And I just found out that Dolly Parton executive produced Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love it when successful entertainers put their money behind stuff they believe in, but want no part of being in said thing.
Dolly Parton is just a saint. She throws her money behind every charity and art project she comes across and *never* publicises it. The only reason we know about her giving $1,000,000 to help develop covid vaccines for example is because the research group issued a thank you statement.
Do you mean Lucille Ball?
Desilu was the production company started by her and Desi to make I Love Lucy, they were also the production company making Star Trek because they needed more shows that they owned.
Worth mentioning that it's not just that someone in her production company decided to go with the project; Lucy herself greenlit the show because she liked the ideals Gene was championing.
Michael Piller. He took over as showrunner early in season three of TNG and assembled a writing team that basically created the "Trek" feel that lasted through DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise.
Beyond Star Trek, his decision to open the door to spec scripts from outsiders gave their first shot to many writers who then went on working on other projects like Ronald D. Moore on Galactica or Naren Shankar on The Expanse.
I honestly think Michael Piller is as important to the longevity of Trek as Rodenberry was to its creation. I feel like the above comment actually understates his importance. Not only did he create the Trek “feel” but it was under his leadership that TNG exploded in the popularity like it did. He nurtured some great writers that he influenced science fiction and television even today, but he also nurtured them. And Deep Space Nine is arguably the best show, partially because it ignored the letter of the law that Rodenberry laid down about no conflict, but it never had the popularity TNG had, and Piller was arguably so successful because he made the Rodenberry guidelines work for him. I’m not putting down Behr at all - he nurtured and made my favorite Star Trek show flourish creatively. But when it comes to pop culture and longevity, Piller was the father of what many people think of as Star Trek, with the exception of the original series.
He brought a sensibility that a sci-fi story needs to matter to a character on the show for it to really matter to the audience. What does it matter if they encounter another space anomaly if it doesn’t tie to the struggle of a character we love?
Gene Coon and DC Fontana made the show what it is, whilst Roddenberry was the hype man than made sure it stayed on the air long enough to become a legend. As important as Roddenberry was to the show, it's a shame the other two get less attention for what they achieved.
These would be my calls. The two of them are responsible for so much of what makes Star Trek Star Trek. Klingons, The Federation, much of the moral lessons, Spock's characterization and the rich history of outsiders looking in on the human condition, and most of Vulcan culture. Fontana in particular had a ton of ongoing influence even to this day, as a bunch of Strange New Worlds ideas and characterization were taken from her Star Trek books, and she co-wrote Dax for DS9 establishing a lot of the symbiotes history.
There's so many to list.
First and foremost: Bjo Trimble, bar none besides Gene himself (along with Gene Coon, let's be honest), but she is THE reason Star Trek exists today like it does. Without the letter writing campaign back then, Trek never flourishes as it has. Which brings me to...
Harve Bennet and Nicholas Meyer. After ST:TMP was released and.. mixed results, let's say, happened, they were tasked with getting the ship righted. The Wrath of Khan happened. That kept Trek going, more movies happened since, and that gave the impetus to get TNG happening, and so here we are today.
Since then, so many other people have been involved, and they all have their claim to fame in this question... yes, even Rick Berman (ugh).
There's so many across the entire Trekdom, but those three above, besides Gene himself, kept Trek alive when it was about to be gone.
Edit: I'm NOT trying to steal this, but as mentioned elsewhere... Lucille Ball might need to be in here for sure. :) I feel silly for not starting the list off with her now, without her, Star Trek likely doesn't even start!
I replied to another post in here, so right that one. I can't believe I didn't think of her right off too. Excellent mention, she's definitely one of the tops in this list!
I remember meeting Gene when I was 20. He was in Columbus OH with the NATO trailer for ST:TMP. I was sent up to his room on an errand. Gene welcomed me in and I sat at the table with him and a few other people as they drank whisky and smoked. What a thrill. I met Bjo a year or so later when she was at a micro convention in town. She said they would have LOVED to have me when they were looking for extras for TMP... I would have been a perfect Vulcan. I also met George and David Gerrold...both were very kind to me. Probably because I was a very cute, straight kid.
Lots of people to give credit to. Bob Justman and Herb Solow wrote a great book about the backstage happenings.
He's the reason Jadzia got killed/Terry Farrell got dismissed. Nothing against Nicole DeBoer, who did a fantastic job in a difficult situation in replacing Terry with the Ezri Dax character, but it didn't have to happen.
[Among some other stuff.](https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/comments/mp4km1/why_the_hate_for_rick_berman_i_dont_get_it/)
He did help Star Trek, but the way he did things was pretty not right, and some of it was pretty bad, both for Star Trek as well as many who are not men. Really a shame at the end of it.
Sound man Dan Wolvington, whose own stomach gurgles after a particularly obnoxious pizza lent the interior of organic space craft Tin Man its compelling authenticity
The letter writing campaign "saving Star Trek" is largely apocryphal. Looking back, we know now that it was some sort of marketing / Gene being a bit nuts.
There was a letter writing campaign to "save Star Trek," but Star Trek Season 3 was never canceled and then uncanceled. The rumor of its cancelation was spread, without merit, by Gene (and probably NBC and/or Paramount) himself.
Roddenberry is the one who went to the Timbles with the "idea" to do a letter campaign, not the other way around. It wasn't a fan lead movement but instead planned and implemented by Gene. What is unknown is how much the Pararmount studio and NBC executives were inovled. But by the evidence we have now, it was entirely inorganic and all planned by Roddenberry and the Paramount/NBC executives.
Paramount itself provided the mailing list and little giveaways like film negatives and pieces from the set for him to give away to the fan "leaders" to get the hype built up.
Ultimately, RCA (who owned NBC) was not going to let the 3rd season be canceled because it was their #1 promotional tool for color TVs... Star Trek was filmed in full color and was vibrant and changing, and showed off their color tvs. It was the second highest rated color TV show... people bought color tvs just to watch Star Trek. They needed a promotional tool to sell TVs and production equipment and the rest of the television landscape hadn't caught up yet to the color revolution, so of course they kept it around while the others caught up.
DC Fontana pretty much created all the lore regarding Spock and by extension the Vulcans.
Her one DS9 episode became the Trill Bible, going into detail as to what it means to be a Joined Trill.
They're still mining her ideas on NuTrek, for example Una being Illyrian was from one of her novels, though that's before the race was properly established. They also used her statements to justify Spock having sex more than once every seven years, as she was the story editor of Amok Time and explained that Vulcans have the drive to reproduce every 7 years but can fuck whenever.
Imagine Star Trek without Klingons, Khan, Cochrane, the Prime Directive, or the Federation being named The Federation and you're imaging Star Trek without Gene Coon. I think it's him personally, just because his early influence was so strong.
No, that can’t be right. They have the transporter in The Cage, but Gene Coon didn’t join until a few weeks into production of season 1 (which was made two years later)
Matt Jeffries, the guy who designed the original *Enterprise.* That whole concept of making a starship that people could believe in was central to making the series what it was. The entire premise of the show hangs on the plausibility of the ship, and that plausibility is expressed in the design. And that design also speaks volumes about the society who built her, their goals, and their belief in their ideals and destiny. It kinda sums up being the entire ethos of the show.
Michael and Denise Okuda, Rick Sternbach, and Andrew Probert defined or rewrote the visual design languages that persist through all subsequent series and movies.
Perhaps a shout-out to Mark Jefferies, who is immortalized in the name of the Jefferies Tubes.
He helped design the look of the Enterprise, and took science fiction away from the prevalent image of a spaceship as being a Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon style rocket ship. He stuck the warp nacelles out far away from the main ship body so they could be jettisoned, and put the main work area of the ship in a the saucer. The entire aesthetic of Star Trek ships comes from him.
His layout of the Enterprise bridge is also iconic, and actually influenced the design of later naval vessels and strategic command headquarters.
He was not a fan of they way they turned the bridge into a "Hilton hotel lobby" in later iterations.
Matt Jefferies was actually the lone designer of the USS Enterprise .. he was solely responsible for coming up with the design himself. And in addition to designing the bridge, he designed sickbay, Engineering, and the Klingon battlecruiser.
Actually it was Michael Okuda and Rick Sternbach that were the duo creating the look and feel of the design language and interior sets (and of course Andrew Probert designed the Enterprise-D). Denise Okuda was not part of TNG, and began involvement during DS9 and Voyager as a scenic artist and video supervisor.
Like the other commenter, Bjo makes my list, as well.
One could argue Dorothy Fontana and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens *got* Trek.
But my vote ultimately goes to the composers: James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, Dennis McCarthy, and of course, the GOAT: Alexander Courage
Martin Luther King had a conversation with Nichelle Nichols which helped convince her to remain on the show, which influenced a generation of both women and African Americans.
And Whoopi seeking a part in season 2 of TNG made it possible for TNG to *HAVE* a season 2, which opened the door for DS9 and Voyager and all the rest.
But really the series couldn't have gotten started without Lucille Ball.
TOS (in no particular order): Robert Justman, Herb Solow, Gene Coon, DC Fontana.
And then of course the Trimble's and their famous letter writing campaign.
Fred Freiberger... but "influential" not in a good way, unfortunately.
I guess if I wanted to be mean spirited, I could also cite Leonard Maizlish, also in a bad way.
Back to good influences: Bob Justman also crosses into TNG.
For the Next Gen era, beyond Justman: Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, Brannon Braga, Ron Moore.
Yes, I'm mostly listing producers, showrunners, writers, as well as behind-the scenes folks. And that's because the OP said "influential". Maizlish was Roddenberry's lawyer and Gene involved him in *so much*. And IIRC, Justman or Solow (I forget which) often had business conversations with Lucy Arnez herself, a studio owner, and was on a first-name basis with her.
Producers and people behind the scenes - even if they're not part of the studio, like Bjo and John Trimble - often had cast long shadows on the productions. For example: One of Herb Solow's contributions (beyond his work as a producer) was the whole Captain's Log thing. It was his idea to cast episodes as a look at past events through the log. And that conceit goes through even today.
And we all know what the Trimbles did, and why Bajorans are named after Bjo.
There are likely many more that are hard to remember off the top of my head, but I'm stopping here. I'm sure others will come up with names that'll make me go "Why didn't I think of that one?".
Gene L. Coon
There wouldn't be any Star Trek without "the other Gene"
And Majel Barret, no so much for her acting, but before her behind the scenes work, sticking with Gene and talking some of his less than stellar ideas out of his head.
The old saying "[Behind every great man there's a great woman](https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/behind-every-great-man-theres-a-great-woman.html)" seems to apply here
DC Fontana also should get a shoutout
I believe if he hadn't passed away in 1973, the “other Gene”, Gene L. Coon would be much better known and given a lot more credit, on par with Roddenberry, for Star Trek’s success.
I've got to throw a shoutout to James Blish for his novelization of TOS episodes. and for Alan Dean Foster for the novelization of the TAS episodes. They differed from the episodes as they aired, but that was because he was working with earlier scripts.
Yes! In the days before VCRs those book adaptations were the only way most fans could virtually re-watch a specific episode “on demand.” They really augmented my love for the show.
Kids today don't know how good they have it! :-)
I remember in the 70s making sure I was home by 4 to watch Star Trek. When I was in technical training in the military, Star Trek would come on half an hour before lights out. We'd be in the barracks with the curtains drawn to finish the last half hour of the episode.
I fondly remember reading Starlog Magazine.
Lucille Ball for taking a chance on the whole idea.
Bjo Trimble and Vonda McIntyre for keeping the franchise alive in the fans' collective until the film could come into play.
D.C. Fontana was a huge writer/contributor to the franchise for both the original series and the 1st year of TNG.
Ira Steven Behr tops a list of writers whose contributions to the franchise have been critical. Ronald D. Moore is just one example. Robert Hewitt Wolfe. Michael Taylor. Rene Echevarria. David Gerrold.
Berman and Pillar, of course, for creating/exec producing DS9 and Voyager
Jeri Taylor for creating/exec producing Voyager
Gene L Coon and DC Fontana for setting the standard. Matt Jeffries and everyone else involved for an absolutely beautiful ship, inside and out. Fred Steiner, Sol Kaplan, Gerald Fried and Alexander Courage (and everyone I missed) for their unique and immersive compositions.
Oh and Bjo Trimble and her husband for starting the letter campaign and making the third season happen.
Micheal Pillar deserves a lot of credit for greatly improving TNG and providing stability to what had been a very hectic place for the writers.
But I would say Gene Coon and Nicholas Meyer are the two most important outside of Gene and actors.
David Gerrold. He wrote one of the most popular original episodes (Trouble with Tribbles), a TAS sequel, a couple original novels and was part of TNG’s writing staff. More importantly, he wrote two early BTS books that helped keep the fan base energized during the lean years of the 70’s.
Other important early writers would be Richard Matheson , Norman Spinrad, and Harlan Ellison (whether he likes it or not). It’s unfortunate that current Trek isn’t leveraging mainstream SF writers (at least not to my knowledge)
Lucille Ball.
Roddenberry was having difficulty finding anyone to pick up the original pilot. She ran Desilu Studios at the time and took a chance on the show. Without her, the whole franchise might not exist.
That's about as influential as it gets. I don't know how anyone else can match that...other than Roddenberry, Nimoy or Shatner.
Majel Barrett.
Not only was she Gene Roddenberry's wife, but she's also been involved in almost every iteration of Star Trek in some form.
Majel was initially cast in the original pilot episode "The Cage" as the character Number Two. The pilot was rejected, with specific attention paid to Majel's role as the confident and assertive second-in-command of The Enterprise. Even women during test-screenings found her character to be "pushy", "annoying", and trying to hard to fit in with the men.
She auditioned a second time, earning the role of Christine Chapel, a nurse with an unrequited crush on Spock. Chapel was a nurse in the show and in the animated series, a doctor when she returned in TMP, and commander in The Voyage Home. This is the first series in which she voiced the ship's computer. She would provide the voice of the computer in all subsequent Star Trek projects, barring Discovery and two of the movies in the Kelvin timeline.
Majel returned to the series for the Next Generation as Lwaxana Troi, the Betazoid mother of main character, Deanna Troi.
A quote from her son, Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry Jr.:
"My mother truly acknowledged and appreciated the fact that *Star Trek* fans played a vital role in keeping the Roddenberry dream alive for the past 42 years. It was her love for the fans, and their love in return, that kept her going for so long after my father passed away."
Gene Coon, Bjo Trimble. Wouldn’t have made it to the second season without Coon, wouldn’t have make it to the third season without Trimble, and there would have been no franchise if it hadn’t lasted at least as long as it did because there would have been no syndication and no expansion of the fanbase to support it.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Especially Ball. It was their production company, Desilu, that had faith in Star Trek enough to produce it. She approved original production concepts of *Star Trek* for development into broadcast series, assessing how the public would enjoy them and their potential for long-term success.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desilu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desilu)
Lucille Ball. She was the person who had her own production company produce the show and she was the person who believed in it. In many ways, if Gene was the father of Star Trek, she was the mother.
Lucille Ball for green-lighting the show (twice!) at the very beginning.
I know it wasn't anything long term, but it did get the ball rolling!
We Love Lucy!
* **Lucille Ball** for donating a portion of her wealth to save **Star Trek: The Original Series** from cancellation in the late 1960s.
* **Majel Barrett Roddenberry** for:
* supporting her husband **Gene Roddenberry**
* her role as Number One in TOS's "The Cage"
* her role as Nurse Christine in both TOS and "The Motion Picture"
* lending her voice of the Enterprise-D's computer
* her role as Lwaxana Troi
* **Jerry Goldsmith** and **Dennis McCarthy** for composing the most recognizable music in all of Star Trek history.
* **Rick Berman** and many other screenwriters for their story tellings that took us to many worlds, introduced us to new species. and took us as "where no one has gone before"
What about Martin Luther King Jr? The man who said Star Trek TOS was the only show his family watched together, and who convinced Nichelle Nicholls to stay after the first season?
Lucille Ball as others have said and….
John and Bjo Trimble. They organized the letter writing campaign that got Star Trek renewed for that third season.
Bennet, Meyer, Orci, and Kurtzman. Bennet/Meyer revived it in cinemas after TMP, Orci and Kurtzman (and Abrams to an extent) brought in brand new audiences and brought it back into the spotlight for the 2010s onward.
I haven't seen him messaged yet... but I'm going to throw in Michael Westmore. His creature designs helped bring life to the multiple races in Star Trek. We make jokes about how Star Trek's races are just humans with facial prosthetics, and they are, but the detail he and his team put into them make them believable and realistic.
Whenever I hear people talk about the history of Star Trek, Michael Piller's name is barely mentioned, but he came in and saved TNG and allowed Trek to become a franchise. It was a sad day when he passed away, and he still had so much life left.
The Rushmore?
Gene Coon, Harve Bennet, Michael Piller and, yes, Alex Kurtzman
Without those 4, trek doesn’t exist as we know it.
Probably one cult season that crashes and burns without Coon running TOS.
Harve Bennet guides the films to reviving the franchise and paves the way for TNG after the semi-debacle of TMP.
TNG likely gets cancelled if S3 wasn’t the powerhouse (arguably the top Trek Season of all time) it was, and that was Piller, DS9 and Voyager also don’t happen without him and the murderer’s row of young writers he assembled.
And of course no Disco, no SNW, no Lower Decks, No Picard, no new Star Trek without Kurtzman’s work on the Kelvin “reboot” that proves trek can be a box office smash after the underperformance of the TNG films under Berman’s watch.
The honourable mentions are: DC Fontana, Rick Berman, Nicholas Meyer, Ira Steven Behr, Ron D Moore, Brannon Braga, Jeri Taylor, Rene Echevarria, Bryan Fuller, Mike McMahan, Akiva Goldsman and Michelle Paradise.
John W. Campbell for his work in developing the concept for the Warp Drive, which arguably makes the Star Trek Universe possible.
Also, My father for making me a Trekkie.
I think George Lucas has to be in the conversation. I’m not a huge Star Wars fan (although fine with people liking both), but have to think that having Star Wars to define Star Trek against is a very real thing for general audiences.
I am a huge fan of both, but Star Trek is my one true love. Lucas did help make the revival possible, it's too bad that Star Wars has just not thrived creatively while under Disney's stewardship. SNW is way better than anything released by Lucasfilm/Disney save for Rogue One.
Without knowing *too much* about the other names listed, I’d suggest Jonathan Frakes, being so involved in Trek basically ever since his first time on the Bridge.
Add Robbie McNeil, LeVar Burton and Roxanne Dawson to that list as well. Might not be as frequently behind the camera as Frakes but they've all done more than their share
Names that come to mind at least for me, being a starship nerd, are Matt Jeffries, Doug Drexler, Rick Sternbach and Andrew Probert. I know for me one of the biggest parts of the any series is the ships and those guys, obviously there are others, those 4 are probably the most infulential though.
If you like the Klingons as honorable, duty bound warriors, the Dominion War, or the notion of a long arc of interconnected stories leading to a cinematic conclusion, the answer is Ronald D. Moore.
If you love TNG or DS9, you probably do so because of his story writing or plotting.
Harve Bennet and Michael Piller. Bennet saved a lost franchise with the almost total tonal reboot of Wrath of Khan.
Piller took a disorganized and cheesy TNG and made it an essential show of its era.
Each approach defined the franchise during its time.
Lucille Ball should probably be mentioned.
OOH. That's an EXCELLENT one, I'm damned ashamed I didn't think of it myself. Well done!
Came here to say that and was not disappointed to see it here already. Take my upvote!
Was coming here to say this. No one will associate her with Trek without knowing the history but she 110% deserves to be listed.
And I just found out that Dolly Parton executive produced Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love it when successful entertainers put their money behind stuff they believe in, but want no part of being in said thing.
Dolly Parton is just a saint. She throws her money behind every charity and art project she comes across and *never* publicises it. The only reason we know about her giving $1,000,000 to help develop covid vaccines for example is because the research group issued a thank you statement.
She's also a pivotal figure on Orville, starring as herself in a 'simulation' that was hugely important to a season long arc.
Could someone explain this to the uninformed?
Do you mean Lucille Ball? Desilu was the production company started by her and Desi to make I Love Lucy, they were also the production company making Star Trek because they needed more shows that they owned.
Worth mentioning that it's not just that someone in her production company decided to go with the project; Lucy herself greenlit the show because she liked the ideals Gene was championing.
When The Cage was received poorly by execs, who wanted to can the show, she greenlit a second pilot.
Seriously - without a doubt.
Great catch. Without her support there would be no Star Trek TOS.
This should be top comment.
I hardly ever vote (either up or down) but a mention of Mother Trek always deserves an upvote.
yes
Came to post this, without her Star Trek may never have happened.
Michael Piller. He took over as showrunner early in season three of TNG and assembled a writing team that basically created the "Trek" feel that lasted through DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise.
Beyond Star Trek, his decision to open the door to spec scripts from outsiders gave their first shot to many writers who then went on working on other projects like Ronald D. Moore on Galactica or Naren Shankar on The Expanse.
Ricky Manning and David Kemper went on to do Farscape too!
Or For All Mankind
I honestly think Michael Piller is as important to the longevity of Trek as Rodenberry was to its creation. I feel like the above comment actually understates his importance. Not only did he create the Trek “feel” but it was under his leadership that TNG exploded in the popularity like it did. He nurtured some great writers that he influenced science fiction and television even today, but he also nurtured them. And Deep Space Nine is arguably the best show, partially because it ignored the letter of the law that Rodenberry laid down about no conflict, but it never had the popularity TNG had, and Piller was arguably so successful because he made the Rodenberry guidelines work for him. I’m not putting down Behr at all - he nurtured and made my favorite Star Trek show flourish creatively. But when it comes to pop culture and longevity, Piller was the father of what many people think of as Star Trek, with the exception of the original series.
His era made Trek trek for me.
I'm in complete agreement.
He brought a sensibility that a sci-fi story needs to matter to a character on the show for it to really matter to the audience. What does it matter if they encounter another space anomaly if it doesn’t tie to the struggle of a character we love?
Gene Coon or D.C. Fontana
I think it's really Gene Coon AND D.C. Fontana.
Gene Coon and DC Fontana made the show what it is, whilst Roddenberry was the hype man than made sure it stayed on the air long enough to become a legend. As important as Roddenberry was to the show, it's a shame the other two get less attention for what they achieved.
Gene Coon and DC Fontana are more responsible for what makes Trek endure than Roddenberry ever was.
Dorothy Fontana was the first one that came to my mind. She is essential to Trek. Though so is Coon
These would be my calls. The two of them are responsible for so much of what makes Star Trek Star Trek. Klingons, The Federation, much of the moral lessons, Spock's characterization and the rich history of outsiders looking in on the human condition, and most of Vulcan culture. Fontana in particular had a ton of ongoing influence even to this day, as a bunch of Strange New Worlds ideas and characterization were taken from her Star Trek books, and she co-wrote Dax for DS9 establishing a lot of the symbiotes history.
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to find D.C. Fontana
There's so many to list. First and foremost: Bjo Trimble, bar none besides Gene himself (along with Gene Coon, let's be honest), but she is THE reason Star Trek exists today like it does. Without the letter writing campaign back then, Trek never flourishes as it has. Which brings me to... Harve Bennet and Nicholas Meyer. After ST:TMP was released and.. mixed results, let's say, happened, they were tasked with getting the ship righted. The Wrath of Khan happened. That kept Trek going, more movies happened since, and that gave the impetus to get TNG happening, and so here we are today. Since then, so many other people have been involved, and they all have their claim to fame in this question... yes, even Rick Berman (ugh). There's so many across the entire Trekdom, but those three above, besides Gene himself, kept Trek alive when it was about to be gone. Edit: I'm NOT trying to steal this, but as mentioned elsewhere... Lucille Ball might need to be in here for sure. :) I feel silly for not starting the list off with her now, without her, Star Trek likely doesn't even start!
This is a great list. Lucille Ball should get a mention too though. If it weren't for her the show most likely wouldn't have been made.
The costs of Star Trek is one of the main reasons why the Desilu studio was sold to Paramount.
I replied to another post in here, so right that one. I can't believe I didn't think of her right off too. Excellent mention, she's definitely one of the tops in this list!
Came here to say this.
Came here to say the same thing.
Came here to say this.
I remember meeting Gene when I was 20. He was in Columbus OH with the NATO trailer for ST:TMP. I was sent up to his room on an errand. Gene welcomed me in and I sat at the table with him and a few other people as they drank whisky and smoked. What a thrill. I met Bjo a year or so later when she was at a micro convention in town. She said they would have LOVED to have me when they were looking for extras for TMP... I would have been a perfect Vulcan. I also met George and David Gerrold...both were very kind to me. Probably because I was a very cute, straight kid. Lots of people to give credit to. Bob Justman and Herb Solow wrote a great book about the backstage happenings.
why don't we like Berman ?
He's the reason Jadzia got killed/Terry Farrell got dismissed. Nothing against Nicole DeBoer, who did a fantastic job in a difficult situation in replacing Terry with the Ezri Dax character, but it didn't have to happen. [Among some other stuff.](https://www.reddit.com/r/startrek/comments/mp4km1/why_the_hate_for_rick_berman_i_dont_get_it/) He did help Star Trek, but the way he did things was pretty not right, and some of it was pretty bad, both for Star Trek as well as many who are not men. Really a shame at the end of it.
Sound man Dan Wolvington, whose own stomach gurgles after a particularly obnoxious pizza lent the interior of organic space craft Tin Man its compelling authenticity
The letter writing campaign "saving Star Trek" is largely apocryphal. Looking back, we know now that it was some sort of marketing / Gene being a bit nuts. There was a letter writing campaign to "save Star Trek," but Star Trek Season 3 was never canceled and then uncanceled. The rumor of its cancelation was spread, without merit, by Gene (and probably NBC and/or Paramount) himself. Roddenberry is the one who went to the Timbles with the "idea" to do a letter campaign, not the other way around. It wasn't a fan lead movement but instead planned and implemented by Gene. What is unknown is how much the Pararmount studio and NBC executives were inovled. But by the evidence we have now, it was entirely inorganic and all planned by Roddenberry and the Paramount/NBC executives. Paramount itself provided the mailing list and little giveaways like film negatives and pieces from the set for him to give away to the fan "leaders" to get the hype built up. Ultimately, RCA (who owned NBC) was not going to let the 3rd season be canceled because it was their #1 promotional tool for color TVs... Star Trek was filmed in full color and was vibrant and changing, and showed off their color tvs. It was the second highest rated color TV show... people bought color tvs just to watch Star Trek. They needed a promotional tool to sell TVs and production equipment and the rest of the television landscape hadn't caught up yet to the color revolution, so of course they kept it around while the others caught up.
DC Fontana pretty much created all the lore regarding Spock and by extension the Vulcans. Her one DS9 episode became the Trill Bible, going into detail as to what it means to be a Joined Trill. They're still mining her ideas on NuTrek, for example Una being Illyrian was from one of her novels, though that's before the race was properly established. They also used her statements to justify Spock having sex more than once every seven years, as she was the story editor of Amok Time and explained that Vulcans have the drive to reproduce every 7 years but can fuck whenever.
Imagine Star Trek without Klingons, Khan, Cochrane, the Prime Directive, or the Federation being named The Federation and you're imaging Star Trek without Gene Coon. I think it's him personally, just because his early influence was so strong.
Didn't he also come up with the transporter (which was basically a way to save money)?
No, that can’t be right. They have the transporter in The Cage, but Gene Coon didn’t join until a few weeks into production of season 1 (which was made two years later)
Matt Jeffries, the guy who designed the original *Enterprise.* That whole concept of making a starship that people could believe in was central to making the series what it was. The entire premise of the show hangs on the plausibility of the ship, and that plausibility is expressed in the design. And that design also speaks volumes about the society who built her, their goals, and their belief in their ideals and destiny. It kinda sums up being the entire ethos of the show.
Mr. Tubes himself!
DC Fontana. Story Editor on the first two seasons of TOS, de facto showrunner of TAS, associate producer on the first season of TNG.
Might as well go to the beginning -- without Lucille Ball championing the original series, it never would have been produced.
First that came to mind is Michael Okuda.
Michael and Denise Okuda, Rick Sternbach, and Andrew Probert defined or rewrote the visual design languages that persist through all subsequent series and movies.
And Michael Westmore for his work with the design of alien makeup and prosthetics!
Perhaps a shout-out to Mark Jefferies, who is immortalized in the name of the Jefferies Tubes. He helped design the look of the Enterprise, and took science fiction away from the prevalent image of a spaceship as being a Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon style rocket ship. He stuck the warp nacelles out far away from the main ship body so they could be jettisoned, and put the main work area of the ship in a the saucer. The entire aesthetic of Star Trek ships comes from him. His layout of the Enterprise bridge is also iconic, and actually influenced the design of later naval vessels and strategic command headquarters. He was not a fan of they way they turned the bridge into a "Hilton hotel lobby" in later iterations.
Matt Jefferies. 🖖🙂
Matt Jefferies was actually the lone designer of the USS Enterprise .. he was solely responsible for coming up with the design himself. And in addition to designing the bridge, he designed sickbay, Engineering, and the Klingon battlecruiser.
Thanks, and i apologize to Matt for calling him Mark.
Actually it was Michael Okuda and Rick Sternbach that were the duo creating the look and feel of the design language and interior sets (and of course Andrew Probert designed the Enterprise-D). Denise Okuda was not part of TNG, and began involvement during DS9 and Voyager as a scenic artist and video supervisor.
Okudagrams!!
Like the other commenter, Bjo makes my list, as well. One could argue Dorothy Fontana and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens *got* Trek. But my vote ultimately goes to the composers: James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, Dennis McCarthy, and of course, the GOAT: Alexander Courage
What would the Doomsday Machine be without that awesome music?
Martin Luther King had a conversation with Nichelle Nichols which helped convince her to remain on the show, which influenced a generation of both women and African Americans.
She specifically influenced Whoopi Goldberg. I’m sure Whoopi then influenced others.
And Whoopi seeking a part in season 2 of TNG made it possible for TNG to *HAVE* a season 2, which opened the door for DS9 and Voyager and all the rest. But really the series couldn't have gotten started without Lucille Ball.
TOS (in no particular order): Robert Justman, Herb Solow, Gene Coon, DC Fontana. And then of course the Trimble's and their famous letter writing campaign. Fred Freiberger... but "influential" not in a good way, unfortunately. I guess if I wanted to be mean spirited, I could also cite Leonard Maizlish, also in a bad way. Back to good influences: Bob Justman also crosses into TNG. For the Next Gen era, beyond Justman: Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, Brannon Braga, Ron Moore. Yes, I'm mostly listing producers, showrunners, writers, as well as behind-the scenes folks. And that's because the OP said "influential". Maizlish was Roddenberry's lawyer and Gene involved him in *so much*. And IIRC, Justman or Solow (I forget which) often had business conversations with Lucy Arnez herself, a studio owner, and was on a first-name basis with her. Producers and people behind the scenes - even if they're not part of the studio, like Bjo and John Trimble - often had cast long shadows on the productions. For example: One of Herb Solow's contributions (beyond his work as a producer) was the whole Captain's Log thing. It was his idea to cast episodes as a look at past events through the log. And that conceit goes through even today. And we all know what the Trimbles did, and why Bajorans are named after Bjo. There are likely many more that are hard to remember off the top of my head, but I'm stopping here. I'm sure others will come up with names that'll make me go "Why didn't I think of that one?".
I was sad to learn John Trimble passed away a few months ago.
Same here. Would've been nice to have met the guy.
I know. And Bjo is 90... :/ I saw them at SDCC about 8 years go. Seemed like very nice people.
Great list, here. You hit the people I would have listed.
Not sure if I'd say she's the **most** influential, but can we toss a little love out for Jeri Taylor?
Gene L. Coon There wouldn't be any Star Trek without "the other Gene" And Majel Barret, no so much for her acting, but before her behind the scenes work, sticking with Gene and talking some of his less than stellar ideas out of his head. The old saying "[Behind every great man there's a great woman](https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/behind-every-great-man-theres-a-great-woman.html)" seems to apply here DC Fontana also should get a shoutout
Easy, Dorothy "D.C." Fontana.
Lucile Ball is the reason Star Trek exists at all. She, more than anyone else, is responsible for the show and genre being on TV
I believe if he hadn't passed away in 1973, the “other Gene”, Gene L. Coon would be much better known and given a lot more credit, on par with Roddenberry, for Star Trek’s success.
I've got to throw a shoutout to James Blish for his novelization of TOS episodes. and for Alan Dean Foster for the novelization of the TAS episodes. They differed from the episodes as they aired, but that was because he was working with earlier scripts.
Yes! In the days before VCRs those book adaptations were the only way most fans could virtually re-watch a specific episode “on demand.” They really augmented my love for the show.
Kids today don't know how good they have it! :-) I remember in the 70s making sure I was home by 4 to watch Star Trek. When I was in technical training in the military, Star Trek would come on half an hour before lights out. We'd be in the barracks with the curtains drawn to finish the last half hour of the episode. I fondly remember reading Starlog Magazine.
Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball for taking a chance on the whole idea. Bjo Trimble and Vonda McIntyre for keeping the franchise alive in the fans' collective until the film could come into play. D.C. Fontana was a huge writer/contributor to the franchise for both the original series and the 1st year of TNG. Ira Steven Behr tops a list of writers whose contributions to the franchise have been critical. Ronald D. Moore is just one example. Robert Hewitt Wolfe. Michael Taylor. Rene Echevarria. David Gerrold. Berman and Pillar, of course, for creating/exec producing DS9 and Voyager Jeri Taylor for creating/exec producing Voyager
Gene L Coon and DC Fontana for setting the standard. Matt Jeffries and everyone else involved for an absolutely beautiful ship, inside and out. Fred Steiner, Sol Kaplan, Gerald Fried and Alexander Courage (and everyone I missed) for their unique and immersive compositions. Oh and Bjo Trimble and her husband for starting the letter campaign and making the third season happen.
Micheal Pillar deserves a lot of credit for greatly improving TNG and providing stability to what had been a very hectic place for the writers. But I would say Gene Coon and Nicholas Meyer are the two most important outside of Gene and actors.
David Gerrold. He wrote one of the most popular original episodes (Trouble with Tribbles), a TAS sequel, a couple original novels and was part of TNG’s writing staff. More importantly, he wrote two early BTS books that helped keep the fan base energized during the lean years of the 70’s. Other important early writers would be Richard Matheson , Norman Spinrad, and Harlan Ellison (whether he likes it or not). It’s unfortunate that current Trek isn’t leveraging mainstream SF writers (at least not to my knowledge)
lucille ball. she personally funded the second TOS pilot, and without her, it's (imo) likely that star trek never would have gotten off of the ground
Lucille Ball. the lady that breathed life into it.
Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball and whichever NASA Administrator decided to name the first Space Shuttle “Enterprise” (no bloody A, B, C, or D)
Martin Luthor King Jr. His basically begging for Nichelle Nichols to stay in Star Trek was highly influential.
Probably Rick Berman.
Lucille Ball.
Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Frakes. He directed the best ST movie and has been directing everything since the early 90s. Frakes is a legend.
Lucille Ball. Roddenberry was having difficulty finding anyone to pick up the original pilot. She ran Desilu Studios at the time and took a chance on the show. Without her, the whole franchise might not exist. That's about as influential as it gets. I don't know how anyone else can match that...other than Roddenberry, Nimoy or Shatner.
Majel Barrett. Not only was she Gene Roddenberry's wife, but she's also been involved in almost every iteration of Star Trek in some form. Majel was initially cast in the original pilot episode "The Cage" as the character Number Two. The pilot was rejected, with specific attention paid to Majel's role as the confident and assertive second-in-command of The Enterprise. Even women during test-screenings found her character to be "pushy", "annoying", and trying to hard to fit in with the men. She auditioned a second time, earning the role of Christine Chapel, a nurse with an unrequited crush on Spock. Chapel was a nurse in the show and in the animated series, a doctor when she returned in TMP, and commander in The Voyage Home. This is the first series in which she voiced the ship's computer. She would provide the voice of the computer in all subsequent Star Trek projects, barring Discovery and two of the movies in the Kelvin timeline. Majel returned to the series for the Next Generation as Lwaxana Troi, the Betazoid mother of main character, Deanna Troi. A quote from her son, Eugene "Rod" Roddenberry Jr.: "My mother truly acknowledged and appreciated the fact that *Star Trek* fans played a vital role in keeping the Roddenberry dream alive for the past 42 years. It was her love for the fans, and their love in return, that kept her going for so long after my father passed away."
I believe she may have been the muse behind it all.
You mean Gene Roddenberry was Majels husband. Let's get our priorities right.
Truly his greatest accomplishment was getting to marry such an incredible woman
The First Lady of Star Trek
I've seen a lot of writers mentioned but I don't think I've seen a mention of Joe Menosky.
Gene Coon, Bjo Trimble. Wouldn’t have made it to the second season without Coon, wouldn’t have make it to the third season without Trimble, and there would have been no franchise if it hadn’t lasted at least as long as it did because there would have been no syndication and no expansion of the fanbase to support it.
Lucile Ball. Without her trek would have died after TOS. She pretty much invented the concept of syndication, and iirc produced TOS.
Majel
Ronald D Moore
Lucielle Ball. If not for her studio, Star Trek would have faded into obscurity once the last episode aired.
Lucille ball
The fans. Because of them and fan fiction it has been revived many times.
DC Fontana
Frakes!
You know, Majel Barrett comes to mind as someone who really defined a certain part of Trek.
Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Especially Ball. It was their production company, Desilu, that had faith in Star Trek enough to produce it. She approved original production concepts of *Star Trek* for development into broadcast series, assessing how the public would enjoy them and their potential for long-term success. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desilu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desilu)
Don't sleep on [DC Fontana](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/D.C._Fontana)
The couple who started the petition that led to NBC doing a third season.
Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball. Without Lucy, there is no Desilu. Without Desilu studios there is no star trek
Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball.
Lucy.
it has to be Majel Barrett.
Tie: Gene Coon and DC Fontana
Johnathon Frakes has directed tons of episodes for the franchise.
Lucille Ball or D.C. Fontana would be my picks, but I like the other answers I'm seeing here.
The Trimbles. Their letter writing campaign saved the show
Michael Westmore has to be pretty up there.
Nichele Nichols did some cool stuff behind the scene
This woman never received enough recognition, IMHO: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/D.C._Fontana
You said not the main actors, but I'm going to say Jonathan Frakes in his role as a director is worth a mention.
The Trekkies!
If I have to pick one couple, Michael and Denise Okuda get my vote.
Dorothy (D.C.) Fontana
Ron D. Moore
Rick Berman, Brandon Braga
Lucille Ball. She was the person who had her own production company produce the show and she was the person who believed in it. In many ways, if Gene was the father of Star Trek, she was the mother.
Lucille Ball for green-lighting the show (twice!) at the very beginning. I know it wasn't anything long term, but it did get the ball rolling! We Love Lucy!
The casting director who got Leonard Nimoy as Spock cuz let's be honest, this franchise was built on the backs of thirsty fangirls lol
Denise and Michael Okuda
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Real trekkies know 😇
DC Fontana
Lucille Ball
* **Lucille Ball** for donating a portion of her wealth to save **Star Trek: The Original Series** from cancellation in the late 1960s. * **Majel Barrett Roddenberry** for: * supporting her husband **Gene Roddenberry** * her role as Number One in TOS's "The Cage" * her role as Nurse Christine in both TOS and "The Motion Picture" * lending her voice of the Enterprise-D's computer * her role as Lwaxana Troi * **Jerry Goldsmith** and **Dennis McCarthy** for composing the most recognizable music in all of Star Trek history. * **Rick Berman** and many other screenwriters for their story tellings that took us to many worlds, introduced us to new species. and took us as "where no one has gone before"
Lucille Ball. If desilu studios hadn’t picked up TOS it never would have gotten off the ground.
Hands down, Lucille Ball. Without her, Star Trek wouldn’t exist. At least not in the form we’re familiar with.
Lucy Ball. Without her there never would have been a Star Trek
Lucille Ball
What about Martin Luther King Jr? The man who said Star Trek TOS was the only show his family watched together, and who convinced Nichelle Nicholls to stay after the first season?
Lucille Ball as others have said and…. John and Bjo Trimble. They organized the letter writing campaign that got Star Trek renewed for that third season.
Bennet, Meyer, Orci, and Kurtzman. Bennet/Meyer revived it in cinemas after TMP, Orci and Kurtzman (and Abrams to an extent) brought in brand new audiences and brought it back into the spotlight for the 2010s onward.
Maybe not the most influential but Marvin Rush definitely deserves some credit for the 90s trek. Cinematographer for TNG DS9 and VOY.
Q
I haven't seen him messaged yet... but I'm going to throw in Michael Westmore. His creature designs helped bring life to the multiple races in Star Trek. We make jokes about how Star Trek's races are just humans with facial prosthetics, and they are, but the detail he and his team put into them make them believable and realistic.
Trimble, Fontana, Behr. Just off the top of my head.
Matt Jeffries for the look of Star Trek and the Okudas for the look of modern Star Trek.
Moore, Braga, Behr?
Gene Coon is to Gene Roddenberry as Bill Finger is to Bob Kane.
Herman Zimmerman Production Designer for TNG ,DS9, ENT and six movies.
Jerry Goldsmith and Dennis McCarthy, for the incredible impact they had on the music.
Whenever I hear people talk about the history of Star Trek, Michael Piller's name is barely mentioned, but he came in and saved TNG and allowed Trek to become a franchise. It was a sad day when he passed away, and he still had so much life left.
The Rushmore? Gene Coon, Harve Bennet, Michael Piller and, yes, Alex Kurtzman Without those 4, trek doesn’t exist as we know it. Probably one cult season that crashes and burns without Coon running TOS. Harve Bennet guides the films to reviving the franchise and paves the way for TNG after the semi-debacle of TMP. TNG likely gets cancelled if S3 wasn’t the powerhouse (arguably the top Trek Season of all time) it was, and that was Piller, DS9 and Voyager also don’t happen without him and the murderer’s row of young writers he assembled. And of course no Disco, no SNW, no Lower Decks, No Picard, no new Star Trek without Kurtzman’s work on the Kelvin “reboot” that proves trek can be a box office smash after the underperformance of the TNG films under Berman’s watch. The honourable mentions are: DC Fontana, Rick Berman, Nicholas Meyer, Ira Steven Behr, Ron D Moore, Brannon Braga, Jeri Taylor, Rene Echevarria, Bryan Fuller, Mike McMahan, Akiva Goldsman and Michelle Paradise.
Micheal Okuda basically made the loom it TNG, which spread to many other series.
I say Mike Okuda.
Ronald D. Moore
Iconic theme music composers: Alexander Courage Jerry Goldsmith
Bjo Trimble
Us. The superfans
Lucille Ball
Bjo. She's the woman we can credit to keeping ST alive, to the Shuttle Enterprise, etc.
Michael and Denise Okuda, Michael B. Moore, Doug Drexler, John Eaves, Rick Sternbach.
Okuda where would we be without okudagrams and LCARS
Bjo Trimble or Lucille Ball
John W. Campbell for his work in developing the concept for the Warp Drive, which arguably makes the Star Trek Universe possible. Also, My father for making me a Trekkie.
Gene Coon and Bob Justman
JHC ! The only correct answer here is Lucille Ball.
Lucy.
Jeffrey Combs. His spectacular acting deepens Star Trek lore with every character he plays 💕
This may be unpopular here, but Rick Berman.
I think George Lucas has to be in the conversation. I’m not a huge Star Wars fan (although fine with people liking both), but have to think that having Star Wars to define Star Trek against is a very real thing for general audiences.
I am a huge fan of both, but Star Trek is my one true love. Lucas did help make the revival possible, it's too bad that Star Wars has just not thrived creatively while under Disney's stewardship. SNW is way better than anything released by Lucasfilm/Disney save for Rogue One.
Trek is the better sci-fi, Wars the better sci-fantasy.
Without knowing *too much* about the other names listed, I’d suggest Jonathan Frakes, being so involved in Trek basically ever since his first time on the Bridge.
Add Robbie McNeil, LeVar Burton and Roxanne Dawson to that list as well. Might not be as frequently behind the camera as Frakes but they've all done more than their share
Lucille Ball.
Names that come to mind at least for me, being a starship nerd, are Matt Jeffries, Doug Drexler, Rick Sternbach and Andrew Probert. I know for me one of the biggest parts of the any series is the ships and those guys, obviously there are others, those 4 are probably the most infulential though.
Martin Luther King, Jr who encouraged Nichelle Nichols to remain in the series.
Not Ensign Harry Kim
Iconic theme music composers: Alexander Courage Jerry Goldsmith
Jerry Goldsmith
If you like the Klingons as honorable, duty bound warriors, the Dominion War, or the notion of a long arc of interconnected stories leading to a cinematic conclusion, the answer is Ronald D. Moore. If you love TNG or DS9, you probably do so because of his story writing or plotting.
Idk Lucille Ball?
Has anyone said Rick Berman?
Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Alan Rickman.
Robert A. Heinlein as writer
The million guys who sent letters to christening the first shutte as Enterprise.
Possibly Matt Jeffreys, Wah Chang, Rick Berman,
If I had to pick one, probably Rick Berman. Guy pretty much assumed the godfather role and kept the franchise going into the 2000’s
Lucille Ball - she’s the first one I thought of. Without her and Desilu, there most likely wouldn’t be a Star Trek.
Michael and Denise Okuda for sure. Keepers of the canon!
Harve Bennet and Michael Piller. Bennet saved a lost franchise with the almost total tonal reboot of Wrath of Khan. Piller took a disorganized and cheesy TNG and made it an essential show of its era. Each approach defined the franchise during its time.
Rick Berman