Star Trek icons Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner’s new team-up finally gives Star Trek: The Next Generation an equivalent to other Star Trek shows. As Commander Will Riker and Lt. Commander Data, respectively, Frakes and Spiner have worked together since Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in 1987. Riker and Data last appeared on-screen together in Star Trek: Picard season 3.
Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner are launching a new podcast called Dropping Names… And Other Things (also known as Dropping Names With Brent and Jonny). Dropping Names will interview a new guest every week to discuss the first time they met someone who inspired them to become a fan. While no launch date has been announced, Dropping Names has a website with links to wherever you get your podcasts.
Although Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner say Dropping Names with Brent and Jonny is not specifically a Star Trek podcast, they will also have guests from the final frontier and discuss Star Trek, bowing to their nearly 40 years of saving the galaxy aboard the Starship Enterprise. Fittingly, Dropping Names’ first guest will be their fellow Star Trek: The Next Generation co-star, LeVar Burton.
Jonathan Frakes & Brent Spiner’s New Podcast Makes TNG Equal To Other Star Trek Shows
By joining forces for Dropping Names… And Other Things, Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes finally give Star Trek: The Next Generation their own podcast hosted by a duo of TNG legends. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise all have their own podcasts hosted by actors from those series.
In 2019, the late Aron Eisenberg and Cirroc Lofton launched The 7th Rule to review episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine along with producer and host Ryan T. Husk. After Eisenberg passed away in September 2019, Lofton and Husk continued reviewing DS9 with a slew of special guests.
After finishing reviewing DS9, The 7th Rule expanded to reviewing episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with Denise Crosby joining them for season 1. The 7th Rule also began reviewing episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series with Walter Koenig looking back on his classic episodes.
In 2020, Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill launched The Delta Flyers to review every episode of their series, Star Trek: Voyager. After wrapping their Voyager rewatch in 2023, The Delta Flyers began reviewing Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes with Terry Farrell and Armin Shimerman.
Star Trek: Enterprise’s Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating joined the podcast space in 2022 with The Shuttlepod Show, which became The D-Con Chamber in 2024. Originally hosting Star Trek and other celebrities for interviews, The D-Con Chamber also began reviewing episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, recently wrapping their look back at season 1.
In 2021, The Nacelle Company and Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Gates McFadden beat Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner to the podcast game with InvestiGates, which ran for 3 seasons of Star Trek celebrity interviews. However, Frakes and Spiner bring TNG into the now-defined genre of Star Trek actor duos hosting a podcast, even if they’re not specifically looking back at their classic episodes.
Star Trek Podcasts Let Fans Revel In Their Love For Classic Shows
The wealth of podcasts hosted by Star Trek actors looking back at their own shows is a boon for generations of fans. Even as Star Trek continues to move into the future on Paramount+, the love for classic 1960s and 1990s Star Trek has not abated. If anything, it has intensified as new and older fans revel in their nostalgia for the versions of Star Trek they grew up with and define the franchise for them.
Now, every Star Trek TV series from the 1990s and 2000s is represented by a duo of iconic actors from each show.
Just by bringing LeVar Burton as Dropping Names… And Other Things‘ first guest, Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner will inevitably talk about Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard, perhaps telling new stories and reiterating many of the hilarious tales they’ve regaled legions of fans with at Star Trek conventions. Now, every Star Trek TV series from the 1990s and 2000s is represented by a duo of iconic actors from each show.
In addition, Star Trek fans hosting their own podcasts to share their appreciation (and also grumble about) their favorite franchise is a booming industry. Podcasts like Open Pike Night, Strange New Pod, The Transporter Room, Crusher Convo, Trekommendations, and many others have created a huge online community for appreciating Star Trek.
The tried-and-true chemistry and banter between Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner should set Dropping Names… And Other Things apart from their fellow Star Trek podcasts. The enduring popularity of Star Trek: The Next Generation is bound to make Dropping Names with Brent and Jonny a hit with Star Trek fans.
Watch Dropping Names with Brent and Jonny’s announcement video on YouTube below:
