Useless but essential pop culture tidbits and trivia from the worlds of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror that everybody at the Star Trek convention you are going to probably already knows.
All Star Trek fans know Jonathan Frakes as the person who scowled his way (with and without the beard) through seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation as Commander William Riker and who also played the character in the TNG movies (and even showed up in the final episode of Enterprise). But what, you may wonder, has happened to Frakes ever since he took off his Starfleet uniform?
He has since decided to go behind the camera and has built up an impressive resume of film and television directing gigs. He got his start with his directing career when TNG was still running as he helmed eight episodes of that series. He then went on to direct two of the TNG movies, First Contact and Insurrection, as well as several episodes of Star Trek: DS9 and Star Trek: Voyager. He has also crossed over to other genre shows having directed one episode each of Dollhouse and the recent remake of V, and he also helmed three episodes of NBC’s Summer conspiracy series Persons Unknown. In addition to his directing, he has done some voice work in animation, most notably on the popular Gargoyles animated series that ran throughout the mid-90’s where he voiced the character David Xanatos. He has also hosted the popular paranormal anthology series Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction (echoing Leonard Nimoy’s gig on In Search Of) as well as the History Channel series That’s Impossible.
A few more choice tidbits about Frakes’ varied career: In the 1970’s he worked for Marvel Comics and appeared at conventions and other PR events dressed as Captain America. Also, TNG fans will remember that Riker played the trombone from time to time during the series, and Frakes actually knows how to play the instrument from this college marching band days (“I remember this one time at Starfleet Band Camp . . . “). He put this skill to use appearing on the album Hoist by Phish which came out in 1994. So don’t fret for Frakes, because he has remained quite busy since retiring from Starfleet and you just may see his name in the credits as director of an episode of one of this season’s upcoming television shows.
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