Jonathan Frakes decided not to follow this "The Next Generation" rule with one of his "Star Trek" series, and the result was incomprehensible.
Behind the Scenes With JONATHAN FRAKES: Issues With STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
Although he has helmed several other star-studded projects during his decades-long career, actor and filmmaker Jonathan Frakes is perhaps best known for his work on the Star Trek franchise. Besides starring in it, he has also directed many of the series that fans have come to love perfectly. And in doing so, he has also changed some.
One of the changes he made was from the fan favorite series of lore from 1987 to 1995, The Next Generation. As he himself admitted, in the old golden days, there was just no room for improvisation in the ST projects and you had to follow the book strictly. That said, Frakes decided to change that and broke the role when he directed the animated Star Trek: Lower Decks series.
At the time, when Jonathan Frakes originally joined the Star Trek franchise, it was as an actor before a director. He starred as Commander William T. Riker in the original star-studded ST series of the 80s and 90s, The Next Generation. That said, he had first-hand experience of how the actors had to act while in character.
