Movies News Talk
Joe Menosky described in a 1997 interview with Cinefantastique how Berman was absolutely essential for the success of Voyager season 3, episode 23, "Distant Origin." "Distant Origin" has the USS Voyager crew coming across the alien race Voth, descended from a dinosaur species on Earth. The episode featured a typical Star Trek idea with real-world science and symbolism, although Menosky notes that Berman's ideas from the pitching stage made this feasible. Please find Menosky's whole quote below:
"He happened to walk into the room during our conversation regarding this program. Rick simply loathed the first story idea Brannon presented to him in Jeri's office—an action-oriented one. All I see, he continued, is a group of reptiles carrying AK-47s. The Humanity Where? Galileo should be in charge of this. I thought, that's ideal as soon as he mentioned Galileo. Having done extensive study in Italian history, I knew exactly what he meant. Rick Berman's involvement at that fundamental plot level brought this episode to pass.
Without its link to actual events, "Distant Origin" might not have gained such notoriety. Even going so far as to remark that the episode was like a brilliant Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, Joe Menosky went on to fervently express in the same Cinefantastique interview how the show had several unique elements working for it. Menoksy said, "Distant Origin" "...felt as close to TNG in spirit, as anything I've ever been involved on since I've been writing for Voyager," was "frankly closer to the spirit of the kind of best TNGs than a lot of TNGs I've done."
This is quite a compliment, particularly considering at the time Star Trek TV programs used TNG as their benchmark. "Distant Origin" explores science vs religion from an alien standpoint, thereby sharing many traits of a great TNG episode. Given his background with TNG, it is not surprising that Berman, who started his Star Trek career on TNG, could construct episodes for other series including some of TNG's characteristics.
Writer Joe Menosky claims that Rick Berman saved one of the best episodes from Star Trek: Voyager from obscurity. Rick Berman was Gene Roddenberry's right-hand man at the start of Star Trek: The Next Generation and took over the franchise following Roddenberry's death while TNG was still on broadcast. Along with executive producer on all seven seasons of Voyager, Berman oversaw the Star Trek chronology during its most popular years in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Though later Voyager seasons were obviously stronger than previous ones, season 3 was maybe the turning point for the show. As the show gained pace and Voyager's ensemble of characters aligned with one another, the seasons had some amazing episodes like the two-part time-travel epic "Future's End," and storylines tended to be better generally. But without Rick Berman, one fantastic episode toward the end of Voyager season 3 could never have been a hit.
Star Trek: Voyager is an amazing example of how the series has developed into fresh ideas with every season. Among lovers of the sci-fi realm, the show is a favorite.
Source: Cinefantastique, vol. 29
Star Trek: Voyager, the fifth Star Trek series installment, is a sci-fi show following the USS Voyager crew as they set off a protracted return trip from the furthest reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy. Lead by Captain Kathryn Janeway, the series follows the crew's path to solve fresh riddles, meet new species, make new friends and enemies, and handle a crew's politics they have never encountered before as they explore the mostly unknown sections of the galaxy.
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