Jeri Taylor, Co-Creator of Star Trek: Voyager, Dies at 86

Star Trek has had numerous distinguished creative voices over its 58-year run and throughout its varied TV reveals. Earlier this week, a type of voices—Jeri Taylor, an government producer for Star Trek: The Subsequent Era and a co-creator of its eventual successor Star Trek: Voyager—handed away at 86 years previous.

Born June 30, 1938, Taylor acquired her begin in TV writing scripts for Little Home on the Prairie and The Unbelievable Hulk, and would later produce and direct episodes of Quincy, M.E. and Jake and the Fatman. Lee Sheldon, who she’d labored with on the previous, beneficial her to the Subsequent Era producers, and she or he joined the present as a supervising producer on season 4. Throughout her time on the present, she was promoted to government producer, grew to become showrunner for the ultimate season and penned a number of episodes, together with Wesley Crusher’s (Wil Wheaton) remaining look as a sequence common, and “The Wounded,” the primary Star Trek episode to characteristic the Cardassians, who would turn into a significant faction in ’90s Star Trek in Deep Area 9.

Taylor later labored along with her fellow Subsequent Era co-EPs Rick Berman and Michael Piller to develop Star Trek: Voyager, and helped carry Subsequent Era manufacturing workers over to the brand new present. Along with being an government producer for the primary 4 seasons, she grew to become showrunner for seasons three and 4 earlier than retiring, although nonetheless acted as a guide for her successor Brannon Braga. However earlier than that time, she additionally wrote a trio of Trek novels: a novelization of her Subsequent Era episode “Unification,” the 1996 Voyager prequel Mosaic, and 1998’s Pathways, and the occasions of each have been referenced in Nickelodeon’s Star Trek: Prodigy.

A number of Star Trek have eulogized Taylor on social media. Braga referred to as her “an important author and showrunner and to me, a cherished mentor. I might not have a profession with out Jeri’s intricate steerage. Her reminiscence will dwell on in some ways, however maybe most of all within the character of Captain Janeway, who mirrored the very best dimensions of Jeri herself.” Prodigy EP/co-head author Aaron J. Waltke attributed his profession to the scripts she’d donated to Indiana College Lilly Library, saying “I realized to write down learning her. I wouldn’t be right here with out her. Thanks, Jeri. For all the pieces.”

David Zappone, a movie producer behind a number of Star Trek documentaries, mentioned Taylor shall be a “main half” of an upcoming documentary targeted on Voyager, and that her accomplishments and contributions to the franchise”won’t ever be forgotten.”

[via TrekCore]

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