Late last night, actress Marina Sirtis took to Twitter to share a lovely photo featuring herself along with her Star Trek: The Next Generation castmates at dinner. She included the simple message “The gang’s all here. Well most of them anyway,” along with the hashtags #friendship and #TNG.
The gang’s all here. Well most of them anyway. #friendship #TNG pic.twitter.com/We8rwljHJ5
— Marina Sirtis (@Marina_Sirtis) September 3, 2018
Included in the photo are LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Sir Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner and Michael Dorn. Sirtis’ comment that the photo includes “most of them” is a note that Jonathan Frakes apparently couldn’t make it to the reunion.
UPDATE: More photos and Frakes comments
LeVar Burton followed up with some additional pictures from the evening.
About last night… pic.twitter.com/GLEOJJnHez
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) September 3, 2018
And the missing man Jonathan Frakes made a joke out of his absence, by commenting on a fan who tweeted a Photoshopped version with him (as Riker) the picture.
I thought the invitation said formal dress… https://t.co/rpS5QqEZUf
— Jonathan Frakes (@jonathansfrakes) September 4, 2018
Picard show briefing?
It is well known that the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation was a tight-knit group during the production of the show and subsequent movies, and have all remained close friends, so it’s natural to see them having a fun night out together. However, given that it’s just a month since Patrick Stewart dramatically announced he is returning to the role of Jean Luc-Picard for a new TV series, it’s also natural to assume that it was a subject of discussion.
Last weekend, Gates McFadden told us she was expecting to hear more about the show from Stewart:
We haven’t [heard anything], and I am sure Patrick will fill us in sometime. I have no idea if we are in it, or if it is just Patrick or what. We will all find out, but it is just so cool, though.
The only other member of the cast who has spoken in public about it is Brent Spiner, who discussed it during a panel at Fan Expo Boston in August. After having some fun intoning his infamous Patrick Stewart impersonation and joking “I cannot do this show… without Brent Spiner,” the actor told the crowd (via AIPT):
I haven’t heard anything about it other than that Patrick announced it in Vegas that he’s doing it. I think it’s fantastic. I can’t wait to see it. You know, he’s one of the best actors there is and perfect doing Captain Picard as one of his greatest characters and I’m as anxious as you are to see it.
It is a good bet that the group now knows more about the show, set 20 years after the last outing for the TNG cast, Star Trek: Nemesis.
Publicity photo for Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
It’s also worth noting that it is still very early on in the development of the show. At Star Trek Las Vegas, Stewart told the crowd that there were no scripts as of a month ago. But just a few days ago, executive producer Michael Chabon shared a galactic briefing sketch from the writers’ room, indicating progress on developing what he called the “Untitled Picard Project.”
“What familiar faces will show up?” is one of our 9 big questions for the Picard show. Patrick Stewart is also an executive producer for the series, so he may have a say as to what actors and characters might turn up on the show.
For now, we have this fun photo.
Keep up with all the news about upcoming Star Trek TV series at TrekMovie.com.
Is this restaurant in L.A.?
Hard to say. I’m under the impression that Burton and Spiner live in SoCal, but the rest, I don’t know. Unfortunately, there isn’t anything on the photo that might be a clue…
It’s highly unlikely that the new ‘Picard’ show would exclude the original TNG cast members. This is the perfect opportunity to show us what our beloved crew has been up to for the past twenty years. While expect there will be a new younger cast introduced, I believe the original TNG cast will show up in the series premier, then, perhaps do cameo’s every now and then.
I would like to see the premier branch off into a Worf/Riker series where they captain there own ships and are sent out into the unexplored depths of the Beta quadrant on their own 5 year mission. There’s no reason why a Trek show can’t showcase two ships and two crews working together….
The possibilities are endless.
What would you like to see in the new series?
@MTMD — definitely not Riker/Worf…
There is a simple reason why a Trek show will probably not show two separate ships and two crews: budget. Two ships require twice the sets, and two crews require twice the cast.
That’s interesting cuz that’s what they did in Disco..
Shenzhou was there for the pilot, was then redressed to become Discovery for most of the season and returned during the mirror arc. I don’t think it would have been possible to constantly switch between both ships. As for the crew: didn’t at least 3 Shenzhou bridge crew members move over to Discovery? And they killed off Connor after less than 5 minutes when he returned in the mirror universe.
At least Trek production crews are pretty good at redressing bridge sets.
Yes, there is a history of redressing sets in previous Treks. However, I don’t think they ever switched back and forth on a weekly basis which they would have to do if a show was set on two ships. Also, the reused TNG sets were pretty obvious in TFF and TUC.
DIGINON,
I don’t recall such weekly redressing of sets back and forth across the TV shows.
I do recall that by the movie STAR TREK V, they were redressing TNG’s sets for use in the films’ productions and that somewhere someone was amassing a list of where the film and television productions goofed and the “older” TOS movie redresses ended up in TNG episodes and vice versa with the “newer” TNG sets ending up on the movie screen in V & VII. We can speculate that some of that likely resulted from weekly demands?
Hopefully, the LOST SCENES authors will get around to document such for their next tome?
If I remember correctly, most of the time when you saw the interior of a new Federation starship it was a redressing.
I’m more than sure most of these guys, if not all will show up on the show. For all we know this could just be a CBS stunt to get people excited over the idea lol.
But it’s no way you are going to just put Picard in it when clearly people want to see as much of the TNG cast as possible. After all that’s what this is really about just like adding Pike and Spock in Discovery: nostalgia! But I imagine it will mostly focus on new characters which is what I really want as well.
But you’re right the possibilities are endless now. This show should easily pull in more buzz than Discovery has and if fans don’t think it TOTALLY sucks, it can be a spring board for future shows and stories.
But I HOPE the Picard show is the only one that features a known character as the main star. While I certainly would like more stories in the 24th century and beyond I really do hope they make it with completely new characters in the future like all the previous shows have done.
But knowing the guys making the shows now it will probably be a spin off with Captain Riker and of course Spock’s newly discovered son as his first officer on board the Enterprise F. ;)
That’s a pretty big conclusion to jump too, there. They aren’t making TNG movies precisely because there isn’t much demand for them. CBS also seemed pretty clear this was Picard centric, so asides from some mention of other cast mates, or the late Deanna Troi (remember, she’s dead) maybe these guys were just out enjoying a nice dinner in LA (or NY) somewhere….
How is that a big jump? I’m guessing if you want to see Picard then you want to see him with his crew mates as well. Isn’t that common for any characters from a show or film? That’s all people have been talking about. Every post this is comes up people say they want to see so and so back. And this isn’t a movie, it’s a show on a tiny streaming site no one wants and has less people viewing it than an episode of Salvation. It needs ALL the help it can get. And if there was no demand then Picard wouldn’t be here now lol. Last time I checked he was in those films too.
But I have said this many times, no one is suggesting it will be a continuation of TNG, but sure I’m guessing there will be appearances by others. Follow the logic, they are putting an actor new to Star Trek to play Pike, a character that was in the first episode from 50 years ago in 13 EPISODES. You SERIOUSLY think they aren’t going to include more characters with actual Trek veterans with actual fans if they can?
And Denna isn’t dead. That was from a POSSIBLE future, but that’s already changed. We all know how Trek works, future can change on a dime. That’s how the Kelvin films works now. And that has been altered for years now or Data wouldn’t be dead. ;)
LOL I just reread your post and realized I misunderstood it as you did mine. That was a joke about the CBS stunt. No, I’m not implying the dinner means they will all be on the show lol. I’m 99.9% sure some of them will show up on it, but who and how outside of Stewart they are probably still a long way from figuring that out.
Why is Troi dead? AGT reset that at the end. And thus we got the movies etc.
Phil, I agree, it’s a hugh leap of faith given the poor performance of TNG movies. I think this is going to a Patrick Stewart vehicle, and I doubt we will see more than perhaps one cameo per season from any former TNG crew.
Spot on!
I expect Frakes is too busy to do a full regular series. Hopefully a cameo though.
For what little information is available, there isn’t much of anything that suggests CBS is going to try and pump more then a short season or two out Stewart, or that it’s a reunion show. Given what ‘All Good Things’ cemented into canon, the possibilities are somewhat limited.
‘All Good Things’ has cemented nothing into canon when it comes to anything seen in the anti-time future. It was just a possible future, and that’s also why Picard decided to tell his crew about everything. The possibilities are not limited at all.
Phil, the ending of All Good Things means nothing today. They even said it in the episode that that future could be altered now that they knew about it. I mean they altered it in many ways already by DESTROYING the Enterprise D literally in the next film (the Enterprise we saw in AGT was meant to be the original ship, just upgraded), Data has been killed, Worf dropped out of politics and we saw Geordi as Captain in ANOTHER alternate future on Voyager. In AGT, he was never a Captain, he retired and became a novelist. So that future changed literally months after that episode aired and been changing since.
This is what was said in the last scene:
“Crusher begins to wonder why Picard shared the information about the future he encountered with them. La Forge says that it goes against the rules they’ve heard about not polluting the timeline, but Data believes that the case is different. Since the anomaly never occurred, the future they encounter will be radically different from the one Picard experienced.”
So yes, it was never meant to be anything than a ‘what if’, especially since they literally changed the future in the episode.
That said I agree the show may not be more than 1 or 2 seasons. If so I’ll still happily take it! ;) But we’ll have to see.
All Good Things includes an ending with Q saying the future is wide open, if I recall correctly.
And thus we got the events of the movies.
So, if the creative team goes way off the reservation and does something just for the hell of it, it’s all good. After all, its just a possible future, right?
Well no because we will be seeing the actual present day now. AGT was like every other possible future scenario in Star Trek has done like The Visitor, Timeless, Twilight, E2, Endgame, etc and that they are undone the second something changes them.
We will just be watching the present. So what happens now actually happened.
I’m hoping we don’t see any of them, at least not right away. I don’t want TNG redux.
I just feel like you’re looking at this show all wrong. A show focusing on an older Picard doesn’t really have a reason to bring in much or most of all the TNG cast. Look at it like this, you’re in the military and serve with a crew who you become exceptionally close with. Then you retire from service. While you’d have communication with them pretty regularly they also wouldn’t just show up in your life on a regular basis in person. I feel like Picard will probably talk about his time on the Enterprise or with this crew – the shoe in is Beverly – but I feel like you’ll only see one or two and this will probably be a mini series vs a full blown series.
I just want one episode to be – “The Return of Data” :-)
Reunited, not reunified. Different meanings.
B for Beckmesser?
Haha, funny. I’m not being pedantic. These two words (reunified and reunited) are not synonyms. It’s just the wrong word, period.
They’re not quite the same thing, no.
It was just us being silly with the headline. Just playing off the TNG episode title “Unification”.
I assumed it was that attempt at word play, but “not quite the same thing” is simply not true. They are NOT the same thing–not synonyms.
Oh well. I voiced my correction. Moving on! LL&P! :)
Geordi gave them all Tleilaxu eye implants!!
Huh? I don’t see anything metallic in any of their eyes.
Just that most have red eye.
Tleilaxu eyes were metallic, not red.
And you’re not pedantic?
Nope, just accurate. Red eyes and metallic eyes are nothing alike. It’s not pedantic to point out huge details that are different. If CmdrR had said, “Look, they all have VISORs!” and I said they don’t, would you call me pedantic? (Probably, since you already used the word inaccurately.)
If you think pointing out that “red eyes” and “metallic eyes” are not the same is pedantic, then there’s no reason to reply again since we do not speak the same language or use the same logic. LL&P!
I know it’s partly because he’s smooth as a cue ball up there, but I still can’t get over how ageless Michael Dorn seems to be. Good for him!
I don’t know from modern still cameras, but didn’t they eliminate red eye effect more than a decade back?
Priceless.
Man I miss these people! They seem like they are a tight bunch after all these years. We can only guess what that dinner discussion was about lol. They may be getting the band back together after all. It’s fun thinking about all the possibilities now!
I was never a big TNG fan, but I love the cast and I cannot WAIT to see them together again! (I hope I hope I hope)
Yeah it’s really an exciting time to be a Star Trek fan now! :)
I never even considered we would get another TNG reunion show or film again, ever. I really only cared about going forward again. And although I knew we would always get a post Nemesis show eventually I thought it would be YEARS from now lol. The soonest I imagined was after Discovery ended and that could be 5-7 years later if it’s successful enough. I just never thought they would put on a 23rd and 24th century show together because the periods are so far apart and may confuse people.
So to get it this soon AND with characters I love and adore is literally unexpected and a dream come true! Anything is possible now.
I was never a huge TNG fan and I was looking forward to STD more than I am looking forward to the Picard show. I’ll watch the Picard show just to see it. But I’m not giddy about it in any way. I’d rather see something new. And good.
Is the Picard show being filmed in the same place as Discovery?
They haven’t said but it would make sense: They already have production offices and a crew there. I don’t know if Stewart has the clout to demand the show be shot somewhere else.
I’m sure there will be cameos of all or most NextGen characters on that show but I doubt it’ll be more than just a few instances. It’s not supposed to be Next Gen-Phase 2, and I think that’s a good thing.
I loved the show back then, but it’s been 31 years since its premiere… most of the actors are past their zenith. The TOS crew waved us goodbye after “only” 25 years in 1991.
I think Picard will be the only regular character alongside a new team or crew of young and fresh faces to draw in new audiences, his new “companions” in Doctor Who’s terms.
Maybe Frakes is taking the picture….
I doubt the producers are going into this thinking “we need to include the rest of the TNG cast.” They’ll start with story development, and if that leads to other TNG characters appearing, so be it. I’m not sure why we’re limiting the returning character possibilities to just TNG. Any characters from any of the TNG era shows could appear if needed.
In terms of who else might be on this show, Wasn’t it Patrick Stewart that did a one man play of A Christmas Carol….?
Personally, I’d be fine if we don’t see any of them. It’s a big fleet in a big galaxy.
Totally agree. A solid show with a solid story and support cast (capable of doing all the running and jumping on green screen required in contemporary science fiction) rather than cramming in the rest of the cast for nostalgia’s sake. I could take the odd reference to characters and “past events”, but that’s all I want.
I think it’d be a crime not to include the former cast in some capacity. After all, when are we ever gonna get another chance to see them inhabit these characters on screen?
Despite what I said, albatrosity, doubtless I’ll feel all warm and fuzzy inside if any of them does make an appearance!
Gates looking more plastic than ever. Wish she would have left her face alone.
Agreed.
Will we see the rest of the TNG cast drop by the Picard show for a cup of tea? Maybe we should step back and take a look at Discovery. Lots of TOS references placed in there, some haphazardly. Doubtful they have the restraint to make it only about Picard.
Is it possible this photo was taken during the Vegas Con and not posted until now? Though it seems like Frakes would be in it. The phrase “the gang’s all here” does sound pretty immediate, but it could just be a description of the photo.
Great to see the old gang together, but Patrick Stewart seems to still have a Borg optical implant!
“Beverly” looks better than ever!
Star Trek TOG (The OctoGenarians)
We’re getting the band back together! Love it!
Ms. Sirtis’ Twitter pic “brings a tear to me eye” when I realize how long it’s been since the last TNG show/film. So very sad they ended their run with a clunker like Nemesis… :~(
Even sadder for Sirtis and Frakes. Their last TNG episode was a clunker of a romp through an historical fiction romance holonovel on their E’s holodeck that aired as the final episode of ENTERPRISE.
Remember when we had digital cameras that weren’t phones and took awesome pictures? I miss those days lol
I just hope they don’t get them just for some gratuitous cameo like an admiral on screen like Janeway in Nemesis. If they get them, it should mean something.
this single photograph, with all the red eyes and all, is better than any of the bad robot movies. thank you for sharing, it made my day!
With Hollywood’s obcession with reboots, remakes, reimaginings and copy-catting, I’m betting that they’ll try to capitalize on the zombie genre by involving a reimagined Borg in a big way. It’s a perfect opportunity. Nobody knows what happened to them after “Endgame”, so they could do anything they wanted creatively.
Prediction: I’m betting that Nu-TNG will be proper swan song for the TNG cast that introduces a new Enterprise crew. I’ve long thought that would be a great idea for a new series.
I also think the springboard to this series will somehow involve Discovery. They’d be fools not to cross promote Discovery with a Picard series. It would potentially expose the show to an audience more familiar with the Picard story. We know the Borg can time travel so the setup is there. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they officially retcon in the V’Ger/Borg connection.
I suspect they may have already dropped a little hint Discovery will be connected to the Picard show in some way. In the “doodle” of the galaxy from the Picard writers room, it shows 7 connected nodes in the Delta Quadrant. In the Discovery season two trailer, Pike mentions 7 mysterious objects spread over 30,000 light years.
I doubt this is a coincidence.
Interesting! 👍🏼
That could actually tie in with the Fuller idea of the series taking place across centuries, if these nodes are temporal, or even varying, linking changing times and spatial positions.
Maybe these all belong to a race of lizards from the other end of the galaxy, who are going to use these to come back in time and wipe out humans and their allies so their own species can flourish in a revised timeline. Ooops, Ellison already pitched that one!
I know they’re all good friends, but could this be a field-trip by Stewart to see who might be up for a guest spot or two in his new Trek series.
Regardless of whether we see any of the rest of these guys or not, the business reality is they had to come to terms with Stewart to have Picard and move this forward. Everyone else will fall into line if needed. Or not. Except possibly Brent. But Data is dead anyway.
No love for Wil Wheaton?
No.
This time round, when he hears the inevitable, “Shut up, Wesley!” Wheaton could lean in menacingly (well, he could TRY, right, he’s an actor) and do his best Sid Poitier: “They call me CAPTAIN Wesley!”
I cant’t wait for this show but I am sure it is going to undo just about every post Nemesis Star Trek novel published by Pocket Books.
It’s time to see the anticipated evolution of B-4. That left a big question mark at the end of Nemesis, and it’s high-time to resolve this character once and for all.
I would like the B-4 character to develop ‘Data-like’ emotions as a result of the memory transfer. He can decide to allow his exoskeleton to mimic the aging process “To make humans more comfortable” w/ the fact that he does not age, and then take it from there. Data is too important of a character to completely eliminate. He is the perfect vehicle to move a story along and is beloved by everyone.
#BringBackData