Star Trek: 10 Greatest Jeri Taylor Episodes
6. Real Life
Jeri Taylor wrote the teleplay for Real Life, based on a pitch by Harry Kloor. He submitted the original idea, yet he did not qualify for the Writers Guild Of America internship at Star Trek. He impressed Taylor sufficiently that she invited him to pitch to her directly, leading to his story being sold. Taylor then developed it from there.
She described the episode as a chance for the audience to see a 'soulless' character achieve a soul - despite the heartbreak and pain that he must face to do so. Real Life goes from being a funny, light fare to a heartbreaking examination of love and loss, all framed by a man who can turn off this reality at any moment. It forces the audience to ask themselves - if they had the option, would they too just switch off the part that hurts, to numb everything else?
Real Life is a core episode in the journey of the EMH. Robert Picardo delivers one of his strongest early performances which, combined with Taylor's script, helped to humanise the Doctor in such a way that he could never be ignored again.