101 Best Written TV Series

Aired: SYNDICATED, 1987-1994

For his follow-up to a sci-fi series phenomenon roughly the size of the cosmos, Gene Roddenberry wanted to demonstrate, as he put it in a 1991 Los Angeles Times Magazine article, "that TV need not be violent to be exciting." The article noted that Roddenberry's show bible for the future Peabody-winning Star Trek: Next Generation contained an entire list of thou shalt nots'" and the proviso: "Beware of spaceship battles: They cost enormous amounts of money and are not really as interesting as people conflicts." No longer helmed by Capt. Kirk but by Capt. Picard (the British actor Patrick Stewart), The Enterprise was still boldly going but its crew were less other-directed and more self-examining. SNG vets Rick Berman, Michael Spiller and Jeri Taylor would go on to co-create Star Trek: Voyager; another SNG writer, Rene Balcer, became one of the driving creative forces in the Law & Order franchise.

Credited Writers

Frank Abatemarco
Alan J. Adler
Gregory Amos
Harold Apter
Burton Armus
Kasey Arnold-Ince
Bruce D. Arthurs
David Assael
Hilary J. Bader
Rene Balcer
Michael Baron
Patrick Barry
Ira Steven Behr
Hans Beimler
Adam Belanoff
Kurt Michael Bensmiller
Rick Berman
Robin J. Bernheim
David Bischoff
John D.F. Black
Diana Dru Botsford
Ward Botsford
Brannon Braga
Fred Bronson
James E. Brooks
David Bennett Carren
J. Larry Carroll
Sally Caves
Stuart Charno
Cy Chermak
Lawrence V. Conley
Sara B. Cooper
John D.F. Black
Richard Danus
Deborah Dean Davis
Timothy de Haas
Drew Deighan
Lance Dickson
Pamela Douglas
Arthur Conan Doyle
Diane Duane
Rene Echevarria
Roger Eschbacher
Jeanne Carrigan Fauci
Peter Allan Fields
Richard Fliegel
D.C. Fontana
Larry Forrester
Sandy Fries
Trent Christopher Ganino
Morgan Gendel
Steve Gerber
Karl Geurs
Shari Goodhartz
Pamela Gray
Mike Gray
Vanessa Greene
Jaq Greenspon
Wanda M. Haight
Michael Halperin
Christopher Hatton
Allison Hock
Michael Horvat
Maurice Hurley
Ron Jarvis
James Kahn
Mark Kalbfeld
Thomas Kartozian
David Kemper
Dan Koeppel
Richard Krzemien
David Landsberg
Brian Alan Lane
William Douglas Lansford
Philip LaZebnik
Robert Lewin
Richard Manning
John Mason
Jean Louise Matthias
Robert L. McCullough
Michael A. Medlock
Les Menchen
Joe Menosky
T Michael
Michael Michaelian
Katharyn Michaelian
Leonard Mlodinow
Ronald D. Moore
W. Reed Moran
Lan O'Kun
Gary Perconte
Thomas Perry
Jo Perry
Ralph Phillips
Michael Piller
Jon Povill
Michael Reaves
Lisa Rich
Ted Roberts
Gene Roddenberry
Sam Rolfe
Ron Roman
Grant Rosenberg
John Frank Rosenblum
Paul Ruben
Scott Rubenstein
Randee Russell
Dennis Russell Bailey
Peter S. Beagle
Robert Sabaroff
Susan Sackett
Nicholas Sagan
Ralph Sanchez
Ken Schafer
Paul Schiffer
Barry Schkolnick
Philip A. Scorza
Naren Shankar
Hannah Louise Shearer
Lee Sheldon
Melinda M. Snodgrass
Jack B. Sowards
Joseph Stefano
Spike Steingasser
Eric A. Stillwell
Jaron Summers
Edithe Swensen
Jeri Taylor
Worley Thorne
Tracy Torme
Michael Wagner
John Whelpley
Ronald Wilkerson
Steve Wolcott
Robert Hewitt Wolfe
Beth Woods
Herbert J. Wright
Jacqueline Zambrano
Marc Scott Zicree
Ed Zuckerman