Tracy Tormé Tracy Tormé is a writer who worked as writer and executive story editor for during the show ' s first and second season . He also served as a creative consultant for the second season . Tormé also wrote under the pseudonyms Keith Mills and Terry Devereaux . Personal life . Tormé was born in Los Angeles , California . He is the son of the late singer , . He graduated from the University of Southern California ' s School of Cinema - Television in 1979 . He has been married twice ; his first wife was Jennifer Marie Bitting . His current wife is named Robin . Early career . Tormé began his career as a writer on NBC ' s " Saturday Night Live " during the show ' s 1982 - 83 season . One - time TNG guest actor Joe Piscopo was a cast member on the show at the time . He later wrote and was associate producer on the 1988 film " Spellbinder " . TNG guest stars Cary - Hiroyuki Tagawa , Stefan Gierasch , and Richard Fancy were among the actors who had roles in this film . Working on " The Next Generation " . While working on TNG , Tormé was permitted to work on his own . He had a close relationship with series creator Gene Roddenberry , who excused Tormé from some staff writer responsibilities such as attending story break sessions or rewriting others ' scripts . He had a commitment to deliver three scripts each season . Among his works during the first season were , which introduced the character of Lwaxana Troi , and , which went on to win a Peabody Award . The latter episode contained an in - joke reference to Tormé ; Tracy Tormé was listed in an okudagram as the author of the Dixon Hill stories . Tormé felt that both the first and second seasons of TNG were very " safe " and " timid " , and he would often try to introduce ideas which would change the " status quo " and push the boundaries of the show . Among these ideas was a new doctor character for the show ' s second season , since Gates McFadden ' s Beverly Crusher was being written out of the show . Tormé came up with an alien character that belonged to a race who believed in absolute honesty at all times , which would have created some conflict amongst the characters . This idea , however , received little reception or consideration . During the first season , Tormé wrote , which depicted a secret military coup among the ranks of Starfleet Command . The story was deemed too dark and too negative for " Star Trek " by the show ' s head writer , Maurice Hurley . Eventually Rick Berman found Tormé ' s story and liked it , so he ordered it to be developed further despite Hurley ' s previous rejection . ( The final episode depicted alien parasites taking over members of Starfleet Command instead of Tormé ' s original idea of a " real " inside conspiracy . ) From that point on , the relationship between Tormé and Hurley got bad . ( " " ) During the second season , Tormé again came into conflict with Hurley . Hurley made extensive revisions to Tormé ' s script for to the point that Tormé had his name removed from the episode in place of a pseudonym , " Keith Mills . " As a result of his experience with " The Royale " , Tormé was not entirely committed to his next episode , ; Tormé felt that the episode would not turn out as he had written it anyway , so he put little effort into the episode . As further protest , he used a pseudonym for " Manhunt " , as well , this time as " Terry Devereaux " . Maurice Hurley left the series after the second season , and executive producer Rick Berman asked Tormé to return for the third season . Tormé declined , however , feeling it was time to move on to other projects . Later career . Four years after leaving TNG , Tormé was brought in to rework the teleplay for the 1992 CBS TV movie " Intruders " , which featured Daphne Ashbrook , Steven Berkoff , Michael Cavanaugh , Rosalind Chao , and Ben Vereen in the cast . Tormé then wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film " Fire in the Sky " , which earned him a Saturn Award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction , Fantasy & Horror Films . Tormé was also a co - producer on the film , along was " Star Trek " film art director Nilo Rodis - Jamero . The cast of " Fire in the Sky " included Scott MacDonald and Noble Willingham . Tormé co - created the 1990s science fiction television series " Sliders " , on which John Rhys - Davies was a regular cast member . He was a writer and executive producer on the series for its first two seasons and some of the third , but ultimately left the show due to creative differences with the Fox Network . The series was canceled in 1997 , but saw two additional seasons on the Sci - Fi Channel ( 1998 - 2000 ) . Tormé later became a writer and executive producer on Manny Coto ' s science fiction series " Odyssey 5 " , which starred Peter Weller and Leslie Silva . He moved on to become a writer and consulting producer on the HBO series " Carnivàle " , on which Michael J . Anderson , Adrienne Barbeau , Clancy Brown , K Callan , John Fleck , Robert Knepper , John Carroll Lynch , Scott MacDonald , Matt McCoy , Diane Salinger , John Savage , and Time Winters made regular or recurring appearances . Most recently , Tormé was a co - producer on the hit 2007 film " I Am Legend " , based on the novel by Richard Matheson . The film was written and executive produced by Akiva Goldsman and it featured costume design by Michael Kaplan , while Salli Elise Richardson had a supporting role . Tormé had written a script for the film during an earlier stage of its development , when Arnold Schwarzenegger was intended as its lead ; he received no Writers ' Guild script credit on the final film .