500 Degrees of Rick Berman

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In 1986, Berman was better known as a documentary producer when Trek creator Gene Roddenberry picked him to serve as executive producer on Star Trek: The Next Generation, the series that would launch the Trek TV renaissance.

"I have no idea why Roddenberry took a liking to me," he recently told the Hollywood Reporter. "I knew nothing about Star Trek [at the time]."

Berman would shepherd the franchise through three incarnations -- TNG, Deep Space Nine and now Voyager -- garnering dozens of Emmy Award nominations along the way.

He is now engaged in creating the nascent fifth Trek series with Voyager writer Brannon Braga, who will co-produce the show. So far, Paramount has said nothing official about the series beyond the fact that it will be "a dramatic departure."

In commemorating the milestone, Paramount also noted that Berman is still working on a tenth Star Trek film. Scheduling and talent concerns had left the project in limbo, but the Hollywood Reporter said the film is "tentatively targeted" for a late 2001 release.

"Unimatrix Zero", Berman's 500th episode, looks set to spotlight the Borg, possibly the most seminal antagonists introduced in the franchise's modern era.