

(written from a Production point of view Real World article

Jeri Cecile Taylor (born 30 June 1938; age 82) is a television writer and producer best known for her contributions to the Star Trek franchise. Born in Bloomington, Indiana, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Indiana University in 1959, [1] and her Master's degree in English from California State University at Northridge. She is the mother of two-time Star Trek: The Next Generation guest star and recurring Star Trek: Voyager actor Alexander Enberg.

Prior to joining Star Trek, Taylor was a producer, story editor, and occasional director on the hit medical series Quincy, M.E., on which Trek guest performers Robert Ito and Garry Walberg were regular cast members. She went on to serve as producer and writer for such series as Magnum, P.I., In the Heat of the Night, and Jake and the Fatman. She also directed episodes of the latter series. In addition, she co-wrote the 1987 CBS TV movie A Place to Call Home, for which she also served as supervising producer. She was also a producer of the short-lived TV adaptation of the film Blue Thunder, whose guest stars included Tracy Scoggins, Sam Anderson, Ray Wise, John Hancock, Robert DoQui, and Kurtwood Smith.

She joined the staff of The Next Generation as supervising producer in 1990 and held that position through the show's fifth season. She then served as co-executive producer for the show's sixth season, and was then promoted to executive producer for its final season, and served as showrunner for the final year, as Michael Piller was primarily occupied with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine at the time. She also co-wrote three episodes of Deep Space Nine during the latter period. Additionally, she assisted in the production of the Trek films Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: First Contact, receiving special thanks notices in each of the films' end credits for her contributions. Working in the business since 1976, Taylor was asked to join the staff after rewriting the episode "Suddenly Human". ("Chronicles from the Final Frontier", TNG Season 4 DVD special feature)

After Next Generation came to an end in 1994, Taylor co-created Star Trek: Voyager with Rick Berman and Michael Piller and served as executive producer on that series for its first four seasons. She also worked on several episodes of the series as a writer. She retired from the series (and the franchise) in 1998, handing over her position of Executive Producer and showrunner to Brannon Braga, but continued to serve as creative consultant for the show during its last three seasons.

Between 1995 and 1998, Taylor gave the Indiana University Lilly Library a collection consisting of outlines, final scripts for the entire Next Generation series and the first two Voyager seasons, technical notes, cast lists, and shooting schedules for the final season of The Next Generation (1993-1994), and draft scripts, casting call sheets, research notes, etc. for Voyager (1994-1996). Some of the outlines, technical notes, and lists contain Taylor's handwritten changes and comments.

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Writing credits

Producing credits

Bibliography