Aaron Harberts (born January 20, 1973) is an American television writer and producer. He was a co-showrunner of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's '' Star Trek: Discovery'' with

Gretchen J. Berg Gretchen J. Berg (born February 8, 1971) is an American writer and television producer. She has worked extensively with her writer and producing partner Aaron Harberts on a number of television series including ''Pushing Daisies'' and ''Revenge (T ...

until their departure in June 2018. Harberts and Berg have been writing/producing partners since they met as students at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. In 2019, Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg teamed up again as writers and executive producers for ''

Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist ''Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist'' is an American musical comedy-drama television series created by Austin Winsberg that premiered on January 7, 2020, on NBC. The series stars Jane Levy as Zoey Clarke, a software developer who discovers she has t ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

Career

Harberts and Berg's first staff writing job was on the ninth season of ''

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran fo ...

'' in 1998. When 90210 finished after its tenth season they were offered a producing role on '' Roswell'' which was then starting its second season. At the end of ''Roswells production they started work on ''

Wonderfalls ''Wonderfalls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Todd Holland and Bryan Fuller that was broadcast on the Fox television network in 2004. The show centers on Jaye Tyler (Caroline Dhavernas), a recent Brown University grad ...

'' where they met

Bryan Fuller Bryan Fuller (born July 27, 1969) is an American television writer and producer who has created a number of television series, including ''Dead Like Me'', ''Wonderfalls'', ''Pushing Daisies'', '' Hannibal'', and '' American Gods.'' Fuller worked a ...

who would later hire them to work on ''

Pushing Daisies ''Pushing Daisies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bryan Fuller that aired on ABC from October 3, 2007, to June 13, 2009. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to life ...

'' and ''Star Trek: Discovery''. They also wrote for and/or served as executive producers on ''

Mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...

'', '' Off the Map'', '' GCB'', ''

Revenge Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

'' and ''

Reign A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Andorra), of a people (e.g., the Franks, the Zulus) or of a spiritual community (e.g., Catholicism, Tibetan Buddhism, N ...

'', and created their own series ''

Pepper Dennis ''Pepper Dennis'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on The WB from April 4 to July 4, 2006. It was announced on May 17, 2006 that ''Pepper Dennis'' would not be one of the WB shows transferred to The CW. ''Pepper Dennis'' w ...

''. In 2001, Harberts and Berg did three rewrites for the 2001 film '' Valentine'' which helped to get the film a green light. But at the time they were just starting work on ''Roswell'' so were unavailable for further rewrites and other writers took over. Harberts and Berg were initially brought onto the staff of Star Trek: Discovery in 2016 by its creator and initial showrunner

as executive producers. When Fuller left to concentrate on ''

American Gods ''American Gods'' (2001) is a fantasy novel by British author Neil Gaiman. The novel is a blend of Americana, fantasy, and various strands of ancient and modern mythology, all centering on the mysterious and taciturn Shadow. The book was pub ...

'' and a planned reboot of ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearances i ...

'', they were offered the chance to take on the showrunner role. But Harberts and Berg were later fired from the show due to alleged infighting and verbal altercations during production, with Harberts allegedly shouting expletives at a fellow writer. As of July 2019, Aaron Harberts and Gretchen J. Berg continue to work together as writers and executive producers for the current

hit show ''

''. Berg and Harberts help navigate the decisions Zoey must make regarding whether to reveal her secrets, and the resulting impacts on her relationships. The characters on this hour-long musical drama express their inner-most feelings and desires to Zoey through frequent musical numbers. The first episode aired January 7, 2020.

Personal life

Harberts is openly gay and married, having been with his partner Scott since 1996.

References

External links

*
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harberts, Aaron Showrunners 1973 births Living people Northwestern University alumni