Is that unusual that you would have that level of science input to a sci-fi show?

Well, certainly none of the other shows that were produced in the 1960s had science advisors and even into the 1980s there wasn�t a lot of science fiction on television until the Next Generation really revitalised the field. It is pretty rare. Most of the other shows don�t employ, in any real capacity, a scientist to do this kind of work.

The X-Files has a virologist, as their shows tend to be a lot more about strange creatures and biology and so forth. Babylon 5 eventually hired a couple of scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to look at their scripts.

I would say that Star Trek has a well earned reputation for trying very hard to credibly portray the future of science and technology. A great deal of our audience is scientifically-literate people and also real scientists and engineers, so we definitely want to make sure that that audience is liking our work.