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Jeri Taylor's Contributions to the 'Star Trek' Universe

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54 seconds ago

October 31, 2024

Christoph Rediske

Key Takeaways

Table of Contents

Jeri Taylor contributed significantly to “Star Trek” by writing, producing, and co-creating shows like
Star Trek: Voyager
.
Taylor played a pivotal role in developing female characters like Janeway, influencing and reshaping their roles.
Her legacy in the “Star Trek” universe is evident through the impactful characters and profound storylines she created.

Jeri Taylor, a frequent Star Trek writer and the co-creator of Star Trek: Voyager, passed away on October 23, 2024, at the age of 86. Over the weekend, Star Trek actors, producers, members of the production staff, and lifelong fans mourned the loss, shared memories of Taylor, and honored her vast contributions to the Trekverse. In the wake of her passing, here’s a look back at Taylor’s decades-long career as a writer, producer, co-creator, and consultant on multiple Star Trek shows.

Entering the Trekverse: The TNG & DS9 Years

According to StarTrek.com, Taylor started her career in the Star Trek universe during the fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation(TNG) as a writer and producer. She helped write four episodes that season, including “The Drumhead,” which many fans count among the best episodes in the series. Taylor continued to write for TNG until it ended its seven-season run. All told, Taylor helped write 17 episodes for TNG.

During the show’s sixth season, she was promoted to co-executive producer, joining longtime showrunners Michael Pillar and Rick Berman. When Berman and Pillar turned their attention to the franchise’s newest addition, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (DS9), Taylor was promoted to executive producer and showrunner for TNG’s final season. She saw the show through to its legendary final episode. While she was wrapping up TNG, Taylor also wrote three episodes for DS9, including the two-parter “The Maquis.”

After TNG wrapped, Taylor worked on Star Trek: Generations and, a few years later, returned to the Star Trek universe to work on Star Trek: First Contact.

Co-Creating and Running ‘Star Trek: Voyager’

The mid 90s were busy for Taylor. While she was wrapping up TNG, occasionally writing for DS9, and working on Generations, Taylor was also deep in the trenches with Pillar and Berman, creating Star Trek: Voyager. In addition to serving as the showrunner on the first four seasons of the show, she also co-wrote 14 episodes.

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Taylor was the first woman to hold the title of executive producer or showrunner in the Star Trek franchise. She took her role seriously, especially as she played a fundamental role in creating the first female lead for a Star Trek show: Captain Kathryn Janeway. Taylor shaped the characters, storylines, and themes of Voyager’s early seasons.

Creating Women of Substance in the ‘Star Trek’ Universe

Bringing Changes To The Next Generation

Under Star Trek’s male executive producers and showrunners, the women of the Star Trek universe didn’t always get nuance or depth. Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar on TNG, infamously quit during the first season because she wanted Yar to be more three-dimensional. The showrunners, allegedly, flat out said “no.” Gates McFadden, who brought Dr. Beverly Crusher to life, warred with TNG‘s production staff about her character as well, and left for season two, returning in season three. Marina Sirtis has repeatedly joked that, for the first few seasons, Deanna Troi’s entire character was spouting vague predictions like a carnival psychic. Sirtis has never shied away from talking about how awful it was to be a woman on the set of TNG.

When Taylor joined the writer’s room during the fourth season, she set out to change all that. In an interview for Captains’ Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, Taylor said:

“If there’s anything I wanted to do more of, it was developing the characters of Crusher and Troi because I thought they were underused […] There is a very small way in which I sometimes remind people about the role of women and sometimes they remind me. I’m not saying that this was a staff of men and I had to come in and show them the way, but maybe it was something a little more in the foreground with me.”

Taylor’s influence was noticeable almost immediately. Troi finally got a Starfleet uniform instead of the skintight bodysuits with plunging necklines she had worn in the first few seasons. During a rare public appearance at The 55-Year Mission Star Trek convention, as reported by TrekMovie.com, Taylor revealed that this was one of the things she had pushed for behind the scenes.

Her impact was felt by the actresses on set as well. In Journey’s End: The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation, McFadden said:

“I think that the team of writers headed by Jeri Taylor have certainly made an effort to make the women’s roles stronger. We’ve been in positions of power more often, in the Captain’s chair or leading a mission somewhere.”

Creating A New Standard With Voyager

Taylor’s work to lift the women of TNG out of mediocrity was admirable. However, it paled in comparison to the powerful, complex women that she brought to life in Voyager.

Berman and Pillar had planned to introduce the first female lead in the Star Trek universe in Voyager before they brought Taylor on board as a co-creator. But Captain Kathryn Janeway, eventually brought to life by Kate Mulgrew, didn’t quite come to life until Taylor started working with them. Janeway was a deeply personal project for Taylor. She understood the importance of the character within the Star Trek universe, and she wanted to create a female captain who could easily stand alongside all the great captains that had come before her.

Luckily, Taylor didn’t have to look far for inspiration, as she told the audience at The 55-Year Mission Star Trek convention:

“I always thought of Janeway as just me, I wrote her. I can’t say that I wrote her as me, but as I would like to be. I felt full of her. And I think she is full of me, although, in many ways, far more skilled and able than I am. But it was my fantasy that Janeway was me and I tried to approach it like that. “

Janeway wasn’t Taylor’s only contribution to the strong women of Voyager, though. She was also instrumental in creating B’Elanna Torres, played by Roxann Dawson, and Seven of Nine, played by Jeri Ryan. Without Taylor, none of these women would have made it to the screen as the characters fans know and love.

Taylor’s ‘Star Trek’ Legacy

Every writer, artist, actor, or creative of any kind strives to leave behind work that will be remembered long after they’re gone, and they spend a significant amount of time thinking about their hopes for their legacy. Several times, Taylor said that she hoped Janeway, in particular, would be a major part of her legacy.

As every Star Trek insider and fan mourns her loss, it’s clear, without a doubt, that her dream has come true. Though Janeway is far from the only legacy she leaves behind, as evidenced by the sentiments Taylor’s colleagues shared after her death.

In the words of Mulgrew, as posted on her Instagram:

Brannon Braga, who took over as Voyager’s showrunner when Taylor left after the fourth season, echoed Mulgrew’s sentiments on his own Instagram.

Dawson chimed in on X, reminding fans that Taylor’s legacy goes far beyond Janeway.

Jeri Taylor gave Star Trek fans some of the most memorable characters and heartfelt storylines that have ever existed in the Trekverse. Her presence in the Trek family will be sorely missed, but her undeniable presence in the Star Trek universe lives on.