“I’m here with a formal invitation,” said Patrick Stewart when he appeared on “The View” on January 22. “It’s for you, Whoopi. Alex Kurtzman, who is the senior executive producer of ‘Star Trek: Picard,’ and all of his colleagues, of which I am one, want to invite you into the second season.” Yes, Stewart offered Whoopi Goldberg the opportunity to reprise her iconic “Trek” role in his new CBS All Access series, which has already been picked up for season two. And thank goodness Goldberg said yes. Watch Stewart’s proposal above.
Goldberg is best known to many for her roles on the big screen in films like “The Color Purple,” “Ghost” and “Sister Act,” and of course she’s among an elite 15 entertainment pros who have achieved the EGOT, winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony over the course of her career. But devoted Trekkers — like me — perhaps remember her best for her role as Guinan in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Guinan was a bartender in the Ten Forward crew lounge on the USS Enterprise and a member of the wise and empathetic El-Aurian race of aliens whose lives span hundreds of years.
Goldberg originally joined the cast of “TNG” in 1988 at the beginning of season two and continued to recur on the series throughout its run, and then also appeared in the films “Star Trek: Generations” (1994) and “Star Trek: Nemesis” (2002). But she won’t be the only one reprising her classic role on the new series. Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Brent Spiner (Data), Jonathan Del Arco (Hugh) and Jeri Ryan (Seven-of-Nine from “Star Trek: Voyager”) are set to make appearances in season one, which premieres on January 23 on the streaming platform.
Which other past characters would you most like to see return to the “Star Trek” universe and boldly go back where they’ve gone before? Vote in our poll below.
