The question about if (or when) Geordi La Forge will appear in Star Trek: Picard continues with the latest comments from LeVar Burton adding both clarity and ambiguity.
No Geordi in season 2, but…
Last week we reported that LeVar Burton gauged his chance of reprising his Star Trek: The Next Generation role in the second season of Picard—which began production in February—as a “maybe.” But in an appearance on The View on Monday, the actor changed his answer. When asked the same question by The View host (and former TNG co-star) Whoopi Goldberg, Burton said:
“I can say unequivocally that I am not doing season two of Picard.”
Spotting the somewhat lawyerly response, Goldberg pressed Burton on if we should expect him to show up “at some point,” to which he said:
“Here is the thing. I believe it is reasonable—in fact practical—to assume that Picard still knows these people. They’re his friends. I think we might see more of his friends. At least I hope we do before this is all over.”
As Picard is expected to only run for three seasons, by inference Burton expects to appear in season three of the show. He first mentioned speaking to Picard producers about a guest role on the show last April when he also said he expected to eventually reprise his role of Geordi for the new Trek show. Goldberg is expected to appear in season two of Picard; however, she didn’t mention that during their interview.
Watch LeVar talk Star Trek and Jeopardy! on The View
Here is the clip of LeVar talking about Picard and why he thinks Gene Roddenberry was “always ahead of the curve.”
And in this longer segment, Burton talks about Roots, Reading Rainbow, Dr. Seuss, and how he is ready for the permanent hosting gig on Jeopardy!
Bonus LeVar: Ryan Reynolds brings in Burton to pitch his gin
With LeVar Burton being named as one of the upcoming guest hosts for Jeopardy! last week, actor and gin company part-owner Ryan Reynolds decided that Burton should replace him as the spokesperson for Aviation Gin.
Find more news and analysis for Star Trek: Picard.
Too bad. I know it’s not a reunion show, but Nepenthe was Star Trek’s finest hour in the last 2 decades.
It’s a slo-mo reunion show. You’ll know the show has jumped the shark when Tasha Yar comes back.
Sequel of Evil
Oh my!
Tar of Yar
It could make sense for Sela to show up.
I think Sela became a romulan Empress on Star Trek Online.
Only if she’s taken Wesley Crusher as a lover. Travelers are fully functional, too….and it is a reunion show, after all.
Would love to see Sela again! First season would’ve obviously been perfect to see her again since it all revolved around the Romulans.
I actually was surprised she didn’t– and that there wasn’t at least a mention of her– in Season 1, considering how much time we spent with Romulans.
That would be nice. Big intro back in the day and then forgotten. Seems like there should have been more to her character.
Yes, I always found it strange that they never revisited Sela again after ‘Reunification’, especially as Denise Crosby herself did return for a few more TNG episodes.
shark has already been jumped
Damn right, and damn straight
Yes it certainly was.
It makes sense. Guinan, Q, and Picard go together. I don’t see Geordi fitting into that mix naturally unless robo Picard needs repairs, but then again there’s Q.
Hopefully we’ll see Geordi, Bev, and Worf along with Riker, Troi, and that Soong kid in Season 3.
True. But he DID fit into a story about DATA… and they STILL left him out.
Well, Data himself never appeared outside of Picard’s mind and his own.
Captain LaForge and the USS Challenger or Captain Kim and the USS Rhode Island would be fine !
Just like in Voyager episode Timeless.
Harry Kim? Star Trek’s dullest character? Ack, no.
Kim had more personality than Picard, Riker, LaForge, Guinan, Crusher, Crusher Jr, Yar and Troi. Honestly I’d rather see him show up before any of those other dullards. And yes, I know Picard is the lead.
I have to agree 100%
Uhhh…. Kim was lifelessly dull, and had less character than even Yar. He was fine as the “random ensign” but his character was just awful when actually given stuff to do, mostly because the actor’s performance was really lacking. Troi may not have been the most compelling character, but Sirtis was good in the role and she had great chemistry with the rest of the cast (the cast’s chemistry is what makes TNG really shine), something that could not be said about Kim.
Which is a shame, because I have met Garret Wang (at Gen Con of all places) and he’s a really great, charismatic guy.
And when you consider that against what I said about how lifeless and terrible the TNG characters were that says something about them.
1000% with you in this 1!!🖖🏾😂
“Kim had more personality than Picard, Riker, LaForge, Guinan, Crusher, Crusher Jr, Yar and Troi.”
Since he had no personality whatsoever… no.
Whaaaaaaaattt!! R u smoking the funny stuff😂
Harry was great. The writers were not able to make him shine as he really deserved.
I thought Harry was boring the first time I watched Voyager, but now I love him.
Agreed. So many characters deserve an upgrade. Having these new shows is a good opportunity to bring our favorite people back on the screen. There are always good ideas for Star Trek.
Before, both fans and actors got very upset, with valid reasons, for the poor execution, for bad excuses to bring them in.
Now that is not the case to repeat the same mistake. The producers are aware of this. I would like very much to see Seven having a chat with Neelix. Chakotay begging for another chance.
There are opportunities to see them all. For the Enterprise show for example. Would like to bring Tucker back to life. See Archer as the Future Guy. All the old shows have so much to offer for the upcoming productions.
I just wish they stop promoting, two years in advance, if they will show up. Would like very much the element of surprise. Not even at the beginning of each episode, I would like to know who will show up.
Agreed. And most will probably be back in some form, especially when you now have three TV shows all based in the 24th century again. Yes Prodigy is in the Delta quadrant, that still didn’t stop Riker, Troi, Barclay and yes Geordi all from showing up on Voyager.
They can successfully make a balance between the old and the new. Of course, we definitely need new blood, like in Picard Season 1.
Saru, Pike, Number One, Prime Georgiou, Mirror Wise Mature and Regretful (S3 Final Scenes) Georgiou, Admiral Charles Vance, Kovich (!!!), and Cristóbal Rios are my new favorites. But I have no doubt, pretty much all Star Trek Fans would like to see their favorite characters on a new adventure.
Even though Picard S1 was not my favorite season, the blend of the old and the new could be awesome in the upcoming shows. So much history to leave it aside, all characters can continue with the new shows very nicely. :P
…and for some reason each of their ships will look the exact same as the other.
The US has built ten Nimitz class carriers. All identical. While I’d expect Starfleet to have several classes of ships, I’d expect all their Sovereign class ships to be identical, for example.
I’m guessing they have season 3 mapped out. Akiva Goldsman was recently asked if they were doing seasons 2 & 3 back-to-back and he seemed to know the answer and not be able to say it. Last year Levar pretty much claimed he’d be coming back, so I think there’s a stretched out plan for the rest of the series
Thank Q!
These people confuse themselves with the roles they played. Burton and Stewart may be friends,but for LaForge and Picard the term is colleagues. How many times in TNG did we see Picard meet someone from the Stargazer? I’m happy, if we don’t see to much of his former costars again. Feels much too cheap and uninspired.
Agreed. Picard and his underlings never felt like friends at any time during the run of the show. They were more like colleagues who respected each other and less like friends. Geordi and Data were probably the closest anyone got to being friends. So yes. Seeing other TNG cast again does feel like it would be more for the fans than it would be for the show.
I always saw the ending– Picard at the poker table– t be the start of his growing closer to the crew. Something we saw a taste of in the movies– and I think what they were trying to say in season 1 (although they failed a bit) is that in the intervening years Jean Luc has mellowed quite a bit.
Yeah Picard was very close to all of them by the movies. The Picard we see in the movies is much closer to the Picard we see in the new show. Just a lot more open and relaxed. I’m in the beginning of season 2 of TNG now (doing a complete rewatach) and it’s almost like watching two different people lol. He is so story uptight, stoic and stodgy at the beginning of TNG, completely opposite to the character we have now. And yet I love them both!
Yes. In the movies the relationship Picard had with his crew was a little different than the one we saw on the show. And because of that it always felt a little unearned to me.
You spout this over and over again and it’s plain wrong. Picard wasn’t very close to anyone but everyone else had close friendships, hence all the times we saw them playing cards together, being in the holodeck together, going on shore leave together, having dinners and drinks at Ten-forward together, attended each others performances like Beverly’s plays, Riker’s jazz sessions and even Data’s poetry sessions. If you’re sitting through a poetry session by Data and it’s not under orders, trust me you’re doing it out of friendship. ;)
What exactly do you do with your friends that they don’t do??
And yes Picard became much closer to all of them by the time Generations rolled around. That’s another 13 years between now and when Picard started.
There is a difference between being stuck on a ship with no other options than being home and going to work with those people. I enjoy the company of my collogues. I’ve even played golf with some from time to time. We work with and respect each other. But I would not call them friends and I would not attend some recital if one of the played the cello or something. But if I worked in an enclosed environment and they were the only people around… I probably would go to someone’s jazz session or play. But that doesn’t mean I’m their friend.
It was just odd to see the leap in relationships between the characters in the movies vs the show they just wrapped.
That’s not a real excuse. We didn’t see them hanging out with others just on a whim. They were friends. They talked about their lives, what they wanted, how they were feeling and so on. They didn’t just talk about assignment rosters or what happened in the last mission. They talked to each other like, gasp friends and that actually liked being around each other outside of duty. That and the fact they literally called themselves friends! So what are you talking about?
I mean ALL the shows did that, did they not? What exactly did you not see them do on TNG that we didn’t see them do on TOS, DS9, VOY or ENT? Please give me an example???
But it’s just no point. You see it how you see it. The show has made it very clear they are a group that cared for each other and 20 years later obviously still does or Nepenthe wouldn’t have resonated with the fans like it did. Picard was really the only sour puss but he greatly changed in that time to someone who kept his guard up to acknowledging what those people meant to him, but he clearly always cared about them. That’s how life works, people can simply change.
It actually is an excellent excuse. When you have no other options you go with what you have. I talk to my collogues like you mentioned too. But I don’t invite them to BBQ’s or involve them when my kid played little league or something like that. Things that I DID do with people I am much closer with. Professional relationships can evolve over time and I can accept that by the time their movies rolled around their relationship evolved. I accepted it as that was how it was being portrayed on screen but even given that it still felt unearned. Maybe it was that the characters were badly fleshed out or they weren’t well written or that they were just so dull it was easy to miss. I don’t know. But I do have to say that they way the actors act around each other (from the outside looking in) they look a TON more friendly with each other than their character counterparts on the show.
And for the record, on TOS the only real friendship I could see was between Kirk Spock and McCoy. Kirk & Scotty or McCoy and Sulu were not friends. There was respect and loyalty, sure. Friends? Not so much. Honest to goodness friendships on those shows were hard to come by. The only other ones I saw were Archer-Trip and O’Brian-Bashir. Maybe I’ll give you Paris-Kim too. But Picard never really felt close to any of his crew. Even Riker. That Nepenthe episode felt more like loyalty to me than friendship. I mean, he even mentioned how he didn’t want to involve those folks early in the series. How close could they really be? If I was in need I would reach out to my friends no matter how much of an inconvenience it might be to them. It seems like they drifted out of Picard’s life the second they weren’t actually a part of it anymore.
That’s not true. In “All Good Things,” Picard and LaForge appeared to be friends well after both left Starfleet.
Exactly! They were clearly close friends in AGT and hence why Geordi went to see him when he heard about his disease.
They are only friends for plot convenience and in an illusion that Q constructed. Few of this felt very organic to me.
In “All Good Things,” they hadn’t seen each other in nine years.
He was a retired officer visiting his former captain – the script doesn’t allude to any close friendship or any correspondence in that time.
He went to see him because he heard Picard was sick and was clearly concerned about him. That’s what friends do. This is just an odd conversation lol.
I’ve visited a former boss of many years who’d been diagnosed with cancer – it doesn’t make us close friends. I was concerned and wanted to pay my respects. But I hasn’t seen him before that for a few years – and we never hung out socially.
I just don’t see any evidence of “close friends” from TNG. Maybe one developed later (although the events of AGT didn’t actually happen).
They ain’t besties.
Could LaForge still show up? Sure. But this wasn’t a Picard/Data, Picard/Riker, Kirk/Spock relationship, at least on screen.
I had a boss who got a severe back injury. He always fought for me. Gave me good pay increases and promotions when he could. I felt very loyal to the man for sticking up for me all those years and putting up with me when I was raw and first started. But I never visited him in the hospital. Never went to his home to pay respects. He ultimately retired when he was out for so long that he knew he could not keep it going. I went to his retirement gathering and gave him my thanks. But we were not friends. We were not close. It was totally respect and loyalty. My relationship with him seems very similar to Picard’s relationship with his senior staff, quite frankly.
And remember the time when Picard found Data”s long lost daughter, how his first action was to give Geordie a heads up? Because that is exactly the thing that friends would do …
Because Levar Burton wasn’t on the show. That’s different and you know it. And you’re also forgetting the scene when Zabahn literally says he should talk to Geordie, Riker or Worf and Picard says he needed to do it alone, so they already gave a reason why he didn’t call any of them. But we know the main reason, they weren’t on the show. And obviously he got in touch with Riker when he had to.
But funny how Zabahn mentioned people who Picard who hasn’t been part of his crew for at least 14 years. ;)
I really expected him to show up in Season 1 given he is somewhat prominent in the tie-in novel and the plot involved Data and androids. Helping Picard deal with some aspect of his new android body would be a good use of him in Season 2. Frankly, after that, his relevance to the story is likely to go downhill from there. If not Season 2, I don’t really expect him to appear. It would be nice to see him again though!
And what to make of the chatter that Aaron Rodgers will appear in Picard Season 2…
They need someone to go deep, deep into space, I say? I’m guessing there’s a fabulous reason this “chatter” isn’t attributed to anyone not named Aaron Rogers?
Since there is no such chatter, I make nothing of it. I just did some Google searches and, as far as I can tell, no one is discussing that anywhere except right here.
Good grief. It’s a joke, folks.
Rodgers also did Jeopardy.
Gotta leave something for Season 3. And if that something is Captain LaForge, Admiral Crusher and Captain Worf, I’m cool with that :)
I bet it fell apart at the negotiation $.
They gonna have to pull him off jeopardy to get him on Picard! ;)
So far, Burton has only been confirmed for a guest hosting spot on Jeopardy. Even if he gets the job permanently, Wikipedia says that Jeopardy is taped for two days every two weeks. That would leave him enough time appear on Picard, especially since Picard is not shot in Toronto like the other live-action shows.
Fine, be correct if that’s what you want :P