There Was One Thing The Star Trek: The Next Generation Cast Hated About The Show
"Star Trek: The Next Generation" is a truly impressive show that managed to not only expand upon the work of its predecessor, "Star Trek: The Original Series," but it created a found family among the cast and gave them the opportunity to grow as entertainers. A lot of good came from "Next Gen" and it could be a lot of fun to work on, but apparently there was one aspect of creating the show that the cast absolutely loathed. (And honestly? It's hard to blame them.) Along with all of the joys of creating one of the best science fiction programs of all time came one very big setback — though it was definitely worse for some castmates than others.
In a 2007 Entertainment Weekly oral history of the seminal sci-fi series, star LeVar Burton, who played Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge, shared the one thing that he really hated about working on "Star Trek," and it was something that has been echoed by his castmates as well on other occasions. That's right... they all really hated wearing those spandex Starfleet uniforms and Burton got in his own take on the subject.
He has a point, though
In the Entertainment Weekly piece, Burton explained:
"We hated our space suits. There were no pockets in them. As much as they call it a stretch fabric, spandex in that configuration doesn't give all that much. It hid nothing."
Burton is far from the only "Next Gen" cast member to comment on the comfort of the Starfleet uniforms, as Patrick Stewart, who plays Captain Jean-Luc Picard, wrote about how uncomfortable and ridiculous the uniforms were in his memoir, "Make It So." He said that the costumes, designed by the original series' costumer William Ware Theiss, were intentionally cut "one size too small so that they never wrinkled and kept our bodies on constant display." Series creator Gene Roddenberry was notorious for what Stewart calls "cheesecake," which is to say that he loved to put his stars on a kind of salacious display. "Star Trek" has always been pretty horny, and the costumes reflected that. But while the Starfleet uniforms were likely very uncomfortable and certainly revealing, they were nothing compared to some of the other outfits in the series — especially those worn by the women.
Good Gowron, the spandex
The "Star Trek" uniforms leave little to the imagination no matter what the wearer's gender, but the women of "Star Trek" have pretty routinely been subjected to ridiculously revealing costumes, and "Next Gen" was no exception. Marina Sirtis' Counselor Deanna Troi wore a mini-skirt and go-go boots in the pilot, for Pete's sake, and her later uniform is quite low-cut on top of being skin-tight. Then there are the workout outfits she and Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) wear, pictured above, which are truly the stuff of stretchy fabric nightmares.
I'm thankful for "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and its many incredible characters, but am definitely glad that they left the wedgie-inducing costumes in the past for "Star Trek: Picard." When you have to wear the same costume every day, it shouldn't make you feel super uncomfortable!