Patrick Stewart's Longest-Running Role Makes His Absence From This Sci-Fi Show Even More Confusing

Patrick Stewart has played the same role for two decades, and the nature of the project with which he boasts such a long tenure makes it especially confusing that he was never given the chance to appear in a show that ended recently that would have been perfect for him.

While best known for his role as Captain Picard in every season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stewart has had a more varied acting career than some might expect. His autobiography, Making It So, reveals that, despite his strong ties to the genre, sci-fi was never really a passion of his before being cast as Picard.

Still, the actor's relatively recent return to the franchise to lead the Star Trek: Picard cast proves he still has an affinity for sci-fi storytelling. However, after starring so heavily in one of the best adult animated shows, I can't help but wonder why Patrick Stewart was never called upon for a very similar project.

Patrick Stewart Was A Notable Absence From Star Trek: Lower Decks After Playing Avery Bullock In American Dad! For 2 Decades

American Dad! continues to prove how good Patrick Stewart is in animated comedies

Every season of Star Trek: Lower Decks was filled with special guest cameos that acknowledged various eras of the iconic sci-fi franchise. The animated comedy recalled several Star Trek actors to their original roles​​​​​​, sometimes decades after they were last involved with the saga. Sadly, Patrick Stewart was never called upon.

What I find especially odd about this is that Patrick Steward has voiced Avery Bullock in American Dad! since the show's inception in 2005, and continues to bring the character to life. While Star Trek: Lower Decks is still part of the franchise's main canon, it is primarily an animated comedy, with the latter criterion also being true for American Dad!

While not identical, Star Trek: Lower Decks and American Dad! have similar comedic vibes. Plus, just as Bullock's physical appearance is based on Patrick Stewart's, the same would presumably have been true had the actor been cast in Lower Decks. So, I have no doubt the actor would have knocked it out of the park as Picard in the animated Star Trek comedy.

Why Jean-Luc Picard Never Appeared In Star Trek: Lower Decks

Patrick Stewart's character had a serious responsibility that made him unavailable

Star Trek: Lower Decks ended in 2024, meaning the chance to allow Patrick Stewart to reprise his role in such a cool context has passed the franchise by. That said, there is a very good in-universe explanation for why Picard never showed up in Lower Decks, and it comes down to when the show was set.

Picard had already been promoted to admiral by the beginning of Star Trek: Lower Decks, meaning he was busy overseeing Starfleet's efforts to evacuate Romulus as its sun threatened to go supernova. While Lower Decks often poked fun at relatively serious storylines from across the franchise, this one was probably a little too tricky to inject with much comedy.

Star Trek: Lower Decks Still Missed The Perfect Chance To Cast Patrick Stewart

The Purple Universe could have introduced a new version of Captain Picard

Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek's Prime Timeline was busy undertaking a mission not really suitable for Lower Decks' lighthearted sensibilities, but the show could still have brought Patrick Stewart into the cast in a very similar role. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5 was basically one big multiverse saga, which opened the door for Stewart's animated franchise debut.

In episode 7, "Fully Dilated," Star Trek: Lower Decks' final season introduced a version of the USS Enterprise-D that seemed identical in every way to its Prime Timeline counterpart...except that it was purple. Brent Spiner appeared in the installment as Purple Data - or at least his head - so there was definitely an opportunity for Stewart to voice Purple Picard.

The purple Enterprise-D seemed to be from a universe that was running behind the Prime Timeline, so the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation, or events very similar, were probably still taking place in the Purple Universe. Therefore, Purple Picard could still have been a captain rather than an admiral, free from the burden of evacuating Purple Romulus.

Even away from "Fully Dilated," the various universes referenced and visited in Star Trek: Lower Decks presented numerous potential openings for Patrick Stewart to play a multiversal variant of Jean-Luc Picard. Nevertheless, the character is only ever referenced in Lower Decks and never directly features.

He Isn't Known For It, But Patrick Stewart Is A Great Comic Actor

Stewart has appeared in several comedy roles

Roles like Captain Picard and Professor X from the X-Men movies have established Patrick Stewart as a dramatic actor with a lot of gravitas. He is fantastic in those kinds of roles, but he shines just as brightly in comedy projects. As well as appearing in American Dad!, Stewart has also lent his iconic voice to several Family Guy characters, including a parody of Captain Picard.

Seth MacFarlane is Stewart's most frequent comedy collaborator, and their collaboration ventures beyond the TV industry. Patrick Stewart was also the narrator for 2012's Ted and the 2015 sequel, Ted 2. These two movies are still Stewart's most prominent comedy performances on the big screen.

Patrick Stewart also led the cast of Blunt Talk for both seasons. As Walter Blunt, Stewart was responsible for many of the show's funniest moments. However, perhaps my favorite comic performance by Patrick Stewart is a scene as a fictionalized version of himself in Extras, which always cracks me up no matter how many times I watch it.