Rick Berman
Encyclopedia
Richard Keith “Rick” Berman (born December 25, 1945 in New York, New York
, United States
) is an American
television producer
. He is most famous for his work as the executive producer
of several of the Star Trek series, Star Trek: The Next Generation
, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, and Star Trek: Voyager
; and, several of the Star Trek theatrical productions, and for succeeding Gene Roddenberry
as head of the Star Trek franchise, until the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise
in 2005.
' The Big Blue Marble, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series. Between 1982 and 1984, he was an independent producer, working on projects that included HBO
's What on Earth and PBS' The Primal Mind. In 1984, Berman joined Paramount
as the director of current programming, overseeing shows such as Cheers
, MacGyver
, and Webster
. He soon became executive director of dramatic programming, and in 1986 became Paramount Television Networks' vice president for longform and special projects.
to help create Star Trek: The Next Generation
. Initially, he shared supervising producer duties with Robert H. Justman
; after Justman changed to consulting producer duties, Berman was promoted to co-executive producer. As Roddenberry's health declined, Berman took over more of the show's daily production; he was promoted to executive producer in the show's third season, following Hurley's departure. Berman wrote the TNG episodes "Brothers" and "A Matter of Time". In its final year, The Next Generation became the first syndicated television show to be nominated for the Best Dramatic Series Emmy.
During The Next Generations penultimate season, Berman co-created Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
with Michael Piller
, marking the first time two Star Trek series ran concurrently. After The Next Generation completed its run, Berman co-created Star Trek: Voyager
with Piller and Jeri Taylor
. In 2001, he co-created Enterprise
(retitled Star Trek: Enterprise in 2003) with Brannon Braga
. During this same period, Berman was also lead producer on the four Next Generation feature films: Generations (1994), First Contact
(1996), Insurrection
(1998), and Nemesis (2002). Berman received both producer and story credit on all four films.
In reviewing Nemesis, IGN
's Oliver Glen argued that Berman and co-producer Braga seemed to be responsible for much of Star Trek no longer being "bold". Star Trek writer David Weddle
believed that the "moribund aesthetics of Rick Berman" were the "constrictions that slowly strangled the franchise." Berman specifically received criticism for his approach to dramatic musical scoring; composer Ron Jones
claimed Berman "always considered music an intrusion". However, former Next Generation star Brent Spiner
credits Berman with having "protected Gene Roddenberry's vision". Salon.com
's Robert Wilonsky asserted that Berman deserves credit for producing hundreds of hours of popular programming, and that "without Berman to keep the show alive, there'd be no Berman to blame for the show's death".
In 2005, Berman was involved in developing an eleventh Star Trek movie based on a script written by Erik Jendresen
; however, when Gail Berman
(no relation) took over as president of Paramount Pictures, Jendresen's script was shelved. In subsequent months, Berman began hinting that his involvement with Star Trek was drawing to a close, stating in November that "when they re-energise the franchise it's going to be the result of someone fresh, someone who has not been extensively involved with Star Trek". In mid-2006, Berman stated he would no longer be involved in producing Star Trek. Since his departure, Berman has indicated he is still involved in television production as well as projects "not connected to the television business". He has also stated an interest in writing a memoir of his experiences at Star Trek.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
. He is most famous for his work as the executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
of several of the Star Trek series, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, and Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
; and, several of the Star Trek theatrical productions, and for succeeding Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
as head of the Star Trek franchise, until the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
in 2005.
Early work
From 1977 to 1982, he was the senior producer of PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
' The Big Blue Marble, which won an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series. Between 1982 and 1984, he was an independent producer, working on projects that included HBO
Home Box Office
HBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
's What on Earth and PBS' The Primal Mind. In 1984, Berman joined Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
as the director of current programming, overseeing shows such as Cheers
Cheers
Cheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
, MacGyver
MacGyver
MacGyver is an American action-adventure television series created by Lee David Zlotoff. Henry Winkler and John Rich were the executive producers. The show ran for seven seasons on ABC in the United States and various other networks abroad from 1985 to 1992. The series was filmed in Los Angeles...
, and Webster
Webster (TV series)
Webster is an American situation comedy that premiered on ABC on September 16, 1983, and ran on that network until September 11, 1987, but continued in first-run syndication until 1989...
. He soon became executive director of dramatic programming, and in 1986 became Paramount Television Networks' vice president for longform and special projects.
Star Trek
In 1987, Roddenberry selected Berman and Maurice HurleyMaurice Hurley
*Maurice Hurley *Maurice Hurly of the Hurly Baronets...
to help create Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
. Initially, he shared supervising producer duties with Robert H. Justman
Robert H. Justman
Robert Harris "Bob" Justman was an American television producer, director and production manager. He worked on many television series including Lassie, The Life of Riley, Adventures of Superman, The Outer Limits, Then Came Bronson and Mission: Impossible.- Career :Bob Justman was one of the...
; after Justman changed to consulting producer duties, Berman was promoted to co-executive producer. As Roddenberry's health declined, Berman took over more of the show's daily production; he was promoted to executive producer in the show's third season, following Hurley's departure. Berman wrote the TNG episodes "Brothers" and "A Matter of Time". In its final year, The Next Generation became the first syndicated television show to be nominated for the Best Dramatic Series Emmy.
During The Next Generations penultimate season, Berman co-created Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
with Michael Piller
Michael Piller
Michael Piller was an American television scriptwriter and producer, who was most famous for his contributions to the Star Trek franchise.-Early life and career:Piller was born in Port Chester, New York...
, marking the first time two Star Trek series ran concurrently. After The Next Generation completed its run, Berman co-created Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
with Piller and Jeri Taylor
Jeri Taylor
Jeri Taylor is a television scriptwriter and producer who is known for her contributions to the Star Trek series. She is an alumna of Indiana University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta.-Star Trek screenwriting:...
. In 2001, he co-created Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
(retitled Star Trek: Enterprise in 2003) with Brannon Braga
Brannon Braga
Brannon Braga is an American television producer and screenwriter, currently working as showrunner and executive producer on Terra Nova...
. During this same period, Berman was also lead producer on the four Next Generation feature films: Generations (1994), First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...
(1996), Insurrection
Star Trek: Insurrection
Star Trek: Insurrection is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes, written by Michael Piller , and with music composed by Jerry Goldsmith. It is the ninth film in the Star Trek franchise, and the third to feature the cast from the television series Star Trek: The Next...
(1998), and Nemesis (2002). Berman received both producer and story credit on all four films.
In reviewing Nemesis, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Oliver Glen argued that Berman and co-producer Braga seemed to be responsible for much of Star Trek no longer being "bold". Star Trek writer David Weddle
David Weddle
David Weddle is an American television producer and writer, best known for episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , The Twilight Zone , Battlestar Galactica , and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation with writing partner Bradley Thompson...
believed that the "moribund aesthetics of Rick Berman" were the "constrictions that slowly strangled the franchise." Berman specifically received criticism for his approach to dramatic musical scoring; composer Ron Jones
Ron Jones (composer)
Ron Jones is an American composer who has written music for TV shows, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, Duck Tales, American Dad!, and Family Guy...
claimed Berman "always considered music an intrusion". However, former Next Generation star Brent Spiner
Brent Spiner
Brent Jay Spiner is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of the android Lieutenant Commander Data in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and four subsequent films. His portrayal of Data in Star Trek: First Contact and of Dr...
credits Berman with having "protected Gene Roddenberry's vision". Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
's Robert Wilonsky asserted that Berman deserves credit for producing hundreds of hours of popular programming, and that "without Berman to keep the show alive, there'd be no Berman to blame for the show's death".
In 2005, Berman was involved in developing an eleventh Star Trek movie based on a script written by Erik Jendresen
Erik Jendresen
Erik Jendresen is an author as well as a writer and producer for plays, television, and film.As a supervising producer of the critically-acclaimed mini-series "Band of Brothers" for HBO in 2001, Jendresen was one of the recipients of that year's Emmy Award for "Outstanding Miniseries", which he...
; however, when Gail Berman
Gail Berman
Gail Berman is the former president of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting Company and the former president of Viacom's Paramount Pictures.She graduated from the University of Maryland in 1978...
(no relation) took over as president of Paramount Pictures, Jendresen's script was shelved. In subsequent months, Berman began hinting that his involvement with Star Trek was drawing to a close, stating in November that "when they re-energise the franchise it's going to be the result of someone fresh, someone who has not been extensively involved with Star Trek". In mid-2006, Berman stated he would no longer be involved in producing Star Trek. Since his departure, Berman has indicated he is still involved in television production as well as projects "not connected to the television business". He has also stated an interest in writing a memoir of his experiences at Star Trek.
Personal life
Berman has been married to his wife Elizabeth since 1980. He has two sons, Tom and Eddie, and a daughter Molly.External links
- Rick Berman — profile at startrek.com
- Rick Berman Interview at Archive of American TelevisionArchive of American TelevisionThe Archive of American Television is a division of the non-profit Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation that films interviews with notable people from all aspects of the television industry....
- Rick Berman — profile at Global Episode Opinion Survey