Star Trek: Picard trivia: 63 facts about the new series

Star Trek: Picard is the newest series in the Star Trek franchise. Patrick Stewart returns as Picard from the Star Trek: The Next Generation series.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about this new series.

1. Star Trek: Picard is an American web television series
2. It is created for CBS All Access by Kirsten Beyer, Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon and Alex Kurtzman
3. It is the eighth series in the Star Trek franchise
4. It centers on the character Jean-Luc Picard
5. The series is set at the end of the 24th century
6. It takes place after 18 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
7. The storyline revisits the death of Commander Data, which occurred in the climax of that film
8. As well as the destruction of the planet Romulus, which occurred in the 2009 film Star Trek
9. Patrick Stewart is the executive producer of the series and stars as Picard
10. Reprising his role from Star Trek: The Next Generation as well as other Star Trek media
11. Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, Alison Pill, Harry Treadaway, and Isa Briones also star
12. Several actors from previous Star Trek series also reprise their roles
13. Including Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan, Marina Sirtis, and Jonathan Frakes
14. The series was first rumored in June 2018 when Kurtzman began his expansion
15. It was officially announced that August after months of negotiations with Stewart, who had previously said he would not return to the franchise after Nemesis
16. Filming began in California in April 2019
17. The series’ official title announced a month later
18. Star Trek: Picard premiered on January 23, 2020
19. Its first season will consist of ten episodes
20. Ahead of the premiere, CBS All Access renewed Star Trek: Picard for a 10-episode second season
21. In June 2018, after becoming sole showrunner of the series Star Trek: Discovery, Alex Kurtzman signed a five-year overall deal with CBS Television Studios to expand the Star Trek franchise beyond Discovery to several new series, miniseries, and animated series
22. One of these new series was believed to star Patrick Stewart, reprising his role of Jean-Luc Picard from the series Star Trek: The Next Generation
23. Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman (who worked on the first season of Discovery) were attached to the project
24. When CBS first approached him about making more Star Trek series, Kurtzman believed that Picard was the greatest Star Trek captain and included a series featuring the character on his wish list
25. Despite Stewart’s statements that he was done with the franchise, Kurtzman and Goldsman contacted Stewart in late 2017
26. Initially to see if he would be willing to appear in a Star Trek: Short Treks episode
27. Kurtzman, Goldsman and Discovery writer Kirsten Beyer met with the actor
28. Who took the meeting with the intention of turning the project down
29. But was intrigued enough by their discussion to ask them for a three-page document outlining their ideas
30. At that time, Goldsman invited novelist Michael Chabon, a friend, to work on the project as well and the four ultimately produced a 34-page document that they sent to Stewart
31. He organised another meeting with them in March 2018
32. There he expressed his approval of their pitch
33. On August 4, 2018, Stewart made a surprise appearance at the annual Las Vegas Star Trek Convention to officially announce the series and confirm that he would star in it
34. Stewart was also set to executive produce the series alongside Kurtzman, Goldsman, Chabon, Discovery’s James Duff, Heather Kadin of Kurtzman’s production company Secret Hideout, and Rod Roddenberry (the son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry) and Trevor Roth of Roddenberry Entertainment
35. Beyer remained part of the creative team as well
36. The series was expected to premiere in 2019
37. Kadin revealed in October that the series was intended to be ongoing rather than a limited miniseries
38. And that its release would not overlap with Discovery or any other new Star Trek series
39. Kurtzman added that the Picard series would be “its own thing”
40. Later elaborating that where Discovery is “a bullet”, the Picard series is “a very contemplative show” with its own “rhythm” and more of a “real-world” feeling
41. CBS CCO David Nevins confirmed in December 2018 that the series was intended to debut on CBS All Access at the end of 2019
42. After the full release of Discovery’s second season and several Short Treks shorts
43. Stewart revealed in January 2019 that the series would consist of 10 episodes
44. nd reiterated that the intention was for it to continue for multiple seasons
45. A production listing in March gave the series’ title as Star Trek: Destiny, which CBS had trademarked in 2018
46. However, the official title was revealed as Star Trek: Picard at CBS’s upfront presentation that May
47. At that time, Kurtzman revealed that the series does not have a traditional showrunner and instead was being “shepherded” by a larger creative team
48. Chabon was later named the showrunner for the series
49. In December 2019, ahead of the series premiere, CBS All Access renewed the series for a 10-episode second season
50. Production began on April 22, 2019, at Santa Clarita Studios, California, under the working title Drawing Room
51. In December 2018, the series was granted $15.6 million dollars in tax credits by the California Film Commission for the production to take place in California rather than in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where Discovery is filmed
52. The first two episodes are directed by Hanelle Culpepper, who previously directed for Discovery and is the first woman to direct the initial episode of a Star Trek series
53. These first two episodes make up the first “block” of filming for the series
54. With its 10 episodes split into five blocks total
55. Jonathan Frakes, who also previously directed for Discovery, directs the second block of episodes and stated his belief that this block system had more to do with amortization than any story-based reasons
56. Filming concluded on September 1, 2019
57. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 94%
58. With an average rating of 7.92/10
59. Based on 49 reviews
60. The site’s critical consensus reads: “Helmed by the incomparable Patrick Stewart, Picard departs from standard Starfleet protocol with a slower serialized story, but like all great Star Trek, it tackles timely themes with grace and makes for an exciting push further into the final frontier”
61. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 77 out of 100
62. Based on 22 critics
63. Indicating “generally favorable reviews”