Star Trek: Picard aired its first season finale in March 2020
The first season of Star Trek: Picard wrapped filming in 2019, and all ten episodes aired between January 23 and March 26, 2020. Shortly before the finale, a pandemic swept over the world, and television and movie productions, along with many other businesses shut down. And even though Picard had already been renewed for seasons 2 and 3, no one knew exactly when those seasons would begin filming because of the health crisis.
Finally, Jeri Ryan confirmed that Picard would begin filming in February 2021, almost a year since the first finale and well over a year since the first season wrapped production. According to Patrick Stewart, this has been the longest time he’s gone in his entire career without working. So when the studio started calling him for wardrobe costume fittings, he was so excited to drive himself to Santa Clarita. The actor admits that it wasn’t the same as walking in front of a camera, but he knew the process had started.
With five scripts of the show in hand that Stewart spends hours with every day, he says he’s ready to work because that’s why he’s here; it’s what he does.
"I want a script in my hand. I want actors in front of me. I want to hear somebody say, “Standby studio!” It’s going to happen and it’s within view now."
Stewart isn’t the only one getting antsy about the long wait in between seasons. Fans have been constantly checking, hoping for a sign that will indicate the series is on its way back. Now that we know Picard will begin filming in February, we’re happier, but we also know there will still be a lot of time between now and the actual release of Season Two. But we’ll be as happy as Patrick Stewart is now when we get confirmation of a release date which will, hopefully, be in 2021.