10 Times Pop Music Was Heard In Star Trek

Star Trek already had interesting ties to the hit record California Dreamin' long before the song was actually included in an episode (Assimilation of Picard's second season). The song's co-writer Michelle Phillips, member of the band The Mamas & the Papas, went on to pursue a career in acting and played Jenice Manheim in The Next Generation episode We'll Always Have Paris, first aired in 1988. The character was at one point in a relationship with Picard, but Jean-Luc stood her up for Starfleet as she waited for him at the Café des Artistes in Paris. Phillips also has on-screen credits in other shows with Star Trek alum the likes of William Shatner, Ricardo Montalbán, Richard Herd, and James Darren.

The song, as it is used in the series Picard, is a slightly more up-tempo remix by German DJ Freischwimmer. It begins to play after Seven, Rios, and Raffi attempt some California Beamin' to Los Angeles from the CSS La Sirena, and just as Jurati is plugged in to the Borg Queen. Cut to establishing overhead shots of L.A. County including the Santa Monica Pier and the Griffith Observatory, both previously seen in the Star Trek: Voyager two-parter Future's End. Groovy!

With not a freakasaurus in sight this time round (well, maybe one or two), California Dreamin' continues to play over the team of three's difficult transport to La La Land. The music comes to an abrupt halt to Rios' Laurel and Hardy-esque routine as he materialises mid-air, taking a backflip as he hits a stairwell on his way down to eat the pavement. "I'd be safe and warm, if I was in L.A."? Yeah, right!