10 Star Trek Moments You Never Knew Were Improvised
4. Stand-Up Comedy - The Outrageous Okona
According to comedian Joe Piscopo, he was allowed to improvise almost all of the material he came up with for Data to imitate on the holodeck. This was easily a case of letting the expert get on with what they were best at, which in turn led to a stronger episode because of it.
The Outrageous Okona is a second-season episode of The Next Generation, featuring William O. Campbell as Okona and an uncredited appearance by Teri Hatcher as the transporter operative. The B-plot of the episode features Data's ongoing attempts at becoming more human, including his research into comedy.
The initial pitch was for the producers to approach Jerry Lewis to appear in the episode, though scheduling commitments prevented this. They then turned to Piscopo, who included an impression of Lewis in his set. He later recalled that he had a fantastic time while filming. He was approached by his agent and sold on the fact that Whoopi Goldberg would also be in the episode. He relished the opportunity to work with her, though also sang the praises of Brent Spiner as well.
As he said himself:
...on Star Trek, they let me have fun. We just had fun.