122 Fun Facts About Star Trek: the Next Generation

On what date did Star Trek: The Next Generation premiere in syndication?

The Next Generation premiered on September 28, 1987 with the two-hour pilot 'Encounter at Farpoint', sold straight into first-run syndication rather than to a network.

How many episodes of The Next Generation were made across its seven seasons?

TNG made 178 episodes over seven seasons, more than double the original series' 79; the fourth-season episode 'Legacy' was the one that overtook the original's total.

Who plays Captain Jean-Luc Picard?

Stewart, a Royal Shakespeare Company veteran, was so unsure the show would last that he reportedly did not unpack his suitcases for weeks.

Which actor plays the android Data, as well as his brother Lore and their creator Noonien Soong?

Spiner said he spent more hours of the day in his pale make-up than out of it, and later played the ancestor Arik Soong on Enterprise.

Which crew member is a Klingon raised by human parents after being orphaned in the Khitomer Massacre?

Worf went on to appear in more Star Trek episodes than any other character, thanks to his later run on Deep Space Nine.

Geordi La Forge, who is blind, sees by means of what device worn over his eyes?

Geordi sees through a VISOR (Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement); LeVar Burton said the prop cut most of his own vision and he spent the first season bumping into light stands.

Which actor plays Q, who puts humanity on trial in the pilot and returns in the finale?

John de Lancie plays Q from 'Encounter at Farpoint' to 'All Good Things...'; written as a cosmic judge, the character's sparring with Picard became as comic as it was menacing.

Whoopi Goldberg plays which bartender in the Ten-Forward lounge?

Whoopi Goldberg plays Guinan, the Ten-Forward bartender, from the season two opener 'The Child'; Goldberg asked for the role herself and lobbied Roddenberry over lunch.

In which season two episode did the Borg make their first appearance?

'Q Who' (season two) introduced the Borg: Q hurls the Enterprise 7,000 light-years to System J-25 to prove humanity is not ready for what is out there.

What name did the Borg give the assimilated Picard in "The Best of Both Worlds"?

The Borg renamed the assimilated Picard Locutus of Borg, their spokesman; the 1990 cliffhanger ended on Riker's order to fire, leaving viewers waiting all summer for Part II.

Where did Starfleet make its doomed stand against the Borg in 'The Best of Both Worlds'?

Starfleet lost 39 ships at Wolf 359; Deep Space Nine's pilot later revealed that Benjamin Sisko's wife Jennifer died there aboard the Saratoga, tying the two series together.

Which Borg expert, played by Elizabeth Dennehy, became Riker's first officer during the Borg crisis?

Lieutenant Commander Shelby, Starfleet's Borg specialist, became first officer once Riker took command; Riker had by then turned down three commands of his own, including the Melbourne.

In "The Inner Light", how much time passes on the bridge while Picard lives a lifetime as Kamin?

Picard lives decades as Kamin while only about 25 minutes pass on the bridge; the episode won the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, and Picard plays the Ressikan flute again in 'Lessons'.

On which dying planet does Picard live out his life as the iron weaver Kamin in "The Inner Light"?

Picard lives Kamin's life on Kataan, a world its dying sun destroyed a thousand years before; writer Morgan Gendel took the title from George Harrison's Beatles song 'The Inner Light'.

In 'The Measure of a Man', which cyberneticist wants to dismantle Data to build more like him?

Data bore him no grudge afterwards, and Maddox turned up decades later in Star Trek: Picard as the man behind Data's synthetic daughters.

Who is forced to argue the case against Data at his hearing in "The Measure of a Man"?

Riker, as first officer, was ordered to prosecute: Starbase 173 had no JAG staff to spare, and Judge Louvois said she would otherwise rule summarily against Data.

The Tamarian captain Dathon beams himself and Picard down to El-Adrel and utters which phrase?

'Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra' invokes two strangers who became allies by facing a beast together; the Tamarians speak only in allusion, so the universal translator renders words but not meaning.

Which veteran actor played the Tamarian captain Dathon in "Darmok"?

Winfield had already died on Star Trek once, as Captain Terrell in The Wrath of Khan.

In "Yesterday's Enterprise", who captains the Enterprise-C, which emerges from a rift in time?

Captain Rachel Garrett's Enterprise-C had answered a distress call from the Klingon outpost on Narendra III; sending the ship back through the rift to die there restored the timeline.

Which TNG season-one casualty is alive again in the alternate timeline of 'Yesterday's Enterprise'?

Tasha Yar's actor Denise Crosby returned again as Sela, Yar's half-Romulan daughter, born from the consequences of that episode.

Which tar-like alien on the planet Vagra II killed the ship's security chief in season one?

Armus, a malevolent residue shed by a vanished race, killed the security chief in 'Skin of Evil'; Denise Crosby had asked to leave, and Roddenberry wanted a sudden, meaningless death.

Which Cardassian, played by David Warner, tortures Picard and insists there are five lights?

Gul Madred's four-lights interrogation is a direct homage to Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four; 'Chain of Command, Part II' was the last new TNG episode to air before Deep Space Nine premiered in January 1993.

Who temporarily replaces Picard as Enterprise captain in "Chain of Command"?

Jellico later resurfaced as an admiral in the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy.

Which Cheers star played Captain Bateson of the USS Bozeman in the time-loop episode 'Cause and Effect'?

Kelsey Grammer played Captain Morgan Bateson; Kirstie Alley was meant to reprise Saavik alongside him but was unavailable, and the Bozeman was a redressed Reliant model from The Wrath of Khan.

In "Cause and Effect", which number keeps appearing during the poker game as a clue to escaping the loop?

Data works out that the three stands for the pips on Riker's collar, meaning Riker's suggestion, not his own, will save the ship.

In "Tapestry", Picard has an artificial heart because he was stabbed as a young officer by which species?

A Nausicaan ran Ensign Picard through at the Bonestell Recreation Facility; allowed to avoid that fight, Picard ends up a timid junior science officer and begs Q to restore the tapestry.

What is the name of the android daughter Data builds in "The Offspring"?

Data names her Lal, which he says is Hindi for 'beloved'; she chooses her own appearance, a human female, from thousands of holodeck options before outgrowing her father's abilities.

Which cast member made his directing debut with "The Offspring" and went on to direct two Star Trek films?

Frakes directed First Contact and Insurrection, and Burton and Stewart later took turns behind the camera as well.

Which Sherlock Holmes villain becomes self-aware on the holodeck in "Elementary, Dear Data"?

Professor Moriarty became self-aware because Geordi asked the computer for an adversary capable of defeating Data rather than Holmes; Daniel Davis played him and returned in 'Ship in a Bottle'.

Which original-series star cameoed in "Encounter at Farpoint" and refused more than the minimum salary?

Kelley played a 137-year-old Admiral McCoy inspecting the new ship, as a gesture to Gene Roddenberry.

In TNG's pilot 'Encounter at Farpoint', the Enterprise heads to which planet on its maiden voyage?

Deneb IV, the pilot's destination, is where the locals had built Farpoint Station by exploiting a captured space creature, which the crew freed to rejoin its mate.

Which retired admiral, played by Jean Simmons, runs a witch hunt in "The Drumhead"?

Retired Admiral Norah Satie, played by Jean Simmons, turns a sabotage inquiry into a purge; the title comes from the drumhead court-martial, a hasty field trial held around an upturned drum.

In TNG's 'I, Borg', what name does Geordi give the injured Borg drone who had called himself Third of Five?

Geordi names the drone Hugh, a play on its habit of saying 'you'; Hugh returned in the two-parter 'Descent' and, decades later, in Star Trek: Picard.

In the TNG episode 'Relics', which Original Series engineer is found alive inside a transporter buffer after 75 years?

Montgomery Scott is dismayed to find Ten Forward serves only synthehol, until Data pours him something green from Guinan's private stock.

Which Vulcan ambassador does Picard search for on Romulus in the two-part episode "Unification"?

Spock, played again by Leonard Nimoy, has gone to Romulus to foster reunification with Vulcan; Part I opened with a dedication to Gene Roddenberry, who had died shortly before it aired in November 1991.

Which shy, holodeck-addicted engineer played by Dwight Schultz was introduced in "Hollow Pursuits"?

Reginald Barclay debuted in 'Hollow Pursuits', written by Sally Caves, pen name of University of Rochester professor Sarah Higley, who wanted a story about the crew's less exceptional members.

Which Bajoran officer, played by Michelle Forbes, was originally meant to lead Deep Space Nine?

Forbes turned the spin-off down, so Kira Nerys was created in Ro's place.

Diana Muldaur replaced Gates McFadden for season two as which ship's doctor?

Dr. Katherine Pulaski served only season two; Diana Muldaur had guest-starred twice on the original series and was billed on TNG only as a special guest star, never in the opening credits.

Which season two episode is the only clip show TNG ever filmed, made to cover a budget shortfall?

'Shades of Gray' closed season two after a writers' strike and budget overruns: Riker is poisoned by a thorn on Surata IV and the doctor triggers his memories, an excuse to replay old footage.

Which recurring nemesis had their first appearance in the season one episode "The Last Outpost"?

They were meant to be the show's new villains but came across as comic, and the Borg took over the job in season two.

Roddenberry named Geordi La Forge in honour of whom?

Geordi honours George La Forge, a quadriplegic Star Trek fan who died in 1975; David Gerrold had already named a character after him in his 1980 novel The Galactic Whirlpool.

Riker's transporter duplicate, discovered on Nervala IV, went by which first name?

Thomas Riker later stole the Defiant on Deep Space Nine and joined the Maquis.

Deanna Troi's mother Lwaxana was played by which actress, who was married to Gene Roddenberry?

Barrett also voiced the ship's computer across the franchise and played Nurse Chapel on the original series.

Which Betazoid word do Riker and Troi use for each other, meaning roughly soulmate?

Peter David's novel Imzadi filled in the couple's pre-series romance on Betazed.

How much did an original Enterprise-D filming model sell for at Christie's in 2006?

The six-foot Enterprise-D model fetched $576,000 at Christie's 40 Years of Star Trek auction in October 2006; buyer Paul Allen put it on display at his Seattle museum, now MoPOP.

Which Enterprise-D designer based the ship on a 'what if?' painting made after his Motion Picture Enterprise redesign?

Andrew Probert had painted a speculative next Enterprise after designing the refit for The Motion Picture; story editor David Gerrold took the painting to a producers' meeting without telling him, and it became the new ship.

Roughly how much did each episode of The Next Generation cost to make?

TNG cost roughly $1.3 million an episode; Paramount bartered it to stations for free and made its money by selling seven minutes of national advertising time in each hour.

Which 1994 film brought the TNG crew to the big screen and destroyed the Enterprise-D on Veridian III?

Star Trek Generations (1994) crashes the Enterprise-D's saucer on Veridian III; Kirk dies helping Picard stop Soran, and Data finally installs his emotion chip.

Which Klingon sisters of the House of Duras cripple the Enterprise-D in the 1994 film?

Lursa and B'Etor learnt the Enterprise's shield frequency through a transmitter Soran planted in Geordi's VISOR, letting their ageing Bird-of-Prey put torpedoes straight through the shields.

Which Klingon does Picard help install as Chancellor in "Redemption", the show's 100th episode?

Robert O'Reilly's wide-eyed Gowron survived until the final season of Deep Space Nine, when Worf killed him.

Which two writers share the story credit on 'Yesterday's Enterprise'?

Trent Christopher Ganino and Eric A. Stillwell share the story credit; their draft merged Ganino's Enterprise-C pitch with a Denise Crosby return, and four staff writers including Ronald D. Moore rushed the teleplay for February sweeps.

Who designed the 1993 Williams pinball machine based on The Next Generation?

Steve Ritchie designed Williams' 1993 Star Trek: The Next Generation pinball, a SuperPin widebody in the same series as The Twilight Zone, known for the two cannons that fire balls onto the playfield.

How many Emmy Awards did The Next Generation win over its run?

TNG won 19 Emmy Awards, all in creative and technical categories; in 1994 it was also nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, a first for a syndicated show.

Roughly how many viewers watched the 1994 series finale of The Next Generation?

'All Good Things...' drew about 30 million viewers in May 1994; the two-hour finale was written by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga and directed by Winrich Kolbe.

Which first-season episode won a Peabody Award, the only Star Trek episode to do so?

'The Big Goodbye' sends Picard into the holodeck as 1940s detective Dixon Hill, and things go wrong when the safeties fail; it won a 1987 Peabody Award.

Which two producers were commissioned to create Deep Space Nine after TNG's success?

Berman oversaw production overall; Piller ran the writing room.

Which physicist played holodeck poker with Data in the season six finale 'Descent'?

Stephen Hawking played himself in the teaser of 'Descent', beating holographic Newton and Einstein at poker; touring the set, he looked at the warp core and remarked that he was working on that.

Which producer spotted Patrick Stewart at a UCLA Shakespeare lecture and pushed for him?

Robert H. Justman saw Stewart give a reading at UCLA and championed him for months; Roddenberry initially did not want a bald British actor, and Stewart once auditioned wearing a hairpiece.

Which Picard family member runs the vineyards in La Barre, France?

Picard's older brother Robert kept the family vineyard at La Barre with his wife Marie and son René; Robert and René died in a fire, as Picard learns in Star Trek Generations.

Which actor played Worf on both The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine?

Michael Dorn played Worf for all seven seasons of TNG and joined Deep Space Nine in its fourth season; Worf was a late addition to the TNG cast and was not planned as a regular.

How many auditions did Jonathan Frakes attend before being cast as Riker?

Jonathan Frakes auditioned seven times over six weeks, working his way up the Paramount hierarchy with each reading before winning the part of Riker.

Which ship does Riker take command of at the end of Star Trek: Nemesis?

Riker accepts command of the USS Titan at the end of Nemesis, having married Troi at the film's start; the ship later appeared under Riker in Lower Decks and, rebuilt, in Picard.

Deanna Troi's father Ian Andrew Troi was what?

Ian Andrew Troi was a human Starfleet officer who died when Deanna was seven; being half-human, half-Betazoid is why she is empathic rather than fully telepathic.

Which composer scored the pilot 'Encounter at Farpoint'?

Dennis McCarthy scored 'Encounter at Farpoint' and stayed with the franchise through Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, also scoring the film Star Trek Generations.

What position did Geordi La Forge hold in season one before becoming chief engineer?

Geordi spent season one as the Enterprise's helmsman at the conn and took over as chief engineer from season two; LeVar Burton was already famous as Kunta Kinte from Roots when cast.

Which alien tells Picard that Wesley Crusher has great potential?

The Traveler sees a unique intelligence in Wesley, whose father Jack was killed under Picard's command.

Guinan belongs to which long-lived species scattered across the galaxy by the Borg?

Guinan is an El-Aurian, a race of 'listeners' whose homeworld the Borg destroyed; Generations shows her among the El-Aurian refugees the Enterprise-B rescued in 2293.

Which original-series character inspired Guinan's actress to go into acting?

Whoopi Goldberg has said that seeing Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, a Black woman on television who was not playing a maid, made her want to act; she later asked to join TNG herself.

What is the name of the lionfish Picard keeps in his ready room?

Picard's ready room holds a lionfish named Livingston; the name honours David Livingston, a producer and frequent director on the series.

What do the Borg inject to begin assimilating a being into a drone?

The Borg inject nanoprobes through assimilation tubules that spring from a drone's hand; the microscopic machines start rewriting the victim's cells within seconds, as seen in Star Trek: First Contact.

What year does Data give for the present in season one's 'The Neutral Zone'?

Data states in 'The Neutral Zone' that the year is 2364, placing The Next Generation a little under a century after Kirk's five-year mission.

Which effects house built the Enterprise-D filming miniatures for the pilot?

Industrial Light & Magic built the six-foot and two-foot Enterprise-D models for the pilot; the six-foot model could separate its saucer, a feature used in 'Encounter at Farpoint'.

Whose 1960s Enterprise design was updated for the Enterprise-D?

Matt Jefferies designed the original 1960s Enterprise; the Enterprise-D kept his saucer-and-nacelles silhouette with a larger, flatter saucer and lower nacelles, and his name lives on in the Jefferies tube.

Which two writers are credited on the pilot 'Encounter at Farpoint'?

D. C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry share the writing credit: Fontana wrote the Farpoint mystery and Roddenberry added the Q trial to stretch it to two hours; Corey Allen directed.

Which people offer Farpoint Station to the Federation in the pilot?

The Bandi offer Farpoint Station, which turns out to be a captive shape-shifting creature forced to build it; the crew free it to rejoin its mate under Q's scrutiny.

Which character says the phrase that gives the finale 'All Good Things...' its title?

Q says it while bidding Picard farewell: 'You had such potential. But then again, all good things must come to an end.' The finale aired May 23, 1994.

Which actor took over the Enterprise as its captain in 'Chain of Command'?

Ronny Cox, the villain of RoboCop and Total Recall, played the brusque replacement captain who put the ship on a four-shift rotation and ordered Troi into a standard uniform.

Which screenwriter wrote the story for the season-one episode 'Skin of Evil'?

Joseph Stefano, screenwriter of Hitchcock's Psycho and a producer of The Outer Limits, wrote the story for 'Skin of Evil'; Hannah Louise Shearer shares the teleplay credit.

Which fantasy novelist wrote the teleplay for the episode 'Sarek'?

Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn, wrote the teleplay for 'Sarek', in which Mark Lenard's ambassador suffers from Bendii syndrome and mind-melds with Picard to finish his mission.

Which 1966 original-series episode gets a season one sequel about lost inhibitions?

'The Naked Now' reworks 'The Naked Time', the 1966 episode in which a virus stripped Kirk's crew of inhibitions; D. C. Fontana wrote the TNG version under the pseudonym J. Michael Bingham.

Which actor plays Worf's brother Kurn, first seen in 'Sins of the Father'?

Tony Todd played Kurn from 'Sins of the Father' through DS9's 'Sons of Mogh', and also played the adult Jake Sisko in DS9's 'The Visitor'.

In 'Reunion', which candidate for Klingon chancellor turns out to be in league with the Romulans?

Duras, whose father had betrayed Khitomer and framed Worf's family, was secretly working with the Romulans; after Duras murdered K'Ehleyr, Worf killed him in ritual combat.

Which actress plays the Klingon ambassador K'Ehleyr?

Suzie Plakson played K'Ehleyr, the half-Klingon emissary and mother of Worf's son Alexander; Plakson had earlier played the Vulcan doctor Selar in 'The Schizoid Man'.

Which actor plays the injured Borg drone in 'I, Borg'?

Jonathan Del Arco played the severed drone; Robert Lederman, the show's film editor, directed the episode, and Del Arco returned to the role decades later in Star Trek: Picard.

Which actress in the main cast directed 'Genesis', her only directing credit?

Gates McFadden directed 'Genesis', in which a rogue T-cell de-evolves the crew: Barclay into a spider, Troi into an amphibian and Worf into a proto-Klingon; it was her only directing credit.

Which actor plays Admiral Pressman, Riker's former captain, in 'The Pegasus'?

Terry O'Quinn, later Locke on Lost, played Admiral Erik Pressman; the Pegasus carried an illegal phasing cloak, banned under the Treaty of Algeron with the Romulans.

Which androgynous race does Riker's love interest Soren belong to in 'The Outcast'?

Soren is a J'naii, an androgynous species that treats declaring a gender as a perversion; Soren is sentenced to 'psychotectic therapy' after admitting to feeling female.

Which earlier TNG guest role had Ro Laren's actress played?

Michelle Forbes played Dara, daughter of the scientist Timicin, in 'Half a Life'; the producers liked her enough to bring her back as a recurring officer the next season.

Which Shakespeare play is Data performing as 'The Defector' opens?

Data rehearses Henry V on the holodeck, playing the disguised king walking among his soldiers before Agincourt, with Picard coaching him and Patrick Stewart also playing one of the soldiers.

Which planet's moon is falling from orbit when a powerless Q appears in 'Deja Q'?

The moon of Bre'el IV is decaying toward the planet when Q, stripped of his powers by the Continuum, materializes naked on the bridge; a restored Q finally puts the moon back in orbit.

Which recurring alien species was introduced in the episode 'The Wounded'?

The Cardassians first appeared in 'The Wounded', where Captain Maxwell, O'Brien's old commander on the Rutledge, attacks their ships; Marc Alaimo played Gul Macet before becoming Gul Dukat on DS9.

Which baby is born in Ten-Forward, delivered by Worf, in the episode 'Disaster'?

Keiko O'Brien gives birth to Molly in Ten-Forward with Worf as a reluctant midwife; the same episode leaves Troi, the senior officer on the bridge, in command.

Which actor plays Academy groundskeeper Boothby, first seen in 'The First Duty'?

Ray Walston, the star of My Favorite Martian, played Academy groundskeeper Boothby, who had once set a young Picard straight; Walston reprised the role on Voyager.

Whose son made his directorial debut with the episode 'Rascals'?

Adam Nimoy, Leonard Nimoy's son, made his directing debut with 'Rascals', in which a transporter accident turns Picard, Guinan, Ro and Keiko into children; he returned to direct 'Timescape'.

Whose severed head is found buried in 19th-century San Francisco in 'Time's Arrow'?

Data's 500-year-old severed head turns up in a cavern beneath San Francisco, sending the crew back to 1893, where Data plays poker for a stake and meets Mark Twain and a young Guinan.

In 'Sub Rosa', Beverly Crusher attends whose funeral on Caldos IV?

She is romanced by her grandmother's non-corporeal lover.

Which episode was the first written by Ronald D. Moore?

'The Bonding' began as a spec script Ronald D. Moore sent in through a friend; it earned him a staff job, and he went on to co-write the Hugo-winning finale 'All Good Things...'.

Why was 'The High Ground' initially not broadcast in the UK and Ireland?

A crew member is taken hostage by terrorists in the episode.

On which resort planet does Picard meet Vash in 'Captain's Holiday'?

Picard reluctantly takes leave on Risa, the pleasure planet, where Jennifer Hetrick's archaeologist Vash and two Vorgons drag him into a hunt for the Tox Uthat.

Who helped get Dwight Schultz cast as Barclay?

Whoopi Goldberg, a friend of Dwight Schultz, suggested him to the producers; Schultz, a lifelong Star Trek fan, was initially disappointed not to be cast as an alien.

In 'Tin Man', the living ship Gomtuu bonds with which troubled Betazoid telepath?

Tam Elbrun, a Betazoid telepath played by Harry Groener, bonds with Gomtuu, a living ship that had lost its crew; the episode adapts the 1979 novel Tin Woodman.

'Devil's Due' was adapted from a script written for which unmade series?

'Devil's Due' reworked a script written for Star Trek: Phase II, the unmade 1970s series that became The Motion Picture; Marta DuBois plays Ardra, who claims Ventax II under a thousand-year-old contract.

Which episode marked Patrick Stewart's directorial debut?

Patrick Stewart's first episode as director was 'In Theory', in which Data tries a romance with shipmate Jenna D'Sora; Stewart later directed 'Hero Worship', 'Phantasms' and 'Preemptive Strike'.

Which symbiotic species does Beverly Crusher's lover Odan belong to in 'The Host'?

Odan is a Trill, a joined species whose symbiont lives inside a humanoid host; when the host dies, Riker carries the symbiont temporarily, and the next host turns out to be a woman.

Which two Emmys did the Lwaxana episode 'Cost of Living' win?

'Cost of Living' won two 1992 Emmys, for costume design and for makeup; the episode has Lwaxana take Worf's son Alexander under her wing in the holodeck's Parallax Colony.

Which physicist's hypothetical megastructure features in 'Relics'?

A Dyson sphere surrounds the star where Scotty is found.

Which Sergio Leone film title does the season six Data-Western holodeck episode parody?

'A Fistful of Datas' plays on Sergio Leone's 1964 A Fistful of Dollars; a computer glitch fills Worf and Alexander's holodeck Western with gunslingers who all wear Data's face.

Which future Star Trek: Voyager actor made an early appearance as a thief in TNG's 'Starship Mine'?

Tim Russ went on to play Tuvok; Patricia Tallman, later Babylon 5's Lyta Alexander, also appears in the episode.

Which four powers race to solve an ancient genetic puzzle in 'The Chase'?

Federation, Klingon, Cardassian and Romulan teams chase the genetic puzzle left by the ancient Progenitors, who seeded the galaxy's humanoids; Discovery's final season revisited the Progenitors' technology.

Which astronaut, the first Black woman in space, cameoed in 'Second Chances'?

Mae Jemison, who flew on the shuttle Endeavour in September 1992, played transporter officer Lieutenant Palmer in 'Second Chances', which LeVar Burton directed.

Which NBA star guest-starred in the two-part episode 'Gambit'?

James Worthy, the Los Angeles Lakers forward, played Koral, a hulking Klingon smuggler, in 'Gambit, Part II'; at 6 feet 9 inches he towered over Worf.

Which future film star played a young alien in 'Dark Page', Lwaxana's last TNG episode?

Kirsten Dunst, then eleven and a year before Interview with the Vampire, played Hedril, a Cairn girl whose resemblance to Lwaxana's dead daughter Kestra triggers her breakdown.

Which DaiMon wants revenge on Picard by killing his supposed son in 'Bloodlines'?

Bok's son died fighting the Stargazer under Picard.

Which train bursts through Data's Shakespeare holodeck set in 'Emergence'?

The Orient Express ploughs through Data's rehearsal of The Tempest as the ship spawns a new intelligence; its passengers are the holodeck's symbolic stand-ins for the Enterprise's systems.

Which actor plays warp pioneer Zefram Cochrane in First Contact?

James Cromwell's Cochrane launches his warp ship Phoenix from Bozeman, Montana, in 2063.

In Insurrection, which species conspires with Starfleet to steal the Ba'ku planet?

The Son'a, led by F. Murray Abraham's Ru'afo, turn out to be exiled Ba'ku themselves, conspiring with Admiral Dougherty to harvest the planet's rejuvenating metaphasic radiation.

Who directed Star Trek: Nemesis?

Stuart Baird, an editor best known for cutting Superman and Lethal Weapon, directed Nemesis (2002), in which Tom Hardy's Shinzon, a Picard clone, seizes power over the Romulan Star Empire.

Star Trek: Picard, the 2020 sequel series, premiered on which streaming service?

CBS All Access was later rebranded Paramount+; the 10-episode first season was released weekly from January 23, 2020.

The TNG theme paired Alexander Courage's original fanfare with Jerry Goldsmith's theme from which Star Trek film?

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) supplied the Jerry Goldsmith theme; the TNG main title opens with Alexander Courage's original fanfare before moving into Goldsmith's march.

The Ressikan flute from 'The Inner Light' sold at auction in 2006 for roughly how much?

Christie's estimated the Ressikan flute at $800 to $1,200; it sold in October 2006 for $48,000, the auctioneers admitting they had badly underestimated the episode's devotees.

Which first-season episode won the Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup for a Series?

'Conspiracy', with its exploding-head finale, won the 1988 Emmy for makeup; that same year '11001001' took the sound editing award and 'The Big Goodbye' won for costume design.

Under what label was the 2012 sampler Blu-ray of three remastered episodes released?

'The Next Level', released in January 2012, carried 'Encounter at Farpoint', 'Sins of the Father' and 'The Inner Light' as a taster before the full remastered season sets.