18 years after the original Star Trek went off the air, Gene Roddenberry brought his creation back to television. Fans feared that the effort was doomed to failure, but instead the series was a stunning success. It lasted seven seasons and spawned three more Trek series.
You know the story of the beginnings of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but here are ten facts you might not know about it.
1. “The Inner Light,” which is among the most popular episodes in the series, showed Picard marrying, having children and growing into old age. Picard’s son Batai was played by Patrick Stewart’s own son, Daniel Stewart.
2. In 1992, TV Guide readers voted Patrick Stewart the sexiest man on TV, beating out Burt Reynolds and Luke Perry. Hair? It just gets in the way of a man’s natural beauty.
3. One of Jonathan Frakes’s first acting jobs was to dress up as Captain America and appear at shopping malls and grocery stores in New York City. He once appeared in that capacity at a White House party during the Carter Administration.
4. Frakes also worked as a department store Santa Claus.
5. In 1991, Brent Spiner released an album called Ol’ Yellow Eyes Is Back. His backup singers were Jonathan Frakes (Riker), LeVar Burton (LaForge), Patrick Stewart (Picard) and Michael Dorn (Worf). In the above recording of “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie,” Patrick Stewart comes in at 1:21.
6. Makeup artist Michael Westmore was responsible for coming up with the color scheme for Data. Brent Spiner had to sit through 36 different face paint color tests, including pink and gray, before Westmore settled on yellow.
7. Marina Sirtis originally auditioned for the role of Tasha Yar, not Deanna Troi.
8. Michael Dorn, who played the Klingon officer Worf, starred on 31 episodes of CHiPs as Officer Jebediah Turner.
9. Whoopi Goldberg described her character, Guinan, as “a cross between Yoda and William F. Buckley.” Can you see the resemblance?
10. Are you impressed by Borg technology? Maybe you shouldn’t be. Look at the upper left corner of the screenshot above. The episode “Q Who” reveals that the Borg still use 5.25 inch floppy disk drives.
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Sources:
Nemecek, Larry. The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion. New York, NY: Pocket Books, 1992. Print.
Schuster, Hal. The Trekker’s Guide to the Next Generation: Complete, Unauthorized, and Uncensored. Rocklin, CA: Prima, 1997. Print.
Van Hise, James and Hal Schuster. Trek Crew Companion. Las Vegas, NV: Pioneer Books, 1994. Print.
Van Hise, James. Trek: The Next Generation. 3rd ed. Las Vegas, NV: Pioneer Books, 1994.Print.
Images:
Paramount, CBS, Universal Pictures, Norman Rockwell. Captain America image by JPRart.
