Hannah Louise Shearer

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Hannah Louise Shearer
Born (1945-08-25) August 25, 1945 (age 75)
OccupationTelevision writer and producer

Hannah Louise Shearer (born August 25, 1945), also known as Hannah Shearer or Hannah L. Shearer, is a writer who was credited with writing five episodes whilst on the staff of Star Trek: The Next Generation and an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . She was also a writer and producer for Emergency! and Knight Rider .

Contents

Career

One of her first roles in television was as a production assistant on NBC's Sierra in 1974. She went on to become a writer and producer for Emergency! , which had crossed over with Sierra. She was also the writer for the pilot episode of Quail Lake which was intended to replace Emergency! but never went past a pilot entitled "Pine Canyon is Burning". [1] Shearer was a producer for Knight Rider during the first season in 1982. She left mid-season and was replaced with Joel Rogosin. [2] She also wrote the first-season episode "Not a Drop to Drink", and during the filming she became friends with guest actress Sondra Currie. [3] Shearer later wrote Nashville Beat , for The Nashville Network in 1989. [4] She came up with the idea for the story alongside actor Kent McCord, and developed it into the final script. [5]

Star Trek

The first episode that Shearer wrote for The Next Generation was "When the Bough Breaks", [6] which she later said was her favourite episode on the series. [7] She pitched the idea to associate producer D.C. Fontana on the basis of using the families aboard the ship that had not been mentioned since the pilot episode of the series. [6] [8] She subsequently conducted an uncredited re-write on the teleplay for the episode "Coming of Age". [9] She also re-wrote the teleplay for "Skin of Evil", which features the death of main cast character Tasha Yar and was originally written by Joseph Stefano. However, she was given a writing credit for this. [10] She was subsequently thanked in the foreword of Jean Lorrah's The Next Generation novel Survivors alongside Gene Roddenberry and Stafano, as the book was inspired by "Skin of Evil". [11]

Because of the impending 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, her work on "We'll Always Have Paris" with Deborah Dean Davis was completed in five days. [12] She was not happy with the subsequent edits made to the script that the pair originally turned in, saying that "we were writing the most romantic episode in the world" but that "it was toned down 75%". [13] She left the writing staff for the series between season one and season two because she did not get along with fellow staffer Maurice Hurley. [14] She later came up with the story idea for "Pen Pals" which was developed into a script by Melinda M. Snodgrass. [15] Her final script for TNG was "The Price". [16] Her final Star Trek writing credit was on the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Q-Less", which was the only episode of that series to feature the character of Q. [17]

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<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i> (season 1)

The first season of the American television science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation commenced airing in broadcast syndication in the United States on September 28, 1987, and concluded on May 16, 1988, after 26 episodes were broadcast. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise-D. It was the first live-action television series in the franchise to be broadcast since Star Trek: The Original Series was cancelled in 1969, and the first to feature all new characters. Paramount Television eventually sought the advice of the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, who set about creating the new show with mostly former The Original Series staff members. An entirely new cast were sought, which concerned some members of The Original Series crew, as Roddenberry did not want to re-tread the same steps as he had in the first series to the extent that well known Star Trek aliens such as Vulcans, Klingons and Romulans were banned at first.

<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i> (season 2)

The second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation commenced airing in broadcast syndication in the United States on November 21, 1988, and concluded on July 17, 1989, after airing 22 episodes. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise-D. Season two featured changes to the main cast, following the departure of Gates McFadden. Diana Muldaur was cast as Dr. Katherine Pulaski for a single season before the return of McFadden in season three. Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg also joined the cast after pursuing a role from the producers.

<i>Star Trek: The Next Generation</i> (season 3)

The third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation commenced airing in broadcast syndication in the United States on September 25, 1989 and concluded on June 18, 1990 after airing 26 episodes. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise-D. Season three featured the return of Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher after she was replaced by Diana Muldaur for the second season. The season also saw the debut of several actors who would reappear in the same roles and others throughout the franchise, such as Dwight Schultz as Lt. Reginald Barclay, and Tony Todd as Kurn.

Robert Lewin was an American screenwriter and television producer. He was nominated for an Academy Award for The Bold and the Brave, and Emmy nominated for the television series The Paper Chase and Baretta.

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Yokley, Sutherland (2008): p. 283
  2. ↑ Huth; Levine (2004): p. 16
  3. ↑ Huth; Levine (2004): p. 32
  4. ↑ Ruth, Daniel (October 20, 1989). "`Nashville Beat' a nice change". Chicago Sun-Times . Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  5. ↑ Heldenfels, R.D. (October 20, 1989). "Nashville Cable Flick Reunites 'Adam-12' Duo". Schenectady Gazette. Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  6. 1 2 DeCandido, Keith (June 30, 2011). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "When the Bough Breaks"". Tor.com . Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  7. ↑ Gross; Altman (1993): p. 164
  8. ↑ Nemecek (2003): p. 50
  9. ↑ Gross; Altman (1993): p. 165
  10. ↑ Nemecek (2003): p. 54
  11. ↑ Lorrah (1989): p. 7
  12. ↑ Nemecek (2003): p. 57
  13. ↑ Gross; Altman (1993): p. 168
  14. ↑ Gross; Altman (1993): p. 170
  15. ↑ DeCandido, Keith (October 3, 2011). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "Pen Pals"". Tor.com . Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  16. ↑ DeCandido, Keith (December 1, 2011). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "The Price"". Tor.com . Retrieved July 20, 2013.
  17. ↑ DeCandido, Keith (May 14, 2013). "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Rewatch: "Q-Less"". Tor.com . Retrieved July 20, 2013.

Bibliography

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