The Measure of a Man (Star Trek: The Next Generation) The Measure of a Man (Star Trek: The Next Generation) "The Measure of a Man" is the ninth episode of the of the American science fiction television series "", the 35th episode overall. It was originally released on February 13, 1989, in broadcast syndication. It was written as a spec script by former attorney and "" novelist Melinda M. Snodgrass. It was directed by Robert Scheerer. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Federation starship "Enterprise". In this episode, the rights of the android officer Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) are threatened
Brent Spiner films. As a main character, he appeared in all but one of the series' 178 episodes; he was not in the episode "". He reprised his role in the spin-off films "Star Trek Generations" (1994), "" (1996), "" (1998), and "" (2002). Although billed as the final "Trek" movie for the "TNG" cast, the ambiguous ending of "" suggested a possible avenue for the return of Data. However, Spiner opined that he was too old to continue playing the part, as Data does not age, whereas Spiner had already aged considerably during the years in which he played the role.