Star Trek Cast Confident Gene Roddenberry Would Have Been Thrilled With Picard Series

“Star Trek” stars believe they’re serving Gene Roddenberry’s “vision” with new series. Would he or wouldn’t he be proud of “Star Trek’s” new legacy? Here’s what this series-regular thinks.

Star Of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” Discusses The Franchise’s Legacy And What It Means To Advance Gene Roddenberry’s Vision

It’s time to say goodbye to the Paramount+ series. And to bid it a proper adieu, and, in the same time, introduce us to “Picard,” the stars chatted with PEOPLE about the motivation that drove the series on.

On Thursday, the stars walked the red carpet at the series’ finale screening, which also coincided with the day the series finale dropped on Paramount+.

During the eventful evening, the stars got to chat about how the reunion on the third season of “Star Wars: The New Generation” helped deepen their already close bond. They also speculated that the excitement the project inspired and the critical acclaim that came with it would have “thrilled” the late creator of “Star Trek,” Gene Roddenberry.

“He’d surely be thrilled, right?” Jonathan Frakes, who plays Will Riker in the series and directs several episodes, says of Roddenberry, who passed away at the age of 70 in October 1991, following several health issues.

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Gene Roddenberry Created The original “Star Trek” Series

When Roddenberry created the original “Star Trek” series that launched in 1966 and its “TNG” follow-up that premiered in 1987, he had an optimistic outlook to the future, but Frakes, 70, said the writer-producer also saw Hollywood for the harsh environment it is.

“Even as cynical a man as he was, I’m sure he’d be thrilled,” the actor said at the Los Angeles event. “And I think we’re serving his vision.”

“A lot of his principles, of a world where there’s no sexism and no racism and no money and people respect each other, I think that’s at the core of this whole idea,” Frakes added. “And I think it’s part of it’s the key to the success of the whole thing.”

Frakes was joined by his co-stars Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn and “Star Trek: Voyager” veteran-turned-Picard regular Jeri Ryan.

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