Brandon Tartikoff

Brandon Tartikoff was the Chairman of Paramount Pictures from  to.

Prior to helming Paramount, Tartikoff was the president of NBC Entertainment from 1980 to 1991, where he was responsible for bringing NBC out of a ratings slump with innovative programming such as ', ',  (whose cast members included Kelsey Grammer and Kirstie Alley). He also took on a very active role in the production of Saturday Night Live (among the new cast members whose hiring he approved was Charles Rocket), and hosted the show in 1983, while Joe Piscopo was a member of the cast.

With the success of the six (at the time) Star Trek films and Star Trek: The Next Generation, he approached Rick Berman and Michael Piller and asked them to create a third live action Star Trek series to launch into syndication. Berman and Piller returned to the series notes that they had previously discussed with Gene Roddenberry, and worked up a proposal, which Tartikoff later approved, for what would become Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. (Trek: The Unauthorized Behind-The-Scenes Story of The Next Generation, DS9 Season 1 DVD special "A Bold New Beginning")

Tartikoff died in 1997 from complications of, and the DS9 6th season opener was dedicated to his memory.