Ira Steven Behr Ira Steven Behr was executive producer of , as well as a writer of several episodes . He was also a producer on from 1989 to 1990 . With writing partners Robert Hewitt Wolfe and , later , Hans Beimler , he possibly deserves the most credit for the " Deep Space Nine " Dominion War story arc and the series ' approach to characterization and story . Behr is currently working on " What We Left Behind " , a documentary about " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " . The documentary , expected for release in early 2018 , will see Behr reunite the writing staff , actors and production staff to discuss the impact and influence of the series , as well as develop the story of the first episode of the " eighth season " . Behr and " Star Trek " . " Star Trek : The Next Generation " . Behr first joined the " Star Trek " franchise early in the production of Season 3 of " Star Trek : The Next Generation " , after Michael Piller asked him to come on - board and help supervise the writing staff , with his first job being to perform a major rewrite on . Behr recalled that the atmosphere in the writing room was frequently very tense , as the existing writers ( including Hans Beimler , Richard Manning and Melinda M . Snodgrass ) were still mostly loyal to former showrunner Maurice Hurley and did not particularly like working under Piller , with interference from Gene Roddenberry also exacerbating the situation . Matters nearly came to a head midway through the season after Piller circulated a note about basic writing practices , which outraged Beimler , Manning and Snodgrass , with Behr ' s intervention being the only thing that prevented the trio from immediately quitting the show . From then until the end of the season Behr had to act as a go - between to Piller and the rest of the writing staff , and while Piller had actually suggested that Behr replace him as showrunner for the following season , he turned the offer down and left the show altogether , though did return to write the episode in a freelance capacity . ( TNG Season 3 Blu - ray special features ) " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " . A few years later , Behr was once again approached by Piller and Rick Berman to be a writer and producer on a new show , " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " . Intrigued by the opportunity to work on a new type of " Star Trek " show with a fixed setting , Behr accepted the offer . He would subsequently play an important part in developing the show ' s main recurring adversary , the Dominion , and with Piller moving over to another new show , , Behr was agreed to be the obvious choice to succeed him . Behr therefore became co - showrunner with Piller at the start of the third season , before taking over as the sole showrunner as of , a position he would hold until the end of the show ' s run . Behr can be seen sitting at a table in Vic Fontaine ' s lounge in DS9 ' s finale , , along with other series writers and producers , presumably as part of the holographic audience . In pieces of background signage ( such as the USS " Defiant " ( NX - 74205 ) dedication plaque ) , there is a listing of Behr ' s name , meaning that in a literal interpretation , there is a Starfleet officer named Ira Steven Behr . Among the episodes he has a " special fondness for " are , / , , and . In 1995 , Rick Berman praised Behr ' s work on the fourth season of " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " , saying " " I cannot begin to relate the importance of the work that Ira Behr has put into all of this . The quality of the shows is a tribute to Ira . He is truly pushing his writers to produce above and beyond their already high quality work . He is getting a certain creative element out of his writers . He has become a real inspiration to them and they are all writing beautiful stuff . He ' s doing a great job " " . ( " Star Trek Update with Rick Berman " , ) Other " Star Trek " involvement . In 1998 , Behr was asked by Michael Piller for his opinion on an early draft of . Piller agreed with many of the suggestions Behr made about the weaknesses in the draft . ( " " ) Around 2003 , Rick Berman and Brannon Braga asked Behr for his opinion on and to offer suggestions on how to improve that series . Behr commented " " Rick called me up , it was his initiative . He asked me had I seen " Enterprise " , I told him no . He asked if I could look at it – they were thinking maybe of stepping back and that " this be another DS9 experience , " whatever that meant . I didn ' t really think it over in terms of what were the chances of that reality happening again . They sent me the three shows , I went in , had a two hour meeting with Rick and Brannon . It was a very cordial meeting , but everything I said I am sure they did not like hearing . I would not liked to have heard it if someone came into my office and talked as bluntly as I was talking to them . Though again , it was done all cordially . After it was over I am sure they were uncomfortable , I was very uncomfortable , we shook hands , Rick said , " well , all interesting stuff , we ' ll think it over , " and I never heard from him again . That ' s the whole story and it ' s barely a blip in anyone ' s lives , it has no impact whatsoever on the franchise . It ' s just something that happened " " . Ten years later , in , Brannon Braga bluntly recalled that he thought Behr " " shit all over the show " " during the meeting and that Behr " " hated the concept , hated the characters . " " ( ENT Season 2 Blu - ray " " Course Correction " " special feature ) In 2009 , Behr participated in an audio commentary on with Larry Nemecek . Career outside " Star Trek " . Ira Steven Behr was born in New York City , and graduated Lehman College there . Subsequently , he studied Mass Communications and Theater at Brandeis University where he was offered a playwriting scholarship . However , he moved to Los Angeles instead to pursue a career in writing comedies for television and film . But instead of comedy , Behr became known for his television dramas . His first breakthrough was on the James Garner television series " Bret Maverick " . He later served as story editor for the series " Jessica Novack " . Behr was also writer / producer of the series " Fame , Once a Hero " , and " Bronx Zoo " . After " Star Trek : Deep Space Nine " ended its run , he has been involved in many other successful television shows . He was a consulting producer on and was an executive producer on " The Twilight Zone " ( 2002 - 2003 ) . After that , he was the executive producer and writer on René Echevarria ' s . It was during the writing of " The 4400 " miniseries that saw Behr first dye his beard blue . He commented : " " There is a story . When we did the first season , it was a miniseries . And they were , let ' s say , trying to save money , and they would not put us in a studio . They would not get us offices anywhere , as it turned out . So , well , where the hell are we gonna go ? You know , we gotta write six episodes . . . So they put us in Viacom Productions on Wilshire and Westwood , and so suddenly you have this writing staff with all the corporate suits . And it pissed me off , it really did . And we ' d be sitting in the offices , and there was a window on my office , and it was frosted , but there was a little bar of clear glass , and every day I ' d look up and there ' d be eyes staring at me , looking in , I swear to God , and people would come in and go , ' How ' s it going ? How ' s the scripts going ? ' I ' m going , ' It was going great , until you just interrupted me ! ' So , I got more and more unhappy with the conditions that we were working under , and I came home one day and I talked to my wife and kids and said , ' You know , I gotta remember , I ' m not them and they ' re not me . How do I keep remembering that ? ' And my wife said , ' Blue your beard . ' And my daughter said , ' Yes yes yes yes yes ! ' Of course , I had once met Billy Connolly , the comedian , and he had these long ringlets of hair and this little imperial beard ; he was like Wild Bill Hickok , and I said , " ' Boy , you look awesome , you look great ! ' And he said , ' I used to want to be the most famous comedian on the planet , now I just want to be the coolest dad at The Oakwood School . ' And I said , ' Wow , that ' s something I have to remember . ' And then I decided , hey , Campbell Hall , where my kids go , is even less cool than the Oakwood School , so I could probably be the coolest parent there easily ! And at the beginning when I walked in the first time to Jeff [ Combs ] and all these people , it was like , ' What is going on ! ? " And it just could not have been better . Now of course they ' re used to it , and it ' s a big joke , and it ' s lost its impact . But my kids like it . . . " " In December 2010 , it was announced that Behr would be the showrunner of a new series , . In 2014 , Behr joined the staff of " Outlander " with Ronald D . Moore . Behr was also an associate producer on the documentary " That Guy Dick Miller " . He currently lives in the Hollywood Hills , California . He and his wife Laura Behr have two children , Roxanne and Jesse .