What would/does Rick Berman think of Picard?

[Farscape One]

I think we are forgetting one fact about Rick Berman. He was the right hand for Roddenberry until his death, and he had a lot of close and personal interactions with him. Of course he's going to be protective of STAR TREK, and not just because it was a big job for him. But there is a personal connection.

I have to say that despite a few faults and some questionable decisions, he did keep STAR TREK on tv for the better part of 2 decades. That's an enormous achievement. Plus, he found some really great people behind the scenes to keep the franchise great.

I would also love to hear his thoughts on PICARD, DISCOVERY, and definitely LOWER DECKS, because that one in particular is heavily influenced by TNG. But he likely will remain quiet for as long as the shows are on the air, for the simple reason is he knows what it's like to be under fire from fans, executives, etc.

On another subject, I wonder what his opinions on THE ORVILLE are.

 

[KennyB]

On his twitter account Berman was very complimentary of Picard before the show premiered. After the show started he hasn't said anything about it but one time asked how his followers liked it. Here are some of his twitter posts:
Michael Chabon is one of America’s greatest writers. Having him involved with Star Trek is beyond amazing!

Picard series should be incredible. Lots of first-class talent behind it.

Watch @AkivaGoldsman’s A BEAUTIFUL MIND, and you’ll see an example of the amazing talent that has been brought to Star Trek.

Picard show with @SirPatStew looks remarkably thought provoking. I, for one, am anxiously looking forward to it.

Stewart, Spiner, Frakes, Ryan, Chabon, Goldsman....what else could we ask for? Im holding my breath. Watch!!

I admire Rick for keeping his public comments classy. Whatever he thinks, his opinions are his and he has friends and former colleagues involved, so it would create awkward interactions. I imagine his thoughts are:

1) Sweet Jesus I was I had been given these budgets!
2) They are so luck they don't have to do 26 episodes.
3) Needs more catsuits and heels!

 

[Kelso]

I wouldn't imagine that Rick Berman is sitting in front of his TV watching Star Trek.

 

[The Wormhole]

2) They are so luck they don't have to do 26 episodes.

IIRC, it was Berman who wanted to do 26 episodes for syndication purposes. At the very least, I doubt it was forced, given that even in the mid 90s the Star Trek shows were the only ones doing 26 episodes a season, most shows were doing 22-24.

 

[Mister Spock]

I wouldn't imagine that Rick Berman is sitting in front of his TV watching Star Trek.

I imagine he's playing some golf in Florida and enjoying a one o'clock margarita.

 

[Lord Garth]

I wouldn't imagine that Rick Berman is sitting in front of his TV watching Star Trek.

I imagine he's playing some golf in Florida and enjoying a one o'clock margarita.

I think he wouldn't be able to just watch Star Trek as in "just watch it" because it would remind him of work. I work at a public access station and record sports. So whenever I go into a restaurant and they have TVs and they're playing sports, my mind goes, "I can't look at this! It reminds me of work."

So I agree that Rick Berman probably doesn't watch Picard. But I think he might've seen the first episode because he might've been curious. Or, given the position he used to have, someone probably sent him a copy. But that's pure speculation on my part.

 

[Damian]

Who cares? He hasn't been involved in Star Trek for fifteen years now.

I was just curious because of anything that's come since he departed, Picard is closest to Berman's work on Star Trek. He had a lot to do with TNG which Picard is obviously tied to. The Abrams movies and Discovery had very little ties to anything Berman was responsible for. Picard is basically a sequel to TNG and I often wonder what people who were responsible for the first part think of what comes later.

I think he wouldn't be able to just watch Star Trek as in "just watch it" because it would remind him of work.

You know, I hadn't thought about that. Maybe being away from it for so many years now might help, but yeah, esp. when it comes to Star Trek I wonder if he could just 'watch' Star Trek. Or would his mind be thinking about all the background stuff--'I wonder how much that cost, I wonder how they built that set, I wonder how......' etc.

 

[Sci]

I'll give Berman credit in that he keeps his public comments generally kind and supportive of others, and in particular he was big enough to admit in the DS9 documentary that he was wrong in a lot of his creative conflicts with Ira Steven Behr. Berman also gets credit for hiring Michael Piller and for co-creating DS9, VOY, and ENT (all shows with good premises) and for letting Behr run DS9 mostly the way he wanted to.

But.

Rick Berman has a really terrible legacy in the form of sexual harassment and misogyny against the women in his employ, and I can't overlook that. I do not care what Berman thinks of DIS, PIC, or LD.

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[JonnyQuest037]

We'll never find out from Rick Berman himself what he thinks of Picard because he probably won't comment on or criticize his successor's work in public.

I imagine what he really thinks is a combination of "There are some things I'd do differently" and "I'm glad someone else is in the hot seat now and not me!"

I've interviewed a lot of people in the comic book world, and generally speaking, they tell me that there's not much upside into checking out the work of your successors on a property. If the people following you do something you hate, you think, "Why did they do THAT?" and if they do something you really like, you think, "Oh man, why didn't *I* do THAT?" Either way, you're going to feel rotten about it, so for your own peace of mind, it's best to just walk away.

 

[Belz...]

I couldn't care less about what Berman thinks about anything.

 

[Damian]

I've interviewed a lot of people in the comic book world, and generally speaking, they tell me that there's not much upside into checking out the work of your successors on a property. If the people following you do something you hate, you think, "Why did they do THAT?" and if they do something you really like, you think, "Oh man, why didn't *I* do THAT?" Either way, you're going to feel rotten about it, so for your own peace of mind, it's best to just walk away.

I wonder if the amount of time that has passed might change things a bit for someone in that position. I mean, the last on-screen depiction of the 24th century was Nemesis. 18 years has passed since then. I wonder if someone like Berman were to watch it today, has enough time passed that he'd be able now just to sit and watch it like any other fan without getting too wrapped up into what he might or might not have done himself.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I wonder if the amount of time that has passed might change things a bit for someone in that position. I mean, the last on-screen depiction of the 24th century was Nemesis. 18 years has passed since then. I wonder if someone like Berman were to watch it today, has enough time passed that he'd be able now just to sit and watch it like any other fan without getting too wrapped up into what he might or might not have done himself.

Could be.

 

[Kor]

Most of us don't keep close tabs on the projects going on at companies we worked at eighteen years ago. It's ancient history. I would imagine the entertainment industry isn't too different in that way. For instance, actors reprising a role after many years have to go back and watch their earlier work in that role because they simply can't remember it after doing so many other jobs in the meantime.

Kor

 

[ThreeEdgedSword]

“Less music. More catsuits.”

This was my first thought when I saw the thread title:
Berman: Why are all the women wearing such loose clothes, almost like... people? Well, at least Deanna is wearing high heels for gardening!"

 

[Hythlodeus]

"The boobs are too small and there are too many gays!"
(if everyone who worked with him are to be believed)

 

[dinzy]

I think he wouldn't be able to just watch Star Trek as in "just watch it" because it would remind him of work. I work at a public access station and record sports. So whenever I go into a restaurant and they have TVs and they're playing sports, my mind goes, "I can't look at this! It reminds me of work."

So I agree that Rick Berman probably doesn't watch Picard. But I think he might've seen the first episode because he might've been curious. Or, given the position he used to have, someone probably sent him a copy. But that's pure speculation on my part.

He hasn't touched Trek in over 15 years and the first season would only take 10 hours to watch. It's no longer his job and it might make him feel a little nostalgic. It might not because he did work it for 18 years, but who knows. I'd love to go back to my old job and get summaries of what people were working on. For all we know he could have a fake troll account and could be the most prolific Discovery shit poster there is who also trashes Picard.

 

[137th Gebirg]

I'll give Berman credit in that he keeps his public comments generally kind and supportive of others, and in particular he was big enough to admit in the DS9 documentary that he was wrong in a lot of his creative conflicts with Ira Steven Behr. Berman also gets credit for hiring Michael Piller and for co-creating DS9, VOY, and ENT (all shows with good premises) and for letting Behr run DS9 mostly the way he wanted to.

But.

Rick Berman has a really terrible legacy in the form of sexual harassment and misogyny against the women in his employ, and I can't overlook that. I do not care what Berman thinks of DIS, PIC, or LD.

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In general, this may be true, yes, but he was none-too-cordial towards Manny Coto when his little ego got a massive bruising after three rather dismal seasons of Enterprise, followed by a relatively successful resurgence for Season 4 once Coto took the reigns (even though it was too late to get a 5th season - the die was already cast, thanks to Berman's earlier missteps with the show). This quite effectively demonstrated that the B&B era of Trek had come and gone and it was time to step down. It also gave the world a glimpse of his true nature that, yes, he generally kept under wraps until he popped when someone maeasurably better came along. Berman couldn't handle it and had a little shit-fit over it.

I concede that Kurtzman-era Trek may not be the particular cup of tea for those who are die-hard Berman-era Trek fans, but that's irrelevant now (just as those TOS-only sycophants who thought that TNG was an abomination when it aired were arguably irrelevant then). Now, if Berman has finally come to terms with this (especially as it applied to DS9 and other shows), well, then good on him and maybe he's grown up a little and mellowed in his autumn years. Don't much care either way if he has or not, TBH. He's admittedly an irrevocable piece of Trek history, just like Roddenberry, but I don't see much value in his opinion on anything now.

 

[Amasov]

I think we used to blame Berman for quite a lot back then, but, I think in retrospect, a lot of what we could be perceived as Trek feeling "the same" as the years went on was the studio and UPN wanting just that. I was truly into the idea of having the entire first season of Enterprise being, literally, grounded and the politics surrounding it. Not only would this have been a really interesting new approach, for Star Trek, I think way ahead of its time.

 

[The Wormhole]

I think we used to blame Berman for quite a lot back then, but, I think in retrospect, a lot of what we could be perceived as Trek feeling "the same" as the years went on was the studio and UPN wanting just that.

It's true, much of how Enterprise turned out is the result of UPN's meddling moreso than Berman and Braga's incompetence. As it is, Braga's refusal to include the shipboard boy band that would break out into a musical number each week that UPN wanted actually cost the show, with a significant portion of its budget slashed as a result. Unfortunately, there was a lot of politicking going on there with Berman and Braga essentially having to choose which battles were worth it for them to fight, and in the long run the show was going to suffer anyway. It's just a question of how bad were they going to let it suffer.

That said, it was still incredibly unprofessional and uncalled for of Berman to go off on Manny Coto the way he did. I mean I get it, he was frustrated by the very fans who were demonizing him worshipping Coto as Trek's savior when Coto had less of an uphill battle to do what he wanted with the show than Berman and Braga did. But still, none of that was Coto's fault, so heaping scorn on him in public the way Berman did wasn't going to accomplish anything.

 

[Dukhat]

Michael Chabon is one of America’s greatest writers. Having him involved with Star Trek is beyond amazing!

I wouldn't go that far, Rick.