Jonathan Frakes calls Star Trek: The Next Generation cast “lightning in a bottle”

Jonathan Frakes is one of the biggest names associated with the Star Trek franchise. 

Frakes took a role as second-in-command on a science fiction show which didn’t have any guarantees of making it and has since become the go-to guy for directing Star Trek shows. He was also happy to return to his role as Captain Riker on Star Trek: Picard’s third season, which also brought back the most of the remainder of the crew. And it was electric to see the crew back onscreen.

Marina Sirtis, who played Counselor Deanna Troi, in a clip behind-the-scenes offered on the Star Trek: Picard season three Blu-ray disc, which was shared by Trekmovie, said Gene Roddenberry called The Next Generation a “people show” despite the fact that it was an action adventure show. She went to say that the core of any successful series or movie is the relationship between the characters, and they had that from day one.

Jonathan Frakes called the cast chemistry “lightning in a bottle,” and Marina Sirtis agrees with him.

It’s not usual to find a cast that gets along so well that their chemistry plays out onscreen. The core cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation have remained friends off-screen and continue to stay in touch with one another. So when they were all brought back for the final season of Star Trek: Picard, they were able to pick up right where they’d left off at the end of Star Trek: Nemesis.

Though clearly a few years have passed, and like the rest of us, the cast has all grown older, they did prove they have what it takes to make another successful season of a series…and most likely, another successful series altogether. Perhaps that’s why Frakes believes Star Trek: Legacy will happen. This will certainly be hard for CBS Studios/Paramount to dismiss, and we can only hope they won’t.