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
Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 2) David Gerrold. He wrote an episode for "The Original Series" called "The Trouble with Tribbles" and came on-board "The Next Generation" before the pilot and wrote the first version of the bible for the series. Rick Berman stated in an early memo that the new series was intended to be an issues-based show in the same mold as the original. Creator Gene Roddenberry concurred, and under questioning from fans at a convention which Gerrold also attended, Roddenberry agreed that it was time for a homosexual character to appear in "Star Trek". Roddenberry told his staff that "Times have changed and