'Star Trek: The Next Generation' Cast Not Asked to Return for Picard Series

It seems like the crew of the USS Enterprise won't be reuniting for the next Star Trek series on CBS All Access.

Star Trek: The Next Generation stars Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, and Michael Dorn were guests at this year's Rose City Comic Con. The topic of their former co-star Patrick Stewart's upcoming return to the role of Jean-Luc Picard came up during a panel. Sirtis says the return of Captain Picard is not the return of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

"All I have to say, all we have to say - I am speaking for all three of us now - when Patrick said 'Jean-Luc Picard is back,' he didn't say TNG is back," Sirtis said (via Trek Movie).

Sirtis is referencing Stewart's comments during his surprise appearance at Star Trek Las Vegas, where he first announced his return. The cast members went on to say even more directly that they have not been asked to return to Star Trek.

"We weren't asked," Dorn said.

"My cat got a huge contract offer, though," McFadden chimed in.

"We weren't asked, but I was asked to be on The Orville. I am on The Orville," Sirtis said, referring to Seth MacFarlane's FOX television series that is a love letter to Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Rumors and speculation began to fly when Sirtis shared a photo from a Star Trek: The Next Generation cast reunion over dinner, which included Stewart.

"I got 30,000 likes…that is the most likes I ever got," she said. "So, don't ask us anything about Patrick's show, because we know nothing."

The last time the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew were on screen together was in the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis. The new Picard series is said to take place 20 years after that film in the Star Trek timeline.

"He may not be a captain anymore," Stewart hinted during the announcement. "He may not be the Jean-Luc that you recognize and know so well. It may be a very different individual. Someone who has been changed by his experiences. 20 years will have passed...We have no scripts as yet, we're just talking, talking, talking storylines. It will be, I promise you, I guarantee it, something very, very different, but it will come to you with the same passion and determination and love of the material and love of our followers and our fans exactly as we had it before."

What do you think of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast apparently being left out of the new Picard series? Let us know in the comments!