‘Star Trek: TNG’ Cast Members Say They Haven’t Been Asked To Be Part Of New Picard Series

(Photo: Rose City Comic Con)

The hottest topic right now with Trek fans is the new Jean-Luc Picard Star Trek series in development, featuring the return of Sir Patrick Stewart into the iconic role. Two weeks ago Marina Sirtis, Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Deanna Troi, blew up the Trek Internet when she shared a photo of a reunion of the TNG cast with Patrick Stewart. Now we know a little more about what they learned, or rather didn’t learn, about the new Picard show.

Jean-Luc Picard is back, TNG is not

Eleven days ago, the weekend after Marina Sirtis shared the image of the cast reunion, she along with her TNG co-stars Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher) and Michael Dorn (Worf) were featured on a panel at Rose City Comic Con in Portland, Oregon. And immediately after introductions, the photo was the first thing Sirtis started talking about, asking the crowd how many people saw it.

Sirtis then let the crowd know there were no Picard show spoilers coming, saying:

I got 30,000 likes [on Twitter]…that is the most likes I ever got. So, don’t ask us anything about Patrick’s show, because we know nothing.

In case you missed it, here is the tweet that garnered coverage across the globe:

Of course we covered it here at TrekMovie, but that single tweet was picked up by dozens of mainstream outlets, many of which speculated that the gathering could lead to something more. Even the Hollywood insider site Deadline got into the game with the headline, “‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Photo Fuels Speculation Of Reunion On Picard Series.”

Now it appears, it was just a nice dinner with old friends. In fact, after some banter back and forth about the tweet at Rose City Comic Con, Sirtis made it even clearer that the cast was in the dark about the show, saying:

All I have to say, all we have to say, I am speaking for all three of us now, When Patrick said “Jean-Luc Picard is back,” he didn’t say TNG is back.

Sirtis’ mention of the quote from Patrick Stewart comes from his announcement last month at Star Trek Las Vegas where he did indeed say “Jean-Luc Picard is back” but also noted that the new show will be “something very, very different.”

In response to a fan question later during the Rose City Comic Con Q&A, the three TNG cast members made it clear that they have not been asked to be part of the show:

Michael Dorn: We weren’t asked

Gates McFadden: My cat got a huge contract offer, though.

Marina Sirtis: We weren’t asked… But I was asked to be on The Orville. I am on The Orville.

Whether or not the Picard show will feature any other members of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast is one of the key questions we have about the show. As of now we still don’t know, but the discussion at Rose City Comic Con indicates it is possible Picard’s story in 2399 may not involve any of his old Enterprise-D friends. That said, the writers’ room is just getting started — so the sky’s the limit.

Will the Picard show reunite members of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast?

Dorn still wants to explore Klingons, Sirtis disagrees

While they had nothing to say about the Jean-Luc Picard show, the cast did offer some thoughts on what they would do with a Trek show. Here is the fun exchange in response to a fan question about what they would do if given total creative control of Star Trek:

Gates McFadden: I would probably ask Patrick Stewart to be in it.

Michael Dorn: I think that they have always kind of scratched the surface of the Klingons. And I really think that they should do something where…

Marina Sirtis: No, no. We know a lot about Klingons. We know nothing about Betazoids, but we know a lot about Klingons. Talk about scratching the surface. I know I had a mother, and that was it!

Gates McFadden: Well it would be better than having Crusher’s family, where they are all in love with lamps. That would be a disturbing, disturbing show, right?

Of course, Michael Dorn’s longing for a Klingon-focused series is referring to his long quest to convince CBS to do a new TV show centered on his character of Worf. Gates’ comment about the women in her family is in reference to “Sub Rosa,” a much-maligned episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Dr. Crusher falls in love with a ghost-like entity trapped in a lamp. Earlier this year TrekMovie’s Shuttle Pod podcast discussed “Sub Rosa” in a podcast dedicated to the weirdest Trek episodes.

Star Trek: TNG - Beverly Crusher sitting with lamp - Sub Rosa

Gates McFadden in “Sub Rosa”

Keep up with all the news about upcoming Star Trek TV projects at TrekMovie.com.

133 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

No, TNG won’t be back, and I’m delighted. Not that it didn’t end up being far more worthwhile than we could have hoped, given how generally uninspired those first two seasons were. But, been there, done that. I’m hoping for something much different, and more thematically challenging, than anything Paramount or Roddenberry were willing to greenlight a generation ago.

(And if you really want TNG redux? By all means, check out The Orville.)

Please. You’re overselling THE ORVILLE.

No, he’s really not. The Orville might as well be the eighth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

With jokes.

TNG is like the Orville but actually good.

The difference between The Orville and Discovery is that The Orville is good, Treky and funny.

Noted that’s your opinion, thanks.

That is my description of The Orville. It’s TNG with comedy sprinkled in. And more often than not, it works.

Yeah. Utterly sick of hearing about the Orville. I am not yet convinced by Discovery, but it doesn’t me I have any need or desire to watch something ape 30 year old Trek.

While I agree the Picard series shouldn’t replicate TNG, that’s not the same as saying no TNG characters should appear. These people did, after all, shape Picard into whatever he’s become. Much depends on the execution, methinks.

No opinion on TNG cast cameos, except to agree that they’re likely to happen.

God forbid we have something positive and uplifting on TV these days hey?

I say the closer to TNG they get it the better for all of us. But that’s just my opinion.

It won’t be on tv. It’a another CBS Access gig, If you want to see it, you’re going to have to pay for it. Not mwa. Discovery tanked. I really think this is their attempt to recoup some losses. Just throw old baldy at them, see if they bite kind of deal. He shouldn’t be Trekking. He should be shuffleboarding.

I wouldn’t mind return of TNG but only not with CBS and Kurtzman in head of it. If we want good and true Star Trek show they need Paramount, Berman or someone from that team to launch it.

Agreed!

@Artyom — that would be the end of Trek as far as I’m concerned.

Call me crazy, but I like both Discovery and Orville. BTW, just torrent Discovery if you don’t want to pay for it. Yes Discovery is bloody and intense. It’s supposed to different time in Trek history. It’s about the ravages of war. So if that’s what you like, they did an amazing job producing it. The Orville is a lot like traditional Trek, and Seth did a great job with that as well.

In the end, any series with Patrick should be amazing. Can’t wait.

Erm, wha?

Honestly I would be truly shocked if we really saw no one from TNG back! This is the same brain trust squeezing in a half a dozen TOS characters in Discovery just by it’s second season alone. I do think some will join eventually.

BUT if they really don’t then yeah maybe this means they are trying to do something very different and original. If that’s the case I definitely welcome it! I don’t even need Picard to be honest, I just want something in that era again at the end of the day.

Half a dozen? Pike, Spock, No.1… who else?

I was talking about characters in both seasons obviously: Pike, Spock, Amanda, Sarek, Mudd and Number One. And that’s just who we know of so far. More could easily be announced and pop up next season.

Dont forget about Mudds wife.

Thanks. Actually I don’t even remember the episode the original character was in lol. I honestly can’t even tell you what the first actress who played her looked like. I can only remember the one in Discovery. Time for Google!

We saw Stella — or rather, an android version of her — in “I, Mudd.”

Thanks. I probably seen that episode once or twice decades ago now. I truly never liked Mudd in TOS and avoided those episodes. I been thinking of rewatching them to compare him to Wilson’s Mudd though.

I think Mudd worked much better in I. Mudd rather than Mudd’s Women. Where he came across as WAY more slimy. He was great as a comic foil.

True. But at least those are the characters and not the same actors (okay, the actors are all dead). Other than Clint Howard, we haven’t seen any TOS actor cameos — and I’m fine with that.

Most of these current reunion shows depend a bit too much on nostalgia and don’t have much other reason to be there. That’s something the TOS movies mostly avoided (except for cameos from Rand and Chapel, but those weren’t distracting, arguably).

But that’s only out of circumstances though. Most TOS actors today are just suuuuuuper old if they are not already dead. The ones still around are in their seventies and eighties at this point. Even Clint Howard, who I think was literally the youngest TOS actor at the time as a kid is now in his sixties. So that’s why there are no cameos, everyone is just too old or dead now.

If Nimoy was alive and age appropriate today you don’t think they wouldn’t snatch that guy up in a heartbeat??? If that was the case, they wouldn’t need a nearly 80 year old Patrick Stewart. They could just hire a younger guy to play that role in a new show.

As far as the TOS films, well you’e also forgetting Sarek and Amanda appeared in those NOT to mention Khan lol. They built an entire movie around a character who was just in one episode. So the films didn’t actually stray from character appearances anymore than most franchise do. TOS just didn’t have a lot of recurring characters like the others, but still stuck in characters who we saw in one just episode.

At the end of the day playing on nostalgia by recycling characters is lazy. Abrams did it. Now CBS are doing it. I find it all intellectually insulting given that until the JJ movies every Trek crew had new characters and, for the most part, were successful.

Well, those later series kept bringing back the Borg and Ferengi (and DS9, Voyager and Enterprise had TNG-cast cameos), but I see your point.

Sarek, Amanda, and Harry Mudd.

Mudd, Sarek, Amanda.. only there we have 6.

I’d be shocked if none of the TNG cast showed up as well. The reason they don’t know anything is because the show has yet to be written. Once they get scripts and decide who gets to show up I’m sure they will be contacted and whoever it is (all of them perhaps?) will almost certainly say “yes”.

That seems to be the consensus on Reddit too where this article is also published. It’s just too early, there are no scripts even written. I’m sure of course they already have certain characters in mine to come back if others are coming back at all but still probably trying to figure out in what capacity.

But of course you don’t write out scripts with familiar characters until you know if the actor is willing to appear first so we’ll probably know if someone is coming back sooner than later. But they sound like they haven’t even written the first script yet and just plotting out the basic story of the season first.

And an outline could be created with certain characters in mind but it can get altered if any actor is not interested or unavailable at that stage.

I’ll bet the showrunners already have a pretty good sense about where the series will eventually be with respect to reunions, whether the TNG cast has been made privy to that information or not. In fact, it may be good news from their perspective that they don’t yet know. If the decision had been made to not include them at all, Paramount surely would have already informed them, as the last thing they need right now is the bad publicity that disrespecting the cast of a beloved show would surely generate.

The show doesn’t even have a proper name or release date yet. A bit early to be asking about the cast, isn’t it? Have they even finished any scripts yet?

Yeah this is my guess as well. They may not be in it at all when said and done but it’s still super early. Chabon himself said they just started writing for the show a few weeks ago. They are probably still just locking down what the show actually is. It could be awhile before the first script is even written.

I really don’t know why it’s so hard to get ones head around the idea this isn’t a TNG reunion show. There hasn’t been the tiniest of hints that that’s where its going, and there seems to be little interest from fans to gather round the and sing a few lines from ‘the gangs all here’….

I liked TNG, but that ship has sailed.

I don’t disagree but this is just normal reaction for any fandom. If you go back to Star Wars, we know the new trilogy movies aren’t directly about the OT characters but the new cast and yet they squeezed in literally every character from the OT anyway. The only one we haven’t seen so far is Lando and he’s officially showing up in Episode 9.

Most people think if you bring in one character, then naturally a few will just follow in some fashion. But they have always made it clear it wouldn’t be a TNG revival like bringing back the X Files, Will or Grace, Rosanne, etc since it’s not named that. So it’s pretty exciting to see where it’s going to end up if it really does end up just being Stewart. It could be a Kelvin situation like Spock and Picard just ends up somewhere else entirely new (you know what I mean ;)).

At least Dorn hasn’t mentioned Captain Worf lately.

I don’t think you read the article Jack…. ;)

I think this is all about using Picard as a way of launching the franchise into the 25th Century. I don’t expect Picard to hang around for more than a year or two. I have little doubt this is about establishing a new crew and footing for the post Nemesis era. If not then it will be a high budget limited series. but I doubt that.

All that said, you can bet the TNG cast will make cameos.

I have no desire to see a TNG reunion but I am eager to see Worf return in this series or maybe a mini-series.

Patrick Stewart is a great actor. Especially when his characters are just sitting there chattering theories & orders so roles like Picard & Xavier are perfect for him.
As an action hero…not so much. He becomes strained, misplaced and unbelievable.
But he doesn’t need the extra baggage from a series that had the perfect ending “All Good Things”, then messed it up with 4 movies.

Whining cost stars from TNG…kind of just whined a lot in the series and doing more whining now.
More Worf? It’s a good day to die…avoid the Christmas rush and die already.
More Troy? I sense…nothing. Stay on the Orville to give us that moment of boredom between comedy.
More Crusher? Why Doctor? What for? You skipped out on season 2, returned for the rest and did little in the movies. Your character is well covered. Completely.

All the weakest links.
For better links, try pork sausage. You can grill them with peppers and onions. Toss them into sauce or serve them with morning eggs.

Pretty much all the TNG characters were dull. Including Picard. Worf was interesting but that was because at the time we knew very little about Klingons. But, even with all of the fleshing out the Klingons have had, Worf remains the most interesting character on TNG. And it isn’t even close. Stewart was by far the best actor of the lot but the best character was Worf. Geordi, Wesley, Troi, Yar, Data, Riker and even Picard…. All yawners that I never really cared much about. But it was their first shot. They got better when they came up with the DS9 group and even the Voyager group was more interesting than the TNG group.

Sure.. Harry Kim was way more intesting that Data. Are you trolling or what? Lol

The rubbish is that the TNG crew were interesting folks. They were bland and dull characters played mediocre to sub par actors. Only Stewart had the charisma and acting chops to make a boring character watchable. TNG survived mainly due to his presence and the occasional great script. This is not trolling. This is opinion. And yes, Harry Kim was far more interesting than Data. The lizard Paris and Janeway turned into that one episode was more interesting than Data. The entire concept of the android Data I found to be tired before the show even began. Sue me.

It truly proves how subjective entertainment can be because for me the TNG crew is one of the most interesting characters in the franchise. Yeah they don’t have any edgier or layered characters like a Kira, Garak or an Odo but I can truly watch an episode with Riker and Data all day. But I think because I just became enamored with them as people watching them for so long. I’m sure there are tons of people who watch them for the first time and feel exactly as you do.

And you’re right, its your opinion, that should be respected. I don’t even have a problem with Harry Kim either but I do find Data way more interesting than him.

I honestly believe the reason the characters were so boring is a direct result of Gene Roddenberry’s idea that humans of the future were all perfect. All of them (save Worf) were near perfect characters and the Captain was 100% perfect. I actually did not think that at the time I was watching live first run episodes. I was just happy as hell to have a new Star Trek show. But over time I realized that I never really cared about most of the characters all that much. And I realized it’s because they were all so vanilla. And that was GR’s doing, I’m convinced.

Yeah probably. They obviously changed that with the other shows and why you got more layers and tension. I didn’t really have a problem with TNG characters being a bit more upstanding and civil though. They probably could have been people who had more personal issues to make their characters more interesting but that never really bothered me. No one on TOS seemed any less perfect outside of maybe McCoy sounding a bit racist to Spock. But the others all got along well with each other and pretty average characters outside of Kirk and Spock. Kirk was of course the one with all the fire in his belly lol.

But some of their personalities were more interesting I guess. But I just don’t know how Sulu or Uhura is all that different from La Forge or Crusher in terms of being vanilla? Roddenberry characters all came off straight laced most of the time. It’s not until DS9 that you really saw characters with more edge, grey morals, personal conflicts and strong personality differences. You definitely get that in Discovery lol.

But in TOS and TNG though everyone was pretty much upstanding but dull Starfleet officers.

I honestly don’t think it all that fair to compare the non-big three from TOS to the other shows. TOS was pretty much only about those three. The rest were mostly just sorta… There. Only Scotty got a little bit of depth. That was mostly due to TV at the time. The spin off shows all showcased the each in the main cast a couple of times at least in their runs. It was just a different time.

Regarding McCoy sounding racist towards Spock… I can understand how it can look that way but I don’t think McCoy was racist at all. There was tremendous respect from both of them to the other. Their friendship was different than it was with Kirk. In fact, one could argue it was more “playful”. Looks can certainly be deceiving. One could watch me and my dad arguing and it could easily appear like we hated each other but the truth was not that at all. We both just enjoyed a good heated debate. And nothing ever came from it. We both “got it”. I think McCoy and Spock have something similar. From the outside it can look like something that it is not.

I’m only saying is those characters are STILL popular even with so little development and no real conflict whatsoever.

People can still fall in love with a character even if they don’t get a lot of attention. In TOS case I wasn’t arguing it was bad (although it could’ve been better lol) but that those characters still managed to be considered just as important as Spock and Kirk. And people like Whoopi Goldberg cited she fell in love with Star Trek because of Uhura. Not everyone JUST cared about Kirk, Spock or Bones.

In TNGs case they all got TONS of attention compared to TOS lol. Even if they could’ve gave Crusher more to do they still gave her tons of development where she has become a fan favorite. NOt for everyone but clearly for others.

But like I said no one on TOS seemed any less upstanding than TNG. There wasn’t any big conflicts on that ship either. Everyone looked up to Kirk and his orders were rarely questioned. Everyone got along on that ship like TNG so I don’t get what is the difference? Most the characters outside of DS9 and DIS come off pretty vanilla to me. We’re not dealing with GOT type of people lol.

And I agree with you about McCoy and Spock. Yeah more playful than anything.

I would argue that the TOS characters were mostly “vanilla” because they weren’t featured players. They were used when the show needed an extra character for something, but that was the extent of it. Sulu’s main job was to say “Warp 6, Captain.” There was plenty of disagreement among the main 3 and that provided enough for whatever dilemma the episode needed to convey. Part of me is thinking if the show were done later and lasted longer we would have gotten more meat from Chekov, Uhura and the like. But it was a product of it’s time.

What an absolute load of utter rubbish.

TOTTALLY AGREE. Except I think The Next Generation ruined the Klingons. Turnef them into ridiculous “barking dog” parodies.

I want to see Worf go out on a high note. As Plinkett/Mike Stoklasa said, it should have Worf who sacrificed his life in order to stop Shinzon.

Although I would love it, the TNG cast can’t play their original characters anyway, especially Data/B4. So it’s going to have to be a very different show one way or another, but at least we are in a time and place I’ve long wanted to return to, with or without Picard…but Picard certainly makes it much more interesting.

Other than Spiner they are all perfectly capable of playing their old roles, but real truth is that the cast is now older generally than the TOS cast was in 1991. A new TNG show would basically be about a bunch of 60 and 70 somethings in space. Having one or two of the as regulars is okay because you can then other build a younger cast around them. But six or seven of them is too much because then the show would just be old farts in space.

Look, the most important thing discussed here is that there is a consensus growing that “Sub Rosa” is weird AF. :-)

I concur!

“Growing”?

It was weird back in ’94!

Quite true.

LOL yeah! I remember watching the episode when it aired thinking ‘WTF’??????

Twenty four years later my assessment hasn’t changed.

Picard was the anchor but the supporting cast was an integral part of the series and a big part of what made Picard the character we came to know. Something would be missing without that connection.

Generations had a number of flaws but what ultimately stood out for me above everything else was the idea of Kirk dying alone as he had predicted in Star Trek V. Picard was there but those who had the greatest impact on his life were not there with him in the end as they had been in all those years before.

So, yeah, I expect to the rest of the cast to appear at some point with at least several of them an integral part of the story as it unfolds.

Exactly! In fact I have said this before (and I think to you) about Kirk and why I don’t want them to bring him back BECAUSE he no longer has that anchor anymore. That’s why I don’t get this fascination with bringing back this character when he won’t be around the other characters that made him feel whole. Even in Generations they managed to put him with Scotty and Chekhov. If he came back it will just be him with a bunch of new characters he literally won’t know since they have never showed Kirk with much of a life outside of his crew mates. I don’t see the appeal of that at ALL frankly.

As far as Picard I can certainly accept him with new characters because he would just have naturally moved on with life with other people like became a family man or went on to command another crew entirely as others went on to different careers in Starfleet. So in that instance it wouldn’t feel out of place at all after 20 years but organic actually.

That said though it would be weird if he just completely lost track of all those other people as well and would feel strange to people watching that those connections would be totally severed. Depressing in some ways even. So I too see a few other characters at least still integral to his life if not all of them.

Great point. Kirk was at his best with his crew around him. They were his family. In Generations, it *kind of* worked with Chekov and Scotty, for me anyway. That was a great intro. by the way, and a more proper heroic way for Kirk to die, saving the Ent-B. Then, the rest of Generations happened, and…Bridge on The Captain.

Yeah I love Kirk like everyone but it was mostly with his relationship with Spock and Bones. He’s obviously a great character on his own but I don’t understand why people are so desperate to have him back when it won’t really be the same character being so much older and not be around anyone he knows or cares about.

You bring him back and then what? Have him spend time with complete strangers at 90 years old? I think people are just more enamored with the idea of having Kirk back without really thinking about what that means once he did actually come back. It wouldn’t be the same at all. They can pull what they did with Nimoy and the Kelvin movies and have him hang around his younger version but yeah they already did that with Nimoy.

I’m confident we’ll end up seeing someone — and perhaps multiple someones — from the casts of TNG, DS9 and VOY. But I’m hopeful the story will dictate the character needs and not vice versa. As it should be… if you want crisp storytelling and not a maudlin reunion show.

By all means, put them all on The Orville (as long as it doesn’t become the Diagnosis: Murder for ‘90s SF stars).

@Jack — or Matlock

Good. I have little to no interest in checking in with Executive Counselor Troi or Professor La Forge. If fans miss them, there are 178 episodes and 4 movies of TNG.

I think deep down the hardest people to convince that noone outside Picard will be in the show is some of the crew itself! I think in all honesty there will be one or two cameos but they will likely not be from the crew, more likely a Q or another supporting guest star from the past.

And Michael Dorn put your script ideas down, something tells me he keeps an emergency copy in his inside pocket just in case he bumps into a producer !

No Q. Please no Q. People bring him up every time this project is discussed. He’s outdated and would just seem silly now.

If you’re going to see any antagonist return it will almost certainly be The Borg (and even that to me would be a waste).

I’m just waiting for Discovery to totally jump the shark and bring the Borg in. Unless they do some spore-drive time travel/quadrant-jump kind of thing to get them in there.

Normally I would facepalm the Borg showing up on STD. But I kinda sorta expect it from that show nowdays….

Lets see how much they manage to mangle the relatively easy designs of the Borg to be more “contemporary” or “modern”.

Honestly I can see them figuring out a way to bring the Borg to Discovery as well. Some of the designers on that show already said they really want to do the Borg. Now they have a spore drive they can jump anywhere in the galaxy. I mean they already made the MU ‘classified’ to try and keep it within canon, it wouldn’t be a shock if they went the same direction with them as well.

That said I don’t want the Borg on Discovery but no wouldn’t be remotely surprised if they do it either, especially since Enterprise has done it. The Borg is really too tempting for a lot of people.

If the tng cast will not be part of the new show it would feels like they did build it up ALL TOGETHER and picard/stewart does harvest the laurels alone. Feels very, very unfair and wrong to me!

This is similar to the “we have no plans to feature Spock in ‘Discovery'” fantasy we heard all last year. OF COURSE these guys will be in the new JLP show. Maybe not all of them, but giving Picard time with his TNG team during the new show will hoover in new CBS All Access subscribers faster than anything I can think of. Otherwise, it’s really just a wasted opportunity.

Agreed. Anything I hear at this point, except the fact the Picard show will actually happen, I’m taking with a grain of salt. “We have no plans to feature Spock.” Next thing you know, here comes Spock! Like you said, CBSAA will do whatever they think it takes to get subs.

I think the Spock thing was probably more about the now departing Moonves and also Kurtzman looking for headlines after the mixed reaction to Season One.

I agree with this as well. To me it feels like the people running Star Trek now is ALL about pushing nostalgia, hence why there is EVEN a Picard show coming. It seems really, really odd to me they would bring Picard back and literally no one else. And I don’t mean just the TNG cast but other characters from that era like Voyager and DS9 as well. I assume that show will have a chock full of known characters just like Discovery is pushing now.

I mean the person who came up with the show, Kirsten Beyer, seems to be a HUGE fangirl in terms of what she includes in her own books. The books are based on Voyager but they seem stuffed with fan favorite characters in the franchise in general.

I guess what I’m saying is I find it hard to believe the same people who now has Pike and Spock showing up on a show in mulitple episodes that isn’t even about them won’t have characters on a show with Picard who has been part of his existence with him from the beginning is perplexing.

The only way I see it not happening is if Picard is a side character and its really about another crew entirely he’s there to pass the baton to, kind of like Prime Spock in the original Kelvin movie. If so that’s understandable and would be totally into that idea.

I don’t see it as a “pass the baton” kind of thing at all. We know Stewart held out for a moment to probably get more money. It seems unlikely that CBS would pony up the money he asked for just so he could be a tangential character in a pilot episode. Even if there will be a show spun off from the Picard vehicle, the Picard vehicle will be about JL Picard. I just don’t see it happening any other way.

No I assume Stewart would be in all the episodes first season, what I’m saying is IF he is there to pass the baton the focus will be on the new cast as much as him. They are definitely going to use him and have him part of the show but I could see it where he’s an Admiral or an Ambassador and is there to help guide a new set of characters just like what the Star War movies are doing now. I mean you have Luke, Han and Leia in the new films and actually integral to the story but they found a way for the new characters to be equally important and the main driver of the series.

Obviously they have killed off Han and now Luke but they their presence was really integrated with the new characters and story line. Kylo Ren for example has a connection to all three of them.

Again IF this is about passing the baton I can see them doing the exact same thing with Stewart in a similar role, vital but not the only important character to the story either. And who knows we could see a Picard son or daughter in the show who will become important in future seasons if this is meant to go on past one season.

I know this is a fanboy answer but I would love it if one of the characters ends up being Picard and Crusher’s son or daughter lol.

I have a sneaking feeling at the end of his run on the show we may see the final resting place of JL Picard.

I love that Gates routinely mentions Sub Rosa and how stupid it was. Iconic for all of the wrong reasons ahaha!!

It wasn’t that bad. I mean Discovery is much worse.

They won’t ask numerous TNG actors back for regular roles. One old famous guy is one thing, asking numerous way less famous old actors back, is something completely different. They won’t make a series without a lot of young characters. A lot of regular roles will go to them, so there won’t be room for many of the TNG cast.

I’d be OK with one or two cameos early on, but after that the show needs to be able to stand on its own. Once established, I wouldn’t be against seeing what some classic characters have been doing to pass the time.

Agreed.

IMO, it might be nice to see a mini series or perhaps future Short Treks focused on what happened to the TNG guys but not a full fledged live action series. Marina seems a little miffed but she did get lucky compared to many of the others, working on DS9 (along with Dorn) and that awful finale of Enterprise.

Did Marina really show up on DS9? I don’t remember her. She was also on VOY in a few episodes (with Barclay and Zimmermann).

She wasn’t on DS9. Frakes and Dorn were the only TNG regulars to show up on DS9.

You forgot Stewart was in the DS9 pilot…

Pretty sure you meant Deanna being on Voyager! Crazy I actually forget that sometimes but those were some of my favorite episodes of that show because I liked seeing them on Earth.

New blood!

If you want new blood you don’t continue with an old character, you create something new like, you know, Discovery.

Discovery – that routinely recycles TOS characters?

Hoping your post is sarcastic…

Discovery’s main characters were new. Some of the guest characters were people from TOS. Granted, they will bring in more previously established characters during season 2 but except for Spock they will be from a rejected pilot.

New, except for Sarek, Amanda, Mudd, Pike, Number One, The Enterprise…yeah. And who knows what ‘new’ characters from the 1960’s Discovery will introduce next?

Exactly! If you want new blood you wouldn’t be hiring a near 80 old guy playing a character he hasn’t played in 15 years. You would just make a show about new characters with younger actors.

I don’t doubt there will be plenty of new characters in the show obviously but clearly CBS is pushing for more fan nostalgia with the new show.

Here is the full TNG panel at Rose City Comicon video;; youtube dot com slash watch?v=H1RzzMXA-A8&t=2s

If only one TNG character shows up on the Picard show (and I think we know that ultimately nearly all of them likely will) it’s Worf. He was the most interesting character on TNG. The definite NO’s to showing up are Troi, Wesley and Guinan. The show will be better off without any of them.

Sure.. here is the guy that claimed that harry kim is better character than Data. Looool

Yep. Harry Kim was a better character than Data. Data was essentially a computer who just spat out the logical and correct answer. Data was the Enterprise computer personified. Literally. Data was supposed to be the Spock character for TNG. But Data was not compelling or sympathetic or any of that. Spock was a character one could at least empathize with. Certainly not the case with Data. Data was a ridiculous character character. No one could reverse engineer the positronic functions? Are you kidding me? Would have been better if Data was a found alien creation. But not much better. Data only became semi-interesting in Nemesis. Again, sue me for having an opinion.

I find myself agreeing with you again. Troi and Data were simply two aspects of Spock divided into two characters. Neither of which were anywhere near as interesting.

Yep. That was amazingly obvious. It was also obvious that Picard and Riker represented two aspects of Kirk. As a result, neither were all that interesting.

Your opinion of who is the most interesting character is entirely subjective. Frankly Worf never become interesting until DS9, which is an observation that Dorn himself agrees with. On TNG he was a buffoon whose commission as an officer was always a head scratcher considering he was almost always hot down by the crew as wrong in whatever he said or did.

As for the most interesting character of them all…more interesting than Picard or Data? Do me a favour. Obviously these characters weren’t “pew pew pew” enough for you.

“Your opinion of who is the most interesting character is entirely subjective.”

As all opinions are.

“Frankly Worf never become interesting until DS9, which is an observation that Dorn himself agrees with. ”

And since his was the most interesting character on TNG that should tell you something about the other characters.

Let’s not make baseless assumptions about “pew pew”. I could write an essay about each character as to why they were dull. But don’t think I’ll waste the space. Let’s just say the characters were just not very complex nor did they have any kind of compelling characteristics. They were just sorta… There.

BTW… Worf being wrong often was part of what made him interesting. Him being a “hot head” was true but there are reasons behind it that I found contributed to making the character interesting. Elements that could not be found in the other characters.

Important to note, the “Picard Show” will likely only feature Patrick Stewart in a limited way, I think. The showrunners are going to want to draw in the coveted 18-39 age group for longevity in CBSAA subs. An 80 year old man from show that ended in the early 1990’s is not going to draw that. Expect Jean Luc to be surrounded by a very young, very diverse cast, ala Discovery. Picard may be the initial draw, but I doubt he’ll drive the actual plot(s). Just my opinion.

I think it’s been firmly established that it’s a show featuring Picard. They won’t make him a supporting character in his own limited series. It’s his story. It is possible, however, that this series will lay the foundation for a series featuring the crew of the Enterprise in the 25th Century.

As for the demo breakdown, it will skew older by default regardless of who they cast with Patrick Stewart. The star of the show will be in his 70s and the younger viewers who tuned in from the late 80s to the early 90s are now in their 40s and older. The demo breakdowns for the reboots of The X-Files, Will and Grace and even Fuller House to a degree will give a sense of what we could expect from the Picard series. I would also say look at the ratings for the Discovery premiere on CBS and the numbers for The Orville premiere on FOX (which were very similar) to get a sense of who will be tuning in.

The current TNG books from Pocket Books cover the Enterprise-E through 2385. The supernova that destroyed Romulus happened in 2387 – and by that time he was the Federation Ambassador to Vulcan and Data was in command of the Enterprise-E. His final mission as Captain has NOT been written as yet though Beverly and him have a son Renee, and Rear Adm Riker and Troi have a daughter.

I suspect Patrick Stewart himself wouldn’t have agreed to the role if it was more of a supporting part.

I think in the early part of the show he will be more significant than you are suggesting, but otherwise I agree. I think he is the entry point for a post Nemesis era and once he has served that purpose I expect Stewart to bow out.

Interesting possibility I hadn’t thought of, to be honest. Not sure that Stewart would go to the bother of returning without a major role to play, though.

“An 80 year old man from show that ended in the early 1990’s is not going to draw that.”

Except that he clearly did in the X-MEN movies, including two very recent ones. As did Ian McKellen.

I expect it will be something like the new Star Wars movies. A mix of old and new characters.

I would like to see him with a young, Andorian nymphomaniac bride.

I have a sneaking suspicion this new Picard series will be animated.

Why? They would’ve just said the show was animated from the beginning.

I can only imagine THAT backlash when they casually mention that down the line lol. “Oh did we not say this will be a cartoon when fans have been begging for a live action 24th century show for a decade now? You’re still getting Picard though so be happy!”

Or, given his age, perhaps reanimated

Hmm…

The Borg have to make a return. Yes, don’t wanna tread old ground, but come on….we all deep down wanna see what they look like in this era of wonderful 4K quality, superior CGI

It has been suggested by people on other boards that they DO know but simply lying to keep their involvement secret until a formal announcement is made. This wouldn’t exactly be the first time actors have denied knowing things or being in a role until it officially happens, ESPECIALLY in Star Trek.

I’m not saying that’s what they ARE doing but yes that’s also a possibility as well. Personally I do believe them when they say they haven’t been asked back yet but I also believed Benedict Cumberbatch when he said he wasn’t playing Khan. ;)

Other than Patrick Stewart and Le Var Burton the cast of TNG were TERRIBLE actors. I won’t miss ’em.

I’m not sure I would but Burton on the level of Stewart. He was great in roots, but not so much in nearly anything else. As LaForge, he sure did master the sigh! I do think Spiner is actually a decent actor. But the Data role didn’t exactly require great acting chops. But yeah… Patrick Stewart has more acting skill in his left pinky fingernail than the entire rest of the cast put together. He made the weak episodes watchable by his charisma and skill alone.

I think a Worf or Klingon series would be cool. They could do it on a streaming service so it won’t require the numbers of network primetime.

My guess is pretty much every new Star Trek show will be on All Access from this point on. Or maybe Netflix in the future if CBS ever does a deal with them to make their own shows like Disney did with them for Marvel.

I doubt we’ll ever see Star Trek on traditional TV again.

Agreed 100%. The future is streaming for franchises like this.

I hate to agree but the days of Trek on anything but a streaming service are over. Especially if CBS continues to have the final word.

A show about Picard without at least some cameos from his TNG castmates would be like a show about Joey without some cameos from his Friends castmates…

Gates McFadden actually comes across as great fun. It’s a shame TNG didn’t show much of her sense of humour. Maybe the Picard show can do that if she cameos. Not in a Big Bang Theory way — keep it subtle — but reflecting an occasional dry wisecracking attitude.

I agree… She was often underused. But part of that was the relationship that was created between the characters. McCoy was used more because he was Kirk’s confidant. Crusher never had that status with Picard. Picard opened up to his bartender.

Of course they aren’t. Surprise surprise! It’ll be Picard telling stories to his sons around a fire while in his armchair.