"I'm anxious to see how longtime fans, who know the character before, how they respond."
Star Trek icon Robert Picardo is teasing a side of the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) Doctor Trekkies have never seen before. While on the press tour for the upcoming Starfleet Academy, the actor revealed in an interview with the Radio Times that fans will have to wait until "late in the season" for the "surprise event" to happen, though. Picardo said:
“It’s fun to be back, and you’ll see a deeper side of the character beyond the episodes that you’ve seen [critics only received screeners for the first six episodes]. Late in the season, you’ll see a side of the character that you haven’t… you’ve never seen before, as far as the emotionality. So, that was a challenge to do. There’s a sort of a surprise event that happens late in the episode, for my character that I’m anxious to see how longtime fans, who know the character before, how they respond.”
For those not as familiar with our beloved Doctor, the EMH first appeared on Star Trek: Voyager, and then Picardo reprised the role in the must-see animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy. However, both those shows were set some 800 years before the events of Starfleet Academy. So, it'll be interesting to discover what Picardo is alluding to in the Radio Times sit-down.
For more Star Trek content, visit the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages. And Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’s first two episodes begin streaming Jan. 15, on Paramount Plus. However, if you don’t subscribe to the service, the first episode “Kids These Days” will stream absolutely free on YouTube (link below). The show drops at 12:01 a.m. ET, so many outside the time zone in the United States will now see the new show tonight (Jan. 14).
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!