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