Star Trek: The Next Generation and Picard cast talk about their many reunions.
Star Trek: The Next Generation cast was one of the better-assembled outfits in all of television history, let alone Star Trek history. The cast was made up of dozens of people over the years, but the core group of Patrick Stewart, Gates McFadden, Johnathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, and Brent Spiner can honestly say they’re as close today as they were 35 years ago.
You don’t get that very often. To see the entire core cast love and appreciate one another as they do. So it’s no wonder that the group is reuniting for Star Trek: Picard. The group probably just wanted an excuse to hang out with each other while getting paid.
To further reflect just how close they all are with one another, Star Trek’s official Twitter account for Paramount+ tweeted out a video of the group sharing their feelings with everyone recently at the New York Comic Con.
After working together for years on #StarTrekTNG, what is it like for the cast of #StarTrekPicard to reunite at conventions? #NYCC #StarTrekNYCC pic.twitter.com/gMCNQmIvmx
— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) October 14, 2022
"Jonathan Frakes: When we’re reunited as a cast, it’s as if we had just finished shooting on Friday, and it’s Monday morning again. And it’s been that way for 35 years.Patrick Stewart: These people are in my life forever and if you should’ve witnessed us all greeting one another 10 minutes ago, you would’ve seen this was not quite like other shows.Gates McFadden: It’s so wonderful we’re like a family. I feel so blessed that we have that feeling for each other.Michael Dorn: That’s one of the best parts about doing this show is that the friendships that you make and that you keep for years and years and years.LeVar Burton: Few things are sweeter, seriously, few things.Marina Sirtis: We’re best friends! So it’s not like we haven’t seen each other, because we do. We see each other all the time."
Almost everyone said something loving, warm and glowing of each other. And then there’s Brent Spiner.
"Brent Spiner: It’s absolute hell, it really is. I really cannot stand any of them. I kind of like LeVar, but just kind of."
The chemistry is what makes this cast so great
Whether it’s a piece of motion picture magic like Star Trek: First Contact or the absolute pits, like (probably) Picard’s third season, this cast has a certain magic to it. The group brings an energy and aura that is hard to truly grasp because its’ so rare. What makes it so amazing is that this is a group that is near perfect together.
If we’re talking about their involvement in Star Trek, individually they’re fine, maybe even good, but together they are greater than they could ever be alone. That’s part of the reason why so many are hopeful for the last season of Picard. Even though it’s among the least-liked Star Trek properties ever, the final season of the TNG crew reuniting has even the most jaded fan optimistic to some degree.