The first two seasons of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in the late 1980s were tumultuous times behind the scenes for the crew. Gene Roddenberry, who created the show based on his original NBC program, was working hard to make sure that he didn't lose control of the program, which Paramount apparently was trying to take away.

That struggle resulted in several casualties, including "Trouble With Tribbles" writer David Gerrold. Gerrold recently with the TV Shows on DVD Web site. There, he talked about how Roddenberry's attorney, Leonard Maizlish, tried to keep power on the show within the Roddenberry circle.

"I was supposed to be a producer, but they kept whittling my duties," Gerrold said about his early involvement with the first live-action Star Trek spinoff series. "I finally got the very clear message that Gene's lawyer didn't like me. And that whatever Gene promised me, the lawyer was going to take away."

According to Gerrold, Maizlish apparently was afraid that Paramount Television would take over complete control of the show, leaving Roddenberry in the dust. It got so much, that it ended up Maizlish running the operation instead of Roddenberry.

"What he was doing was significantly undermining everybody that might be a threat to Gene, so that he could stay in control," Gerrold said. "And he appointed himself chief of staff. And the result was that we had a lawyer running the show. A lawyer who had no knowledge of how to do television. No knowledge of what Star Trek was supposed to be. And he was rewriting scripts.

"He thought he was protecting Gene, but in his efforts to protect Gene, he was hurting Gene. I was the second or third person to leave, but there were 30 other people who followed me out the door in that first season alone."

But apparently, Paramount was winning the control battle anyway, and brought in Rick Berman to help be the Paramount eyes and ears of the operation. That would be an appointment that continues to this day.

"Gene didn't like Rick, at all," Gerrold said. "But Rick was installed on the show by the studio as a way to keep a control on the show. To keep it from getting out of hand. To keep the budgets in line, make sure that the scripts were done. Rick was there to manage the details. Because the studio was a little bit afraid of another debacle like 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' -- which had gone way over budget, way out of control, and was a big fat turkey. And the studio knew their problem then had been Gene. And so they put Rick in place to try and make things work.

Gerrold currently is in pre-production for his 2005 film, "The Martian Child," based on his book.

For more details on Gerrold, and to take a look at his latest books, visit www.gerrold.com.

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