Published Feb 15, 2020
Tapestry Debuted 23 Years Ago Today
We're celebrating the classic episode with some of our favorite pieces of Trek trivia.
"Tapestry," the 15th episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation's 6th season, debuted on February 15, 1993, or a mind-boggling 27 years ago today. The hour found Q giving Captain Picard the opportunity to revisit the moment from his youth that he most regretted. Picard, in fact, altered past events, then realized the folly of doing so, as they made him the man who grew up to captain the Enterprise. In the end, viewers — and Picard himself — weren't quite sure if the events of "Tapestry" ever actually happened.
These are some of our favorite, fun facts about the classic episode.
1. "Tapestry" was director Les Landau's twentieth episode. Landau also called the shots on many Deep Space Nine and Voyager installments, as well as one episode of Enterprise.
2. "Tapestry" was first Q episode written by Ronald D. Moore. Asked by StarTrek.com in 2011 to pick the one episode or movie he's most proud to have his name on, Moore couldn't cite just one, but he counted "Tapestry" among his favorites. "My answer to that varies a lot. Looking back, I sometimes forget some of the ones I’m tickled by. But I go back again and again to 'Tapestry' and also to 'All Good Things…' 'Tapestry' meant a lot to me personally. I was sort of telling a story of my own views and things that I felt were profound mistakes of judgment that then later turned out to be the very events that allowed me to go work on Star Trek. So that was very personal to me."3. What does "Tapestry" have in common with "First Contact," "Symbiosis," "Sub Rosa" and "Liaisons"? They're the only five TNG episodes without a stardate.
4. Moore initially imagined the episode would echo A Christmas Carol, with Q escorting Picard back through several life-changing mistakes. However, producer Michael Piller nixed that notion and Moore instead focused on a single mistake/regret.
5. Marcus Nash portrayed the young Ensign Jean-Luc Picard, who gets stabbed. His real-life sister, Jennifer Nash, played Meribor in "The Inner Light." 6. The episode tied with "Time's Arrow" — with a 13.8 Nielsen rating — as the second most-watched episode of TNG's sixth season. 7. The character of Penny Muroc got her name from a woman whom Moore had once dated.
8. J.C. Brandy was just 17 years old when she played Ensign Marta Batanides. Brandy still acts, and she played guitar for Lo-Ball, an all-women rock band that also included Pauley Perrette of NCIS. She also is a songwriter and has contributed to the soundtracks of Legally Blonde and What Lies Beneath. Brandy is probably best known for her role as the older Jamie Lloyd in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers. And we all know who the Michael Myers mask is based on, right?What were your favorite "Tapestry" moments or memories? Let us know @StarTrek on all things social!