NewsT. Rick JonesStar Trek: Picard, Wil Wheaton

Wil Wheaton will host Star Trek: Picard aftershow The Ready Room

NewsT. Rick JonesStar Trek: Picard, Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton will host Star Trek: Picard aftershow The Ready Room
Wil Wheaton photo by Tyler Shields

Wil Wheaton photo by Tyler Shields

Star Trek: The Next Generation star Wil Wheaton is making his return to the franchise, as the new host of the Star Trek after show, The Ready Room.

Last week, Star Trek on CBS All Access made the announcement on Twitter: “We're really happy to announce that Wil Wheaton will be the new host of The Ready Room. Watch it every Thursday after you watch #StarTrekPicard for a deep dive into the latest episode.”

Wheaton’s return to Star Trek is pretty monumental, if you happen to have been following his career after Next Gen. As an internet personality, Wheaton has been frank about his contentious departure from the franchise, which you can read more about in his book, Just a Geek.

Wheaton made a statement on Facebook after the CBS All Access announcement. He said, “I didn't think I was going to be allowed to talk about this for another week or so, but since CBS already broke the news, I guess I'm in the clear. I'm going to be hosting the second season of CBS's READY ROOM, the behind-the-scenes hub for all the Star Trek shows, starting with Star Trek: Picard! Every week, after the new episode airs, you can catch me and a special guest for an interview, see behind the scenes footage, previews of upcoming episodes, and other exclusive stuff that will blow your mind.”

The Ready Room is getting an upgrade from last year, when it ran after Star Trek: Discovery season 2 exclusively on Facebook. Hosted by Naomi Kyle, the show ran weekly as an aftershow, and featured Kyle interviewing a celebrity guest. The new Ready Room will be a similar format, but according to Wheaton, in addition to being available on Facebook, it will also be streamed on CBS All Access, YouTube, IGTV, or acted out by pigeons in your local park. Presumably, the pigeons thing is a joke.

The Ready Room premieres this Thursday, January 23rd, immediately after Star Trek: Picard.