“Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology” lasted for seven seasons from 1987 to 1994, and would go on to encourage 4 characteristic movies from 1994 to 2002. However Spiner apparently at all times had one eye on the door all through these first seven years. Information was beloved by followers, and a few may say he is the second most essential character on “Subsequent Technology” after Patrick Stewart’s Captain Picard. Regardless, Spiner thought of quitting typically. When requested if he ever received a bit of sick of taking part in the identical character week after week, Spiner replied:
“Nicely, undoubtedly … I did that yearly. Critically. Yearly on the finish of the yr, I believed, ‘Yeah, I do not know if I’ll come again and do one other yr. I’ll get out of this contract.'”
This is likely to be an angle left over from the troubled early days of “The Subsequent Technology.” Some older viewers might recall that there was numerous skepticism concerning the present, as a result of a contingent of followers felt that “Star Trek” would not be capable to persist with out the unique solid concerned. There was additionally numerous tumult behind the scenes because the present’s creator and numerous producers vied for management, exacerbated by a writers strike. In 1987, the overall consensus was that “Subsequent Technology” may make it to the top of its first season after which be canceled, doomed to stay a footnote within the “Star Trek” canon.
In was in that spirit that Spiner agreed to take the job. The gig paid nicely, and Spiner would most likely be capable to get away from the franchise after a yr. He wasn’t a Trekkie or something. He simply wished the cash, as any working actor may.