Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 6 has Lieutenant Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) unexpectedly name-drop the comic Joe Piscopo played in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2 back in 1988. Crossing the midway point of Star Trek: Lower Decks' final season on Paramount+, the crew of the USS Cerritos takes a break from investigating rifts in space that lead to alternate Star Trek timelines to broker peace between warring factions of aliens who are cubes and spheres.
However, Lt. Brad Boimler remains obsessed with becoming more like the alternate universe bearded Boimler he met in Star Trek: Lower Decks' season 5 premiere, "Dos Cerritos." Boimler has been growing a beard, and he's obsessed with the bearded Bradward's files in the PADD he swiped from the parallel universe. When his roommate, Lt. Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) asks to borrow Brad's alt-universe PADD, a flustered Boimler feigns ignorance and says, “Alt-universe? Good joke. We got a regular Ronald B. Moore over here! Working on your stand-up, huh?” But wait, who is Ronald B. Moore?
Star Trek: Lower Decks Remembers Joe Piscopo's TNG Comic Ronald B. Moore
Of Course, Boimler Knows About Star Trek: TNG's Holographic Comic
In another of Star Trek: Lower Decks' fabled deep cuts references, Lt. Brad Boimler name-drops Ronald B. Moore AKA the comic played by Joe Piscopo in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2, episode 4, "The Outrageous Okona." Along with guest-starring Billy Campbell as Captain Thadiun Okona and Teri Hatcher as transporter Chief B.G. Robinson, "The Outrageous Okona" features Joe Piscopo as a holographic stand-up comedian at Charnock's Comedy Cabaret that Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) consults to learn more about humor. However, Data only calls the tuxedoed hologram "Mr. Comic" on-screen.
Joe Piscopo's Star Trek: The Next Generation comic is named Ronald B. Moore, which is listed in the USS Enterprise-D's holographic program, but it's a detail that only hardcore Trekkers would know. Lt. Brad Boimler is just that hardcore an aficionado of Starfleet history. Of course, Boimler would somehow have known that Data once met with a holographic comedian named Ronald B, Moore to try to understand what humans think is funny. It's also very Boimler that Joe Piscopo's comic is who he instantly thought of when referencing a comedian.
Star Trek's 3 Ronald Moores Explained
How Can One Sci-Fi Franchise Have 3 Ron Moores?
Incredibly, there are three people involved in Star Trek named Ronald Moore. Ronald B. Moore, the comedian Joe Piscopo played in Star Trek: The Next Generation is named after the real-life Ronald B. Moore, the Emmy Award-winning visual effects supervisor. The flesh-and-blood Ronald B. Moore worked on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise. Moore even appeared on a computer screen as Commander Ronald Moore in Star Trek: Enterprise's series finale, "These Are The Voyages."
In 2023, Ronald B. Moore was a guest on The Shuttlepod Show podcast hosted by Star Trek: Enterprise 's Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer.
Both the holographic and real-life Ronald B. Moore predate the Ronald Moore Star Trek fans are most familiar with: Ronald D. Moore, the legendary writer and showrunner. Ronald D. Moore wrote for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and co-created For All Mankind, but Moore might be most acclaimed as the creator and showrunner of Battlestar Galactica. Ronald D. Moore also co-wrote Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, and Mission: Impossible II with Brannon Braga. Star Trek: Lower Decks shouting out Ronald B. Moore can be considered a nod to the incredible triple threat legacy of Ronald Moores in Star Trek.
