Star Trek: The Next Generation Original Series" in 1969, the "Star Trek" franchise had continued with "" (1973–74) and a series of films, all featuring the original cast. In the 1980s, franchise creator Roddenberry decided to create a new series, featuring a new crew embarking on their mission a century after that of "The Original Series". "TNG" featured a new crew that starred (for the majority of its seven-year broadcast run) Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker, Brent Spiner as Lt Commander Data, Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf, LeVar Burton as Lt Commander Geordi La Forge, Marina Sirtis as
Birthright (Star Trek: The Next Generation) him to undergo three hours of makeup each day, but he said that "I had such a good time that I would love to do another "Star Trek"". He would go on to be cast in a recurring role on "" as Admiral Owen Paris, the father of Tom Paris. Brent Spiner plays two roles in this episode - that of his main character, Data, and his creator, Dr. Noonien Soong. "Birthright, Part I" is a crossover episode featuring some of the characters from "". "Birthright, Part II" was the only episode directed by visual effects supervisor Dan Curry. The