Star Trek: Picard season 3 will bring the humor from Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: Picard hasn’t had a whole of humor in its first two seasons. 

There’s been the occasional one-liner in the first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard, and we certainly can’t forget the surprise appearance of the punk on the bus from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home which made for a good laugh. But overall, Picard is a darker series, focusing on heavier themes, including Lt. Commander Data’s final goodbye, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard’s death and resurrection as a synth, Seven of Nine’s loss of Icheb, Raffi’s struggle with addiction, Picard’s past trauma and so much more. There wasn’t a lot of room in there for humor.

But that’s going to change with season three, according to Picard showrunner, Terry Matalas, who, according to DailyStarTrekNews.com, said season three will return to more of the humor fans saw in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Star Trek: Picard is playing to Jonathan Frakes’ strengths with the humor.

Matalas said that Jonathan Frakes is hilarious, and he wanted to write to the actor’s voice, using it for the character of Riker. The humor will be familiar, and Riker will be “a blast” this year. With so much having happened to the characters and not having seen one another in a long time, there are going to be a lot of “what’s going on” moments. Riker becomes the audience’s voice with his reactions.

The Next Generation did have its fair share of humor, especially with Worf and Captain Picard’s discomfort when confronted with embarrassing situations like Lwaxana Troi’s hands-on interest in him. While there’s no indication we’ll get physical comedy like Picard’s exuberant attempt to woo Lwaxana back from her captor in Menage a Troi, with these characters back together, it would be a shock to not have the one-liners and sly comments.