When "Star Trek: Voyager" debuted back in January, we were promised that there absolutely, positively would not be any crossover between the newest "Trek" series and its predecessors - "Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine."
Couldn't happen. Wouldn't happen, according to the producers.The basic premise behind "Voyager" is that this is a ship that has been accidentally thrust to the other side of the galaxy - so far away that it will take it some 70 years to get back to the Federation. So far away that Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew couldn't come to their rescue.
Yes, Quark (Armin Shimmerman) of "DS9" had a cameo role in the "Voyager" pilot, but that was before the ship was shipped off to the Delta Quadrant. And that would be the only such incident, executive producers Rick Berman, Michael Piller and Jeri Taylor promised.
And when Tuvok (Tim Russ) appeared briefly in an episode of "Deep Space Nine" last season, that was in an alternate reality so it didn't really count.
So, then, what is Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) doing in an episode of "Voyager" that will be shown sometime later this season?
Sounds like the ultimate violation of the basic premise of the show.
Of course, it's not. It all makes sense in "Star Trek" sort of way.
And it's the result of the actions of the ultimate violator of all premises, the omnipotent Q (John de Lancie).
And ever since "Voyager" debuted, fans have been wondering whether Q would put in an appearance. He is, after all, omnipotent indeed. Snapping his fingers and showing up on the other side of the galaxy would require less effort than it takes for mere mortals to walk across the street.
The producers themselves have acknowledged that fact. But they didn't immediately leap into an episode that featured Q.
"It would not be enough creatively to have him repeat the same kind of relationship with Capt. Janeway and the crew of Voyager as he did with Picard and the Enterprise," Taylor told TV critics recently. "If he just drops in to bedevil humans, I think that's an arc we've played out."
Indeed. The pilot of "Next Generation" featured Q putting the entire human race on trial. And seven years later, the series ended with another episode in which that trial continued.
"If we come up with a wonderful story or a wonderful reason to bring Q in, if there's a good creative reason, if we can develop a relationship that would seem appropriate and not just fall back on the same kind of thing just because he's there, then of course we'll do it," Taylor said.
And, apparently, they've done it. Q - and Riker - are scheduled to make appear on "Voyager."
And de Lancie, for one, is thrilled with the concept.
"It's the best yet!" he said. "It certainly answers a lot of people's questions about the nature of being Q, but also begs many other questions."
And it takes the relationship that Q had with the crew of the Enterprise and turns it on its head.
The episode, titled "Death Wish," is about a rebel member of the Q Continuum's immortal race. He escapes imprisonment inside a comet and demands asylum aboard the Voyager.
But hot on his trail is de Lancie's Q, who demands that the rebel be turned over for return to the Continuum. But the rebel has plans of his own - he wants to commit suicide to end the tedium of immortality.
Capt. Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) does what any good Starfleet captain would do - she consults Starfleet regulations and convenes a hearing on the rebel Q's request for asylum. With Tuvok acting as the rebel's counsel, Q finds that tables turned as the Q are put on trial for their actions.
And one of the witnesses Q calls from among people whose lives he has influenced is - you guessed it - Commander Riker.
The episode, which was written by Piller and his son, Shawn, has not yet been scheduled. But don't be surprisde if it shows up during a sweeps month.
WHY NOT PICARD? Deseret News movie critic Chris Hicks - another Trekker - correctly points out that logic would dictate that Q call Capt. Picard, not Commander Riker, as a witness in this impending trial.
Well, there's a logical reason for that not happening.
Patrick Stewart doesn't need the work as much as Jonathan Frakes does.
SPEAKING OF RIKERS: Now that the military government of Cardassia has been overthrown on "Deep Space Nine," shouldn't Lt. Thomas Riker be released from prison?
Thomas Riker, as all you Trekkers are aware, is the transporter accident-produced twin to William Riker. And both characters are, of course, played by Frakes.
Frakes has already made one guest appearance on "DS9," and don't be surprised if he returns again.
JUST WONDERING: Paramount has announced that all the principal cast members of "Next Generation" have been signed to appear in the next "Star Trek" movie, which is scheduled for release sometime late next year.
That includes Michael Dorn (Lt. Commander Worf).
But one wonders how they'll work Worf in now that he's a fulltime crew member aboard "Deep Space Nine."
VIDBITS: Mandy Patinkin isn't the only member of the "Chicago Hope" cast who's about to depart. Peter MacNicol is headed out the door sometime later this season.
There's no word on exactly how his character, hospital attorney Alan Birch, will be written out. But apparently the departure is at MacNicol's request.
He will be the third major cast member to lose "Hope." In addition to Patinkin, E.G. Marshall left last season as the show tried to populate itself with younger cast members.
- Oprah Winfrey is going to be a busy woman. Just days after announcing she'll stay with her top-rated daytime talk show for two more seasons, she signed a four-year deal with ABC to create programs and products for that network and its affiliated businesses.
Included in the deal are Oprah-hosted prime-time specials during the 1996-97 season and the development of a prime-time series, which will star Oprah (of course).
This is in addition to the deal Oprah signed with ABC back in may to produce six TV movies over three years.
- ABC has refused to sell Kentucky Fried Chicken and the National Pork Producers Council advertising time during the upcoming six-hour Beatles documentary.
Apparently it has something to do with the fact that Paul McCartney and his wife, Linda, are vegetarians. And that they promote their views during the documentary, which airs over three nights in November.
ABC will not, however, require viewers to sign a vow of vegetarianism before tuning in.