Our final purple carpet interview from the Hollywood premiere of Star Trek: Picard is with Wil Wheaton, Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Wesley Crusher and host of the official Star Trek aftershow, The Ready Room. We talked about his views on the new season, Dr. Crusher’s story, and how he and Mike McMahan trade crazy pitches about Wesley for Lower Decks.
You have seen season 3 for The Ready Room, but pretend you are just a fan, or “Just a Geek” in your case, what did you think?
This is everything I ever wanted out of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is everything I ever wanted out of every Star Trek movie. This is the most satisfying season of any Star Trek series I have ever watched, and I’ve watched them all.
Even with all the returning characters, it is still very different than The Next Generation in many ways. Would you say that it is doing thing that you wish were done on TNG, or is it just a different thing?
When we started the Next Generation in the late ‘80s, we were very aspirational. We were clearing a lot of trees out of a forest. And a lot of people have come and built a beautiful village behind the route that we cleared out. And we were trying a lot of new things back then. And one of our edicts was, “Listen, by the 24th century, things are cool, we’ve got it all worked out.” Which is a wonderful, idealized vision, but it doesn’t make for the most compelling drama in the world. Star Trek: Picard season 3, as envisioned by [showrunner] Terry Matalas, represents everything we want out of Star Trek, while reflecting the reality that we live in, and that humans are flawed and that humans do engage in conflict. And that conflict is interesting. And out of conflict can come growth. And I feel like this season really, really just embodies all of that.
Obviously, Dr. Crusher is a big part of this season. What was it like for you watching that as sort of a member of that family?
I was super excited for Gates to do everything that she does this season. She’s a legit badass. Like, Beverly is not a person that you want on your enemies list at all. And watching Gates bring that version of her to life was really fun and really satisfying. And look, I mean, family pride, right?
Wil Wheaton hosting The Ready Room with Gates McFadden and Patrick Stewart
Mike McMahan once told me he struggled with coming up with a way to put Wesley into Lower Decks, but at Mission: Chicago last year you said you had a pitch for Mike. So how did the pitch go?
Mike, and I joke about it all the time. Part of our friendship is riffing on outrageous Wesley Crusher storylines. It’s just a thing that we do. None of them will ever happen. They will only exist in our heads. Maybe someday we’ll be at a con together and we’ll just have a panel where we pitch Wesley stories at each other and see what happens. It would probably be entertaining.
But you genuinely want to be on Lower Decks, right?
If I were given the opportunity to be in Lower Decks in any capacity, I would absolutely say yes. Are you kidding me? Look, I am a professional. I am an actor. I’m a member of legacy Star Trek. But before any of that existed in my life, I was a fan. And this fan, given any opportunity to be part of any Star Trek, just says “Tell me when to show up, thank you.”
Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher in season 2 of Picard
You were a frequent guest on @midnight and news just broke it is being rebooted, do you imagine you might have any involvement?
I don’t know anything about it except that story in Deadline. So until it’s developed and thought out a little more clearly, I don’t have anything to say about it.
More exclusive Picard coverage
This is the final interview from the Hollywood premiere event coming. Check out previously released Picard purple carpet interviews plus a post-premiere chat with Terry Matalas:
- Michele Hurd
- Gates McFadden
- Terry Matalas
- Jonathan Frakes
- Todd Stashwick
- Patrick Stewart
- Titan bridge crew cast
- Terry Matalas post-season premiere breakdown
The third and final season of Picard premieres on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and Latin America, and on February 17 Paramount+ in Europe and elsewhere, with new episodes of the 10-episode-long season available to stream weekly. It also debuted on Friday, Feb. 17 internationally on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
Mike M, if you are reading this. We need a ep with Garrett Wang involved, called, “The promotion of Harry Kim,” where he’s still an Ensign, but is finally getting promoted, then LDS hijinks occur, and at the end of the ep he is still an Ensign.
Hahahahaha!
I want Kim to return as either C in C of Starfleet or President of the Federation, without any explanation of how he got from point A to B.
Yes! :-)
LOL, OK, on Prodigy, have Janeway check with the C in C of Starfleet, and it’s Kim…her freaking boss! Make it so! LOL
Damn you beat me to it!
That’s pretty funny!
We need an EP of Lower Decks where Harry Kim is the CnC of Starfleet.
Now that we know Wes has a brother, and given Wes’s involvement at the end of season two, I’m positive he’ll show up this season in some capacity. There’s no way they’d be stupid enough not to.
Wes is an Traveler. He knows that for sure. But as he said here in the Interview. Perhaps he is happy for his Mom. Since he was gone, but i do not know if Wes will save someones Day in the end. “See and this is how my Brother become an Bad ass Doctor!”
Sorry, I’m not really sure what you’re trying to say here.
Oh sorry, 2nd try:
i bet Wes already knows about his Brother, because he can travel wherever he wants. And i bet he do not mind that his Mom not tell him that while they where together. And perhaps in the Future Timeline here, if Wes makes an appearances, perhaps just as Easter Egg for the fans. he could say this line: “See and this is how my Brother become an Bad Ass Doctor!”. the Turning point of his Brother Timeline that turn him into the Light Side or at last in the Light Gray area, if he become an regular cast of some Spinoff of course. Perhaps with Soji still on his Side as pupil or something
Wesley does not even consider himself Wesley anymore. He said in a former life he was Wesley. And he didn’t bother to even take the time to say Hi to Picard and co.
One of the big missed opportunities on TNG for me was their not doing something after Wesley left for the Academy, where the ship stops by the planet he is doing his summer school/internship and finds him unshaven and drunk in some backwoods space tavern. That’s the end of the teaser. From there you do HENRY IV pt 2, with two father figures warring over his fate, one being the straight arrow King (stewart), the other a bawdy Falstaff type played by Brian Blessed.
Shut up Wesley!!
Not funny. Not then and just cruel now.
The guy went through a quiet hell with abusive parents who literally stole his residuals when he was an adult.
Seriously, they were intercepting six figure residuals while shaming him for not getting work. At times they were making him borrow his own money from them to help support himself and his family.
That he can do great work as an interviewer and blogger is frankly astonishing.
Jeez… I’d read about his parents being abusive, but not this part. I hope he was able to take action against them.
The guy has a backstory where he could have just as easily ended up as another anonymous guy living in a tent on Wilshire Blvd. somewhere. That he didn’t is a testimony in and of itself. Further, the guy has a genuine enthusiasm for the franchise that makes him a natural for “Ready Room” type of projects. While I know appearances can be deceiving, he seems like a nice guy, all be it one who doesn’t suffer fools.
So, stop being a fool.
Yeah, my perspective on Wheaton changed when I started reading his blog kinda regularly in the 2000s. He’s a very entertaining writer. I find his enthusiasm a bit too fake or over-the-top when he does Ready Room interviews, but he’s a good guy who seems to genuinely like Star Trek. Obviously, he got a bad wrap for Wesley.
It always came off to be as weird how much of a jerk Wil Wheaton was in the first few seasons of Big Bang given what a nice guy he is IRL
Haha nice.
I do NOT intend to be unkind about the young lady from whom he took over Ready Room. His work as a young actor really comes through. He does a great job. Some might consider him Over the Top. This doesn’t matter. He keeps the show moving, and keeps it entertaining.
I, personally, hope he gets to be the hero in the finale of Picard’s story arc. It would strike a great blow for math & science geekdom.