George R.R. Martin is known as a great storyteller. Although he did not write directly for an episode of Star Trek, his advice made it one of the best episodes of the series.
George R.R. Martin is primarily known as the creator of the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire. Since the TV adaptation titled Game of Thrones, his name has been on everyone’s lips. The writer is also notorious for taking a long time to write. He prefers to engage in other projects.
Examples from recent years would include his collaboration on Elden Ring. Many years earlier, he was involved with Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although Martin was never part of the show’s writing team, he knows the scriptwriter Melinda Snodgrass.
He worked with her on his novel series Wild Cards and persuaded her back in 1988 to write for Star Trek. When Snodgrass struggled with doubts about a particularly spicy episode, Martin gave her an important piece of advice that made the episode one of the best.
Too sensitive for television?
Which episode is it? Before Snodgrass was officially hired by Star Trek, she wrote the episode “Who Watches the Watchers?”. Its original English title is “The Measure of a Man”.
The episode discusses whether the android Data is a sentient being deserving of freedom, just like an ordinary human. A scientist wants to take Data for an experiment and strip him away from the Enterprise crew. Captain Picard fears that Data may not survive the experiments. A court trial debates to what extent the android is self-determined and more than just property of Starfleet.
Writer Melinda Snodgrass showed her friend George R.R. Martin the script and shared her concerns. She feared that the story was too close to reality and therefore too sensitive for television.
The episode is loosely based on the real case of Dred Scott. He was a black slave in the USA who went to court in 1857 to claim his freedom. However, the court denied him this right, which increased discontent in the country and culminated in the outbreak of the Civil War (via withwingsandroots.org).
Martin listened to his colleague’s concerns, but encouraged her to finish the episode and present it to the people in charge of Star Trek. His advice was to never hold back or hide such good material.
Was the episode a success? The script by Snodgrass convinced the producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and she received a permanent position on the show. Additionally, the episode was nominated for an award in the category “Best Original Teleplay” by the Writers Guild of America. No other episode of the series achieved that.
To this day, “Who Watches the Watchers” is considered one of the best episodes of The Next Generation. Due to the philosophical question within, even scientists are engaged with it. They are concerned with the question of whether Data is entitled to human rights. While Captain Picard fought for Data, his actor on set was not that easy: Patrick Stewart admits that he was a “strict” bastard during the filming of Star Trek
