Celebrities: they're just like us. That's what we hear all the time, anyway – but it isn't until a celebrity like Patrick Stewart writes a book and outs actor Tom Hanks as a massive fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation that we fully recognize the depths of that reality. Yes, one of America's greatest actors is a fan of TNG and a pretty big one based on a wild claim made by Stewart.
Making It So: A Memoir is making headlines for various reveals from the actor, and this latest is a doozy. When discussing famous fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Patrick Stewart name-checks Oscar-winner Tom Hanks, who apparently watches a lot of TNG. So much so that he can do something pretty impressive. Stewart broke it down in this quote below:
Then there are the famous fans. Tom Hanks has told me he knows all the TNG episodes by name, so obsessively has he watched them.
I'll save anyone currently firing up their Paramount+ subscription to count the trouble. There are 178 excellent and occasionally WTF-inducing episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Assuming that Tom Hanks wasn't exaggerating in saying he could name all of those episodes because of how many times he's watched them, that's wildly impressive.
Tom Hanks might have theories about how Star Trek shows destroyed the world's enjoyment of Navy movies, but that doesn't mean he isn't a huge fan. In fact, Hanks admitted earlier this year when he appeared on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast he would've been in Star Trek: First Contact, but there was never an offer made to him. After hearing about his fandom of The Next Generation, I'm more inclined to believe that, and a little sad that it never happened. Can we somehow use time travel to rewrite history and ensure it happens?
Patrick Stewart also mentioned another famous Star Trek fan in his book, though he didn't have all the details personally. According to the actor, he heard that singer Frank Sinatra was also a fan of The Next Generation, but he confessed to no knowing much more than that:
I have it on good authority that Frank Sinatra, of all people, was a devoted viewer. I only wish I could have heard his reasons why.
Somewhere in the multiverse, there's a reality in which Tom Hanks and Frank Sinatra met and bonded on their Star Trek fandoms and met with Patrick Stewart to recreate the iconic poker scenes of The Next Generation. That's what I'm choosing to believe, anyway, and I can't express enough how cool it is to hear about celebrities being fans of other pop culture stuff that they have nothing to do with. Let's just have all celebrities start outing the fandoms of their peers in memoirs going forward!
If you want to be as good at naming Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes as Tom Hanks, then get to work watching each and every episode multiple times over on Paramount+. Those who aren't quite as committed could check out all the other content available and prepare for the upcoming Trek shows on the horizon by catching up on what else the platform has to offer.
