Patrick Stewart is still irritated by the lack of creative award nominations for Star Trek: The Next Generation

Patrick Stewart began playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 1987 when Star Trek: The Next Generation debuted. He continued with the character through Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002. Then, after almost two decades, he reprised the character again for Star Trek: Picard.

In Star Trek: Picard A Collector's Edition, Stewart admitted that he hadn't missed playing the titular character because the hiatus for The Next Generation was only five or six weeks, and he wanted to do other things. On top of that, it was a grueling schedule with the series filming anywhere from twenty-two to twenty-four episodes a season. So he was eager to do other work in his off time. That said, he was proud of the work that had been accomplished in his seven years on the series, work that went largely ignored when it came to awards.

Over the course of its run, The Next Generation was nominated for fifty-eight Emmys, but the actors themselves weren't nominated for any.

"I think the work was outstanding. It still irritates me that in the seven seasons we were shooting that we never got one single nomination of any award going for the creative awards. Nothing! We were sort of poor relations, and that was a little frustrating at times, despite the fact that we had these worldwide audiences that were impressed."

- Patrick Stewart

The Next Generation did pick up several awards throughout its run, including those from Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films and Hugo Awards. But the series was largely ignored by the Emmys, which doesn't come as a surprise to most Star Trek fans. Though the work the Trek actors do is every bit as good as something you'd see on a major network or streaming channel, it's rare for the franchise to be noticed in such a manner. And no one really knows why.