10 MORE Actors You Didn’t Know Were In Star Trek
6. Brian Quinn
Star Trek and pranks go hand-in-buzzered-hand. Nog and Jake upped the ante on itching powder. Doctor Crusher was pushed over the edge. Harry Kim milked it a little. You might even call The Practical Joker of The Animated Series the spiritual predecessor to Brian Quinn and gang's hidden camera comedy series.
Fitting, then, that this 'Impractical Joker' should appear in Star Trek — doubly (even triply) so that he goes by the nickname 'Q'. Funnily enough, Quinn had a straight role for his cameo in Star Trek: Picard's second season episode Watcher, picking up dog 'Luna' from a tearful 21st century Guinan at 10 Forward Avenue. No one from the Continuum was necessarily around.
Quinn's character, Uncle Dale, is also one for the in-jokes and conspiracy theorists. The "DaleVerse" is real people! Wake up! As Quinn pointed out on Twitter (via Den of Geek and CinemaBlend), Picard was Dale's third appearance, the character having popped up in 12 Monkeys and MacGyver before that. The link? Terry Matalas!
'Q' — Dale — is probably not a Q, but he might be a solution to a crossover we've been waiting for. "I think it's time to do a 12 issue comic book series starring Dale as a kind of f**ked up Doctor Who," Matalas replied to Quinn on Twitter. Impractical, but definitely a joke?