‘Picard’ Gets the ‘Next Generation’ Band Back Together (NY Times)

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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/14/arts/television/star-trek-picard-next-generation.html

Decades later, after a popular seven-season run and several movies, it’s hard to believe anyone ever doubted “The Next Generation.” Go to any convention panel featuring members of the cast, and fans will line up to say that Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) inspired them to become psychologists, or that Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) did the same for doctors. Or that Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) influenced a generation of engineers.

If not exactly a “Next Generation” revival, the story could function as another, perhaps better, send-off for some of the most beloved characters in the “Star Trek” universe, who were last all together onscreen two decades ago in the movie “Star Trek: Nemesis.” Panned by critics, fans and even some of the actors, the film seemed like the end of the road for the cast.

When the core cast got together for an interview last week, the gathering had the atmosphere of a family reunion. Stewart broke into song with Jonathan Frakes, who plays Picard’s longtime No. 1, William Riker, while Michael Dorn (who plays the honorable Klingon Worf) cackled nearby. In the conversation that followed, they, along with Burton, McFadden and Brent Spiner (the android Data), talked about what it was like to revisit their most famous characters and work with one another again. (Sirtis was unavailable; Spiner joined by video.)

[long interview]