CALGARY – A quarter of a century after beaming onto the airwaves in 1987, the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation will make a rare public appearance at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo in April.
Next Generation aired in syndication from September, 1987 through May, 1994. The show, won 18 Primetime Emmys, with 178 episodes over seven seasons and ran longer than any other Star Trek series.
“I can safely say it will be the first time we have all been gathered together at a convention,” said LeVar Burton, who played Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge, in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s been 25 years,” said Burton.
“It’s interesting because this week is the 35th anniversary of Roots airing for the first time and this year is the 25th anniversary of the Next Gen coming on the air. It’s just kind of crazy to think that time is just passing so quickly,” he added.
Burton first came to prominence portraying Kunta Kinte in the 1977 award-winning ABC television miniseries Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley and was nominated for an Emmy.
He will be joined at the Calgary expo (April 27-29) by Sir Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Commander William Riker), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), Denise Crosby (Security Chief Tasha Yar), Gates McFadden (Dr. Beverly Crusher), Michael Dorn (Lt. Commander Worf) and Wil Wheaton (Ensign Wesley Crusher).
However, being reunited at the convention isn’t quite as exciting as you would expect since Burton says the cast still hang out all the time.
“Generally at Christmas we try to get together – as many of us that are here. Patrick has been here a few times over the years. A few times it has been possible to get everybody…some years not so much,” he said with a chuckle.
“Because we tend to get together all the time it’s not like we ever left each other’s lives. But the drag is we weren’t getting paid any more to hang out.”
The red letter day for Trek fanatics is April 28, when the full cast will take the stage for TNG EXPOsed in a 5,000 seat venue.
“It’s the best when we are all together. It’s incredible and if we are having a good time a good time is guaranteed for the fans,” added Burton.
Steven Hodges, one of the organizers of the expo, can’t believe it is actually happening.
“I’m really excited. Even if you’re not a real Star Trek fan I grew up watching the Next Generation with my Dad…it was our Sunday afternoon show,” he said.
“A lot of people I know aren’t hardcore science fiction fans but they kind of grew up watching Star Trek. It was the show you watched leading up to the Magical World of Disney on the CBC.”
Burton said he is proud of all the work he had done throughout his career but one thing stands out – his time hosting Reading Rainbow, an American children’s TV series aired by PBS from 1983 until 2006 that encouraged reading among children. The series garnered over 200 broadcast awards, including scores of Emmys.
“My mother was an English teacher and I really grew up in a family where reading was expected. Reading was like breathing in the house I was raised in,” he said.
“The Roots experience for me was one where I really discovered the power of the medium of television and when I was approached by PBS – the idea of a television show that steered children back to literature through the medium of television just made so much sense to me.”
Reading Rainbow may be off the air but Burton said a Reading Rainbow app will be released in the first week of March.
“It’s a free download and the heart of the business is digital books for children. I’m really excited to bring the large part of the childhood of a lot of a great many 30 somethings who have communicated there’s nothing out there like that for their kids.”
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