what the title of the documents suggested , not only prospective writes and directors had to adhere to the rules , but every subsequent production aspect as well , and it was Berman who , in his role of the primary responsible overseer , had the final say whether or not designs of items like sets , props , visual effects , costumes and the like , met with his interpretation of the framework . " " He ' s God , " " then novice " Star Trek " director Jonathan Frakes – incidentally , having been given his first opportunity as such by Berman in 1990 – only half - jokingly stated in 1992 , " " Rick Berman is definitively in control of this show . He would have it no other way " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol 23 # 2 / 3 , p . 36 ) , something Berman himself conceded in a 2002 interview , " " [ I ] n terms of Paramount ' s perception , I sort of became the " Star Trek " guy . I ' m the only person who has been involved in all of it . " " ( " Star Trek and American Television " , p . 38 ) But then , it was also the executive producer ' s prerogative to deviate from the rulebook as he saw fit , as has been the case with the " Original Series " cross - over episodes . While the " " specifically stated that " We are not buying stories about the original STAR TREK characters : Kirk , Spock , McCoy , Uhura , Chekov , Scotty and Sulu . Or their descendants ; As much as we love our original cast ( they are our children , after all ) , we want our audience ' s attention centered now on our new characters . " ( 3rd ed . August 1989 , p . 34 ) , Berman later relented . An appreciative Ronald D . Moore noted on the occasion of the by him written episode , " " One of the great things about " Relics " is that it wasn ' t a Scotty show . It was a concept about an engineer or a captain being caught in a transporter beam that we came upon . I thought we were going to have problems with Mr . Berman who generally doesn ' t like to do that gag but oddly enough he was in a good mood that day . Rick has opened up his mind in a lot of ways . When I came onboard you could not mention the old STAR TREK in an episode . You couldn ' t make a reference to a character without making major problems . When we brought Sarek onto the show it was like , " My God , we had to march across the street and pay homage . " But now because we are firmly established I think everybody feels a lot more comfortable that we have proven ourselves . We don ' t own anything to the old STAR TREK , except like the guys who went to the moon , the Mercury guys had to go up there first . And we respect them for that , but we ' re not depending on them anymore , so we don ' t have to bend over backwards not to mention them . " " ( " Cinefantastique " , Vol . 24 , issue 3 / 4 , p . 22 ) A more light - hearted example of Berman ' s prerogative was provided by Production Illustrator Doug Drexler on the occasion of endowing the " Chaffee " - type shuttlepod with the name " Chaffee " , " " What I really remember is us getting scolded by someone in the office for naming the shuttle Chaffee . Who do you think you are naming a shuttlecraft after your girlfriend ! Now it was time for me to be impressed . Rick Berman jumped in and set the record straight . " Don ' t be ridiculous ! Chaffee is one of the " Apollo 1 " astronauts that died on the pad . Approved ! " " " While restrictions due to Berman ' s " The Buck Stops Here " assessments were generally understood and accepted by his subordinates , it was the creative integrity that frequently caused some professional discord between Berman and his producers and the creative staff . This was especially true for " Star Trek " as there was a fairly large percentage of " Original Series " fans working in the ranks of the creative departments of the spin - off productions – though they had to keep it under wraps due to the " not hiring fans as production staff " studio policy , exactly for these reasons – , whose views on " Star Trek " not always necessarily corresponded with that of the producers . In his autobiography , Visual Effects Coordinator Ronald B . Moore has confessed that he , before he managed to professionally distance himself from his fan - views , found working on the new " The Next Generation " show a frustrating experience at first , early in the first season . ( " Flying Starships " , p . 104 ) Author Stephen Edward Poe has described in his book " " how at the development stages of " Voyager " Berman drove one of his , otherwise unnamed , creative staffers to the brink of a nervous breakdown by rejecting time and again the designs for the Caretaker ' s array . Aside from this , Poe also described how production staffers became frequently pressed for time as Berman was consistently late on signing off on executive decisions . Actually , the latter hardly came as a surprise as that year , 1994 , was the one period in time during his entire tenure on the franchise , where Berman had the most on his plate , spreading himself thin by simultaneously overseeing the productions of , aside from " Voyager " s first season , that of " The Next Generation " s last , " Deep Space Nine " s second season and the movie " Generations " as well , with the documentary " " to boot . Sandra Piller , widow of Michael Piller , also hinted at creative tensions , when she commented on the non - publication of her late husband ' s book " " on the making of " Insurrection " , describing it as " brutally honest " , " " Well , when he first got the go - ahead from the studio to write the book , and he got it signed - off with all the actors and everyone . . . when he finally turned it in , he was shocked ! They said , " We can ' t let the public know what we do here , what goes on behind the scenes ! " " " Critique . As Sandra Piller already indicated , it was neither common practice nor considered decency to wash the studio ' s dirty linen in public , but that changed somewhat with " Enterprise " , as touched upon earlier . Though commonly made after - the - fact , several creative staffers have made later comments on several internet blogs that pointed at elevated tension levels between producers and creative staffers for this production . Doug Drexler remarked , regarding his NX class design , that he liked " " ( . . . ) the NX - 01 , even though it was a frustrating experience . I ' m a " canon " kind of guy . I would have liked to have seen the Daedalus style ship . You know . . . the sphere instead of saucer . The producers wanted it to be a saucer because they wanted it " recognizable " . " , to which Scenic Artist Geoffrey Mandel added , " " Having been around then , I also know that [ the NX - class designers ] Doug Drexler and John Eaves did " exactly " what the producers asked them to . " " The usually very diplomatic Drexler could not refrain himself later from making the acerbic " " You ' ll make a fine producer ! " " riposte to one fan ' s overly criticism of his refit - NX redesign , speaking volumes in that respect , the brevity of the statement notwithstanding . One of the even more outspoken critics afterwards , was yet another " Original Series " fan production staffer , Foundation Imaging ' s Robert Bonchune , who stated on the decision not to use the Klingon D4 - class model in , " " We all loved it over at Foundation and our friend Koji built it for free . Amazingly , even though it was a freebee for the episode , certain people in production still found a way to nit pick certain things and refused to ultimately use it until windows were added in certain places . We refused , on principle , as Koji had not slept for days building that on his own and they knew it . . . so instead of using it , because of , I think 5 windows that you would never see , we ended up using the K ' tinga , which was UTTERLY out of place and out of continuity in the " Enterprise " era . Ahhh producers . . . " " , and on the decision to have the Bird - of - Prey graphic from the Romulan Bird - of - Prey removed in " Enterprise " s episode , " " Oh and as for the BOP drawing underneath , it was rejected for no other reason than , once again , contempt for the " Trek " , the fans and the " Original Series " by . . . uh . . . " management " . . . you know who they are ; ) " , " providing a later , acerbic parting shot , " " Ahhh Producers . . . you showed those fans who ' s boss didn ' t ya ? " " Bonchune ' s assessment seemed to have been validated , when Berman did the exact opposite later on for the second season episode ; for that episode writer David A . Goodman had very much wanted to use the Klingon , but it was Berman who decreed an earlier model of craft was called for , the , as the D7 - class had been depicted in the later - set " Original Series " . ( ENT Season 2 Blu - ray - special feature , " " Judgment " - text commentary " / podcast ) While these critics maintained decorum by not naming names , there has been one who actually did break that unwritten rule , as early as 2001 . Production Illustrator Andrew Probert , who left the franchise after the first season of " The Next Generation " , has specifically cited Berman as the reason for doing so , " " When Rick Berman took over the show , half way through the first season , every time we showed him a design concept , his constant response was , " no , we can ' t do that , because it reminds me of something that I ' ve seen somewhere " , or " it looks like a shaver " , or " it looks like something I ' ve seen in a furniture store " . The only thing of note that Rick Berman did before " Star Trek " was a show called " " The Big Blue Marble " " , a kid ' s show . For some reason , Paramount led him into this . I don ' t know . I ' ve heard conflicted stories that Gene thought he was a great producer and wanted to bring him in . Whatever it is , Rick Berman did not , in that time , and , as far as I can see from what is being produced , does not understand science fiction . I ' ve seen a lot of great concepts , by Doug Drexler and a few of the other illustrators that they have been working on , passed over in favor of much more controlled concepts . My experience with Rick Berman is , you know , he does not understand what he ' s doing , he does not understand science fiction . " " Probert ' s assessment chimed in with the harsh criticism Writer / Journalist Mark A . Altman had already offered in 1999 , " " The dirty little secret is Berman and the people running " Star Trek " right now hate " The Original Series " and hate being compared to it . They are not people who have any affection for the old show . When Harve Bennett and Nick Meyer took over the franchise for " " , they went back and looked at every episode of " The Original Series " and learned everything they could about what worked and what didn ' t . When these guys [ Berman and writer Brannon Braga ] took over , they hated the original and resented being in the shadow and avoided watching it . They ' d be happy if people forgot the original , and that ' s unfortunate . " " Unsurprisingly , Altman ' s relationship with Berman , which had started out amicably , was destroyed afterwards . As to his gripe , Altman found a confederate in " Original Series " Performer Leonard Nimoy , in particular where the as unceremonious perceived demise of James T . Kirk in " Generations " was concerned , " " I ' m making a movie for Rick Berman , you see . " [ remark : Nimoy was the first to be offered the director ' s chore ] " Well , the script was lousy . I said so : " This needs major , major work . " They said , " Well , we don ' t have time for the kind of changes you ' re talking about . " So I said goodbye . And then to end it with a fight scene between Kirk and Malcolm McDowell ! What ' s the point ? " " Unable to deal with criticism , Berman ended any relationship with Nimoy as well ; " " Which is a shame , since Rick Berman and I " used " to be friends , " " Nimoy sighed . Altman , Nimoy and Probert did not remain alone for too long in their criticism of Berman ; Screenwriter David Weddle stated in an interview given to the " Chicago Tribune " of 1 April 2005 that " the moribund aesthetics of Rick Berman " had " slowly strangled the franchise " , to which Novelist Andy Mangels has added in April 2006 that " ( . . . ) he did his best to ruin the franchise on his way out " . Performer Garrett Wang claimed in 2010 that Berman had visited the set of " Voyager " only twice in seven years , calling him " an idiot " and that " " if there is a hell in this existence that we have that people can go to , he ' s first on the list . " " Previously , Wang had also become the first " Star Trek " actor to be denied a chance to direct the show ( citing Berman to have stated that he was " not running a directing school here " , a bit incongruously as he " had " given numerous prior " Star Trek " performers the opportunity , such as the aforementioned Jonathan Frakes ) , perceived by him as punishment for criticizing Berman . Having coined him " a raging homophobe " , the earlier quoted David Gerrold has unequivocally accused Berman of sabotaging the development of the unrealized " Next Generation " first season episode " Blood and Fire " , an allegory on AIDS , featuring gay characters As to the alleged homophobia of Berman , Mangels , " Star Trek " s only openly gay writer , has later observed , " " I have never met Rick Berman , and he has never expressed any specific attitudes directly to me . That said , not one single actor , staff member , or Paramount employee has ever once defended him from charges of homophobia , and many have accused him of it . Berman was ultimately responsible for killing almost every pitch for gay characters , and in interviews , was mealy - mouthed and waffling about the need for GLBT representation . At the very least , he was gutless and didn ' t care about GLBT representation . From the information and evidence I ' ve seen , heard , and read , I believe that Berman is the reason we never saw gays on " Star Trek " . " " Mangels ' " waffling " - statement referred , among others , to a December 2002 interview Berman had given to USAToday . com , commenting on the matter , " " That was really the wishful thinking of some people who were constantly at us . But we don ' t see heterosexual couples holding hands on the show , so it would be somewhat dishonest of us to see two gay men or lesbians holding hands . " " While Berman ' s alleged stance mirrored , in all honesty , the prevalent attitude towards gay issues in American society at the time , both Gerrold and Mangels seemed to have overlooked the kiss between Jadzia Dax and Lenara Kahn in " Deep Space Nine " s fourth season episode , as well the Pa ' nar Syndrome T ' Pol suffered from , as established in the " Enterprise " season two episode , easily recognizable as an AIDS allegory , and which Berman explicitly " had " intended as such ; " " In true " Star Trek " form , we ' re hoping the young people who watch will have some degree of enlightenment about a situation they ' re not all that aware of , " " he stated on the very same " waffling " occassion . Dax performer Terry Farrell herself however , has described Berman in " " as a misogynist who frequently criticized her appearance . " " The problems with my leaving were with Rick Berman . In my opinion , he ' s just very misogynistic . He ' d comment on your bra size not being voluptuous . His secretary had a 36C or something like that , and he would say something about ' Well , you ’ re just , like , flat . Look at Christine over there . She has the perfect breasts right there . ' That ’ s the kind of conversation he would have in front of you . I had to have fittings for Dax to have larger breasts . I think it was double - D or something . I went to see a woman who fits bras for women who need mastectomies ; I had to have that fitting . And then I had to go into his office . Michael Piller didn ' t care about those things , so he wasn ’ t there when you were having all of these crazy fittings with Rick Berman criticizing your hair or how big your breasts were or weren ' t . That stuff was so intense , especially the first couple of years . " " Defense . Yet , Berman has not been entirely without supporters of his own , as " Next Generation " Performer Brent Spiner had stated this of Berman in December 2008 , " " It think it ’ s really short - sighted of people to give Rick grief . I just say to any of them , " You go produce a television show and produce hundreds of hours of television shows " , which these people have watched more than once . ( . . . ) Rick more than anybody else protected Gene Roddenberry ’ s vision . There were times we wanted to do things in an episode , and Rick would be , " No , no , no . Gene wouldn ' t want that and that ' s not what Star Trek is about " . " " Though critical of Berman to an extent himself , even Leonard Nimoy concurred with Spiner in at least this respect that , " [ w ] ithout Berman to keep the show alive , there ' d be no Berman to blame for the show ' s death " . But it was " Next Generation " Executive Story Editor Writer Tracy Tormé , stressing the producer ' s responsibilities for which Berman was hired in the first place , who in particular had more eloquently tried to put his role in perspective , " " Rick is not a wide - eyed visionary . He is more of a professional producer . He always approached the show from a practical level . When I first met him , he was a straight - ahead producer who was Paramount ' s guy , and he adapted . He became more of a " Star Trek " guy . But he wasn ' t dying to be on " Star Trek " . This was just his next job , and fans resent it because he wasn ' t a dyed - in - the - wool fan . It ' s fair criticism , but you have to keep in mind where he is coming from . And in his defense , the amount of work he ' s put into the show is unbelievable . " " Somewhat summarizing Spiner ' s and Tormé ' s statements , Larry Nemecek , made this observation on Berman in 2014 , " The thing that made him the perfect person for Gene to pass the baton off to , for Gene to trust with the franchise running , the very thing that made him the best person to take it on from Gene , may have been his Achilles ' heel in the end . Because the guy that had to , you know , keep the wolves at the door , you know , keep the door closed against anybody who would come in and water down or alter " Star Trek " and keep it true to Gene ' s vision , he held so tight to what Gene would ' ve wanted , that maybe after 15 , 18 , 19 , 20 years , that was the very same quality that didn ' t let him ease up on the reins enough to maybe let some of these well - thought - out people , that he otherwise trusted , to take it in ways that – You know , maybe it could ' ve evolved a little sooner , a little faster . I wish he could have found a way to realize that it wasn ' t , you know , 1991 anymore . And that he didn ' t have to hold quite so tight to the reins at the end . " ( ENT Season 4 Blu - ray - special feature , " Before Her Time : Decommissioning Enterprise ) It was for the same occasion , the 2013 - 2014 set releases , that Berman himself , went into detail on his role on not only " Enterprise " , but on the entire franchise as well , frankly explaining the conditions under which he had to perform his duties in several bonus features specifically produced by Roger Lay , Jr . for the releases . Having spoken at length in 2002 to them for their reference book " Star Trek and American Television " , its authors concluded that the " controversy " surrounding Berman was not unlike that which befell " Star Trek " creator Gene Roddenberry as well after - the - fact . But , contrary to Roddenberry – who had succeeded in creating a " producer brand " as such for himself in " Star Trek " - lore and in popular awareness in general ( " aka " " The Roddenberry Myth " ) – , Berman " ( . . . ) refused to cultivate his own brand during his eighteen - year association with " Star Trek " , " and , in line with Tormé ' s observations , that he , " ( . . . ) would have been happy with anonymity , if it resulted in higher ratings " , making it highly doubtful that " ( . . . ) Rick Berman will be memorialized in a " New York Times " editorial ( . . . ) " , as Roddenberry had been ( p . 40 ) The future . While Berman has been vague about future non - " Star Trek " projects , he retained his office on the Paramount lot until . Before that time , he continued to develop television series . In an interview with " Star Trek Magazine " conducted not long before his departure , Berman indicated that he had begun writing a memoir about his twenty - two years with Paramount , and his time at " Star Trek " . " Star Trek " awards . For his work on " Star Trek " Rick Berman received the following award nominations in the various writing categories Emmy Award . Berman received the following Emmy Award nomination in the category Outstanding Drama Series Hugo Awards . Berman received the following Hugo Award nominations in the category Best Dramatic Presentation