Star Trek: TNG's Uniforms Were Changed For Patrick Stewart's Health (And Fear Of A Lawsuit)

Long before "The Next Generation" came along, the original "Star Trek" was packed with incredible moments. The new show delivered its own iconic episodes and scenes, many of which involved Captain Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), one of the most revered Starfleet officers to ever to take the center seat. However, there was a time when Stewart couldn't sit comfortably at all. The cause of this issue was the tight-fitting, one-piece uniforms he was forced to wear.

While promoting "Picard" (which we still wish had a fourth season), Stewart looked back on his early days on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in an interview with the BBC. The actor explained that one glaring problem with coming aboard the Enterprise-D was the spandex Starfleet uniforms, designed by original series costume designer William Ware Theis. "I mean we were practically poured into our costume in the first two years," Stewart recalls. Despite cast complaints, Star Trek's creator stood by the uncomfortable costumes. "Gene Roddenberry loved it," Stewart says.

With Roddenberry keen to keep the sleek look, the outfits stayed as they were — until a second opinion was applied. As it turns out, the uniform was creating health issues for Stewart. With Theiss' departure due to illness after the first season, incoming costume designer Robert Blackman proposed a new, more heroic look. Fortunately, this also led to drastic alterations to avoid a problem that not even Starfleet could win against — a potential lawsuit from Patrick Stewart.

As the initial seasons of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" progressed, so did the back pains that came with wearing the spandex suits for long periods of time. "I was seeing someone at the time about my back, and they went to the studio and said, 'You've got to get him out of the spandex, otherwise you've got a lawsuit,'" Patrick Stewart told the BBC, adding, "It was actually doing me harm, and so, our costume designer retired, and we got a new one, and he made these two-pieces in wool." 

Robert Blackman, with input from producer Rick Berman redesigned the costumes, implementing the two-piece uniforms seen from Season 3 on. "When I came in, Patrick [Stewart] and all the guys, particularly, were just in agony because they were wrecking their backs and wrecking their shoulders," Blackman recalled in an interview with startrek.com. "Patrick was pretty adamant about getting out of the uniform."

The change took a while to happen, but more importantly, it also took time for the show's creator to get used to the new look. "Gene Roddenberry hated wrinkles. He wanted everything to be absolutely chic and smooth," Stewart said. While the original spandex outfits made "Star Trek" history, the new design became iconic. Without it, we may have never seen Stewart's signature shirt tug (aka "the Picard Maneuver") every time he rose from the captain's chair.