Summary
I forgot about Captain Picard Day this year, but so didStar Trek. June 16 is Captain Picard Day, which is one of thethree holidaysStar Trekcelebratesin the real world, along with First Contact Day in April and Star Trek Day in September. Fans remembered Captain Picard Day, and it was commemorated by dedicated fan-runStar Trekwebsites. But the occasion came and went without fanfare from Star Trek on Paramount+ or me.
Captain Picard Day didn’t register for me as it did in the past because so much has recently happened in theStar Trekfranchise.Star Trek: Discoveryended on May 30th after 5 successful seasons, and it was a lot to unpack. Meanwhile,Star Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3 wrapped filming.Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which is going into production in the fall, dropped two huge casting announcements, tapping Academy Award-winner Holly Hunter as the series lead and Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti as the nextStar Trekseries' recurring main villain.Star Trek: Prodigyseason 2 finally announced its July 1st release date on Netflix, andStar Trekreceived a Peabody Institutional Award. With so much happening,Captain Picard Day got lost in the shuffle.
Star Trek III: The Search For Spockcelebrated its 40th anniversary on June 1st, and it has been rereleased in UK theaters.
Why Star Trek Celebrates Captain Picard Day
“I’m a role model!”
Captain Picard Daywas introduced inStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 7, episode 12, “The Pegasus”. It was a special occasion organized by Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) to allow the children aboard the USS Enterprise-D to celebrate their heroic Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).Captain Picard Day was a memorable bit of whimsy inTNGthat was later acknowledged by the older Admiral Picard inStar Trek: Picardseason 1.
Captain Picard Day is celebrated on June 16, which is the Gregorian calendar’s equivalent to stardate 47457.1 inStar Trek: The Next Generation’s “The Pegasus”.
Star Trekrecognized how fans took to Captain Picard Day and turned June 16th into a real-world occasion. In 2019, StarTrek.com marked Captain Picard Day with an entire week of festivities.Captain Picard Day was also a convenient tie-in forStar Trek: Picardon Paramount+when the series bringing back Patrick Stewart in his iconic role premiered in 2020, running for three seasons. This year, however, Captain Picard Day celebrations ended up taking a back seat for a few reasons.
Why Captain Picard Day 2024 Went By Without Notice From Star Trek
Star Trek has new things to announce… but not yet.
Captain Picard Day fell on both a Sunday and Father’s Day in 2024, which helps explain why it didn’t receive its normal fanfare. In terms of Picard himself, theend ofStar Trek: Picardin spring 2023 was followed by the celebration of Patrick Stewart’s memoir, “Making It So”, in the fall. Unfortunately, Paramount+ did not choose to developStar Trek: Legacyas a continuation ofStar Trek: Picard.In addition,Star Trek: Picardshowrunner Terry Matalas is moving on to executive produceVisionfor Marvel Studios and write anEnemy Minereboot for 20th Century Studios, sothere is nothing to announce in terms of seeing more of Jean-Luc and the crew ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.
Netflix has not released any promotional material forStar Trek: Prodigyseason 2, which could have happened on Captain Picard Day.
Star Trek on Paramount+ opted not to use Captain Picard Day to announce any of its new upcoming projects. Most likely, announcing the full cast ofStar Trek: Starfleet Academy, revealing more details aboutStar Trek: Strange New Worldsseason 3, dropping a trailer or release date forStar Trek: Section 31, and/or a trailer and release date forStar Trek: Lower Decksseason 5 is being saved for San Diego Comic-Con in July. There is also Star Trek Day in September that Paramount+ can use to hype upcoming projects, while Paramount Pictures is not ready to reveal anything about its theatricalUntitled Star Trek Originmovie.Hopefully, Captain Picard Day won’t be forgotten about in 2025,and there will be something exciting about Picard’s side ofStar Trekworth announcing.
