Starting the TV Sci-Fi renaissance

When we started with The Next Generation in 1987, there was virtually no science fiction on television in the United States. Within four or five years - and I think a lot of it had to do with the success of The Next Generation - there were literally dozens of science fiction shows on the air. So, when Deep Space 9 came around, it was not only competing with all of those shows but it was also competing with The Next Generation. When Voyager came around, it was competing with even more science fiction shows, some of them extremely successful, as well as re-runs and syndication of The Next Generation and Deep Space 9. It did get a little close to overkill; the climate has changed, and I think it's good that we've slowed down a bit.