‘Star Trek: Picard’ Featurette: Patrick Stewart Is Ready For His Close-Up
SirPatrick Stewartwants one thing to be absolutely clear: his new CBS All Access series,Star Trek: Picard, is not merelyStar Trek: The Next Generation 2.0.
“Almost twenty years have passed. Things have become more complex,” the acclaimed actor says in a new featurette. “The world of Starfleet, the world of the Federation, is not quite what it was the last time Jean-Luc Picard was seen in that world. It’s different. And it’s not all good.” Watch the full video below.
Star Trek Picard Featurette
Before the 2009 J.J. Abrams movie reintroducedStar Trekto modern audiences,Trekwas long seen as the thinking person’s sci-fi franchise of choice – especially compared toStar Wars. It seems that distinction remains withStar Trek: Picard, as executive producerAkiva Goldsmanexplains in the featurette:
“It’s the story of Picard. It is the title. It is his character journey that is the actual journey of the show, and we get to take the time to do it. Which is not to say that we’re without plot, or many things blowing up now and then, or derring-do, but they do take a backseat to the story of this man and this chapter of his life.”
I can’t imagine anyone who grew up lovingThe Next Generationor even all of the Stewart-led movies being disappointed in that approach, and I look forward to seeing if this show leaves a better taste in people’s mouths thanStar Trek: Discovery, which has its supporters but also seems somewhat divisive in theTrekfandom.
Also: does anyone else find it a bit strange thatMichael Chabon, the showrunner of this series, doesn’t appear as one of the talking heads in this featurette? I know he’seventually moving onto become the co-showrunner of Showtime’s TV adaptation of his Pultizer Prize-winning bookThe Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, but in a recent interview withRolling Stone, Chabon explained that transition was still a little ways away, and that he was still going to have a significant role to play behind the scenes forPicard’s (already greenlit) second season. You’d think CBS All Access would have been able to get the showrunner to sit down and offer a few quotes for a video like this.
In any case,Star Trek: Picardpremieres on CBS All Access onJanuary 23, 2020and will subsequently release new episodes weekly.
