Star Trek: The Next Generation Benefitted From The '80s Writers' Strike In One Very Visible Way
Things got a bit hairy for "Star Trek: The Next Generation" when the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike shut down Hollywood ahead of the show's sophomore season. However, the strike wasn't entirely a negative event for "TNG." It was because of this work stoppage that Jonathan Frakes grew the beard that Commander Riker would famously sport for the rest of the show ... and that many fans say was the start of the series becoming great.
The strike lasted 153 days, severely eating into the time the "TNG" team had to prepare for their imminent second season. As a result, the season is shorter than the others, and one episode is a clip show that's regarded as one of the worst episodes of "TNG." Still, some good came of it. Frakes, who had been beard-free in his Season 1 appearances as the Enterprise's second-in-command, decided not to bother with shaving during the strike. Because of this, he had a beard when he showed up for a meeting with "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.
"I love the beard. It's nautical," Frakes recalled Roddenberry saying. "We'll keep the beard, we'll trim it down and shape it. It'll be decorative."
The beard made its debut in the Season 2 premiere, "The Child," and the hair and makeup team spent another couple of episodes perfecting the look.
Riker's beard has become a broader term for when a series gets good
Jonathan Frakes' Commander Riker would sport his now-iconic beard for the rest of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and almost all his other "Trek" appearances for the next four decades. (He did shave in the 1998 movie "Star Trek: Insurrection.")
Beyond just being a good look for Riker, the beard took on a greater pop culture significance. When "TNG" premiered in September 1987, critical response was lukewarm. Some fans consider its first year the worst season of "TNG." Once "TNG" returned for the sophomore season, now with a bearded Riker, the general consensus is that the show started finding its legs. By the third season it was fully cooking.
"Riker's Beard" has gone on to become a pop culture idiom that signifies when an underwhelming series markedly improves and comes into its own. "Growing the beard" is essentially the opposite of "jumping the shark."