171 Fun Facts About Star Trek: the Next Generation

How did The Next Generation reach American viewers when it premiered in September 1987?

First-run syndication meant Paramount sold the show straight to local stations: NBC and ABC would only consider pilot scripts, and the new Fox network would commit to just 13 episodes.

Which fourth-season episode took TNG past the original Star Trek's total of 79 episodes?

Legacy was TNG's 80th episode, one more than the original series managed; its opening log mentions Camus II, the planet where the original's final episode, 'Turnabout Intruder', was set.

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?

Brent Spiner turned the android's golden eyes into a joke in 1991, releasing an album of old pop standards called Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back; on Enterprise he later played the Soongs' ancestor Arik.

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?

A VISOR lets Geordi see far beyond normal sight; the prop began as a plastic hair clip that designer Michael Okuda brought in, and from the film First Contact on Geordi has ocular implants instead.

Which actor plays Q, the all-powerful being who puts humanity on trial in The Next Generation's pilot?

John de Lancie's Q owes his one-letter name to Janet Quarton, an English fan and friend of the show's creator, who chose the letter in her honour.

What color uniform do command officers such as Picard and Riker wear in The Next Generation?

Red marks command in Picard's day and gold goes to operations and security, the reverse of the original series, where the captain wore gold and security wore red.

In which season-two episode of The Next Generation did the Borg make their first appearance?

Q Who has Q hurl the Enterprise thousands of light-years into the Borg's path to prove humanity is not ready; it ends with a humbled Picard admitting that he needs Q's help to get home.

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'?

Wolf 359, a real red dwarf near Earth, is where the fleet was wiped out; 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'.

In 'The Inner Light', what dooms Kataan, the world where Picard lives a whole life as Kamin?

Its sun going nova had killed Kataan a thousand years earlier; knowing the end was coming, its people launched a probe so that one stranger would live among them and remember.

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

Bruce Maddox lost the hearing, yet Data bore him no ill will and kept writing to him; decades later Maddox resurfaced in Star Trek: Picard as the creator of the android twins Dahj and Soji.

In 'The Measure of a Man', how does the prosecution show the court that Data is a machine?

By switching him off: ordered to prosecute or see Data lose by default, Riker removes the android's hand, then flips his off switch and tells the court that Pinocchio's strings have been cut.

Holding out two daggers, the Tamarian captain Dathon speaks which phrase before he and Picard are beamed down?

'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 Dathon, the Tamarian captain stranded on a planet with Picard?

Paul Winfield had already died on Star Trek once, as Captain Terrell in The Wrath of Khan; his Dathon dies too, of wounds from the beast he and Picard fight side by side.

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 argued for a sudden death as a hazard of the job.

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

Gul Madred never gets his answer: as he is freed Picard shouts that there are four lights, but he later admits to Troi that by the end he really could see five.

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

Edward Jellico relieves Riker of duty after a blazing row, then has to swallow his pride and visit Riker's quarters: only Riker is a good enough pilot to fly the mission that ends the standoff.

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?

The 3 stands for the three pips on Riker's collar: a message Data sent himself from an earlier loop, telling him to follow Riker's suggestion and not his own to save the ship.

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

A Nausicaan ran the young Picard through in a bar fight; when Q lets him avoid it, Picard wakes as a timid junior science officer and says he would rather die as the man he was.

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?

Jonathan Frakes asked for an episode and was told to study first, so he sat in on editing and other directors' work; he went on to direct the films First Contact and Insurrection.

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?

DeForest Kelley played an aged Admiral McCoy touring the new ship; he took only union scale 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"?

Norah Satie's sabotage inquiry swells into a purge that reaches Picard himself; she is undone when he quotes her revered father's words on liberty and her furious tirade empties the room.

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 pun on the word 'you', which the drone repeats back when asked what to call him; Hugh returned in the two-parter 'Descent' and, decades later, in Star Trek: Picard.

In the TNG episode 'Relics', which Original Series crew member 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 has gone to Romulus in secret, hoping to reunite the Vulcan and Romulan peoples; the two-parter was dedicated to Gene Roddenberry, who had died shortly before it aired.

Which shy, holodeck-addicted engineer was introduced in the TNG episode 'Hollow Pursuits'?

Reginald Barclay is mocked as 'Broccoli' behind his back; Picard orders the crew to stop, then slips and calls him it to his face.

Which Bajoran officer from The Next Generation was originally meant to join the cast of Deep Space Nine?

Ro Laren was written in as the station's first officer, but her actress turned down a regular role on the spin-off, so the writers created Kira Nerys to replace her.

Diana Muldaur joined The Next Generation for its second season as which ship's doctor?

Katherine Pulaski was written to echo the original's Dr. McCoy, down to a dread of transporters and a habit of needling the ship's most logical officer; she lasted only one season.

Which season-two finale is The Next Generation's only clip show, 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 alien species made its first appearance in The Next Generation's season-one episode 'The Last Outpost'?

The Ferengi were invented as the show's new recurring enemy but never seemed menacing enough, so the writers turned to the Romulans and the Borg instead.

Geordi La Forge is named in tribute to George La Forge, who was what?

A quadriplegic fan of the original series, George La Forge died in 1975; David Gerrold had already named a character after him in his 1980 Star Trek novel The Galactic Whirlpool.

By the end of 'Second Chances', Riker's transporter duplicate decides to go by which name?

Thomas is his middle name, chosen to set himself apart; Thomas Riker later joins the Maquis and, posing as his double, steals the Defiant from Deep Space Nine.

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

Majel Barrett also voiced the Enterprise computer for decades, and finished recording it for the 2009 Star Trek film shortly before her death in December 2008.

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

Imzadi is the first hint of their past: in the pilot Troi sends the word to Riker telepathically, and Peter David's novel Imzadi later told the story of their romance on Betazed.

How much did the six-foot Enterprise-D filming model fetch at Christie's Star Trek sale in 2006?

$576,000, including the buyer's premium, made the six-foot model the dearest lot of the sale; Christie's had estimated it at just $25,000 to $35,000.

Which designer based the Enterprise-D on a speculative painting he made after redesigning the Enterprise for the first Star Trek film?

Andrew Probert was at work on the ship's bridge when writer David Gerrold saw the design pinned to his office wall and took it to the producers, who made it the basis of the new ship.

The Enterprise-D, Starfleet's flagship under Picard, belongs to which class of starship?

Galaxy class ships carry the crew's families on long missions, so the hull can split in two: the saucer takes the civilians to safety while the rest turns to fight.

Which original-series hero dies helping Picard stop Soran in the film Star Trek Generations?

James T. Kirk was first filmed being shot in the back by Soran; test audiences hated it, so the ending was reshot to have him fall after a leap across a broken walkway.

Which Klingon sisters cripple the Enterprise-D in the film Star Trek Generations?

Lursa and B'Etor read the Enterprise's shield settings through a transmitter Soran hides on a captured crew member, so their ageing Bird-of-Prey can fire 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.

Which was the only one of The Next Generation's 58 Emmy nominations outside the technical craft categories?

Outstanding Drama Series was the exception, for the final season in 1994, so none of the show's actors, writers or directors was ever individually nominated for an Emmy.

In the future shown in The Next Generation's finale, which crew member captains the medical ship USS Pasteur?

Beverly Crusher commands the Pasteur in that future and still uses the surname Picard: the two have married and divorced, and she risks her ship on her ex-husband's hunch.

Which first-season episode of The Next Generation won a Peabody Award?

The Big Goodbye sends Picard into the holodeck as 1940s detective Dixon Hill, where the safeties fail and the gangsters turn deadly; it was the first Star Trek episode to win a Peabody.

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

Rick Berman and Michael Piller were answering a brief from studio chief Brandon Tartikoff, who wanted a frontier Western in space: 'The Rifleman' where the earlier shows had been 'Wagon Train'.

Which physicist played holodeck poker with Data in 'Descent', the sixth-season finale of The Next Generation?

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

Which producer spotted Patrick Stewart giving a reading at UCLA and spent weeks pushing to cast him?

Robert H. Justman had to talk Gene Roddenberry round: Roddenberry pictured a captain with a full head of hair, and a hairpiece was flown from London for Stewart's studio audition.

In the TNG episode 'Family', which relative of Picard runs the vineyard 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's Worf was a late addition, not planned as a regular, yet across The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine Dorn ended up appearing in more Star Trek episodes than any other actor.

What did Riker grow for The Next Generation's second season, giving fans a phrase for a show that suddenly improves?

A beard arrived after the summer break and the producers asked him to keep it; because the scripts improved at the same time, fans now say a show 'grows the beard' when it hits its stride.

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

USS Titan is the command Riker finally accepts after turning down three other ships to serve on the Enterprise; he leaves with Troi, his new wife, and still captains the Titan in Lower Decks.

Deanna Troi's father Ian Andrew Troi was what?

Ian Andrew Troi was a human Starfleet officer who died when Deanna was a child; having a human father is why she senses emotions as an empath instead of reading thoughts like a full Betazoid.

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?

Helmsman was Geordi's job for season one, when the ship had no regular chief engineer and a string of guest characters held the post; he took it over for good in season two.

Which alien tells Picard that Wesley Crusher has great potential?

The Traveler tells Picard that Wesley has a Mozart's gift for time, energy and propulsion and asks him to encourage the boy quietly; Picard answers by making Wesley an acting ensign.

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

Guinan is an El-Aurian, one of a race of 'listeners' whose world the Borg destroyed; fellow refugee Tolian Soran, rescued alongside her, later destroys a star trying to get back to the Nexus.

Which original-series character inspired a young Whoopi Goldberg, who later joined the TNG cast?

Uhura did it: Whoopi Goldberg recalls shouting to her family that there was a Black lady on television and she wasn't a maid, and years later she asked the producers for a part on the new show.

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

Livingston is named after David Livingston, a producer and director on the show; when a stricter captain briefly takes over the Enterprise, one of his first orders is to get that fish out of the ready room.

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.

How did the humans found in 'The Neutral Zone' reach Picard's century?

Cryonic freezing: all three were frozen at death in the late 20th century, and one, a financier, wakes in 2364 and at once asks to phone his bank and see a Wall Street Journal.

Which effects house built the Enterprise-D filming miniatures for 'Encounter at Farpoint'?

Industrial Light & Magic built six-foot and two-foot models of the new Enterprise for the pilot, and also worked out how the ship's jump to warp would look on screen.

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

Matt Jefferies gave the 1960s Enterprise its saucer, engineering hull and twin nacelles, the layout the Enterprise-D reworked; the crawlways on Starfleet ships are called Jefferies tubes in his honour.

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 they have forced to take the form of a base; the crew free it to rejoin its mate.

In TNG's finale, a future Data has become a professor at which university?

Cambridge has given Data its Lucasian Chair and the house that goes with it, once Isaac Newton's; Picard visits him there in one of three eras that Q is making him jump between.

Which actor plays the captain who takes over the Enterprise in 'Chain of Command'?

Ronny Cox, the corporate villain of RoboCop and Total Recall, plays the brusque replacement, who puts the ship on a four-shift rotation and tells Troi to wear a standard uniform on duty.

Which Klingon weapon made its first appearance in TNG's 'Reunion'?

The bat'leth was designed by effects producer Dan Curry, a martial artist who also devised a fighting style for it; in 'Reunion', Worf shows his young son how to handle one.

In TNG's 'Sarek', which illness is costing the ambassador his emotional control?

Bendii syndrome strikes only the oldest Vulcans; to get through one last negotiation Sarek mind-melds with Picard, who bears the turmoil for him. Fantasy novelist Peter S. Beagle wrote the teleplay.

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

'The Naked Time' saw a contagion strip Kirk's crew of their inhibitions; in the sequel, 'The Naked Now', Dr Crusher looks up the old Enterprise's cure and finds it no longer works.

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

Tony Todd, later horror's Candyman, plays Kurn, who comes aboard as an exchange officer to size Worf up before revealing that he is his younger brother.

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

Duras had already pinned his own father's treachery on Worf's father; a bomb with a Romulan detonator exposes his new allies, and after he murders K'Ehleyr, Worf kills him under the right of vengeance.

Which actress plays the half-Klingon ambassador K'Ehleyr?

Suzie Plakson plays K'Ehleyr, who returns in 'Reunion' with a surprise for Worf: Alexander, the son he never knew he had.

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

Jonathan Del Arco plays the lone drone whose first stirrings of individuality persuade Picard to abandon a plan to send him home carrying a program designed to destroy the Collective.

Which actress in the main cast directed 'Genesis', her only TNG episode as director?

Gates McFadden directed 'Genesis', in which a synthetic T-cell given to Barclay makes the crew de-evolve: Barclay into a spider and Troi into an amphibian.

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

Terry O'Quinn plays Admiral Erik Pressman, who is hunting for an illegal Federation cloaking device; once it is exposed, Picard has him arrested for breaking the Treaty of Algeron.

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

Soren is one of the J'naii, an androgynous species that treats identifying as male or female as a perversion; after admitting to feeling female, Soren is put through 'psychotectic' therapy that erases the feeling.

Which guest role did Michelle Forbes play a season before her recurring role as a Bajoran officer?

Dara in 'Half a Life' was Michelle Forbes's first TNG part, as the daughter of the scientist Timicin; it so impressed the producers that they brought her back as a recurring officer the next season.

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

Henry V is the play: Data plays the disguised king walking among his soldiers before Agincourt, and one of those soldiers is played, under heavy make-up, by the actor who plays Picard.

In 'Deja Q', how does Guinan test whether Q has really lost his powers?

With a fork: she stabs his hand, and his howl of pain satisfies her that he is human; the Continuum had stripped Q of his powers and dropped him, naked, onto the Enterprise bridge.

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'.

Which famous writer follows the crew from 1893 San Francisco to the 24th century in 'Time's Arrow'?

Mark Twain, played by Jerry Hardin, trails the visitors and dives through their time portal after them; the trip began when Data's severed head was dug up, five centuries old, beneath San Francisco.

In 'Sub Rosa', whose funeral brings Beverly Crusher to the Caldos colony?

Her grandmother's funeral draws Beverly into an affair with Ronin, a being who has attached himself to the women of her family for generations; she ends it by destroying him and the heirloom candle he lives in.

Why did the BBC leave 'The High Ground' out of its first run of TNG?

A line about Irish reunification did it: Data cites 'the Irish Unification of 2024' as a case where terrorism worked, and with the Troubles still going on the BBC did not show the episode until 2007.

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, of The A-Team, his recurring role on TNG?

Whoopi Goldberg made a film with Dwight Schultz in 1990, heard he was a devoted fan of the show and recommended him to the producers.

In TNG's 'Tin Man', what kind of being is Gomtuu?

A living ship, Gomtuu has drifted alone since its crew died and wants only to die too, until the troubled telepath Tam Elbrun chooses to stay aboard and gives it a reason to go on.

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

Star Trek: Phase II, the revival planned in the 1970s and then shelved, left behind the script that became 'Devil's Due'; in it Picard exposes Ardra, who claims a whole planet under an ancient contract, as a con artist.

Patrick Stewart first directed with which episode, about Data's attempt at dating a shipmate?

'In Theory' was Patrick Stewart's first turn as director: Data writes himself a romance program to date Jenna D'Sora, and when she ends it he simply deletes the program.

Which 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?

Costume design and makeup both won Emmys for 'Cost of Living', an episode of holodeck jugglers and mud baths that ends with Lwaxana arriving at her wedding naked and her stuffy groom walking out.

In 'Relics', what is the Enterprise pulled inside?

A Dyson sphere, named for physicist Freeman Dyson, is a shell built around a star to capture its energy; the Enterprise gets out only because another ship is wedged in the closing hatch.

Which Sergio Leone film title does TNG's Data-filled holodeck Western episode parody?

'A Fistful of Datas' plays on Sergio Leone's 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, later Voyager's Tuvok, plays one of a gang stealing trilithium resin from the engines while a lethal baryon sweep empties the ship, leaving Picard alone on board to stop them.

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 NASA astronaut plays a transporter officer in 'Second Chances'?

Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space, got the part after LeVar Burton, who directed the episode, learned she was a Star Trek fan and invited her onto the show.

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

James Worthy, the Lakers forward, got the part of the towering Klingon Koral after a chance meeting on a flight with Robert O'Reilly, one of the show's Klingon regulars, who urged him to ask the producers.

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

Kirsten Dunst, then eleven, plays Hedril, a Cairn girl whose fall into a pond sends Lwaxana into a coma: it stirs the buried memory of Kestra, the daughter she lost to drowning.

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

Bok blames Picard for his son's death in battle with the Stargazer, so he rewrites a young man's DNA to pass him off as Picard's son and then threatens to kill him.

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

The Orient Express ploughs through Data's rehearsal of The Tempest, the first sign that the ship is growing a mind of its own; the crew end up helping the new life form to be born and leave.

Which actor plays warp pioneer Zefram Cochrane in First Contact?

James Cromwell plays Cochrane not as the revered visionary of the history books but as a hard-drinking cynic who built his warp ship hoping to get rich and retire to a tropical island.

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 rejuvenating metaphasic particles in the planet's rings.

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 in the United States on which streaming service?

CBS All Access, since renamed Paramount+, launched the series in January 2020; its star had felt in 2002 that his time with Star Trek had run its course, and called the return an unexpected surprise.

TNG's theme reuses Jerry Goldsmith's march from which Star Trek film?

Star Trek: The Motion Picture gave the show its march, joined to Alexander Courage's 1960s fanfare; the tune nearly did not exist, since director Robert Wise rejected Jerry Goldsmith's first main theme.

Christie's valued the Ressikan flute from 'The Inner Light' at about $1,000 in 2006; what did it sell for?

$48,000, buyer's premium included, was nearly fifty times the estimate, and Christie's had first valued the prop at just $300.

Which gory first-season episode won TNG an Emmy for makeup?

'Conspiracy' won the 1988 makeup Emmy for its alien parasites and an exploding head graphic enough that the BBC cut the scene when it first showed the episode.

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

'The Next Level' previewed a remaster that meant going back to the original film negatives and rebuilding the effects shots, because the series had been edited and finished on standard-definition videotape.

Which future Desperate Housewives star plays a transporter chief in Star Trek's 'The Outrageous Okona'?

Teri Hatcher went uncredited as the transporter chief who is the first woman aboard to catch the eye of roguish freighter captain Okona.

Which rock band's drummer plays a fish-like alien under heavy makeup in The Next Generation's 'Manhunt'?

Fleetwood Mac co-founder Mick Fleetwood, a fan of the show, is unrecognisable as one of two Antedean delegates who turn out to be assassins.

In Star Trek's 'The Royale', which famous maths puzzle does Picard say has gone unsolved for 800 years?

Fermat's Last Theorem was proved in 1995, only six years after the episode aired, which left Picard's speech about a riddle that defeated humanity for centuries out of date.

In Star Trek's 'Loud as a Whisper', what does mediator Riva decide to teach two warring tribes?

Sign language gives the enemies something to learn side by side. Deaf actor Howie Seago pitched the role himself and vetoed a draft ending in which Riva learns to speak.

Which 1988 Hollywood dispute cut season two of Star Trek: The Next Generation to just 22 episodes?

A writers' strike left so little time for scripts that the season opened with a story dusted off from an abandoned 1970s revival of the franchise.

What destroys the starship Yamato and then threatens the Enterprise in The Next Generation's 'Contagion'?

A computer virus from an ancient Iconian probe scrambles the Yamato's systems, then reaches the Enterprise through the lost ship's downloaded logs.

What happens to the chorus that speaks for the mediator Riva in Star Trek's 'Loud as a Whisper'?

They are shot dead by a tribal delegate moments after beaming down for the peace talks, leaving Riva cut off from everyone around him.

Why does Riker serve as second-in-command of a Klingon warship in Star Trek's 'A Matter of Honor'?

An officer exchange puts Riker aboard the Pagh, where he earns the crew's respect by beating down a subordinate who challenges his authority.

Which seemingly slow-witted species kidnaps Geordi La Forge in The Next Generation's 'Samaritan Snare'?

The Pakleds fake a breakdown to lure an engineer aboard, having acquired their advanced technology from other races. Star Trek: Lower Decks later revived them as villains.

Which martial art do Riker and his estranged father duel at in Star Trek's 'The Icarus Factor'?

Anbo-jyutsu was the sport Kyle Riker always won at when his son was a boy; mid-bout, Will notices an illegal move and realises his father had been cheating all along.

Which variety of tea does Star Trek's Captain Picard habitually order hot from the replicator?

Earl Grey is one of several British habits handed to the French-born captain, along with performing Shakespeare, riding with English tack and singing Royal Navy songs.

In the future of Star Trek's 'All Good Things...', the elderly Picard has which degenerative brain disorder?

Irumodic syndrome returns in Star Trek: Picard, where the same brain defect finally kills him and the last season blames it on what the Borg did to his genes.

At the end of Star Trek: Picard's first season, the dying Jean-Luc Picard's mind is transferred into what?

A synthetic body receives a full scan of his brain, but it is built to last only as long as he would have lived without his fatal illness, so he gains no extra years.

Which starship did Jean-Luc Picard command before the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

USS Stargazer became Picard's when its captain was killed on the bridge and he took charge; he commanded it for 22 years, while the Reliant was only his first posting as an ensign.

Which fictional 1940s private eye does Star Trek's Captain Picard play for fun on the holodeck?

Dixon Hill was first written as Dixon Steele, a nod to Humphrey Bogart's character in the 1950 film noir In a Lonely Place.

Which scholarly passion does Star Trek's Captain Picard share with his old Academy mentor, Professor Galen?

Archaeology was nearly Picard's career: Galen saw great promise in him, and was bitterly disappointed when his star pupil chose Starfleet instead.

In Star Trek: First Contact, Picard's thirst for revenge on the Borg is likened to which literary character's?

Captain Ahab and his white whale are thrown at Picard when he refuses to destroy his own ship; the writers hesitated because The Wrath of Khan had already borrowed from Moby-Dick.

In Star Trek: Picard, what has the retired Jean-Luc Picard named the pit bull that lives on his vineyard?

Number One, Picard's old form of address for his first officer, was played by a rescue dog called Dinero; the show's star, an advocate for pit bulls, insisted on the breed.

What happened the first time Star Trek's young Jean-Luc Picard applied to Starfleet Academy?

He failed the entrance exam, yet once admitted he became the first freshman ever to win the Academy marathon.

Which ancient epic does Star Trek's Picard recount to a dying alien captain who speaks only in metaphor?

Gilgamesh, a story of two heroes side by side, echoes the legend the Tamarian captain had been acting out, and telling it shows that Picard has finally grasped how his companion's speech works.

Which Stand by Me child star played boy genius Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Wil Wheaton had played the lead, the young storyteller Gordie Lachance, in the Stephen King adaptation the year before the Enterprise-D first flew.

What psychic gift does Star Trek's Counselor Deanna Troi use to advise Captain Picard on the bridge?

She can sense others' feelings but not their thoughts: full Betazoids are telepaths, while her mixed heritage leaves her an empath, and some species are closed to her altogether.

Which Earth drink does Guinan introduce to Star Trek's Worf, who makes it his regular order?

Prune juice so impressed him that it became his standing order for years, first on the Enterprise and later at the bar on Deep Space Nine.

Which brass instrument is the prized possession of Commander Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

The trombone meant so much to Riker that he handed it over as a parting gift to the double of himself created by a transporter accident.

Which London-born actress played ship's counselor Deanna Troi throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Marina Sirtis, born in Hackney to Greek parents, went on to play the part in four feature films as well.

Which sweet treat is Counselor Deanna Troi's well-known weakness in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Chocolate has to be the real thing for Troi, who turns up her nose at the replicator's synthesized imitations.

The actress who played the first security chief in Star Trek: TNG is the granddaughter of which crooner?

Bing Crosby was the paternal grandfather of Denise Crosby, whose choice of career was shaped early on by him and by her father, Dennis.

What is the name of Worf's young son, who comes to live aboard Star Trek's Enterprise-D?

Alexander comes as a shock: Worf learns he is a father only when the boy's mother, a visiting ambassador, brings him aboard, and her murder soon leaves Worf a single parent.

Which curved, two-handed Klingon blade was created for Worf by a Star Trek effects producer?

The bat'leth was drawn up in 1990 by effects producer Dan Curry, who gave the five-foot crescent three handholds along the back so it could be twisted and spun at speed.

In which US state did Commander William Riker grow up, as established in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Alaska is where Riker was raised by his father after his mother died when he was two; a Ten Forward waiter once mistook him for a Canadian.

What is the name of the pet cat that Data keeps in his quarters in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Spot is first shown as a male Somali cat but later appears as a female orange tabby, and even gives birth to kittens.

Which device made by his creator does Data finally install in the first Next Generation film?

An emotion chip had been built for Data years earlier, but his brother stole it and used it to control him; Data kept the damaged part for some time before daring to fit it.

The positronic brain of Star Trek's Data borrows its name from the robot stories of which author?

Isaac Asimov coined the term around 1940, when the positron was a newly discovered particle and the word lent his fictional robots a scientific ring.

Which storybook character does Riker compare Data to in the pilot of Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Pinocchio springs to Riker's mind the moment he learns that the android's great wish is to be human, the longing that drives Data for the rest of the series.

Star Trek's Data actor plays the scientist Dr. Brackish Okun in which alien-invasion blockbuster?

Independence Day brought him back two decades on as well: he returned as Dr. Okun in the sequel, Resurgence.

The Data actor's 1991 album of old pop standards takes its title from which part of his Star Trek makeup?

His yellow eyes, the contact lenses he wore as the android, let him turn Frank Sinatra's album title Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back into Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back.

What does the judge rule about Data at his hearing in Star Trek's 'The Measure of a Man'?

He has the right to choose, the judge rules, conceding that neither she nor anyone else can measure what Data truly is.

Why does the trader Kivas Fajo kidnap Data and fake his death in Star Trek's 'The Most Toys'?

For his private collection of rare and valuable things, Fajo rigs a shuttle to explode so the crew will believe Data destroyed, then shuts him in a gallery behind a reinforced door.

How does Data finally beat grandmaster Kolrami at Strategema in Star Trek's 'Peak Performance'?

He plays for a stalemate, passing up chances to advance so the game cannot end, until his opponent quits in frustration; Data calls it a draw until he is talked into claiming the win.

Which Reading Rainbow host played the blind engineer Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

LeVar Burton fronted the children's reading show for 23 years, collecting 12 Daytime Emmys and a Peabody as its host and executive producer.

The prop for the eyepiece worn by Star Trek's Geordi La Forge was inspired by which everyday object?

A hair clip, a one-piece women's style, was brought in by designer Michael Okuda while the look of the device was first being worked out.

What lasting side effect does the eyepiece worn by Star Trek's Geordi La Forge cause him?

Persistent pain is the price of his sight, and it cannot be treated without interfering with the device that feeds images to his brain.

What does Commodore Geordi La Forge run in the final season of Star Trek: Picard?

A starship museum, where as head curator he has spent twenty years on a secret project; his daughters pull him back into action by stealing a cloaking device from it.

What replaces Geordi La Forge's famous eyepiece from the film Star Trek: First Contact onwards?

Ocular implants took over for the last three films and for Star Trek: Picard, freeing the actor from a prop that cut off his peripheral vision.

What briefly gives Geordi La Forge natural eyesight in the film Star Trek: Insurrection?

A planet's radiation regenerates his eyes: metaphasic particles around the Ba'ku world keep its inhabitants effectively immortal and rejuvenate the visiting crew.

Which engine designer does Geordi La Forge fall for as a holodeck recreation in Star Trek's 'Booby Trap'?

Leah Brahms drew up the warp drive's blueprints, and the computer conjures her likeness after taking an idle remark literally; he kisses the simulation farewell before switching it off.

The parents of Star Trek's Geordi La Forge are played by the actor's co-stars from which landmark miniseries?

Roots had made the future Geordi a star at 19 as Kunta Kinte; Ben Vereen and Madge Sinclair, his father and mother in the episode 'Interface', had both been in it with him.

In the future of Star Trek's 'All Good Things...', what has Geordi La Forge become after leaving Starfleet?

A novelist: by 2395 he has left engineering behind, married and raised three children.

Which Cold War thriller inspired Star Trek's 'The Mind's Eye', where Geordi is brainwashed into an assassin?

The Manchurian Candidate gave the story its shape, with Geordi in the Laurence Harvey part; the director, an admirer of the 1962 film, worked in a shot paying homage to it.

Which sport does Star Trek's Captain Picard practise aboard the Enterprise in his off-duty hours?

Fencing is his sport, with the sabre as his weapon of choice; his opponents aboard have included Riker and Guinan.