The Only Star Trek: The Next Generation Actors To Appear In Every Episode

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" debuted on September 28, 1987 to much ballyhoo. A new version of "Star Trek," set a century after the events of the original "Star Trek"? With an all-new U.S.S. Enterprise and an all-new crew? Trekkies were excited, cautiously optimistic that the new show would be a hit. After a few rocky seasons, it was, and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" became a ratings bonanza. Also, while the first "Star Trek" only lasted three seasons, and the 1973 "Star Trek" animated series only lasted two, "Next Generation" would continue for seven year, racking up an impressive 176 episodes. Or 178, if you count the two-hour debut and finale episodes as two episodes each. 

Audiences loved the eight main characters on the show. The Enterprise was captained by the stern Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), and his first in command was William Riker (Jonathan Frakes). Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) was the ship's engineer, and Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) was the ship's counselor. Worf (Michael Dorn) headed security and Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) was the chief medical officer for six seasons (she was replaced in season two by a character played by Diana Muldaur). The android Data (Brent Spiner) was perhaps the most striking character on the show, although fewer were fond of Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) the teen wunderkind. 

Of those actors, only two of them appeared in all 178 episodes of the show. Some weeks, certain characters merely didn't appear, either because they had left the Enterprise, or they were merely busy doing other things. Every week, however, the Enterprise required the presence of its captain and its first officer. Yes, only Stewart and Frakes were in every single episode of the series. 

Frakes, it should be noted, didn't just play Will Riker, but also a holographic duplicate of himself in the episode "Hollow Pursuits" (April 30, 1990), as did Sirtis, Spiner, Wheaton, and McFadden. Frakes also played a transporter duplicate named Thomas in the episode "Second Chances" (May 24, 1993), a role he would reprise in the "Deep Space Nine" episode "Defiant" (November 21, 1994). He returned to play Will in the "Voyager" episode "Death Wish" (February 19, 1996), and in the "Enterprise" finale "These Are the Voyages..." (May 13, 2005). Frakes also appeared in 11 episodes of "Star Trek: Picard," three episodes of "Star Trek: Lower Decks," and in three of the "Very Short Treks," so Frakes has been around. Indeed, Frakes parlayed his time on "Star Trek" into a successful TV directing career, and he has helmed two "Star Trek" feature films and 29 episodes of various Trek shows. 

Stewart only directed five episodes of "Next Generation," but many might note that he was the most visible presence on the show. Picard had more stories devoted to him than any other character, and ended up headlining "Star Trek: Picard" decades later. Stewart not only played Picard in 178 episodes of "Next Generation" and in 30 episodes of "Picard," but he had a small cameo in the "Deep Space Nine" premiere episode "Emissary" (January 3, 1993). 

Michael Dorn only appeared in 174 episodes of "Next Generation," but he holds the distinction of appearing in more "Star Trek" episodes than any other actor in the franchise. This was because Worf moved to Deep Space Nine during its fourth season, and remained for four years and 98 episodes. Dorn also appeared in nine episodes of "Picard," and had a cameo as a different Klingon character in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country." It should also be noted that all the TNG cast (Wheaton and Muldaur notwithstanding) appeared in all four of the "Next Generation" feature films. 

Brent Spiner appeared in 177 episodes of "Next Generation," absent only from "Family" (October 1, 1990). Spiner more than made up for his absence, however, by playing Data's evil twin Lore in four episodes, and Data's elderly creator Dr. Noonien Soong in one. He played four different Old West characters in "A Fistful of Datas" (November 7, 1992), and an android prototype named B-4 in "Star Trek: Nemesis." 

Spiner would go on to play ancestors and descendants of Soong throughout "Star Trek," including Arik Soong in three episodes of "Enterprise," Adam Soong in five episodes of "Picard," and Altan Soong in two additional episodes of "Picard." Data kind of returned for the third season of "Picard" as well, although it was more an amalgam character of all the androids he had played before. That new Data, actually named Daystrom Android M-5-10, appeared in five episodes. 

Marina Sirtis played Counselor Troi in 174 episodes of the show, absent from four episodes in the first season. The writers explained that the character was usually attending psychology lectures. Troi was, however, in three episodes of "Star Trek: Voyager," still serving as a helper to the neurotic Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz). She also appeared in "These Are the Voyages," as well as seven episodes of "Picard," an episode of "Lower Decks," and a "Very Short Trek." 

LeVar Burton was in 176 episodes of the series, and only went on to appear in five episodes of "Picard." He also had a cameo in the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Timeless" (November 18, 1998). Burton also directed many "Star Trek" episodes, including two of "Next Generation," 10 of "Deep Space Nine," eight of "Voyager," and nine of "Enterprise." 

As mentioned, Gates McFadden was fired for the second season of the series (a producer hated her for some reason), but she came back in season three. As such, she was only in 152 episodes of the series. She did, however, return for 10 episodes of "Picard," and three episodes of the animated series "Star Trek: Prodigy." She also directed one episode of "Next Generation." 

Wil Wheaton, meanwhile, left the series early on, and only appeared in 68 episodes. He was also in the movie "Nemesis," two episodes of "Picard," and eight episodes of "Prodigy."