Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes Reveals One Big Difference Between Next Generation and Strange New Worlds

Jonathan Frakes has been a part of Star Trek's universe for a long time, starting as William T. Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation and eventually moving behind the camera to direct episodes of The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and two Star Trek movies. Many things have changed throughout Frakes' 36-year involvement with the Star Trek franchise, and that's no more evident than in the latest of the episodes he directed to release to Star Trek fans, the Strange New Worlds Season 2 crossover episode with Star Trek: Lower Decks, "Those Old Scientists."

Frakes spoke to Variety before the actors' strike and noted that guest stars Jack Quaid and Tawny Newsome were allowed to improvise during filming, a freedom he and his Star Trek: The Next Generation co-stars were never afforded. He told Variety that improvisation "doesn't happen a lot on Star Trek, as you probably have heard. I mean, especially in our fucking show, they were so strict. It was like we were doing Shakespeare or Chekhov."

Frakes adds that moments of improvisation, such as Newsome's character Beckett Mariner commenting on young Spock's hotness, proved "infectious" on set. He says, "It was just fantasticl" and hopes, "Maybe this will open some eyes." Indeed, that difference may be why a purely comedic episode of Star Trek, like "Those Old Scientists," couldn't have worked until now.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Cast

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount as Christopher Pike, Rebecca Romijn as Una Chin-Riley, Ethan Peck as Spock, Jess Bush as Christine Chapel, Christina Chong as La'An Noonien-Singh, Celia Rose Gooding as Nyota Uhura, Melissa Navia as Erica Ortegas and Babs Olusanmokun as Joseph M'Benga. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 also brings back special guest star Paul Wesley as James T. Kirk and adds Carol Kane in the recurring role of Pelia.

CBS Studios, Secret Hideout, and Roddenberry Entertainment produced Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2. Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers are co-showrunners. Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, Jenny Lumet, Henry Alonso Myers, Aaron Baiers, Heather Kadin, Frank Siracusa, John Weber, Rod Roddenberry, and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers.

How to watch Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 debuts new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+ in the United States, the U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The second season will stream on Paramount+ in South Korea, with a premiere date still to be announced. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave in Canada and SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 1 is also streaming on Paramount+. It is also available as home media on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4k UHD.