The Next Generation cast didn’t miss one another as the characters of Picard did.
It’s been 21 years, give or take, since the cast of the Next Generation were all together to film something for Paramount. That film was derided upon its release and remains one of the few Trek properties that didn’t find a following years later. It’s universally considered a bad Star Trek film, even 20-odd years later.
It was a poor ending to the Next Generation’s run of content, and the hope is that Picard could give these characters a better send-off. The show is certainly doing its best, mostly with emotionally involved reunions peppered throughout the final season.
While the crew, is mostly, excited to see each other after decades, the cast who brings them to life isn’t as excited. Mostly because, unlike the crew, the cast never lost touch with one another.
While speaking to Digital Spy, Jonathan Frakes, who plays William Riker in The Next Generation and Picard, revealed that the cast isn’t a cast, it’s a family. Complete with a group text and endless get-togethers throughout the years
"I think the concept is that we hadn’t seen each other and that it would be, we’d have to catch up. [But in real-life] we have a group text and we’ve been friends for 35 years, and we’re like a family.So we have a lot — we see each other all the time, we work together, we do the conventions together, we communicate, we have drinks and have dinner and lunch together. So it was, we just happened to be caught on set again.It felt as if we had been gone for the weekend. So there was a great familiarity in our shorthand, working shorthand, professional shorthand, and our personal shorthand."
The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation is among the best of all time for this one reason.
Sure, there are a lot of shows where the cast is incredibly close and in constant contact, but there are usually outliers to that idea. Yet, the Next Generation has remained a cast that speaks fondly of one another on a constant and consistent basis.
This is the type of cast all fandoms wish their show had, a group of people who genuinely love one another.
Plus, put into context the cantankerous relationships between the deceased and living members of The Original Series, namely William Shatner and George Takei, it’s great to see a group of people who genuinely speak well of one another, even when they’re not around.
If Picard does nothing else for fans, it will hopefully remind some of them just how close this group of people really are.