Star Trek’s William T. Riker Gets The Fan-Made Spinoff He Always Deserved
Star Trek: The Next Generation has been off the air for over 20 years, yet one devoted fan has given Commander William Riker a pilot for the spin-off that some fans have always wanted, with hilarious results.
The fan-made short is the work of Jan van den Hemel, according to Blastr, who along with fellow video editor Andrew Hussie was responsible for a number of Star Trek: The Next Generation edits that were released online in the late 2000s. His latest work is a tongue-in-cheek pilot episode for Riker, the Star Trek spinoff that fans of Number One never knew they wanted, and is composed of various scenes from the iconic series edited together.
In the two decades since Star Trek: The Next Generation went off the air, William Riker’s popularity has seemingly only grown. The character has inspired a host of internet memes and tributes, many of which focus on either his facial hair or the famed “Riker Lean.”
Set against a jazzy theme song, the Riker pilot highlights William T. Riker’s career on the Enterprise, as well as the traits that have made him such a popular character. The core of the “show” centers around the birth of Riker’s offspring, a clever edit that inspired some Star Trek fans to reveal that the short left them laughing out loud.
Star Trek fan gives William Riker the hilarious, strange TV show he deserves http://t.co/rf5MWlBZYb pic.twitter.com/8lCk5Z2JsT
— The Verge (@verge) May 23, 2015
Last year, Jonathan Frakes revealed that he had reached out to producer J.J. Abrams to express his desire to direct the next Star Trek feature film. As Comicbook.com reported, Frakes was not only interested, but also possessed the resume to handle such a project. Aside from portraying William Riker on The Next Generation from 1987 to 1994, Frakes also directed several of the series’ feature films, Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection (while playing Riker in both).
He’s Number One! RT @NerdApproved: Fan Gives William T. Riker His Own Show And It’s Insane http://t.co/mA4UMVszFc pic.twitter.com/jcltT2H3GZ
— Loot Crate (@lootcrate) May 26, 2015
Though the Riker pilot is clearly meant as a parody, fan-made Star Trek films have taken off in recent years. As the Inquisitr previously reported, independent Star Trek films like Axanar and Captain Pike have been financed through crowdfunding, filling a noticeable void. Once an ubiquitous presence on television, no Star Trek show has aired since the cancellation of Enterprise in 2005.
Meanwhile, fans can content themselves with a glimpse of the William Riker spinoff that never was, and the knowledge that more fan videos from Hemel are on the way.
[Image via Blastr]
