Why is 'Next Gen' Star Disappointed in New 'Trek'?

The entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation was on hand at Creation Entertainment’s Grand Slam Convention: The Star Trek and Sci-Fi Summit in Burbank, CA last weekend, meeting fans, signing autographs, and otherwise "making it so," reminiscing about their time on the iconic space-faring adventure drama -- and LeVar Burton, who played the eye visor-sporting Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge, opened up to ET about his disappointment with the new Star Trek film franchise.

"J.J. [Abrams] [is] a very good director, he really is," he told ET. "He
directed the hell out of the first movie. I'm really interested to see
what he wants to talk about in his upcoming movie. [But] I'm
disappointed, quite frankly, that his timeline negates the existence of Next Gen. I think that's silly."

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Burton went on to talk about what initially drew him to Star Trek,
telling us, "I loved seeing people of color on TV when I was growing
up. It wasn't all that often, and I always have been a huge science
fiction fan, and so [when] [Star Trek creator] Gene Roddenberry's vision
of the future was one that included people that looked like me, [it]
was huge in terms of developing my self image as a young person."

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Burton joined such notables as Sir Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, and Brent Spiner, who played Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commander William T. "Number One" Riker, and robotic Commander Data respectively, at the event, which was produced by Creation Entertainment, a company that hosts interactive film and television genre conventions throughout the year. For more information on upcoming Creation Entertainment events, CLICK HERE. 

And for more from LeVar Burton, including an exciting announcement about beloved children's show Reading Rainbow's new mobile app, watch the video!