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
Brent Spiner In addition to the series and films, he voiced his character in several "Star Trek" video games, such as "Star Trek: Generations", "", "", and "". After appearing in several episodes as , the ancestor of Data's creator, Dr. Noonien Soong, Spiner also recorded dialogue as Data that was heard in the final episode of "", "These Are the Voyages...", which aired in 2005, bringing the "Star Trek" TV franchise Spiner had helped establish 18 years earlier to a close. In 1991, Spiner recorded an album of 1940s pop standards entitled "Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back", the title of which