Star Trek: Voyager is the fourth live-action Star Trek series. It was created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor, and ran on UPN (as UPN's first ever series) for seven seasons in the USA, from 1995 to 2001. In some areas without local access to UPN, it was offered to independent stations through Paramount Pictures (for its first six seasons). The series is best known for its familial crew, science fiction based plots, engaging action sequences and light humor. The writers often noted that many episodes had underlying themes and messages or were metaphors for current social issues. This is the first Star Trek series to feature a female captain in the main cast. Additionally, the show gained in popularity for its storylines which frequently featured the Borg. Voyager follows the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation and ran alongside Star Trek: Deep Space Nine during its first five seasons.