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Channel: Jonathan Frakes – UPROXX

‘Star Trek: Picard’ Will Be More Of A ‘Next Generation’ Reunion Than Previously Thought

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The first proper trailer for Star Trek: Picard dropped at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and it was definitely one of the best trailers to come out of the annual geeky gathering. As great as it was to see Sir Patrick Stewart bringing Jean-Luc Picard back to life, however, fans of his character’s initial tenure on Star Trek: The Next Generation were even more delighted to see a brief appearance by Brent Spiner’s android Data. What’s more, Saturday’s panel revealed that a few other Next Generation alums would be joining Stewart in the show.

Per Variety, actors Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis, who played Commander William Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi respectively, will be appearing in the new series. It was previously revealed that Frakes — a frequent director of film and television, including several Star Trek movies and episodes — would be on hand to direct a few episodes of Picard. However, Saturday’s Comic-Con announcement of his and Sirtis’ return to play their Next Generation characters was a first.

Despite the news, however, executive producer Akiva Goldsman was quick to point out that Picard is “not a sequel to Next Generation” but a continuation of certain story elements — namely, Picard’s retirement — and similar themes. It just so happens to include many of Next Generation‘s most prominent players. “It’s slower and more gentle and more lyrical … it’s more character-based …it has a hope for a future that’s in many ways better than the world we live in today,” he said.

After all, Picard also features the return of Star Trek: Voyager‘s Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine — as well as a cast of newcomers that includes Alison Pill, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, and Harry Treadaway.

(Via Variety and Entertainment Weekly)


‘Picard’ Second Trailer Offers A First Glimpse Of Another Old ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Friend

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The first full-length trailer for Picard, the forthcoming CBS All Access spin-off that brings Patrick Stewart back to the role that made him a household name, offered a few major surprises, among them a glimpse at his old, sadly still disconnected Star Trek: The Next Generation buddy Data (Brent Spiner) and Jeri Ryan’s Voyager Borg Seven of Nine. The second trailer, which bowed at New York Comic Con Saturday, offered another TNG reunion: Looks like Riker’s coming back as well.

The latest ad follows the same basic structure as the first: Picard is half-enjoying his retirement on a planet that looks like a wine ad when he’s pulled back in by a wayward young woman seeking his help. There’s more glimpses of his mostly young new crew, including Alison Pill and a swordsman, and some more space battles, plus Picard dreaming, sadly, about talking once more to Data.

The big fan reveal is saved for the back end: Picard pays a visit to Jonathan Frakes’ William Riker, the Enterprise’s first officer and, briefly, its captain. The two enjoy some lakeside sitting, old friends smiling and chuckling as Picard seeks his advice on whether to get back into the game. Can a Geordi swing-by be in the cards? Bring back Guinan next!

(Via EW)

Star Trek: The Next Generation is 25-Years-Old. Celebrate With this Awesome Panel Featuring the Entire Cast

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So, the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation (including Wesley) recently reunited in honor of TNG’s 25th anniversary (yes, TNG is 25 years old) in Calgary. Why Calgary of all places? Don’t ask me to explain the mysteries of the universe. Thankfully there were cameras rolling, so you can watch the entire panel after the jump.

Highlights include the fact that all the hostile alien planets visited on the show were covered in cat s–t, Patrick Stewart’s love of the smoke machine while directing (“smoke made s–t look good, didn’t it?”), a surprise pro wrestling-style run-in through the crowd by a certain Trek antagonist with a one-letter name, and the revelation that Patrick Stewart is the only white man LeVar Burton will kiss on the lips.

Come on, how can you resist with teases like that? Hit that jump!

via BestWeekEver

Is it just me, or does Jonathan Frakes totally look like Philip Seymour Hoffman now? Time man…it makes Philip Seymour Hoffmans of us all.

I love Tasha Yar suddenly appearing and firing off one awkward joke, before she’s immediately interrupted by Troi and silenced for the rest of the show. If she was going to be on the panel, this is how it had to be.

There’s still three more parts to this panel. Hit page two to check ’em out!

You Will Believe A Klingon Can Giggle: New 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' Blooper Reel

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Awhile back we posted a Star Trek bloopers compilation. Unfortunately that video was pulled, and we only have the GIFs below to remember them by. But on the bright side, Paramount has released a new blooper reel to promote the first Blu-ray release of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s fourth season. The Blu-ray is out tomorrow if you want to mount your furniture Riker-style and re-watch it.

We get to peek at a few scenes going off the rails, and it’s great to see Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn and company having a little fun back in the day. Considering how melodramatic the show could get at times, these clips are all the more surreal. [Blastr via The Mary Sue]

Stay tuned all the way to the end to see our favorite part, Jonathan Frakes getting the church giggles.

(GIFs via Buzzfeed)

Marvel sets ‘Thor 2’ crossover for ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ in mid-November

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Well, of course they are.

Entertainment Weekly broke the news that Jonathan Frakes will be directing an upcoming episode of “Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.” that will directly connect to the events at the end of “Thor: The Dark World.”

That’s all you need to know if you don’t want to be spoiled at all for the upcoming movie or for the TV series, or both. You can stop reading and just know that Marvel and Disney and ABC have made one of the most profoundly obvious decisions in the history of corporate synergy. They are going to use their TV show that exists because of their big hit movies to lay some expository pipe between one of those big hit movies and the rest of those big hit movies, and the show will promote the movie while the tie-in promotes the show and the new movie promotes not one but two or even three new movies and where does the commercial stop and where does the movie begin at this point can you even tell me?

Frakes is a busy director for television, and he’s done features as well of course. He’s worked with Joss Whedon behind the camera before, and he’s got Peter MacNicol aboard as a professor whose fate is somehow connected to the events we see in “Thor: The Dark World.”

Here’s where things get a little spoilery. Without saying what happens, there are two different after-the-movie moments. One is early in the closing credits. One is at the very, very end.

The one in the middle is, I’m fairly sure, a direct connection to both “Guardians Of The Galaxy” and, if I’m guessing correctly, “The Avengers 3.” I think that long game is already in motion. I think the last shot of the first “Avengers” was all about the third film, not the second. I think the second is all about testing and fracturing the original team in a very deep way. They’re not doing “Civil War,” but they need to break the original group in that deep a manner. They have to earn their way back together to face the threat that will be in the third “Avengers” film.

“The Well,” which is the episode that will air November 19th on the show, Coulson and his team go after something that was left behind by the film. There are many things that could be. If it’s the thing we see at the very, very end of the film, I’m curious to see how they handle it. If it’s technology from the Dark Elves that were in the film, there’s a weapon of theirs that would be a very, very dangerous thing in the wrong human hands. Or in any human hands, frankly.

We’ll see. I write about “Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.” each week when it airs, and right now, I’m still figuring out how to write about TV shows each week. It’s a very different skill, something our incredible TV team does all the time. I’d like to start unpacking whether this show is built to last or not, and digging in deeper with each episode, and especially if Marvel’s going to introduce pieces for us to start to put together like this.

“Thor: The Dark World” opens in theaters everywhere in the US on November 8th.

“Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.” airs Tuesday nights on ABC at 8:00 PM EST/PST.

Asgard and ‘Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ come together in a special ‘Thor’ related episode

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“I can’t think of a single time when anything alien in human hands ended well.”

So here we are… the first direct tie-in to a Marvel movie currently in release on “Marvel’s Agents Of SHIELD.” I’ve been curious to see how they would handle this since the moment they announced the series, and considering how many dangling threads there are at at the end of “Thor: The Dark World,” it seems like this is a perfect test case.

Here’s where we start to see what happens after the events of one of the big Marvel films, as characters move in to clean up, categorize, and study the aftermath of something like, oh, let’s say giant Elven spaceships opening interdimensional rifts centered in the middle of England while Asgardian superbeings beat the ever-lovin’ crap out of evil creatures.

Skye (Chloe Bennet) gives voice to the average citizen here, reminding Coulson (Clark Gregg) that not everyone knows all of the backstory already. It’s funny hearing her talk about Thor and remembering that her character hasn’t been front and center for any of the truly cosmic stuff yet. She’s taking it all on faith at this point.

Because Marvel announced this cross-over before “Thor” came out, people have been trying to guess what the thing would be that tied the episode to the film, and I like that Marvel didn’t make it any of the obvious choices. I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that part of a magical staff would be embedded in the middle of a tree, or that it would give humans super-strength.

Here’s one of the things that surprised me this week: Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) is still dealing with the fall-out from her near-death experience. That seems unusual to me in television terms. Isn’t TV supposed to hit the reset button at the end of every episode? She’s not only dealing with some newly-formed fears of falling, but she’s also keenly aware of what that Chitauri virus did to her, and she seems justifiably unwilling to tangle with the same thing twice. Instead of making it grand and melodramatic, though, it’s just an underlying character thread that shows that these episodes are not taking place in isolation.

Jakob Nystrom (Michael Graziadei) and Petra Larsen (Erin Way) are the couple behind the “WE ARE GODS” flaming graffiti, the ones at the center of this week’s chaos in Oslo, and it makes perfect sense that Norse paganism would suddenly grow in the wake of Thor’s re-appearance. The Berserker staff, as it’s identified by Professor Elliot Randolph (Peter MacNicol), is obviously dangerous because of what it can do in the hands of people who want to do harm with it, but as we see when Agent Ward (Brett Dalton) accidentally comes into contact with it, it can also create a dangerous rage in someone even if they aren’t trying to harness its power.

By the way, did no one seen “Ghostbusters II”? You never trust Peter MacNicol with magical artifacts.

Based on the way Ward’s acting, the Berserker staff evidently makes you into a giant dickhead, not just super-strong. But Ward is aware of it, and that’s another one of those choices that convinces me they’re actually starting to try to dig into these characters further and make them more than the archetypes they were in the first few episodes. The “bad guys” this week are driven by a motivation that is almost understandable. They are afraid of the gods that have started to show up, and they want to arm themselves against it. Sure, they immediately begin to abuse the power, but at least the underlying motive is something beyond money or just power for the sake of power.

Visually, this is the most dynamic episode so far. It’s amazing what spending a little money on effects work and actually thinking about the camera will do for the look of a show. Jonathan Frakes did an equally good job with the cast this week, and in particular, he had the difficult task of trying to open up Agent Ward. Brett Dalton hasn’t had much to do beyond the action stuff so far, and this week finally started the task of pushing past the stoic exterior.

Biggest surprise of the week? The acceptance of the open hotel room door. I wouldn’t have called that.

And in case we were still confused about the importance of the line “Tahiti is a magical place,” this week’s final sting would suggest we’re getting very close to Coulson having to deal with those memories and what they’re really hiding.

I understand if people have dropped the show already. I don’t blame them. It got off to a slow start. But if you’re still watching and you don’t think the last three episodes have represented a shift in tone and quality, then I’m baffled. Little by little, they’re starting to get it right, and each step closer to the show I was hoping this would be excites me. They’re earning my ongoing attention, and when the show works, it justifies my patience so far.

“Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.” airs Tuesday nights at 8:00 on ABC.

‘Riker Googling’ Finally Exposes The Sexy Search History Of Star Trek’s Number One

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Commander William Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation is one of those characters we still find fascinating, from his swagger to his flouting of centuries-old bans on sexual harassment in the workplace to his habit of sitting down like an absolute crazy person. Now a parody Twitter account reveals what Jonathan Frakes’ lovable scamp of a character might be looking for on Google.

Our favorite tweets from Riker Googling are collected below. Thanks to The Bear And Peanut for the assist.

LeVar Burton recruits ‘Star Trek’ stars to meet new ‘Reading Rainbow’ Kickstarter goal

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LeVar Burton is “sweetening the pot” to reach his next “Reading Rainbow” Kickstarter goal.

The host and former “Star Trek: The Next Generation” star has recruited a slew of “Star Trek” actors for a series of “Reading Rainbow” live events that will be available for backers who give between $1,200 and $1,700 to the campaign, according to the official “Reading Rainbow” Kickstarter page. The events will see Burton and other former “Star Trek” actors including William Shatner and Patrick Stewart reading from children's books and – at the $1,700 level – participating in an intimate meet-and-greet session with qualifying audience members.

Split into four events, the other “Star Trek” actors tapped to participate include Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, Robert Picardo (“The Men of Star Trek”), Kate Mulgrew, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden and Jeri Ryan (“The Women of Star Trek”). Shatner and Stewart will each be getting their own solo live-reads alongside Burton.

For more details and a video about the new package, click on over to the official Reading Rainbow Kickstarter page.

Will you be helping Burton reach his new $5 million goal? Let us know in the comments.


R.I.P. James Garner: Sally Field, James Woods and more mourn the ‘Rockford Files’ star

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Hollywood came out in force to mourn the loss of movie and TV great James Garner on Sunday, sharing their personal recollections and thoughts on the passing of the Oscar-nominated (and Emmy-winning) star at the age of 86. Check out a sampling below, then share your own fond memories of Garner and his work in the comments.

Sally Field:

“My heart just broke. There are few people on this planet I have adored as much as Jimmy Garner. I cherish every moment I spent with him and relive them over and over in my head. He was a diamond.”

James Woods:

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Carole King:

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Garret Dillahunt:

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Pat Sajak:

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Jonathan Frakes:

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Montel Williams:

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Emma Caulfield:

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Gary Sinise:

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Stephen Fry:

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Marlee Matlin:

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Olivia Munn:

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Illeana Douglas:

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Gale Ann Hurd:

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Grant Gustin:

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Joe Carnahan:

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Bruce Campbell:

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Kevin Zegers:

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Melissa Joan Hart:

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Martha Plimpton:

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Ron Howard:

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Carter Bays:

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Richard Roeper:

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Tom Selleck:

“Jim was a mentor to me and a friend, and I will miss him.”

(Two-time Indy 500 winner) Parnell Jones:

“Garner was “a hell of a driver. He truly was a 'man's man.' Jim was a friend, and when he came to Indianapolis as a spectator and pace car driver we obviously welcomed him with open arms.”

Exclusive: Watch Riker Chase The Ensigns In This Gag Reel For ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’

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Star Trek has given us many wonderful things. Hope for the future. A dream of space travel. And, of course, a lot of actors goofing off, as this gag reel shows us.

Included on the upcoming seventh season Blu-ray release of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the gag reel is some of season seven’s greatest misses, including Jean-Luc busting out the profanity, Geordi being mildly embarrassed on camera, and Riker doing what we always knew he did once the camera was out of range:

It’s all part of the season seven release, coming out December 2nd. In the meantime, try avoid Riker, ensigns.

Fans Want To #BringInRiker For ‘Star Trek 3’

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We’ve already told you that Star Trek 3 is having some fairly serious behind the scenes troubles. Fortunately, fans have a solution: Namely, summoning Commander Riker to direct.

Said fans have rallied around a hashtag, #bringbackriker. A few example tweets, coming as the hashtag picks up steam:

https://twitter.com/ZaronBerma/status/542013247050616832

It’s not actually the worst idea. Jonathan Frakes may sit weirdly, but he’s an experienced director familiar with special effects. Honestly, the studio could do a whole lot worse, and if you think we’re kidding, let’s not forget Paramount has a long history of working with Michael Bay.

That said, while Frakes directed the best Next Generation movie, First Contact, he also directed Insurrection, which is… not. Beyond that, he also has the notorious Thunderbirds and the OK kids’ movie Clockstoppers on his resume, which isn’t exactly the best record for one of Paramount’s key franchises.

On the other hand, J.J. Abrams was mostly a TV guy, and it’s not like directing TV shows is somehow worse than turning out ads and music videos. So, yeah, if Paramount goes for Frakes, we’ll be happy with it. Really, all we want is a movie that doesn’t end with a stupid car chase. Frakes can probably deliver that.

Commander Riker Would Be ‘All Over’ Directing ‘Star Trek 3’

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Maybe he could fit it into his busy schedule…

So, the third movie in the rebooted Star Trek franchise is kind of screwed. Roberto Orci has been ejected from the director’s chair, reportedly because he was stuck on doing another damn time-travel story about the Vulcans trying to save their home planet. Orci denies those were his plans for Star Trek 3, but it doesn’t really matter – dude is gone just the same.

Now the race is on to find a new director so Star Trek 3 can hit its 2016 release date, and Trekkies have taken to Twitter to push for Jonathan Frakes to direct via the #BringinRiker hashtag. Frakes directed one of the top-3 Trek movies ever in First Contact, so it’s really not that outlandish a request, but what does the man himself think about all of this? Well, in a recent radio interview it sounded like Number One was ready to engage

“I’d be all over it. I would love that job. I’m trying to keep the lid on how excited I am about the possibility, knowing it’s such a long shot. But there’s nothing I would like better.”

Frakes says he’s contacted Paramount and expressed his interest in directing Star Trek 3. Now, all he has to do is sit down

…and await a reply.

Via Empire

UPROXX Interview: Jonathan Frakes Is Not Opposed To Blowing Sh*t Up In ‘Star Trek 3’

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Jonathan Frakes has carved out quite a career for himself as a TV and film director, but no matter how many of hours of television he adds to his IMDB page, he will always be connected to Star Trek: The Next Generation and the Star Trek franchise.

To some, that might sound like an encumbrance, but Frakes seems happily married to the notoriety that his role as William T. Riker has brought to him. Even though he does think that his status as a beard icon is “bizarre.”

Frakes’ Star Trek bona fides don’t yield only meme mentions and shouts of “Number One” when he goes to conventions, though. Now there is a social media campaign to add Frakes’ name to the list of people being considered to direct Star Trek 3 being that Roberto Orci is no longer occupying the director’s chair. Does Frakes have a chance? I’m not sure, but he’d clearly be thrilled to direct another Star Trek film (he helmed Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: First Contact), and he knows what kind of story he’d like to tell if given the chance.

Earlier today, we had the chance to talk to Frakes about Star Trek 3, why Riker positively attacked all chairs when he sat in them, working on The Librarians, and whether Gene Roddenberry’s concept of Star Trek: The Next Generation was too rigid.

Uproxx: Let’s say you get the job directing Star Trek 3, what would you want to bring to the project? What kind of story would you hope to tell?

Jonathan Frakes: I mean, nothing I’d like better… but if I come to Star Trek 3, I’m coming to the script that exists, so I’ll do the best version of whatever story we’ve got to tell. Our friend Captain Kirk, I gather he’s been signed up, so there’s gotta be some way to work Kirk in, which I think would be great for the fans.

Uproxx: If you had your say, though. If you were able to shape the story, what kind of story would you want to tell? Would you want to tell a story of exploration, something that’s a little more original, something that kind of pays tribute to the long history of the franchise? What would you do if you had your say?

Frakes: I think the success of the show and the stories that I’ve always enjoyed telling are the ones that have a little more emo. A little more about relationships and a little less about blowing sh*t up. So complicated relationships and moral dilemmas like we faced in Insurrection, First Contact. I like the sort of visceral, emotional relationship part of the Trek lore.

Not that I’m opposed to blowing sh*t up, because it’s always fun and visually exciting (laughs).

Uproxx: Has it surprised you how popular the #BringInRiker campaign has been?

Frakes: I’m overwhelmed. I’ve gotta say thrilled, but overwhelmed at the way it’s taken off and I watch it with wonder and excitement and not a little bit of hope.

Uproxx: You said before that you view yourself as a longshot to direct Star Trek 3. What do you think stands against you, in your opinion?

Frakes: Well, I don’t know the people at Paramount. It’s a new regime and I’m not sure if that’s going to help me or hurt me. And I know that they’ve circled Edgar Wright and I’m not sure who else is on the short list. I’m just happy to have my hat in the ring. I’m also a kind of a big JJ fan. I like his style and I like his storytelling.

Uproxx: I gotta ask you about the memes, Commander Riker is an internet sensation. How do you feel about that? Specifically, the beard worship. You’re a beard icon to a lot of people.

Frakes: Isn’t that bizarre?

Uproxx: It is! But I gotta tell you, it was a fine beard.

Frakes: Someone pointed out to me recently in the alleged Urban Dictionary, that “Riker’s Beard” is defined as the opposite of “Jumping the Shark,” which I think is the best compliment of all.

Uproxx: What about the chair sitting? Are you familiar with this? You kinda had a way of just climbing over the chair.

Frakes: I just did a spoof yesterday, oddly enough. It’s called Nerd Court, it’s going to be a YouTube series. And this is someone who was defending Riker and I was brought in as a special witness, playing myself, and I entered and I threw the leg over the chair and it was all part of the gestalt now. I did that one time in Ten Forward in Whoopi’s bar on the Enterprise.

Uproxx: I don’t think it was one time, I saw a video…

Frakes: No, I did it a thousand times afterwards, it turns out, but I didn’t remember doing it quite as frequently as the video suggests. (Laughs)

Uproxx: Do you have any recollection of why you did that, did it just feel like the thing to do?

Frakes: I think it was kind of a cowboy thing and kind of, it was playful and nobody told me to stop so I just kept doing it. (Laughs)

Uproxx: That leads me to the next question here: What do you think you injected into the role of Riker? How do you think you made the character different from what is on the page?

Frakes: Well in the first couple of seasons, I think that I was not very successful at injecting much that wasn’t on the page. I was told by Gene Roddenberry to play him without a smile. What he referred to as a midwestern, Gary Cooper deadpan facial expression. And you know, your purpose is to serve the Captain and provide him with the best ship that you can. And that was all well and good, and that’s the way the character was written. But it sort of wasn’t fitting on my body as well as the guy who ended up playing the trombone and being a little bit more playful and adventuresome.

Maurice Hurley came in to help in the first season and he took us out to lunch and that’s where the trombone came from and where the appreciation of jazz came from. So a few things about me were put into the character, and all of a sudden I felt a little bit more comfortable in the clothes.

Uproxx: Do you think that Gene Roddenberry’s concept of the show, when it started, was a little too rigid?

Frakes: Frankly, I think that’s a very astute observation. [Rick] Berman always said it, too. Roddenberry didn’t want the characters to have conflict, which flies in the face of drama. I mean, drama is created by conflict. So it was a very challenging set of marching orders that we all were faced with.

I was lucky that I had Marina [Sirtis], so my relationship with her was well-defined at the beginning and then in spite of the fact that the writers didn’t address it, we maintained a depth of character relationship that helped inform the way we behaved. And then Picard and Riker had a very specific relationship established in the pilot that Patrick [Stewart] and I were able to maintain. Then it became the thing with Riker and Worf… so, everybody developed relationships that were on the page or that they created through, you know, smoke and mirrors with the hope that it would deepen and help tell the stories that were written.

Uproxx: Was there a lot of rehearsal or was it just [established] in brief chats before the scenes?

Frakes: There was never time for a lot of rehearsal. It would be something that we would discover after rehearsal while the crew was lighting while we would be running a scene together. Or we would go to each other in the makeup trailer and say, “You know this scene in 18 that we’re doing together today, what about this beat in here, should we play something?” It was a room full of actors, I mean actors who really loved acting, so it was always a pleasure to go to work. Because I’ve been on shows where the actors were something else first and actors second, and that’s a different animal altogether.

Uproxx: You directed two of the Librarian movies and now it’s a show that had a very successful debut and you’re returning to direct a few episodes, can you talk to me a little bit about the difference in the vibe on the set when you’re directing the movies versus when you’re directing an episode of the show?

Frakes: Well the vibe on The Librarians set is exactly the same because it’s driven by Noah’s energy. And John Rogers, who wrote the movies, is the showrunner on the show. And Dean Devlin who produced the movies is the producer on the show. And I’m the director of the movies and I directed three of the episodes. And Marc Roskin is a producer and the director on them. And the DP is the same. So the family has embraced the new additions like Rebecca Romijn, Lindy [Booth], and John Larroquette. The brilliant Larroquette. So one of the things about the series that is working is that we have already established that wonderful amalgam of action adventure comedy, that is really led by how delicious Flynn Carson is, the character that Noah [Wyle] plays.

Uproxx: Were you surprised to see the show come back? The concept come back, because the movies had been dormant for a few years.

Frakes: We were actually pushing for this for a long time. Either another movie Librarian movie, and then Michael Wright, who was running TNT at the time, suggested a series. We thought the movie was so complicated and dense to try to do in the little amount of time that we had, we couldn’t imagine doing a series, but somehow with the help of John Rogers’ genius, we found a way.

I did a bunch of them, the first one I did is coming up around Christmas starring Bruce Campbell as Santa Claus. Not your father’s Santa Claus. Another version of Santa Claus. No red suit.

Jonathan Frakes will be appearing with other Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members in both Seattle and San Francisco this weekend for Creation Entertainment’s Star Trek conventions. Click here for details.

Check Out This ‘Star Trek: TNG’ Video Supercut Demonstrating The Famous ‘Picard Maneuver’

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Star Trek: The Next Generation ran for seven seasons, for all of which there were alleged issues with the uniforms worn by the Enterprise crew. The result of this supposed problem was a certain shirt-tugging gesture, or “battle tactic,” performed by Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Called the “Picard Maneuver” by fans, YouTube user whysp80 decided to capture its essence with a video supercut.

During the third season, wardrobe did away with the spandex onesies the cast had begrudgingly gotten used to wearing. Not only did the cast complain about the revealing nature of the spandex, but Patrick Stewart’s chiropractor also requested that he avoid wearing tight clothes. Instead, they opted for two-piece outfits with separate pants and jackets. Be sure to keep an eye out for Riker’s solo and the shout-out to Data at the end.

(Via: Laughing Squid)

Riker Gets His Own Show In This ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ Fan Edit

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We already know that Jonathan Frakes of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame would’ve been all over the Star Trek 3 director’s chair, but what about his own show as Commander William Riker? That’s the question I’m asking after watching (and surviving) the pilot episode of Riker, the first of what could be a Number One-centric series based on cobbled-together cuts from Next Generation.

According to The Verge, the video has a particularly Internet-y history behind it:

Those who occupy a certain strange corner of the internet might recognize this style as the work of Jan van den Hemel, who worked together with fellow video editor Andrew Hussie to make dozens of hilarious The Next Generation edits back in the late 2000s. Riker is the first new TNG video from Hemel in nearly five years.

The pair’s various Next Generation edits have their own YouTube playlist, and it’s wonderfully horrifying. But it doesn’t end with the Riker pilot — The Verge reports that more episodes are on the way.

Read more about Hemel and Hussie’s collaborations at Patreon, where you can donate to Hemel’s crowdfunding campaign.

(Via The Verge)


A ‘Star Trek’ Luminary Will Direct An Episode Of The Upcoming ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Series

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After months of waiting and speculation, the roll out ahead of Star Trek: Discovery‘s premiere on CBS All Access is finally underway. The broadcaster’s digital arm released a first trailer for the new series in May, while a release date and plot details were announced in June. Yet with just under three months to go before the September 24th premiere on CBS, Discovery has plenty more to reveal before fans get the chance to see what the latest addition to Gene Roddenberry’s creation is all about — like the return of a Star Trek: The Next Generation luminary.

Jonathan Frakes, who played Commander William T. Riker in the second Star Trek iteration and several films, will join Discovery‘s production to direct an episode. “He’s a fantastic guy and great director,” show writer and producer Gretchen J. Berg told Entertainment Weekly. Fellow Discovery showrunner Aaron Harberts added, “Our cast is dying to work with him.” Frakes, who cut his teeth directing the Next Generation third season episode “The Offspring,” has directed episodes of subsequent Star Trek television shows and films. Episodes of Leverage, Burn Notice and other programs also bear his mark.

Interestingly enough, Frakes also directed an episode of Seth MacFarlane’s upcoming Star Trek parody series The Orville. Whether or not one gig will affect the other remains to be seen, but the demand for Frakes’ behind-the-camera skills is undoubtedly a sign of Riker’s endless appeal.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)





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