Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Reg Barclay
Potential Lower Decker, EMH inspiration, and cat lover.
Transcript
00:00 Played by the A-team's Dwight Schultz, Reginald Barkley III, or Reg for short, is one of Star Trek's fan-favorite characters.
00:07 Schultz puts this down to the fact that he's not the shining example of Starfleet perfection that makes up the majority of 90s Star Trek crews.
00:15 He's shy, a bit nerdy, and struggles to form social connections with people.
00:19 He prefers to escape into the fictional world rather than confront the real one, all of which are things I feel a lot of us can relate to.
00:26 Barkley proved so popular after his first appearance that he appeared in four subsequent episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation,
00:32 and later played an integral part in getting the Voyager crew back to the Alpha Quadrant.
00:36 He appeared in six episodes of Voyager, and also got to meet one of his heroes when he shook hands with Zephram Cochran in Star Trek First Contact.
00:44 All of this is widely known, but there are small character moments that are easy to forget,
00:48 or behind-the-scenes stories that shed more light on the creation of the beloved Enterprise crew member.
00:54 So, with all that in mind, I'm Bri from Trek Culture, and here are 10 things that you didn't know about Lieutenant Barkley.
01:01 Number 10. He has something in common with Seven of Nine.
01:05 Reg Barkley suffered a few physical and mental ailments in his time on the Enterprise.
01:10 One of these was an addiction to the holodeck dubbed "Holoaddiction" or "Holodiction".
01:14 Given the opportunities presented in Star Trek's holographic technology,
01:18 it's surprising that this wasn't a more common affliction in the 24th century.
01:22 Struggling to form connections with other members of the crew, Barkley retreated into a fantasy world
01:27 where he could be the charming, romantic hero he wanted to be.
01:30 Barkley is helped with his addiction by Jodie LaForge and Deanna Troi, who help him form real-life connections with his crewmates.
01:37 His obsession with finding the missing USS Voyager leads to a relapse in the season 6 episode "Pathfinder",
01:43 when his obsession leads him to create a fully functional replica of the ship and its crew.
01:48 In Voyager Season 7, Holodiction grips Seven of Nine when she too becomes obsessed with a holographic representation of Voyager and its crew.
01:56 In "Human Error", Seven attempts to improve her social skills,
01:59 but becomes increasingly overwhelmed by the emotions that these new connections stir up.
02:03 Seven's obsession alerts the attention of Janeway,
02:06 who chastises her for spending too much time on the holodeck instead of fulfilling her duties.
02:11 That's a bit rich from a woman who once deleted a handsome hologram's wife.
02:15 Number 9. He loved the Three Musketeers.
02:18 Reg Barkley's love for the Three Musketeers is, of course, well documented in the TNG episode "Hollow Pursuits".
02:24 When he confronts his hollow addiction, Reg deletes the Three Musketeers simulation,
02:28 but that clearly wasn't the end of his connection to the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas.
02:33 In the DS9 episode "Image in the Sand", Worf and O'Brien reminisce about their time on the Enterprise,
02:38 in an attempt, by the latter, to comfort his friend over the death of his wife, Dax.
02:43 In this, the subject of Barkley and his Three Musketeers program comes up,
02:46 but surely this is impossible.
02:49 While the simulation may have entered legend aboard the Enterprise,
02:52 the pair's assertion that Barkley often asked crewmates to join him in the Three Musketeers program
02:57 suggests that he resurrected it.
02:59 Though he probably did so by removing the problematic representation of Deanna Troi and his fellow crewmates.
03:06 It's heartwarming to imagine Reg Barkley sharing his hollow programs with the Enterprise crew
03:11 instead of hiding out in them.
03:13 It's also funny to imagine the likes of Worf and O'Brien
03:16 attempting to duck invitations to Barkley's swashbuckling adventure game nights.
03:21 Number 8. He has an unfortunate nickname.
03:24 To prove the old adage about the weak picking on those who are weaker,
03:28 Wesley Crusher coined an unfortunate nickname for poor, shy Reg Barkley.
03:32 While Reg struggled to fit into the Enterprise crew, Wesley Crusher dubbed him Lieutenant Broccoli.
03:38 When you're being bullied by Wesley Crusher, then you know that something has to change.
03:43 Barkley's nervousness and poor service record were all symptoms of his hollow addiction,
03:48 but the nickname followed him around for quite a bit.
03:51 In a neat bit of karma, the very fandom that rejected Wesley Crusher
03:55 embraced the nerdy, socially awkward Reg Barkley,
03:58 leading to four subsequent appearances in TNG.
04:01 So take that Wesley.
04:03 The bullying of Reg is something that's not always seen in the utopian future of Star Trek,
04:08 with most people respecting their colleagues and not resorting to cruel name-calling.
04:13 In Hollow Pursuits, Will even considers having Barkley removed from the ship
04:17 for not meeting standards demanded by the Federation flagship.
04:20 It's a refreshing take on the structure of Starfleet that shows that not every officer
04:24 is an unflappable expert in their chosen field.
04:27 Thankfully, Captain Picard gave Barkley another chance,
04:30 as he would do with Wesley Crusher, and the character went on to great heights.
04:35 Number 7. The TNG writers struggled to bring him back.
04:39 Reg Barkley was an instant hit, due both to the writing of this relatable realistic character,
04:44 and to the great performance by Dwight Schultz.
04:47 Plans were immediately set in motion to bring Barkley back for another episode of TNG,
04:52 but there was a problem.
04:53 So wonderful was the character that the writers didn't want to bring him back just for the sake of it.
04:59 Instead, they agonized over how to bring him back.
05:01 They wanted the character to develop rather than be stuck in the mold
05:05 of a nervous Starfleet officer with a holodeck addiction.
05:08 It took the writers room the better part of a year to find the perfect Reg Barkley story,
05:13 Season 4's The Nth Degree.
05:15 This was a favorite episode of Dwight Schultz and Barkley fans alike.
05:19 In it, Barkley's intelligence is subsequently improved by an alien force
05:23 attempting to make contact with the Enterprise.
05:25 It was the perfect evolution for the character,
05:28 who had moved past his anxieties by becoming an actor and super intelligent Starfleet officer.
05:33 At the end of The Nth Degree, Barkley is disappointed at being returned to his usual self,
05:38 but he is reassured by Troy and Geordi in a touching scene that hints that
05:42 he still has some residual intelligence left from his encounter.
05:45 Number 6. He has a cat called Neelix.
05:49 When Barkley created his Voyager replica, he may have experienced a relap of his holoaddiction,
05:55 but the Voyager crew similarly impacted his real life.
05:58 Barkley's work on the Pathfinder project was abruptly halted when his
06:01 unauthorized holodeck replica was discovered, but his obsessive use of it did eventually pay off
06:07 when he used it to prove the best way to contact Voyager in the Delta Quadrant.
06:11 Barkley's Voyager obsession was channeled into his home life as well.
06:15 He has an affinity for cats, having once looked after Data's pet Spot,
06:19 and ends up adopting his own cat during Voyager.
06:22 He calls the silver Persian cat Neelix after Voyager's Talaxian crew member.
06:26 The cat ends up influencing the simulation of the actual Neelix, who audibly purrs,
06:32 to the surprise of the Doctor.
06:33 When he realized that Barkley has named his cat after Neelix,
06:36 the Doctor tells Barkley that the Talaxian would be proud to have had such an impact on Reg.
06:41 It's unsurprising that Barkley has an affinity with cats as he struggles forming social connections.
06:47 While cats are definitely aloof, they don't crave the affection in the same way,
06:51 something for him to aspire to perhaps.
06:53 Number 5. The character was the brainchild of Gene Roddenberry
06:58 The origins of Reg Barkley can be traced back to the Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry,
07:03 who, according to actor Dwight Schultz, felt like such a character was missing from Star Trek.
07:08 The character of Reg is genuinely groundbreaking.
07:11 In the utopian future of Roddenberry's Star Trek,
07:14 everyone seems incredibly self-confident and they're all excellent at their jobs.
07:18 This can often make it hard for audiences to identify with the characters on an emotional level.
07:23 Reg, on the other hand, he felt the pressures that many of us would have felt serving aboard a starship.
07:28 The Federation flagship is incredibly overwhelming.
07:31 Not only are you constantly at the forefront of space exploration and potential conflict,
07:36 but there are also hundreds of people aboard whose names you have to remember.
07:39 It's a daunting prospect for anyone, let alone someone who clearly suffers from
07:43 imposter syndrome and social anxiety the way that Reg Barkley clearly does.
07:48 It was an inspired move by Roddenberry to bring someone more realistic and grounded
07:52 into the Star Trek universe, but much of the credit should also go to writer Sally Caves,
07:57 who wrote Reg's first episode, as well as actor Dwight Schultz,
08:00 for making the character such a hit with fans.
08:03 Number 4. He has an illness named after him
08:07 Reg Barkley has quite the medical history.
08:09 Hollow addiction, transporter phobia, and hypochondria.
08:13 The latter led him to self-diagnose with transporter psychosis and Torellian death syndrome.
08:18 He of course had neither of these conditions,
08:20 but does have the questionable honor of having one particular illness named after him.
08:25 Barkley's protomorphosis syndrome.
08:28 It's something of a misnomer given that the disease was
08:31 accidentally created by Beverly Crusher.
08:33 What is it with the Crusher family holding grudges against Reg?
08:37 The reason that protomorphosis syndrome was named after Barkley
08:40 isn't that Dr. Crusher was avoiding blame, it's because it was intrinsically linked
08:44 to a genetic abnormality in Barkley's body.
08:47 This abnormality meant that when he was given a hypospray to activate
08:50 dormant cells that could fight the flu, all of his dormant cells were activated.
08:55 This caused a nightmarish transformation into a prehistoric creature,
08:58 which soon affected everyone else on the ship.
09:01 Barkley blamed himself for the bizarre transformations of his crewmates,
09:04 but Crusher reassured him that it was all down to her.
09:08 Before then offering to name the condition after him.
09:11 Beverly really needs to learn to read the room.
09:13 Number 3. Barkley was almost in TNG's Lower Decks.
09:17 Reg Barkley would be such a great guest star on an episode of Lower Decks that
09:22 it's surprising it hasn't happened yet.
09:24 However, Barkley did almost feature in the Next Generation episode,
09:28 which inspired Mike McMahon's animated Star Trek comedy.
09:31 Lower Decks was a well-regarded episode of TNG's final season,
09:35 which portrayed the events of the average Star Trek episode as seen through the eyes of junior officers.
09:40 Originally, Barkley was considered to join the team of lowly Star Trek officers serving aboard
09:45 the Enterprise-D. It would certainly be interesting to see how Barkley interacted
09:50 with those who weren't senior staff, but the writers decided wisely to remove him from the final script.
09:55 Ultimately, Reg Barkley was so well known by the time of TNG's final season
09:59 that he would have stolen the limelight from the other characters.
10:03 Given that Lower Decks was a fresh take on the regular cast through the eyes of unseen characters,
10:08 it would have lessened the appeal of the episode's unique hook if Barkley had joined them.
10:12 Oh, but he should definitely still show up on Lower Decks. Pretty please, Mike?
10:17 Number 2. Dwight Schultz lobbied for the role of Reg.
10:20 As a character actor previously best known for playing Howling Mad Murdoch in the A-Team,
10:25 Dwight Schultz had worked with a number of people related to Star Trek The Next Generation
10:30 prior to being cast as Reg Barkley. He had worked with Worf actor Michael Dorn in an episode of
10:35 Chips and knew Whoopi Goldberg from their time filming The Long Walk Home. As a huge sci-fi fan,
10:42 Schultz was keen to take on a role in Star Trek The Next Generation and expressed his interest to
10:47 TNG's executive producer Rick Berman. However, it was his friendship with Whoopi Goldberg that
10:52 was instrumental in getting him the role of Barkley. She saw how great a fit Schultz was
10:56 for the show and said as much to Star Trek producers. Schultz swiftly received a phone
11:01 call from his agent about the role of Reg Barkley. As a Star Trek fan who gets to take his place on
11:06 the USS Enterprise, Schultz reflected that he was the lucky one chosen in an interview with TV Zone.
11:13 It's that love of Star Trek and Reg's own self-conscious and nervous personality that
11:17 resonated so well with fans who got to live their own Star Trek fantasies vicariously through him.
11:23 Number 1. He was almost Voyager's doctor. Reg Barkley would eventually play an integral part
11:29 in bringing the Voyager crew back to the Alpha Quadrant, but he almost had an even larger role
11:34 in the Star Trek spinoff. When Voyager was in development, an outline suggested that the show's
11:39 holographic doctor could actually be based on Reg Barkley and could be played by Dwight Schultz.
11:45 In this version of Voyager, Barkley would have left the Enterprise in TNG season 7 to complete
11:50 work on the emergency medical hologram program. Sadly, Barkley never got his proper send-off in
11:56 TNG's final season. It's unclear if this was due to actor availability or just the absence of a
12:02 solid story with which they could say goodbye to him. In the end, they decided to create a
12:06 completely new character for Voyager, however Barkley would eventually have links to the EMH.
12:12 A Barkley hologram was a built-in failsafe for the doctor in the episode projections,
12:17 and the real Barkley requested the EMH's help later in the series. In the episode Lifeline,
12:22 Barkley teams up with the Voyager's doctor to cure the EMH's creator, Louis Zimmerman,
12:27 of a terminal illness. Given Barkley's reclusive nature, it's hardly surprising that the bedside
12:32 manner of Voyager's doctor left a lot to be desired. And those were 10 things that you
12:37 hopefully didn't already know about Reg Barkley. Let me know in the comments anything else about
12:42 Reg that you think we should know. You can also subscribe to the channel to never miss a new video
12:46 if you want to find us on various social medias you can do so at either Trek Culture or Trek Culture
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12:58 But with all that being said, I hope you all have a great rest of your day,
13:01 and don't forget to live long and prosper.