Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, May 7, 1994 TAG: 9405090110
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
After seven seasons, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is making its final journey into the unknown after setting new standards for syndicated success with 218 stations, high ratings and 16 Emmys.
Aware of the value of a franchise bonanza, Paramount Television already is planning a new series, "Star Trek: Voyager," to be launched early next year.
Far from disbanding, the "Next Generation" crew has started work immediately on a feature, "Star Trek: Generations," which will reach theaters at Thanksgiving.
Patrick Stewart, the shiny-domed, stoical Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, observes that the series' end "is a farewell with a very long backward glance."
"Although the series is ending, we are now very heavily involved in the making of the feature film," he said. "And I believe that Paramount would like us to make several more, assuming that this one is successful. In which case, we might be looking at another 10 years of `The Next Generation.'"
The conclusion of the series couldn't be better timed, in Stewart's view.
"I have felt for some time that everything I could put into this show has been done," he said, "and I'm now ready to work on new projects and in new places. Unfortunately, the series took up such a large part of the year that it made any other extended project in theater or film impossible.
"I began to be very impatient and restless to be developing not only projects of my own but also to look at the interesting ones that were coming my way from outside."
Growing up in England, Stewart calls himself "a child of radio and then of movies, long before my obsession with the theater."
He recently made a weekend return to England, where he collected a Laurence Olivier award for best entertainment with his solo show of "A Christmas Carol." He had performed the show in London and in New York on his holiday vacations from the series.
Do Stewart's English theater friends look down their noses at one of their fellow actors starring in an American sci-fi series?
"Not at all - or if they do, they have kept their feelings to themselves," he answered cheerfully. "On the contrary, I've only found in England delight in this opportunity. And probably an amount of envy in being able to live in Southern California and earn a decent living."
During other layoffs from "The Next Generation," the actor performed cameo roles in such films a "Gunmen" (as a murderous South American drug lord) and Mel Brooks' "Robin Hood: Men in Tights" (as Richard the Lion-Hearted).
In his search for other features, does he worry that producers might see him only as Capt. Picard?
"That has been a concern from the very beginning of the series," he admitted. "Or at least since the success of the series. And increasingly, since some people didn't know what my name was, but they knew the name of my character. I did finally get used to being called `Captain.'
"I've been extraordinarily fortunate, if not blessed, to be given the opportunity to do this series. But there was always the possibility that Capt. Picard might be an albatross around my neck. ... During the past few years, I have consciously made the effort to do other things, to convince people that there is an actor inside Capt. Picard, that he is not an end in himself."
He hopes producers will overlook the type-casting syndrome and consider that the series has a weekly audience of 25 million to 30 million people, some of whom might be inclined to see a Patrick Stewart movie. Before signing on as Picard, Stewart enjoyed a distinguished career on the London stage. For the Royal Shakespeare Company, he played such classic roles as King John, Shylock, Cassius, Oberon, Titus Andronicus and Henry IV.
by CNB