Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner loveStar Trek: Lower Decksand called it"the best show ever"for breaking one ofStar Trek’s rules.Star Trek: Lower Decksended on Paramount+in December 2024 after five seasons. Jonathan Frakes was the first big name fromStar Trek: The Next Generationto appear onLower Decks, voicing Captain Will Riker in seasons 1 and 2. Brent Spiner joinedStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 and voiced an alternate universe (and purple) version of Lt. Commander Data’s head.
Appearing at South Texas Comic Con together, Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner were asked about their stints voicing Riker and Data onStar Trek: Lower Decks.Brent and Jonathan effusively praised Mike McMahan’s animated comedy, with Frakes explaining how Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid guest-starring in theStar Trek: Strange New Worldscrossoverepisode Frakes directed broke a long-held rule in Star Trek about ‘no improvisation.’ Read Frakes and Spiner’s quotes and watch the video below:
Brent Spiner: They’re great. Lower Decks, that’s the best show ever. I love Lower Decks.
Jonathan Frakes: The sensibility of that show is right up our alley. I had the privilege of directing the episode of Strange New Worlds where they crossed over with Lower Decks. Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid, who, ironically, look like the characters that they play on Lower Decks, showed up in real life. And we broke one of the great Star Trek codes, which was for decades, you were never allowed to change a line of dialogue in any of the scripts. It was like we were doing Shakespeare or Chekhov. They were so serious about it. It was so overbearing.
Both of those actors improv. Tawny’s from Second City. So they just improvised. They didn’t know the rules. And I was on the set directing. I had Kat Lynn and Bill Wolkoff, who were the two writers. The scene just lit up, and I sort of side-eyed with the two of them. ‘Are you good with that?’ ‘Yeah, I’m good. Let’s go.’ ‘Okay, great.’ And so, all of a sudden, the rules changed for that episode. And it turns out that Anson, and Rebecca, and Ethan [were] wonderfully funny. So it became… We were open to a… creative behavior that we were never allowed [on TNG].
Brent Spiner: You know what I like best about Lower Decks, when I acted on Lower Decks, was the makeup. It was so easy!
Why Brent Spiner & Jonathan Frakes Think Star Trek: Lower Decks Is “The Best Show Ever”
Lower Decks Could Get Away With Just About Anything
Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner are a duo of jokesters when they’re together at conventions, butthey are sincere in their admiration forStar Trek: Lower Decks. Mike McMahan’s animated comedy provedStar Trekcould be funny but still lovingly embrace and homage every aspect ofStar Trekthat fans love. Frakes was an early adopter and supporter ofLower Decks; by lending his voice asCaptain Will Rikerin seasons 1 and 2, Jonathan gaveLower Deckscredibility and ‘the rub’ as an icon fromStar Trek: The Next Generation.
Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi, John de Lancie as Q, and Alice Krige as the Borg Queen are some of the otherStar Trek: The Next Generationicons who appeared inStar Trek: Lower Decks.
Brent Spiner didn’t guest onStar Trek: Lower Decksuntil its final season, buthis appearance as purple Data’s head was one of the series' finest episodes, and was a delightful surprise forStar Trekfans. As Spiner joked at South Texas Comic Con,voicing Data onLower Deckswas a gift since he could play his iconic android without donning Data’s yellow makeup and contacts.Star Trek: Lower Decks' improvisational style let theStar Trek: The Next Generationlegends cut loose like their infamous off-camera antics while filmingTNG.
Our Take On Jonathan Frakes & Brent Spiner Praising Star Trek: Lower Decks
Frakes & Spiner Know A Good Star Trek Comedy When They See It
Star Trek: The Next Generationearned a reputation as perhaps the funniestStar Trekcast throughout their decades of working together, and Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner recognized their same sensibility inStar Trek: Lower Decks.Frakes is right thatLower Decks’humor is"right up their alley,“which is whyTNGstars have gelled so seamlessly when guest-voicing their characters in Mike McMahan’s comedy.Lower Decksis also such a loving ode toStar Trek: TNGthat the two shows fit perfectly together.
Jonathan Frakes got to work with Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome onStar Trek: Strange New Worlds and formed a bond with them off-screen as well. While Brent Spiner didn’t get to act withStar Trek: Lower Decks’voice cast, he knows them all from theirStar Trekconvention appearances. Like the fans, Frakes and Spiner would no doubt be happy to seeStar Trek: Lower Decksreturn somehow, and they would surely love to work with Mike McMahan and his hilarious cast again.
