Appearing at South Texas Comic Con together, Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner were asked about their stints voicing Riker and Data on Star 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 the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds crossover episode 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, but they are sincere in their admiration for Star Trek: Lower Decks. Mike McMahan's animated comedy proved Star Trek could be funny but still lovingly embrace and homage every aspect of Star Trek that fans love. Frakes was an early adopter and supporter of Lower Decks; by lending his voice as Captain Will Riker in seasons 1 and 2, Jonathan gave Lower Decks credibility and 'the rub' as an icon from Star 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 other Star Trek: The Next Generation icons who appeared in Star Trek: Lower Decks.
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 Lower Decks Season 5 Ep 7-43]()
Star Trek: The Next Generation earned a reputation as perhaps the funniest Star Trek cast throughout their decades of working together, and Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner recognized their same sensibility in Star Trek: Lower Decks. Frakes is right that Lower Decks' humor is "right up their alley," which is why TNG stars have gelled so seamlessly when guest-voicing their characters in Mike McMahan's comedy. Lower Decks is also such a loving ode to Star Trek: TNG that the two shows fit perfectly together.
Jonathan Frakes got to work with Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and formed a bond with them off-screen as well. While Brent Spiner didn't get to act with Star Trek: Lower Decks' voice cast, he knows them all from their Star Trek convention appearances. Like the fans, Frakes and Spiner would no doubt be happy to see Star Trek: Lower Decks return somehow, and they would surely love to work with Mike McMahan and his hilarious cast again.
Source: Bot's Toy Vault, South Texas Comic Con
