Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: Dwight Schultz, lower decks, Mike McMahan, opinion, paramount, star trek, The Next Generation, Voyager

Star Trek: Lower Decks: Reginald Barclay Would Be Perfect Season 4 Fit

While Star Trek favorite Dwight Schultz didn't appear in Picard, the TNG & Voyager alum should make his return as Barclay on Lower Decks.

While the final season of Picard is about as perfect of the franchise as it gets, there are some glaring omissions. Executive producer and showrunner Terry Matalas made it abundantly clear how much of a love letter it is to Star Trek's past, particularly The Next Generation, since it features the reunion of the cast. He even made room for some fan favorites with ties to TNG and Voyager since Jeri Ryan was originally a cast member of the latter. Among them included are TNG recurring stars Michelle Forbes, who reprised her role as Ro Laren, promoted to commander, and Daniel Davis, who reprised his role as Professor James Moriarty. The biggest surprise omission who had ties to TNG & Voyager is Reginald Barclay, played by Dwight Schultz, who would be an ideal addition to the animated series Lower Decks.

A Unique Star Trek Journey for Dwight Schultz's Lt. Reginald Barclay

To give a bit of a background, Schultz, who's been quite prominent in the voiceover world, was always active in the live-action front as well, with his other most famous signature role as "Howling Mad" Murdock on the '80s action series The A-Team. He's also made a cameo in the 2010 theatrical remake along with original series co-star Dirk Benedict (Templeton "Face" Peck). In TNG, Schultz's Lt. Barclay became a fan favorite, becoming one of the quirkiest and anti-social engineers in franchise history. Among the various issues he's had, he's developed an obsession with the Holodeck in his introduction in the season three episode "Hollow Pursuits" to the detriment of his crewmates.

In Barclay's four additional appearances, he was zapped by an alien probe developing extreme confidence and superhuman intelligence in the season four episode, "The Nth Degree," and we discover he has a transporter phobia while being on to something in the season six episode "Realm of Fear." The most "normal" episode for Schultz was "Ship in a Bottle," which was the final Moriarty TNG episode. His final series appearance was the season seven episode "Genesis," which saw the crew devolve into various animals, with Barclay regressing into an arachnid. He also appeared in the 1996 TNG feature First Contact.

In Voyager, Barclay was assigned to the Pathfinder Project at Starfleet's Communications Research Center as part of the team to help bring the U.S.S. Voyager home during the UPN series' sixth season though he made his series debut in the season two episode "Projections." We also saw TNG alum Marina Sirtis return as Counselor Deanna Troi, which "Reg" is one of her patients. On the Lower Decks front, we've already heard from the cast from every single series in the syndicated era, except Enterprise. Sirtis and TNG co-star Jonathan Frakes (Riker) reprised their roles on Lower Decks, while Voyager alum Robert Duncan McNeill (Paris) did the same. The only other Voyager alum to appear in Picard was Tim Russ (Tuvok). Picard's loss could be Lower Deck's gain, and Barclay's neuroticism and quirkiness would fit in perfectly with the personalities of the U.S.S. Cerritos, not to mention how much the outcasts can learn from one another. Mike McMahan, if he's not already in the plans for season four, put it on your list for season five.

Note [July 17, 2023]: it's been brought to my attention that Schultz's current politics might not be attuned to the climate of Star Trek. So I'm in favor of recasting the role, leaving him be, or some fourth-wall allusion to indicate the real-life turn of the actor.

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