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On "Star Trek," the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise is, by design, racially and ethnically diverse. Show creator Gene Roddenberry invented "Star Trek" partly as a reaction to the turbulent world of the mid-1960s, hoping to create a utopian counterpoint to the horrors of war he witnessed on the news every day. By Roddenberry's reasoning, the future would be better than the present, as war would be brought to an end thanks to a concerted effort on humanity's part to unite. There are no national or racial divisions in Roddenberry's future, just a multicultural crew working together in harmony. Roddenberry essentially listened to John Lennon's "Imagine" and imagined it.

"Star Trek" was infamously taken off the air in 1969 but became a hit in reruns, becoming a cult phenomenon in the early '70s. "Star Trek" conventions began to pop up in big cities, and Roddenberry would...

The Nacelle Company has announced its next two waves of Star Trek1/12 scale figures -- including one that will make The Next Generation fans very happy. At San Diego Comic-Con 2025, Nacelle unveiled Wave 3 and Wave 4 of its Star Trek collection, with some help from Tng star Gates McFadden.

Per Trek Core, The Nacelle Company announced which characters will be in Wave 3 and Wave 4.Wave 3 will pay tribute to the 60th anniversary of the original Star Trek series, which premiered in 1966. Wave 4 will feature McFadden's beloved Tng character Dr. Beverly Crusher, but with an exciting twist.

Nacelle confirmed at its Comic-Con panel that Wave 3 of its Star Trek figures will include the entire crew from The Original Series. That means fans will be able to get their hands on figures of James T. Kirk, Spock, Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, Nyota Uhura, Hikaru Sulu, Pavel Chekov, Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, Nurse Christine Chapel,...

Star Trek fans from around the globe are set to descend upon Las Vegas early next month for Creation Entertainment’s annual mega-convention. The event will take place from August 6-10 at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino. It’s essentially one-stop shopping for Star Trek fans, as Creation gathers together talent from across the entire franchise, from The Original Series to Strange New Worlds, from the animated shows to the live-action features, including actors, writers, producers, directors, stunt people, makeup artists, and more.

In recent years, Creation has started to welcome talent from other popular sci-fi franchises, including Galaxy Quest, Battlestar Galactica, and more. The 2025 event will be no exception. And that doesn’t even begin to touch on all the other activities within the event, among them photo ops, autographs, panels, costume contests, live staged readings, auctions, karaoke, parties, etc.

Among the Star Trek guests: William Shatner, Kate Mulgrew,...

Star Trek: The Next Generation said goodbye to one of the best characters of the show in season 2’s episode ‘Shades of Gray.’ Dr. Katherine Pulaski was set to be a permanent replacement for Gates McFadden’s Beverley Crusher, but actress Diana Muldaur left the series after only one season, allowing McFadden to return in season 3.

Everyone knows that Tng grew its wings from season 3 and became a global phenomenon. However, Muldaur’s performance as Dr. Pulaski was severely underrated and deserved more screentime to develop better. The actress, though, was reportedly not too happy with her experience on set and was glad to leave the show after season 2 (via People).

Everybody was out for themselves. I don’t think they were happy to have me there.

Still, her character is loved by hardcore fans, and she’s said that she’s received the same love at fan conventions, having attended multiple times.

At the beginning of the "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" episode "Wedding Bell Blues," the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise is gearing up for a grand gala to celebrate the centennial of the formation of the Federation. The Enterprise has been under repair for the previous few months after a conflagration with the Gorn, so everyone has had time to relax. Spock (Ethan Peck), however, finds himself apprehensive; although he is a Vulcan devoted to emotionlessness, he finds that he is still harboring feelings for Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), currently away from the Enterprise on vacation. Chapel is due to return any day now, though, and Spock, perhaps illogically, is nervous. 

To distract himself, he decides to prepare for the gala by learning to dance. Luckily, his co-worker, chief of security Lieutenant LA'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong), has extensive dance training, and is more than willing to give him lessons.

Warning: this article contains mild spoilers for the "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" episode "Hegemony, Part II." 

At the start of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" season 3, the Enterprise has found itself in a desperate scrape with the Gorn, a species of malevolent reptiles. The tangle began in "Hegemony, Part I" at the end of the show's previous season, and the Enterprise's crew has been either captured, or faces certain doom at the hands of marauding Gorn vessels. Captain Pike (Anson Mount) has to conceive of a way to pilot the Enterprise to safety, but not before rescuing his kidnapped crew members. He is worried, however, because his girlfriend, Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano), is infected with Gorn embryos. The Gorn reproduce in the same way as the xenomorphs in "Alien" -- that is, they implant their eggs inside the bodies of living hosts.

The Gorn, of course, were first seen...

At the start of the opening credits of each episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Anson Mount delivers a variation of the same famous speech that so many Trek captains have recited before him, about space being the final frontier, the voyages of the starship Enterprise, and how the mission is to boldly go where no one (or, in the Sixties, where no man) has gone before.

But as the third season of Strange New Worlds is set to debut Thursday on Paramount+, Star Trek as a television franchise...

William Shatner's screen acting career has spanned decades, having begun in 1951 with an appearance in a whodunnit called "The Butler's Night Off." He was also famously a member of the Greek chorus in a rather striking 1957 film adaptation of Sophocles' "Oedipus the King," as well as Alexei in a 1958 adaptation of "The Brothers Karamozov." Having already appeared in multiple hit shows, including "The Twilight Zone" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," Shatner exploded in fame after starring in "Star Trek." Gene Roddenberry's space opera wasn't a huge hit when it first aired, but it entered eternal syndication shortly after its cancellation, ensuring that it would remain in reruns for many, many years. Thus, "Star Trek" had become a cult hit by the early '70s, and Shatner became a permanent fixture in the pop consciousness.

Of course, his "Star Trek" fame was a two-edged sword.

In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Starship Mine", the U.S.S. Enterprise has to undergo a massive, shipwide maintenance routine that requires every single living being -- including the plants -- to be cleared off the ship. It seems that, in its many merry adventures, the Enterprise has taken on a great deal of toxic particles that need to be cleared from the ship's systems. The best way to do this is to run a slow-moving wall of concentrated baryon particles through the entire starship. The field is lethal to organic materials, so everyone has to get off the Enterprise immediately. It's the sci-fi equivalent of getting one's house tented for termites. 

This leaves the Enterprise's senior staff in the care of one Commander Calvin Hutchinson (David Spielberg), who aims to pass the time with an extended reception on the planet below. A chatterbox of the highest order,...

In the age of streaming, TV shows are more accessible than ever. You no longer have to wait for reruns—now you can binge-watch any show you like, whenever it suits you. Still, only a handful of shows truly deserve a rewatch, and for good reason. Whether it’s the relatable characters, compelling story arcs, rich themes, thrilling moments, or unforgettable scenes, some shows keep pulling you back in.

From Supernatural to Breaking Bad, we have compiled a list of 15 shows that are endlessly rewatchable. Spanning everything from long-running fantasy dramas and beloved sitcoms to intense crime thrillers, these shows are worth your attention again. If it’s been a while since you watched any of them, now might be the perfect time for a rewatch.

15. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)

Joss Whedon used the concept of the 1992 film of the same name to expand the world of Buffy. The...

Jonathan Frakes breaks down the real-world rationale behind Captain Will Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi's (Marina Sirtis) rocky marriage in Star Trek: Picardseason 3. When Riker joined Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) at the start of Star Trek: Picard season 3, it was a shock that he was estranged from his wife, Deanna. Troi and Riker reconciled by the end of Star Trek: Picard season 3, but it was the deepest exploration of their marriage and relationship since their romance was introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Speaking with Creation Entertainment co-ceo Adam Malin on Creation TV's podcast, Jonathan Frakes delved into how the marital problems Riker and Troi faced in Star Trek: Picard season 3 stemmed from real problems parents encounter after the loss of a child.Star Trek: Picard season 1 revealed that Will and Deanna's son, Thad, died of mendaxic neurosclerosis. Star Trek: Picard season 3 smartly followed up with the grieving...

Star Trek: Tng had an ensemble cast, and more or less all of them got equal focus throughout the seven seasons. With a large main cast, some actors will definitely lose out on storylines. Actress Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar, reportedly did not want to just stand as a background actor and left the show in season one.

However, one must wonder if a different actor might have stuck on to the part, and the show itself might have been completely different. According to a casting memo, Crosby was not even in the top five list for the character, and one of the actresses who did make the list, Rosalind Chao, ultimately played Keiko O’Brien.

Star Trek’s casting memo includes Rosalind Chao for Tasha Yar and another character for Denise Crosby Denise Crosby in Star Trek: The Next Generation | Credits: Paramount

The starting seasons of Star Trek: Tng...

The third season of Star Trek: Picard memorably brought back the majority of the cast of The Next Generation, a move that was celebrated by fans. Season 3 drew a near-perfect score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, which was firmly the highest of all three seasons.

There was a downside to bringing back the stars of The Next Generation, even if it resulted in very high acclaim. Per ScreenRant, Terry Matalas was doing an interview for The Sackhoff Show when addressed becoming sole showrunner for Season 3 after serving as co-showrunner alongside Akiva Goldsman for Season 2. He remembered having a vision to make Season 3 feel more like The Next Generation, and from there, all it took was getting Patrick Stewart on board. Unfortunately, the budget would not allow for Stewart's co-stars from the first two seasons to return, meaning that "sacrifices" had to be made.

"We got to the end of [Picard Season 2], and Akiva’s like,...

Star Trek: Picard season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas explained why it was "terrible" to lose Picard's original actors to make way for the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Santiago Cabrera, Allison Pill, Isa Briones, and Evan Evagora were Star Trek: Picard season 1 series regulars alongside Patrick Stewart, Michelle Hurd, and Jeri Ryan. However, only Ryan and Hurd joined Stewart for Star Trek: Picard season 3, which reunited Admiral Jean-Luc Picard with his crew from the USS Enterprise-d.

Appearing on The Sackhoff Show to discuss his career, including Marvel Studios' Vision Quest and 12 Monkeys, Terry Matalas explained how he joined Star Trek: Picard as co-showrunner for season 2 with Akiva Goldsman. As sole showrunner for Star Trek: Picard season 3, Matalas told host Katee Sackhoff about having to convince Stewart to bring back the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but that season 3's budget required the "sacrifice" of losing...

"Star Trek: Prodigy" is dead. Again. 

The Nickelodeon-branded animated "Star Trek" series has had a rough go of it. Infamously, the series was aired on a weird schedule. Its first 20-episode season was aired in two parts, with the first part coming in October of 2021 and the second part not dropping until the following year. Then, while the second season was still in production, the series was hastily and inexplicably canceled by Paramount, upsetting its slowly growing continent of fans. Not only that, "Prodigy" was also bafflingly removed from Paramount+, making it immediately unavailable. This was a startling decision, as Paramount has long held the reins on "Star Trek," and Trekkies assumed the company would want to keep all the components of its most lucrative franchise close to them.

Its cancellation came during a great culling at Paramount+ which saw the end of most of its "Star Trek" shows.

The crew of the U.S.S. Protostar is looking for a new home. The 3D-animated Star Trek: Prodigywill not be getting a Season 3 - at least on Netflix, according to What’s on Netflix. The animated Prodigy featured the story of a crew of young aliens who work together after finding an abandoned starship. The series premiered in October 2021 on Paramount+ and later that year aired on Nickelodeon.

In 2023, Netflix picked up the series created by Dan and Kevin Hagemanand confirmed a second season would be on the way. Season 2 began airing on the streamer last year. Now, it seems the streamer has said no to a new season, and its exclusive license to carry Seasons 1 and 2 is ending. Prodigy starred Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets) as Gwyn, Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk, Brett Gray as Dal, Agnes Imrie as Zero,K, and Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog. It also featured the...

Sir Patrick Stewart has played Captain Jean-Luc Picard for decades, starting with Star Trek: The Next Generation. The character was known for his diplomatic leadership style, which preferred talks over mindless action and blind heroism (unlike someone from the original series). However, even he too could not help break one cardinal rule.

Creator Gene Roddenberry was a former military man, and he included many of his experiences in the military in the Starfleet officers. The Enterprise crew had to follow multiple rules, and those were supposed to be taken into account by writers. One of the most important rules was that crew members were not to fraternize with each other.

Patrick Stewart broke a cardinal rule as Captain Jean-Luc Picard Picard and Crusher in Star Trek: Tng | Credits: Paramount

When traveling across galaxies and cooped up in a self-sustaining ship for many years, there are bound to be a few...

Brent Spiner’s take on Data in Star Trek hit deeper than most fans realize. For many on the autism spectrum, Data wasn’t just a quirky android, he was the only character they truly connected with.

Logical, socially awkward, yet deeply curious about emotion, Data mirrored what it felt like to navigate a world that doesn’t always make sense. Spiner once acknowledged this, noting how powerful that connection was.

Long before representation became a buzzword, Data quietly became a beacon for those who felt different. He didn’t just want to be human, he wanted to understand it. And that made all the difference.

Brent Spiner on why Data meant everything to autistic Star Trek fans Brent Spiner in Star Trek: Insurrection | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Brent Spiner always knew Star Trek: The Next Generation fans were passionate, but what he didn’t see coming? That his android alter ego,...

For a generation of fans, Wil Wheaton will always be synonymous with his Star Trek: The Next Generationcharacter Wesley Crusher. Especially since he's reprized the role in Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Star Trek: Prodigy.

However, he has the closest relationship with his former Next Generation castmates, more than 30 years after the series ended. During an appearance on the Inside of You Podcast, Wheaton talked about how hisco-stars still play a big role in his life and acted as parental figures to him at a young age. "There were moments where I wanted to call them to tell them about things," he said. "That is a supernatural impulse. Everyone has parents. Every child has a mom and a dad. And you want to share that with them. And I've just accepted that when I have that impulse, I text my Star Trek family."

Before officially announcing his Storytime Podcast,...

The great New Zealand-born actor Clive Revill has passed away at the age of 94. He died in Sherman Oaks, California, having succumbed to dementia on March 11. The sad news was confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter by his daughter, Kate Selsby Revill-Oglesby. Revill's storied career encompassed performances on the stage, silver screen, and television, and spanned from Shakespeare to horror and Star Trek to Star Wars, and included many voice-acting credits.

Revill, who would have turned 95 on April 18, entered the Star Trek universe in 1991, when he guest starred as Sir Guy of Gisbourne in the fourth-season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Qpid.” The character seeks to marry Maid Marian/Vash (Jennifer Hetrick) and ultimately clashes with Robin Hood/Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his Merry Men, a/k/a Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), Worf (Michael Dorn), Data (Brent Spiner), Riker (Jonathan Frakes), and Troi (Marina Sirtis).

Among Revill’s other credits,...

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With the possible exceptions of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" and the little-discussed "Star Trek: The Animated Series," none of the extant "Star Trek" shows began at their strongest. Ask any Trekkie, and they will tell you that "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," and "Star Trek: Voyagers" didn't really "get good" until their respective third seasons. By then, their showrunners had each zeroed in on the true nature of their characters, and knew what kind of stories could be explored. 

With "Next Generation," you can sense the shift almost immediately. The third season of that series not only changed the Enterprise officers' uniforms, but it also brought back Dr. Beverly Crusher after actress Gates McFadden had been inexplicably removed for the second season. Even more noticeably, "Next Generation" moved from wide stories about the whole...

While most "Star Trek" shows are ensemble dramas, one can always tell when the series' writers favor one character over another. On "Star Trek: The Next Generation," for instance, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Data (Brent Spiner) received the lion's share of stories, while some of the other characters -- Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) especially -- got hardly any. The same can be said of "Star Trek: Voyager." The show's writers clearly loved Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), and she became the crux of most "Voyager" plots. The wealth was shared a little bit on "Voyager," though, as characters like Chakotay (Robert Beltran), Neelix (Ethan Phillips), and the Doctor (Robert Picardo) all got their moments to shine.

But when Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) joined the show in its fourth season, she more or less became the star, siphoning much of the writers' attention toward herself. The writers loved Seven so...

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"Star Trek: The Next Generation" was, by all measures, far more successful than the original "Star Trek" that preceded it. The original series wasn't a big hit when it first aired in 1966, and didn't become popular until Trekkies discovered it in reruns in the mid-1970s. By the mid-1980s, the series not only had a passionate following, but several hit "Star Trek" feature films had been made, ensuring that the franchise was long-lasting and widely celebrated. Creator Gene Roddenberry, wanting a project he could more closely oversee, launched the first spinoff "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987, fast-forwarding the timeline of the franchise by about a century. The new show featured a new cast of characters, a new ship, and a new tone. This was, by Roddenberry's orders, to be even more diplomatic and peaceful than even the original show.

The "Star Trek" franchise has always been pretty progressive, but for many years it could also be pretty darn difficult for the women who worked on it. Franchise creator Gene Roddenberry and some of his disciples, including "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" producer Rick Berman, seemed to treat the female characters and the women that played them as eye candy and little more. Though "Star Trek: The Original Series" had only Roddenberry's wife Majel Barrett-Roddenberry as Nurse Chapel and Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was set to have a little more equality, with big roles for women in counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) and Chief Security Officer Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby). Unfortunately, by season 2, two of those women would be gone. 

In a panel at Star Trek Las Vegas in 2018 (via ScreenRant...

Who doesn’t love the drama and intrigue of a well-written suspenseful medical drama series? As a kid, I loved Doogie Howser, M.D., and how this socially awkward teenage doctor (Neil Patrick Harris) would solve impossible medical cases despite the misgivings of attending adult doctors and nurses.

Medical drama series have been a fan favorite pastime since the first American medical drama Dr. Kildare (starring Richard Chamberlain) aired in the 1960s. Since then, we have cheered, mourned, and sobbed our way through medical melodrama in series such as ER, Chicago Med, The Good Doctor, Boston Med, House, Private Practice, Nurse Jackie, and arguably the most successful medical drama series with 19+ seasons – Grey’s Anatomy.

These medical series are typically set in either a clinic or hospital of some kind where patients are treated for a variety of ailments and medical conditions. Add in the theatrics of the interactions between the medical staff and their patients,...

Cheryl Gates McFadden was a dancer before she was an actress. She studied theater in college (she has a Bachelor of Arts degree) and lived in Paris for a spell, performing with the celebrated movement coach Jacques Lecoq. In New York in the 1970s, she taught dance at various colleges, and formed her own theater troupes and comedy companies. In the 1980s, she landed a few high-profile gigs serving as a choreographer and movement coach on "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and "Labyrinth." She can be seen giving her commentary in a making-of documentary on the "Labyrinth" DVD. 

McFadden, however, exploded in popularity in 1987 when she was selected to play Dr. Beverly Crusher, the chief medical officer on board the USS Enterprise on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." McFadden (who was just going by Gates back then) didn't get to do much dancing on "Star Trek," but she was given a mature,...

Denise Crosby left the character of Tasha Yar in the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Though her character was killed off in "Skin of Evil," the previous episode "Symbiosis" was actually filmed afterwards, making that Crosby's final episode.

In a "blink and you'll miss it moment," as Captain Picard [Patrick Stewart] and Dr. Beverly Crusher [Gates McFadden] are leaving the cargo bay after sending the Ornarans and Brekkans back to their planets along with the felicium, you can see Crosby waving in the background. It's at 42:21 in the episode on Paramount+. As it turns out, it wasn't scripted.

An eagle-eyed fan asked about the wave in the December/January 1998 edition of Star Trek Communicator, the Magazine of the Official Star Trek Fan Club, wondering who Crosby was waving to, and if the action was planned. The response was that as this was, at the time,...

Like any other writers, those who write for Star Trek try to make sure they get things right before the script goes to film. Of course, there are bound to be errors, but usually, fans can overlook them. They might point them out on Reddit, but, for the most part, we're okay with a bump in the road here and there...unless they really stand out because it's our field of expertise.

And that's exactly what happened during the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. After the season's sixteenth episode Ethics aired, a viewer wrote in with some corrections for Dr. Beverly Crusher [Gates McFadden], which were accurate and appreciated.

Andre Bormanis was the science consultant for the series and was trained in several sciences, but he understood they couldn't always get the tech stuff right. He told Deborah Fisher in the August/September 1997 edition of Star Trek Communicator,...

One entry on this list discusses domestic abuse and self-harm. If you're struggling, help is available in the US by dialing 988 or clicking here. The world is better with you in it.

While always firmly planted in science-fiction, Star Trek: The Next Generationis essentially an anthology series. Each week a new planet, species or sci-fi problem could push the series towards other genres. In a number of Star Trek episodes, The Next Generation characters find themselves in situations that more akin to horror than sci-fi.

Ironically, when a Tng episode excelled at adapting a horror tone, fans of the series tended to not enjoy the episodes. However, looking back, these scary adventures on and off the Enterprise are worthy of respect if only for their ambition. When there was a psychological element, the Tng writers escaped "the Roddenberry box" if only briefly. Interestingly, a number of the episodes on this...

Quick LinksThe Crew of The Next Generation Devolves Into All Manners of CreaturesA Lovelorn Whodunit Terrorizes Deanna Troi With Deadly ConsequencesOne of Tng's Worst Episodes Is Actually a Horrific MasterpieceData Discovers a Threat to the Enterprise in a Lynchian Dream WorldA Psychological Thriller Breaks Will Riker's Spirit and Sense of RealityStar Trek: Tng Goes X-Files With Alien Abduction EpisodeA Suspenseful and Creepy Episode of Tng Turns Geordi Into a Monster"Night Terrors" Is Considered One of Tng's WeakestCreepy Bug-Like Parasites Possessed Humans and Tried to Take Over StarfleetA Great Early Tng Episode Was a Sign the 'New' Star Trek Could Be Scary

One entry on this list discusses domestic abuse and self-harm. If you're struggling, help is available in the US by dialing 988 or clicking here. The world is better with you in it.

While always firmly planted in science-fiction, Star Trek: The Next Generationis essentially an anthology series. Each week a new planet,...

Sir Patrick Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard for seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and four original films before taking a hiatus and appearing on the spinoff show Picard. The second film with the Tng cast was helmed by co-star Jonathan Frakes, best known for playing William Riker in the show.

Stewart was all praise for Jonathan Frakes and his direction skills in Star Trek: First Contact. The film was well-received by audiences too, with many regarding it in the same league as Wrath of Khan. The X-Men star called it his favorite of the films he was in and appreciated Frakes for his technical mastery.

Patrick Stewart called Jonathan Frakes’ feature film debut the ‘best-looking Star Trek film’ A still from Star Trek: First Contact | Credits: Paramount

While the first original film with the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast was considered a passing-of-the-torch from the...

Gates McFadden is hosting the third season of her popular podcast, InvestiGates: Who Do You Think You Are?, and the series shows no signs of slowing down. McFadden has already had a host of guests from various Star Trek series, giving us insight into the lives of these actors who've become like family to us through their characters. McFadden's Dr. Beverly Crusher is one of those characters.

She brought the character back in the third season of Star Trek: Picard with a storyline that was stronger than any she'd had when she was Dr. Crusher aboard the Enterprise on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Dr. Crusher on Picard had a purpose, something which was sadly lacking on the series and in the follow-up movies. That's just one of the reasons why fans want to see more of this character.

Fans have been asking for Star Trek: Legacy, a spin-off show from Star Trek: Picard,...

"All Good Things," the finale of Star Trek: The Next Generation after seven seasons, followed Captain Jean-Luc Picard [Patrick Stewart] as he time-traveled through various parts of his life, some of which never happened. From his first mission at Farpoint to a dissolved marriage with Dr. Beverly Crusher [Gates McFadden], which we never got to see, the finale went by far too fast. There was a lot to pack in to wrap up seven seasons of a show that had garnered a dedicated fan following.

Initially, though, Captain Picard was going to traverse through a fourth time period, which was "Best of Both Worlds," bringing him back to the most horrid part of his life when he was assimiliated as a Borg. According to Brannon Braga [recorded in Captains' Logs The Unauthorized Complete Star Trek Voyages by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross], the finale was going to play out part of "Best of Both Worlds" where Hugh [nm0215336 autoJonathan Del Arco...

With its Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion, Star Trek: Picard season 3 is amazing, but one aspect made me feel a bit guilty for loving it so much. Star Trek: Picard kicked off its third and final season when Admiral Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) receives an urgent distress call from Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). Picard then recruits his friend and former first officer Captain William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) to commandeer the USS Titan-a and mount a rescue mission. This mission eventually brought the rest of the Tng crew together aboard the rebuilt USS Enterprise-d for one last adventure.

As a huge fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation, I loved seeing Picard reunite with his old crew aboard his iconic ship. Showrunner Terry Matalas and the other folks behind Star Trek: Picard season 3 let their love of Tng shine through and leaned into the nostalgia of seeing the Enterprise-d crew back together.

Wil Wheaton's Wesley Crusher was one of Star Trek: The Next Generation's most divisive characters, but he has made some truly great contributions to modern Star Trek. Introduced as a child prodigy-type character in Tng's first season, Wesley was, in part, a self-insert character for Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Despite being one the youngest people on the USS Enterprise-d, Wesley often solved problems that stumped even the most senior officers on the ship. This led some fans to dislike the character, even though the young Wil Wheaton consistently delivered a solid performance.

Aside from his role as Wes, Wil Wheaton has become a staple in the Star Trek fandom and hosted the official Star Trek after show, The Ready Room on Paramount+. Wheaton ultimately left Star Trek: The Next Generation during the show's fourth season, but later returned for four more episodes. After brief appearances in Star Trek: Nemesis...

The USS Enterprise-d of Star Trek: The Next Generation was missing one element that every other Starship Enterprise has had. Following the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his Enterprise crew, Tng ushered in a new golden era of Star Trek that lasted throughout the 1990s. With crew members like Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) and Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner), the crew of Captain Picard's Enterprise became almost as popular as that of Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner).

In both Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation, each main character had a specific role to play on their Starship Enterprise. Both ships, for example, had Chief Medical Officers and Chief Engineers who were part of the main cast. But while the Enterprise of Tos had a dedicated helmsman in Lt. Sulu (George Takei), the Enterprise-d had a rotating cast of pilots. From...

Brent Spiner played one of the most beloved characters in sci-fi Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. A part of Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s crew, the android Data was curious about humanity and wanted to feel real human emotions. His arc and his life initially ended in the final Tng film Star Trek: Nemesis.

However, all was not lost as Spiner returned as Data and his evil twin Lore in the spinoff series Star Trek: Picard. While fans loved the reunion of Data with his Starship crew, Spiner reportedly had to be convinced a lot to reprise his role. He mentioned that he was apprehensive about his age being appropriate as Data was an ageless being.

Brent Spiner was worried he was too old to play Data before returning for Star Trek: Picard Brent Spiner in Star Trek: Picard | Credits: Paramount+

In a cast that was led by Sir Patrick Stewart,...

The final episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," called "All Good Things...," aired on May 23, 1994, although many Trekkies weren't entirely heartbroken. While viewers would no longer be able to see the weekly adventures of the Enterprise-d and its stalwart crew, they all knew that the spinoff feature film, "Star Trek: Generations" was due in theaters in only six months. Additionally, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" was already chugging along into its third season, and "Star Trek: Voyager" was actively developing. I tell ya, the 1990s was a grand time to be a Trekkie. 

Of course, at the time, many fans wondered why "Next Generation" felt the need to stop after only seven seasons. Ratings were high, and the show hadn't waned in cultural popularity. The cast had even signed on to act in an eighth season, steeled to withstand another year in space. There was every reason to assume...

Writer and showrunner Terry Matalas sneakily included a backdoor pilot into the final season of "Star Trek: Picard." At the end of the series, after a grand threat from the Borg has been quelled, the action fast-forwards a year for a teary epilogue. It seems that the previously roguish Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers) had been rushed through Starfleet Academy and was now ready for his first starship assignment. His father (Patrick Stewart) and mother (Gates McFadden) accompanied him to his first ship, the U.S.S. Titan-a, the ship on which the bulk of "Picard" season 3 took place. But, in a fit of nostalgia, the Titan-a had been rechristened the Enterprise-g.

The Enterprise-g was commanded by Captain Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), who had recently been recommended for captaincy by her deceased commanding officer. Seven's first officer was her ex-girlfriend Raffi (Michelle Hurd), and her crew included numerous "Picard" supporting players,...

Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek #27!

Star Trek shares Doctor Crusher’s heartbreaking Starfleet secret that no one saw coming. Doctor Crusher is one of Starfleet’s best Chief Medical Officers, and even headed up Starfleet Medical. However, these achievements come with a tragic backstory: she lost her husband in an accident, leaving her a single mom. While Crusher has overcome this loss, it still haunts her, and she makes a stunning confession in Star Trek #27.

Star Trek #27 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Mike Feehan and Tess Fowler. As the Theseus’ crew struggles to hold it together in the wake of Lore’s destruction of the multiverse, Doctor Crusher and Captain Sisko have a discussion about their pasts. Crusher equates her late husband, Jack, with Sisko’s deceased wife, Jennifer. Crusher then confesses that after Jack’s death, she had trouble trusting Starfleet, saying “they took everything from me.

Star Trek: Lower Decks did something in its fifth season that no other Star Trek series has managed to do since Star Trek: Enterprise ended in 2005. It brought Jolene Blalock back into the franchise. It also gave Alexander Siddig's Dr. Julian Bashir a voice as well as Andrew Robinson's Garak, and Garrett Wang's Harry Kim. Though Lower Decks has brought back other Star Trek legacy characters throughout its five seasons, including Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Nana Visitor, and Armin Shimerman, this is the first time that we've heard from these other characters in decades. So it's natural to ask what this could mean for the future of these characters?

Jolene Blalock hasn't acted since 2017 prior to returning to the voice role of T'Pol, and she has never been in another Star Trek series. So how was it that the Lower Decks team got her to return, and...

Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) served as the Chief Medical Officer on the USS Enterprise-d for six out of Star Trek: The Next Generation's seven seasons, but her Starfleet rank was rarely mentioned. Introduced in Tng's first episode, Gates McFadden was a Star Trek: The Next Generation series regular. Dr. Crusher was one of the original crew members of the Enterprise-d, serving under the command of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Crusher and Picard had romantic feelings for one another, although they didn't officially embark on a romance on screen. Crusher lived on the Enterprise with her child-prodigy teenage son, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton).

Throughout her six seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beverly Crusher treated the injuries and illnesses of the USS Enterprise-d's crew. Dr. Crusher was a skilled scientist who helped investigate strange phenomena and helped find cures for alien ailments that infected the Enterprise. On...

Michelle Yeoh's Paramount+ movie, Star Trek: Section 31, would be the perfect way for Star Trek to introduce a younger Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). In Section 31, Yeoh reprises her role as Star Trek: Discovery's Emperor Philippa Georgiou. After the USS Discovery jumped to the 32nd century, Georgiou needed to return to a time when the Prime Universe and Mirror Universe were closer together. The Guardian of Forever (Paul Guilfoyle) sent Philippa Georgiou back to the early 24th century—also known as Star Trek's "Lost Era", between Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Few Star Trek projects have been set in the "Lost Era" before Star Trek: Section 31, but Star Trek: The Next Generation has occasionally referenced this elusive part of the Star Trek timeline. Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6, episode 14, "Tapestry", spends a significant amount of time in...

Star Trek: The Original Series had three core characters that most of the episodes were based around—Captain James T. Kirk [William Shatner], Mr. Spock [Leonard Nimoy], and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy [DeForest Kelley]. The remaining cast were supporting characters that were offered little in the way of character arcs.

To one Star Trek: Enterprise actor, Anthony Montogmery, who portrayed Travis Mayweather for four seasons, Enterprise became just like The Original Series. In an interview Montgomery gave Trekmovie, when asked if they [his fellow actors Connor Trinneer, John Billingsley, and Dominic Keating] had any knowledge about the potential plans for their charactes had the series been renewed for a fifth season, he said he would have liked to have learned more about his character. He followed that desire with a statement of how things had unfolded on Enterprise, "You guys saw Enterprise, our series became likeThe Original Series. It was about the captain,...

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was not one to hold grudges, but one betrayal on Star Trek: The Next Generation hit Jean-Luc so hard that he remained upset for over 30 years. Although Jean-Luc Picard cared deeply about his crew members aboard the USS Enterprise-d, he kept himself emotionally distant from them. Picard devoted his life to Starfleet because he truly believed in Starfleet's mission, and he did his best to uphold their ideals. Picard had to learn the hard way that not every Starfleet officer shared his faith in the organization.

When Star Trek: The Next Generation began, Gene Roddenberry envisioned no major conflicts among the Starship Enterprise's crew. This rule was limiting from a storytelling perspective, but it became more lax as the show progressed. Early in Tng season 5, a new confrontational character joined Star Trek: The Next Generation's cast, shaking up the established dynamic of the crew.

Jonathan Frakes' guest spot as Lieutenant Thomas Riker in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3 is effectively a remake and Star Trek's version of the first Jack Ryan movie, The Hunt for Red October. Posing as Commander William Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Thomas charms his way into Deep Space Nine with a nefarious agenda: Will Riker's transporter clone steals the USS Defiant to use as a weapon against the Cardassians, with Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) aboard as Tom's prisoner. What's more, Riker reveals he quit Starfleet and joined the Maquis.

1990's The Hunt for Red October was the first big-screen blockbuster adapted from Tom Clancy's series of novels centering on CIA analyst Jack Ryan. In Red October, Captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) steals the Red October, the Soviet Union's most advanced nuclear submarine. As the United States and Soviet navies mobilize to hunt the Red October,...

Star Trek: First Contact is often regarded as the best Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, and it also has two surprising Star Trek: Voyager cameos. Crossovers between the 24th-century Star Trek shows were common, since Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager all took place at the same time in the Star Trek timeline, and progressed in real time. For seven years, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the crew of the USS Voyager were lost in the Delta Quadrant, making crossovers with other Star Trek shows difficult, but not impossible.

One 90s-era Star Trek crossover with Star Trek: Voyager was possible because Voyager's Doctor (Robert Picardo) was an Emergency Medical Hologram who could be transmitted back to the Alpha Quadrant to interact with Star Trek: The Next Generation's Lieutenant Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz). Robert Picardo also played the Doctor's creator,...

Thanksgiving is all about being thankful for what we have in life, and Chad Porto got the ball rolling for Star Trek fans earlier today with his "24 things that Star Trek fans should be thankful for this Thanksgiving" post. Trek fans have had a lot of ups this year, and we have a lot to look forward to in the coming year. .Overall, there are a lot more reasons to be grateful for this franchise than not. So I wanted to add twenty-four more things we have to be thankful this Thanksgiving!

1. The versatility of the series. Star Trek offers something for everyone.

2. Season 2 of Prodigy (and hopefully season 3)

3. More Star Trek coming next year

4. Ethan Peck’s Spock

5. Kate Mulgrew’s return to Star Trek as Admiral Janeway

6. Robert Picardo coming to Starfleet Academy

7. William Shatner’s return as Captain Kirk in Unification

8. That Anson Mount didn’t get...

The door to a Star Trek actor returning to a series is never fully closed. There are always options and workarounds to bring characters, even those long dead, back to the franchise. That's one of the beauties of science fiction.

The third season of Star Trek: Picard did a wonderful job bringing back characters from twenty plus years past, including Data who had died. The season was so successful, proving that fans wanted more of these characters they'd loved since 1987. And that's why there is such a calling for Star Trek: Legacy, a new series that focuses on Captain Seven of Nine [Jeri Ryan] and would bring back legacy characters even if not on a regular basis.

Gates McFadden is more than willing to return as Dr. Beverly Crusher as she told TrekCentral in a recent interview. Though she had a wonderful arc on Picard, there was much left to...

The actress who portrayed Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge's (LeVar Burton) mother in Star Trek: The Next Generation had appeared as Star Trek's first Black female captain a few years before. Not much was revealed about Geordi's family throughout Tng's run and neither of his parents appeared on the show until season 7. As the Chief Engineer on the USS Enterprise-d under the command of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Geordi's storylines typically involved him solving engineering problems with his best friend, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner).

In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 3, "Interface," Geordi learns that the USS Hera has gone missing and that all of its crewmembers, including Captain Silva La Forge (Madge Sinclair), are presumed dead. Prior to learning this information, Geordi, Data, and Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) had been testing an interface device that would allow Geordi to see through and pilot with his iconic Visor.