Star Trek: The Next Generation
1987
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August 16, 1939. Boston, Massachusetts. Died. February 24, 2015 (aged 75) Nationality. American. Occupation (s) Screenwriter and producer. Maurice Hurley (August 16, 1939 – February 24, 2015) was an American screenwriter and producer known best for his work on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Maurice Hurley, August 16, 1939, Boston, Massachusetts
- American
- February 24, 2015 (aged 75)
- Screenwriter and producer
Maurice Hurley (1939-2015) was a TV showrunner who worked on Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Equalizer and Baywatch Nights. He was born in Boston, married twice and died in the USA.
- Producer, Writer, Additional Crew
- August 16, 1939
- Maurice Hurley
- February 24, 2015
- Overview
- Other Works
- Writing credits
- Producing credits
- Star Trek interviews
- External link
Maurice "Maury" Edward Hurley (16 August 1939 – 24 February 2015; age 75) was a producer and writer on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Hurley and Robert Lewin were brought in during the first season by Gene Roddenberry's lawyer, Leonard Maizlish (who had no authority whatsoever to do so, but the studio went along with it nevertheless), shortly thereafter replacing Star Trek: The Original Series veterans D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold as head writers, despite Hurley never having worked on a science fiction series before. Because Roddenberry trusted Hurley with keeping his vision of the future and his directions for the show intact, he appointed Hurley as show runner. Hurley took this task so seriously that he often got into arguments with writers such as Tracy Tormé for "deviating" from Roddenberry's "dogmas" by writing darker, less-optimistic episodes, therefore adding conflicts among the writing staff. "That's just the way it is. Star Trek is not like any other show because it is one unique vision, and if you agree with Gene Roddenberry's vision for the future, you should be locked up somewhere," Hurley declared at the time, "It's wacky doodle, but it's his wacky doodle. If you can't deal with that, you can't do the show. There are rules on top of rules on top of rules… Gene sees this pollyanish view of the future where everything is going to be fine… I don't believe it, but you have to suppress all that and put it aside. You suspend your own feelings and your own beliefs, and you get with his vision… or you get rewritten." (Starlog, issue 152, p. 29)
Hurley became co-executive producer of the series at the end of its first season but, during the second season, he started to argue with Roddenberry himself when the creator/executive producer endorsed a script which broke his own "guidelines". Subsequently, Hurley took a dimmer view on Roddenberry's guidelines, which he found lacking in dramatic storytelling potential, deeming them too "wacky doodle" himself. Deeply embroiled with Roddenberry, Hurley left at the end of the second season. His position as head writer was eventually assumed by his friend, Michael Piller, who joined the Star Trek staff at Hurley's invitation. (William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge; Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed., pp. 29-30))
Hurley's first contribution had been the first season episode "Hide And Q", but the script was rewritten by Roddenberry to such an extent that Hurley requested the pseudonym C.J. Holland to be used instead for the credits. As the writer of the episode "Q Who", Hurley became the creator of the Borg when he came up with the idea of an unbeatable foe. (TNG Season 2 DVD special feature, "Departmental Briefing Year Two: Production") Alongside Rob Bowman and Bowman's assistant he also provided the voice of the Borg for this episode. He was also partly responsible for the introduction of Lore (having co-written the story for "Datalore") and the introduction of the Romulans in the Next Generation era (he wrote the teleplay for "The Neutral Zone"). Additionally, Hurley returned to the series to write two more episodes, "Galaxy's Child" for season four and "Power Play" for season five.
The late Herbert J. Wright cited Hurley as one of the reasons he left TNG. He described Hurley as "basically playing drinking buddies with Gene," having already left before he could witness for himself the vicious battles between the two men that ensued afterwards. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 224) Tracy Tormé also named Hurley as one of the causes of his departure, after numerous disagreements over Tormé's scripts. (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, pp. 170, 177-178, 181-182) Tormé later referred to Hurley as "a very unpopular person" in the DVD audio commentary for the Sliders pilot episode, having named an irascible character after his former TNG boss. Some other writers spoke more positively about Hurley, however; Melinda M. Snodgrass in particular recounted that she got on very well with him, and much better than she did with succeeding showrunners Michael Wagner or Michael Piller, a viewpoint shared by Hans Beimler and Richard Manning. (TNG Season 3 Blu-ray-special features)
According to Rick Berman, Hurley was the reason behind Gates McFadden's departure from The Next Generation in its second season, as he disliked her acting and "had a bone to pick with her." After he left the show in the third season, McFadden was invited back by Berman.
Before his time on TNG, Hurley co-wrote a Canadian science fiction film called Firebird 2015 AD in 1981. He then became a co-producer on The Equalizer, a series which starred Robert Lansing and Keith Szarabajka. Hurley also wrote at least nine episodes of this series, which he followed up with writing several episodes for the then very popular series Miami Vice.
After leaving TNG, Hurley wrote a number of episodes for Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and became a writer and executive producer on the short-lived series Pointman. From 1996 through 1997, he served as executive producer for Baywatch Nights and wrote several episodes of that series, as well. He moved on to become a writer and co-executive producer on Baywatch from 1999 through 2000.
Hurley wrote the screenplay for the 2002 film Groom Lake from a story by William Shatner, who also directed and starred in the film (with Dan Gauthier). In addition, Hurley wrote a 2001 film called The Proposal and two episodes of the hit series 24 – one for the first season and another for the second. Trek performers who appeared in the 24 episodes which Hurley wrote include Jude Ciccolella, Michelle Forbes, Penny Johnson, Daniel Dae Kim, and Harris Yulin, all of whom were either regular or recurring players at the time.
Upon his passing in 2015, Hurley was survived by his wife of 43 years, Geraldine Garrett, and four children, of which three were by his first wife, Adrienne St. John Geer.
•TNG:
•"Hide And Q" (teleplay with Gene Roddenberry; story, as C.J. Holland) (Season 1)
•"Datalore" (story with Robert Lewin)
•"11001001" (with Robert Lewin)
•"Heart of Glory" (teleplay; story with Herbert J. Wright and D.C. Fontana)
•"The Arsenal of Freedom" (story with Robert Lewin)
•Star Trek: The Next Generation ("The Naked Now" – "When The Bough Breaks") – Producer
•Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Coming of Age" – "Shades of Gray") – Co-Executive Producer
•The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation To The Next, interviewed on 20 September 1988 (excerpts from the same interview appeared in TNG Season 2 DVD specials "Mission Overview Year Two – Whoopi Goldberg, Ten Forward, Gene Roddenberry" and "Departmental Briefing Year Two: Production – Writing, Music")
•"Star Trek The Next Generation", Mark A. Altman, Cinefantastique, Vol 21 #2, 1990, pp. 24-et al.
•"Matters of Honor", Edward Gross, Starlog, issue 152, March 1990, pp. 29-33, 64
•William Shatner Presents: Chaos on the Bridge, 2014
•Maurice Hurley at the Internet Movie Database
Feb 26, 2015 · Maurice Hurley, a writer and producer for Star Trek: The Next Generation, passed away on February 24 at the age of 75. He co-wrote or wrote many episodes of the show, including the Borg, Lore and Romulans, and was also involved in creating Firebird 2015 AD and other projects.
Dec 23, 2023 · Maurice Hurley was the first showrunner of Star Trek: The Next Generation and he fired Gates McFadden, who played Dr. Beverly Crusher, after season 1. He later left the show and Gene Roddenberry replaced him. Gates McFadden returned to the show in season 3 and became a fully-realized character in Star Trek: Picard season 3.
- Star Trek Features Writer
Feb 26, 2015 · February 26, 2015 5:08pm. Maurice Hurley, a writer and producer for Star Trek: The Next Generation, died Tuesday, the series’ executive producer Rick Berman announced. He was 75. “We lost one...
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Maurice Hurley was a producer and writer who created the Borg and Lore for Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also worked on The Equalizer and Baywatch Nights.
