Star Trek: Picard
Star Trek: Picard is the eighth main series set in the Star Trek universe, the ninth including the companion series , and the eleventh Star Trek series overall. Picard is produced by CBS Studios and stars Patrick Stewart, reprising the role of Jean-Luc Picard from .  The new series is set twenty years after the events of ,  dealing with "the new chapter in Picard's life."

The series forms part of Alex Kurtzman's five-year deal with CBS to expand the Star Trek franchise. The first season debuted on CBS All Access, which subsequently became Paramount+.  Kurtzman serves as executive producer on the series along with Stewart, as well as James Duff, Akiva Goldsman, Michael Chabon, Trevor Roth, Heather Kadin, and Rod Roddenberry. In addition, Aaron Baiers serves as co-executive producer.  Writer Kirsten Beyer devised the concept for the series,  and she features as part of the writing staff alongside Kurtzman, Duff, Goldsman, and Chabon. Chabon served as the first season's showrunner.

Production history 
The series was announced at the Star Trek Las Vegas convention on , where Stewart appeared alongside Kurtzman to reveal his involvement. At the time of the announcement, the series was still early in pre-production, with no scripts written yet.  According to the actor, the possibility of Picard's return had been suggested to him about a year before, but he originally planned to reject the idea. However, upon revisiting episodes of  and realizing the power and influence of the series, he changed his mind.  On making the announcement, Stewart referred to the news as "unexpected, but delightful". 

It was reported that, on the day before the announcement, CBS applied for a number of trademarks in classes relating to entertainment, which could be connected with the new series. Marks applied for included "Star Trek: Reliant", and "Star Trek: Destiny", a title that shares its name with a post-TNG Star Trek novel trilogy. 

Work in the writers' room began in , and an image of the staff with Stewart was shared by the actor at the end of that month.  This image featured Stewart, Duff, Goldsman, Beyer, Chabon and also Diandra Pendleton-Thompson, who had not been previously announced as one of the series' writers. Production was expected to begin in , according to Kurtzman,  and the series is filmed in California.  In December 2018, CBS Corporation Chief Creative Officer David Nevins stated that CBS expected the series to launch late in 2019. 

In , Kurtzman announced that the series would acknowledge the prime universe elements of , stating that "Picard's life was radically altered by the dissolution of the Romulan Empire." 

On , it was announced that Hanelle M. Culpepper would be directing the first two episodes of the series.  This marks the first time that a black woman was directing the series premiere of a Star Trek series.

On , the first two series regulars besides Stewart were announced, Santiago Cabrera and Michelle Hurd.  Later in March, Evan Evagora was added to the cast as a series regular. 

On , it was announced that Alison Pill, Harry Treadaway, and Isa Briones were joining the cast. 

On , production on the show began.  The Star Trek: Picard production is based out of Santa Clarita Studios (SCS). SCS is an independent studio production facility based in Santa Clarita, California, 35 miles north of Hollywood. Although Star Trek was returning to Hollywood, like all of the previous series save , it is not being shot at Star Treks previous home of Paramount Studios.  Paramount lost not only its television division, but the entire franchise as well, when the former  was split in late 2005 into the new  (Paramount's holding company at the time Picard began filming) and the CBS Corporation, with Star Trek ownership passing over to the latter. (The two corporations re-merged to form ViacomCBS in December 2019; ViacomCBS was rebranded as Paramount Global in February 2022.)

Shortly before filming began, Michael Chabon was appointed as showrunner. However, CBS did not announce Chabon's position until . 

On , the announcement was made that Amazon Prime had acquired the international streaming rights for the new series, each episode to be aired 24 hours after its American premiere on CBS All Access.   Stewart confirmed the news the same day on his Twitter account. 

On , the first seven-second teaser, revealing the new show's title and logo, was released.  This was followed on 23 May by the first live-action teaser trailer in both the CBS All Access and Amazon Prime Video variants.   The voice of the teaser trailer's female narrator was not from any of the then-known contracted actresses, but rather from voice actress Merrin Dungey.  It was after the series had premiered, that it became apparent that Dungey was also given the guest-starring part of Richter.

On  the first official , coming in at 130 seconds, was unveiled at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con. The trailer featured footage of former Next Generation co-star Brent Spiner, and   star Jeri Ryan reprising her role as Seven of Nine. It was also announced that Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis would each be reprising their roles as William T. Riker and Deanna Troi, respectively.

Robert Picardo revealed on  that he has been approached about a possible appearance in a second season of the show. 

On , Michael Chabon posted on Instagram that filming for the first season had been completed. 

On , Patrick Stewart told The Huddersfield Daily Examiner in his native Yorkshire that "there is ... the possibility of a second Picard series filming in March next year." 

On , a second  debuted at New York Comic-Con, and it was announced that the first season would air on CBS All Access beginning on .

On , Kurtzman confirmed that a second season of Picard was "already in the works". 

An interview released on  mentioned Ayelet Waldman as a member of the writing staff for Picard. 

On , it was announced that Michael Chabon would step down from his role as showrunner, but would remain involved in the program. 

On , a third teaser trailer debuted almost exactly one month ahead of the CBS All Access series premier online. The teaser revealed new pieces of footage with Jean-Luc Picard in what appears to be Ten Forward, the bar on the , among other quick new moments with William T. Riker, Dr. Agnes Jurati, and what appears to be a Borg flashback. 

The renewal of Star Trek: Picard for a second season was informally revealed on , and formally announced on .   The same day, it was announced that Terry Matalas had joined the staff of Picard, and was likely to take over as showrunner from Chabon.  Also joining the writing team is Marc Bernardin.

The series premiered in North America on  on CBS All Access with its first episode , with the rest of the world following suit the next day through Amazon Prime Video.

In , Alex Kurtzman said that the Picard writers' room had continued to meet via Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Opening credits 
The opening title sequence for Star Trek: Picard was meant to connect viewers to Picard's journey in a way that was "more intimate" and "more emotional", containing imagery of Château Picard, a Borg cube, chips and pieces that would culminate into Picard himself.

Main cast 

 Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
 Alison Pill as Dr. Agnes Jurati (Seasons 1-2)
 Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine
 Isa Briones as Soji Asha, Dahj Asha (Season 1), and Sutra (Season 1), Kore Soong (Season 2)
 Evan Evagora as Elnor (Seasons 1-2)
 Michelle Hurd as Raffaela Musiker
 Orla Brady as Laris, Tallinn (Season 2)
 Jonathan Frakes as William T. Riker  (Season 3)
 LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge  (Season 3)
 Michael Dorn as Worf  (Season 3)
 Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher  (Season 3)
 Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi  (Season 3)
 Brent Spiner  (Season 3)

With
 Santiago Cabrera as Cristóbal "Chris" Rios, Emil, Emmet, Enoch, Ian, and Mister Hospitality (Seasons 1-2)

And
 Harry Treadaway as Narek (Season 1)
 Brent Spiner as Adam Soong (Season 2)

Special guest stars 
 Jonathan Frakes as William T. Riker (Season 1)
 Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi (Season 1)
 Brent Spiner as Data (Season 1) and Dr. Altan Inigo Soong (Season 1)
 Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan (Season 2)
 John de Lancie as Q (Season 2)

Recurring guest stars 
 Ito Aghayere as Guinan (Season 2)
 James Callis as Maurice Picard (Season 2)
 Jonathan Del Arco as Hugh (Season 1)
 Steve Gutierrez as Ricardo (Season 2)
 Peyton List as Narissa (Season 1)
 Ann Magnuson as Admiral Kirsten Clancy (Season 1)
 Jamie McShane as Zhaban (Season 1)
 Penelope Mitchell as Renée Picard (Season 2)
 Sol Rodriguez as Teresa Ramirez (Season 2)
 Tamlyn Tomita as Commodore Oh (Season 1)
 Dylan Von Halle as Young Jean-Luc Picard (Season 2)
 Annie Wersching as The Borg Queen (Season 2)
 Madeline Wise as Yvette Picard (Season 2)
 Rebecca Wisocky as Ramdha (Season 1)

Episode list

Season 1
PIC Season 1, 10 episodes:

Season 2
PIC Season 2, 10 episodes:

Season 3
PIC Season 3, 10 episodes

Development

Production 
Picard lead Patrick Stewart initially had no intention whatsoever to reprise his role, feeling that the role had run its course, but decided to accept the invitation for a talk with the producers, as he felt it was only courteous to explain his reasons for declining the part in person. However, during the meeting and its follow-ups, Producer Michael Chabon was able to change Stewart's mind as he was fully willing to take Stewart's vision of an older Picard into account. In the process, Chabon entirely discarded the original story treatment he had written for the opening episode, and started a new, heeding Stewart's concerns. () Stewart himself has confirmed this (including his initial disinclination to take on the role again) during his appearance on the British talk show The Graham Norton Show (Season 26, Episode 16, 17 January 2020), shortly before the series premiered. 

Marina Sirtis appeared with the same wig and contact lenses that she wore in . She held on to them after that production finished, and informed Picard producers of this, likely saving them time and the US$10,000 it would have cost to make a new wig.

Promotion 
In the months leading up to the premiere of the new series, a monthly prequel three-volume  mini-series, Star Trek: Picard - Countdown, was released by IDW Publishing, starting in November 2019. The comic book series introduced several characters, later featured in the live-action production, as well as dealing with events that led up to the ones featured on the show.

Additionally, the Star Trek: Picard Movie & TV Collection Blu-ray Disc set (which incidentally, included the exclusive sixteen-page Star Trek: Sky's the Limit comic book, likewise from IDW ) saw an October/November release as an appetizer.  The majority of the titles included in the collection contained events referenced to in the series, which held especially true for , , and .

Aside for Patrick Stewart's own remarks on the new show, it was also revealed in the above-mentioned The Graham Norton Show episode, that the London Underground station Piccadilly Circus was temporarily dubbed "Picardilly Circus" in anticipation of the new series, whereas Stewart himself had related how he came across a New York City subway line map into which an imaginary subway line was incorporated, outlining the Starfleet arrowhead logo.  Both of these occasions had been part of the official franchise overall marketing strategy. London public transportation Head of Customer Information, Design and Partnerships at Transport for London, Julie Dixon, clarified, "We're thrilled to partner with Amazon Prime Video to create this exciting takeover of one of London's most well-known Underground stations to celebrate the launch of Star Trek: Picard. The Star Trek franchise is a global sensation and we're excited to mark this next chapter in a creative and engaging way that connects with tens of thousands of people. We hope that the out of this world activity has brought a bit of unexpected fun to our customers and that they boldly go on their commute, young or old."  The New York City MTA metro company Stewart had come across, additionally dispensed Star Trek: Picard-themed cards/tickets at six pre-selected metro stations, aside from displaying the series billboards and having adjusted its subway line map where the six stations were linked to form the Starfleet arrowhead.  

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Reception 
In its first season, Star Trek: Picard was nominated for five Emmy Awards, all in "technical" categories such as makeup and sound editing. It won one, "Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special".

Products 
FanSets debuted its first Star Trek: Picard pins in 2019.

CherryTree previewed a prototype of its Borg Cube ATX Limited Collector's Edition computer in ,  and the final version reached retail in .  Smaller ITX builds of this cube debuted in . In 2021, the company displayed a prototype for its forthcoming computerized Star Trek: Picard Borg Cube Record Player. 

In , Eaglemoss/Hero Collector's project manager Ben Robinson reconfirmed that the company would manufacture starship miniatures from the series, and later indicated that they would be about 150 to 250 mm in length, similar to ships from its DIS starships partwork. The first four sets of CG starship assets were received from the production in , and the first products, models of La Sirena,  the , Seven of Nine's ship, and the Romulan Bird-of-Prey were scheduled.  In , the company announced that its forthcoming PIC starship line would be combined with ships from  (after the release of issue 33 of the DIS collection) and  into a new partwork, which was subsequently named the Star Trek Universe: The Official Starships Collection and debuted in .  Robinson added, "We've got 9 or 10 Picard ships followed by the Disco season 3 fleet." 

In June 2021, Eaglemoss released its first, larger XL Edition model of a "hero ship" from PIC within its Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection. Three starship classes from the series are also covered in the second edition of the company's Star Trek: Shipyards - Starfleet Ships 2294 to the Future reference book. 

Hallmark has scheduled the release of its La Sirena Christmas ornament for . 

On , ViacomCBS Consumer Products and Playmates Toys jointly announced that the latter had acquired new licensing for "action figures, vehicles and ships, role play and other toy categories", and slated the first of these products for retail release in 2022. Among other Star Trek series and films, this licensing encompasses Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Discovery, , and .

Related topics
 PIC directors
 PIC performers
 PIC recurring characters
 PIC studio models
 PIC writers

Media
 Star Trek: Picard novels
 Star Trek: Picard comics
 Star Trek: Picard soundtracks
 Star Trek: Picard on DVD
 Star Trek: Picard on Blu-ray
 Star Trek: Picard - No Man's Land (audio drama)

External links
 
 
 

de:Star Trek: Picard
es:Star Trek: Picard
fr:Star Trek: Picard
ja:スタートレック：ピカード
pl:Star Trek: Picard
zh:星際迷航：皮卡德

Star Trek series