“The beauty of having all of these shows now on Paramount+, and we're seeing it on the watch patterns, is that each show is a gateway drug to another show,” revealed executive producer Alex Kurtzman, Star Trek’s equivalent to Marvel’s Kevin Feige. This was during a TCA press conference for Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard, which kicked off today and brings back a host of characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation. The generational aspect of the universe created by Gene Roddenberry continues through a wide array of currently running shows, ranging from the kid-focused Star Trek: Prodigy to the adult-targeted Star Trek: Lower Decks and everything in between. “We have an ecosystem that's starting to feed itself… You can't do that if you're only servicing one sector of the audience. And so the plan was always to not necessarily make a one-size-fits-all show, but to say let's do different shows for different people, and that way we can concentrate on each one being good and authentically true to what we are trying to do. Because I think when you're trying to please everybody, you please nobody. But hopefully, if they're pleased, they'll want to grow with it and discover new things.”
(Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for Paramount+)
To the disappointment of many fans, Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard is planned as the last. “One of the north stars that we were following was that Jean-Luc Picard and his Next Generation cast really never got a final sendoff,” explained showrunner and executive producer Terry Matalas. “It felt like, after Star Trek: Nemesis, there wanted to be one more final story. And we were faced with a really unique opportunity to do one last season telling a Picard story, first and foremost, a very personal story. But how better to end that journey than to look back at the beginning and to bring his friends and family from Star Trek: The Next Generation. So there's a strong sense of conclusion to that particular storyline.”
As diehard fans may recall, when Star Trek: Picard first started, actor Patrick Stewart wasn’t interested in retreading his Next Generation past, a feeling he has since had a change of heart about. In fact, the decision to give Next Gen more closure was Patrick’s idea. “I was wrong about what I was determined should not be seen or should be encouraged to be seen in Picard,” the actor revealed. “The most important thing for me was that it should not just simply look like a three-series reunion, because that would just simply be stepping back. And what excited me about starting work on Picard was that… I had lived nearly 35 years since I first put on the captain's uniform. And there is no doubt that in that time, the world has changed. But I have changed, too. I'm not the same person that I was then. If I were, they would never have cast me. And I wanted the series to show the impact of those years that had passed and how much one might change and whether fears become greater or less. Right now, about the condition of the world, my fears are high and full of anxiety. So I wanted that to be incorporated.”
“I always wanted to do more action,” revealed Gates McFadden, who reprises her role as Dr. Beverly Crusher this season. “I was a choreographer. I had done dance and combat and all sorts of things, so I really did not want to have a makeup kit on the away team. I wanted to actually have some things that I could use that would be helpful… All I can say is, obviously, when you're in a series, you have certain episodes or your large episode, and then you're not large for several episodes. I felt that with the switch between the second and third season, I felt I came back, and it was a more matronly character, and I felt it took several years to get back to the way I had first been told the character was by Gene. So for me, it was that kind of a journey. I really loved Terry's ideas and Patrick's ideas on where Crusher would be now. And I loved the fact that they had me beginning doing something active… I think that there's a much bigger range of Crusher in this season, which I love.”
“Worf has always been on a journey,” Michael Dorn said of his character. “He's always been looking and searching, through The Next Generation and Deep Space and the movies, for who he is. And that's the one thing I wanted to impart to [the creative team]. And it was a wonderful experience, because they took that. I took what they said. And we came up with where Worf is… T here's canons and there's things that Worf hasn't done in the past and that Worf isn't part of. But you take a risk and if you trust the people, if you like who they are as individuals, Terry and Alex, then you kind of go, okay, I'll go with you. I'll trust you… And that's where I was really happy with everything that turned out with the character. It was fantastic.”
“The whole concept of Star Trek was always to hold up a mirror to society,” Michelle Hurd concluded about why this sci-fi franchise has been so beloved and celebrated by generations of fans. “Our world is changing. Things are challenging. And if we didn't sort of adjust in that way, we wouldn't be holding that mirror up, because we have a lot of work to do.” As Star Trek: Picard reaches its conclusion, one thing is certain – the legacy of Star Trek will never dissipate.
The first episode of Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
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