One Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode Still Makes Patrick Stewart Cringe
There are 178 syndicated episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," so it's to be expected that there are a few that star Patrick Stewart doesn't remember fondly. In his new memoir, "Making It So," Stewart went in depth about his entire life, including the stressful time when "The Next Generation" was being filmed but hadn't been picked up by a major network yet. After filming the two-part premiere, "Encounter at Farpoint," Stewart was a little nervous about the future of the series because people were convinced that the magic of the original "Star Trek" couldn't be replicated. Not only that, but the next episode was particularly memorable for Stewart — and not in a good way.
The third episode of "The Next Generation" is "The Naked Now," a goofy sex comedy romp that's equal parts silly and sexy. It's appreciated by a large portion of the "Star Trek" fandom for remaining true to some of the campier aspects of the franchise (and teaching us all that Data is fully functional and anatomically correct), but it turns out that Stewart thought the entire thing was pretty cringe-worthy.
Does it make you horny, baby?
"The Naked Now" is a sequel to the original series episode "The Naked Time," in which some members of the Enterprise crew are infected with a weird alien virus that makes them act like a bunch of college students on spring break. They're basically drunk and horny and start pairing off, giving fans the very first instance of the future romance between Stewart's Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the ship's doctor, Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden). Stewart felt that the horniness was just a bit too much, saying:
"Dr. Crusher gets horny for Picard, Picard gets horny for Dr. Crusher, and Tasha Yar gets horny for nearly everyone before focusing on Data. Denise's and Brent's dialogue has become notable in Star Trek lore. Tasha, writhing in a midriff-exposing outfit, asks Data if he, being an android, is 'fully functional.' He responds, 'I am programmed in multiple techniques – a broad variety of pleasuring.'"
"The Naked Now" is a bit of tonal and emotional whiplash after the show's pilot, going from a serious science fiction story to a silly sex comedy with the main gag being the sexual prowess of an android, but it is pretty fun. There's always been an appreciation for the silly and the sexy in "Star Trek," so why not show fans that "The Next Generation" was just as capable as the original series?
The legacy of 'The Naked Now'
Stewart explained that while he knows people like "The Naked Now," he thinks it "smacked of desperation" and felt like something that would air in the later seasons of a series when they had "already emptied the cupboard of good ideas." Then again, he concedes, series creator Gene Roddenberry loved what Stewart calls "cheesecake," and says that he had even contemplated giving ship's counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) three or four breasts. Sorry, Roddenberry, but that's a little more "Total Recall" than "Star Trek."
"The Naked Now" has somewhat of a mixed legacy, with some fans feeling that the episode was a total rip-off of the "Original Series" episode it paid homage to, while others loved it as a way of getting to know some of the characters on the new Enterprise a little bit better. The first seasons of "Star Trek" shows are notorious for being messy, and "The Naked Now" helped cement the first season of "The Next Generation" as continuing the tradition — and, in Stewart's mind, maybe even being one of the worst offenders.