Star Trek: The Next Generation (TV Series) The Outrageous Okona (1988) User Reviews

Easy to skip but harmless

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 12 November 2014]

The "Star Trek: The Next Generation" folks obviously were trying for a comedic change of pace for the series. Season one had been dreadfully serious and a bit slow--so I do appreciate the effort. However, there really isn't a lot that is funny here--and that's odd since that seems to be the purpose of this episode.

When the episode begins, Captain Okana is having engine problems with his run-down old freighter. The Enterprise, always eager to please and establish contact with various races, offers to help. However, it will take some time and so Okana comes over to the Enterprise to relax, look around and score with as many women as is humanly possible!! By the end of the episode, however, Okana's roguish ways come back to haunt him, as his reputation in this part of space is less than stellar.

The other main plot involves Data. As always, he's trying to get in touch with what it's like to be human. In this case, he's investigating humor and enlists the help of an unnamed holodeck comic (Joe Piscopo) to give him pointers. The problem is that it all comes off as VERY rehearsed and the jokes are exceptionally corny. Guinan tries to help. Oddly, while this portion has to do with humor, NOTHING about it made me smile or laugh and was by far the weakest aspect of the episode.

Overall, not a lot to this one. Pleasant and engaging at best...a bit of a waste of time, perhaps, as well.

Frivolously entertaining

[Mr-Fusion · 6/10 · 6 May 2016]

Data doesn't get jokes and spends his free time in he holodeck being schooled by Joe Piscopo. That's how you know you're in for a comedy episode. That and the crew runs into a pirate who needs repairs (a pre-Rocketeer Bill Campbell) and also has a knack for attracting the finest ladies on the ship and getting a feud going between two royal families. It's all serious business onboard this ship.

Lightweight comedy isn't usually TNG's forte, but this mostly works. Campbell is dashing, the women are gorgeous (hellooo, Teri Hatcher) and Guinan ends up filling in for an absent Pulaski in coaching Data in the ways of humans (and does a much better job of it, too).

Watching it again, I was actually kinda bummed this was a one-off for Okona. Thought for sure they'd follow in the Mudd footsteps from The Original Series.

6/10

50% Fun, 50% Dreadful

[anarchistica · 6/10 · 23 March 2020]

Pretty much everything involving the titular Okona is fun, the crew's surprise at being targetted with lasers still cracks me up. It's also refreshing to see a sex-positive episode that isn't creepy as hell.

On the other hand, we have Data trying to become more human (sigh) on the holodeck (double sigh). It's painfully unfunny. The scene where the Comic imitates Jerry Lewis is probably the worst scene in all of TNG.

Comedy

[russem31 · 14 April 2006]

ST:TNG:30 - "The Outrageous Okona" (Stardate: 42402.7) - this is the 4th episode to go into production for season 2. For the first time, The Next Generation veers towards comedy, as Data attempts to master the human ability to tell jokes and laugh. In order to do so, he gets help from the Holodeck Comic, played by Joe Piscopo, as well as Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan, who makes her second appearance in TNG. At the same time, the Enterprise must deal with a family quarrel involving two different planets as well as a Don Juan character who is The Outrageous Okona. Oh, and look out for a young Teri Hatcher as Transporter Chief Lt. Bronwyn Gail Robinson!

The Outrageous Okona

[Scarecrow-88 · 6/10 · 3 June 2012]

Bill Campbell guest-stars as a confident ladies' man, Captain Okona, quite a charmer who has a way with women, tractor beamed by the Enterprise so Geordi can repair a part for his freighter. Two ships, with only laser weaponry, inferior to the Enterprise in every way, represent two planets, both wanting Campbell's Okona for his "crimes" (one for stealing a precious jewel, the other for impregnating the ambassador's daughter!). Meanwhile, Data goes to the Holodeck, enlisting in the aid of a comic on how to be funny so he can interact better with humans on board the Enterprise. Data also confides in Ten Forward's Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) for extra guidance. An adequate time-waster, with a fun performance from the likable Campbell, including a guest-spot by Joe Piscopo who provides some less-than-stellar jokes to Data for use. Nothing about this episode is that particularly noteworthy except that it gives Picard a role as arbitrator to get to the bottom of how to settle the whole Okona mess as it pertains to two mad families with scores to settle. Includes "hey that's…" small role (before they were stars) Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives; Lois and Clark) as one of Okona's yummy conquests. This episode was shortly before Campbell starred in The Rocketeer. Campbell has good chemistry with Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) and Levar Burton (Geordi LaForge) and brings a smile to your face because of his easy-going nature. He is dressed like a swashbuckler, carries a confident swagger, and looks Worf dead in the eyes without flinching when ordered to report to the Bridge to meet with Picard.

Data 10--Okona 1

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 5 August 2014]

I seem to enjoy the episodes where Commander Data goes on a quest of understanding of the human mind. In this one, he enlists the help of Joe Piscopo (what ever happened to him?) to figure out how to be funny. Of course, he would have the capacity to memorize every joke in the universe if he wished, but this doesn't explain why some people get laughs and others are silenced out. He is so diligent, trying to copy old routines and tell stale jokes in front of a holodeck audience. Meanwhile, a really worthless major plot is going on. Some young stud, zooming around in a cargo ship, has found himself aboard the enterprise when his ship breaks down. He is a free spirit and starts to put the make on every interplanetary fashion model on board the ship. He starts to become a real nuisance, when it gets worse. There are leaders of two warring planets that are after his hide. It seems that he may have impregnated a beautiful young woman, the daughter of one of the planet's emissaries. The other leader accuses him of stealing an heirloom gem of great value. Picard is caught in the middle of a fight he has no interest in. However, Okona, who is jumping from bed to bed, is on his ship and, he feels, his responsibility. This could have been a hillbilly drama or a nouveau Romeo and Juliet. The main story is much weaker than the comedic Data.

These are the days of our lives on the Enterprise.

[thevacinstaller · 6/10 · 7 March 2021]

I was amused by 'not han solo' Okona managing to seduce Transport Lt. Hottie with the old 'coming on strong' approach to flirting. I was clearly born in the wrong century.

Okona's arc ultimately heads towards day time soap opera territory with a hidden pregnancy reveal towards the end of the episode..... I did laugh at the absurdity of this and the delicious soap acting.

Perhaps I am becoming a grumpy old man but I was really put off by Okona clearly being a tribute band for the character of Han Solo. The character itself was performed fine. It's okay to be cerebral and extremely nerdy ---- it's what so many love about you. Well, at least he didn't have a human sized dog creature who spoke in growls.

The data plot was fine. The message ultimately about being authentic? It is always interesting to watch this complexed android wrestle with understanding basic human emotions but this was lacking despite great performances from Guinan and Spiner.

There was a nice little tie-in to the A/B plots with data's confusion about sexuality/humor during a brief discussion with Okona. As a backseat driver I believe this episode would have worked better if the Okona/Data plot lines melded together more ---- perhaps Data could have offered a solution to Okona's dilemma or vice versa? Then again I can understand the need to establish space juru Guinan.

Average episode with a few chuckles here and there.

A show about humor and adventure, without either.

[Robert-8 · 4/10 · 15 July 2008]

After too many bad memories, I took to skipping this episode each time it showed up in the Season 2 sequence. I recently watched it again just to remind me why. I've always considered this the worst ST:TNG episode (with the exception of "Shades of Gray," which barely counts as an episode at all).

I keep listening to the clunky dialogue and thinking of the script red-penciled by the author's Writing 101 teacher: "SHOW, DON'T TELL!" From Deanna Troi's pronouncement, and everyone else's constant elbowing reminders about what a charming, dangerous rogue Okona is, to Guinan's explanation about how funny her droid joke is (it isn't), to the who-cares resolution to the conflict, there isn't a plot point that isn't highlighted and triple-underlined for our edification, and there ain't a believable moment in any of it. Unfortunately, Bill Campbell, a charming actor in other circumstances, is too puppy-dog huggable to be the center of the machinations of the plot. On the other hand, it could be that no one short of John Barrowman (Jack Harkness from "Doctor Who") could pull of this underwritten placeholder of a role.

(Zero points, by the way, to the Data subplot. While I think Joe Piscopo stopped being funny decades ago, he and Brent Spiner had nothing to work with here. Although the Jerry Lewis bit was funny in a stupid way.)

On a good day, you may be able to think of this as a charming little homage to a lesser Original Series episode. Me, I'd rather skip ahead to "Time Squared" or "Q Who."

Before he was the Rocketeer!

[bluesnaggletooth316 · 8/10 · 18 August 2008]

This was one of the highlights of ST:TNG's semi-forgettable second season, before they 'grew up' or grew into their own in the third season and beyond. This was not only a showcase for up-and-comers like Bill Campbell and Teri Hatcher, but was also the continuation of Data's search for his 'humanity', this time through the concept of comedy. Still one of my favorite episodes.

On a side-note, I'm still disappointed that there is no credit for the actress with whose character Okona was about to have a tryst(after Teri Hatcher's character) before being rudely interrupted by Lt Worf. I remember watching this episode 'first-run' at my friends comic shop back in the day and we all thought she would've been a perfect Jean Grey/Marvel Girl.

It would be nice to know who this pretty lady actually is...

Feudin' n' Fussin' and a Fightin'

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 27 April 2018]

This TNG story leans to the humorous side as the Enterprise aids a Han Solo like captain of a cargo ship working a run of various humanoid settled planets in a sector of space.

Billy Campbell plays the roguish captain who Captain Picard picks up and he makes himself right at home on the Enterprise. But a pair of outraged fathers from two different planets are chasing Campbell, one of them saying he's left his daughter in a family way. It's a delicate diplomatic mission that Patrick Stewart undertakes to arrive at the truth of the situation.

A subsidiary plot has Data trying to understand that elusive human past time of humor. In his endeavor he enlists the help of Whoopi Goldberg and as a holodeck creation, Joe Piscopo. Can't get better help than that.

This one is unique and rather funny in the annals of the Star Trek franchise.

Not as Awful as I Remember

[dafoat · 5/10 · 15 July 2019]

I avoided rewatching this episode for years because I remember it being really dreadful. And it's definitely pretty bad. But there are a couple of nice moments in Data's quest to understand humor. I actually laughed at a couple of his lines. However the main plot with Okana is cringeworthy. I like Billy Campbell, but I'm glad he never reprised this role.

Tip O'Neil in a dress with a briefcase shaped like a fish

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 4 July 2012]

The Enterprise happens across a solar system with two planets both touting technology about 100 years or more behind The Federation. And an Outrageous Hitchhiker, whose "'car' is broken down on the side of the road"-Captain Okona (Billy Campbell from "The 4400")-Who almost immediately hits on a gorgeous Transporter Chief played by Teri Hatcher.

Okona's engaging personality, and humor, cause Data to examine the concept of Humor. To this end, he creates a Holodeck Facsimile of a 20th Century Comedian: Joe Piscopo, who tries to instruct him in the fine art of making people Laugh. But Data fails to grasp any of it, which in turn makes this one of the most hilarious episodes of ST:TNG. There is a classic meeting between "Guinan" (Whoopee Goldberg) and Piscopo, where she asks him, "You made a Living doing this?" - Irony is one of the best forms of Humour, which this episode uses in all of the little vignettes being played out.

One small spaceship appears and starts locking Lasers on the Enterprise, which would not do much. Then another craft appears from the other side of the system, and does the same thing: But they both want Okona. As the second ship appears, Worf mumbles: "Another Globfly" and Picard has to shut Data up before he expounds just what a Globfly is for two hours.

Okona of course is being pursued by the leaders of the two planets, he is accused of stealing a priceless gem from one planet, and impregnating a Princess on the other. The Princess is Rosalind Allen (From SeaQuest DSV). On the other side, is "Prince" Benzan (Kieran Mulroney, writer of "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows")-whose father is chasing Okona because he stole some "National Treasure."

Okona initially takes refuge in Picard's Hospitality, but when the two opposing ships appear, Picard has to ask him if he had an ulterior motive for coming on-board (Other than seducing three different Enterprise Crew Women).

But the two leaders both want Okona's head, he has to choose which ship to be beamed to, Okona chooses to agree to a shotgun wedding with Yanar (Allen). When Benzan Objects to this, the truth comes out: The two leaders cannot get along, but their children have gotten along just fine, producing a child!

As the situation changes from the threat of the two leaders fighting, to the two leaders arguing about which planet the couple will get married on, the threat diffuses, and Okona can go on his way, leaving Data with some memorable studies in Humor: To which Guinan states: "To be funny is not the end all or be-all of being Human" but Data disagrees, as he sees nothing more Uniquely Human than to be Funny. It takes him a few more years, and the implantation of Soong's Emotion Chip to eventually come to grasp with Humor.

Not great but amusing and for once the tone isn't extremely serious, but Jerry Lewis isn't everyone's taste.

[gilbertayres · 7/10 · 10 October 2018]

I had a professor in grad school who was like Okona, even sounded like him. It was nice for once that the Enterprise wasn't in the middle of a deadly situation. Frankly this alone is a bit of relief. This is just a refreshing lighthearted and a little heartwarming break from the usual "someone gets killed" episode. The b-plot isn't very good though, although it is restricted to just two segments and about ten minutes.

A farcical bore, one of the worst S2 episodes

[movieguy96 · 4/10 · 22 November 2020]

I don't know if it was because I just wasn't in the mood or not, but I didn't like The Outrageous Okona! The Enterprise crew rescues a charming scoundrel from his failing ship, after which two warring families come to claim him so to answer for crimes that he's seemingly perpetrated. ST: TNG has had its fair share of silly moments, which is all well and good, but the whole thing is very farcical and there's nothing gripping whatsoever to keep you interested. The idea that Okona is basically irresistable to ALL women, and sleeps his way through the ship as soon as he steps on board is unconvincing, and is the sort of bawdy hijinks you'd expect from The Original Series or TNG S1. The story's focus on this new character who isn't particularly likeable, as opposed to the usual crew who we know and love, is the primary reason for my lack of interest in this episode. If anything the crew just feel like spectators as they watch the families bicker amongst themselves in a petty argument. Rather than being funny I thought it was just kinda tiresome. There's an improvisational quality to the episode, and not in a good way. Equally as annoying is the sub-plot of Guinan trying to teach Data the concept of jokes, which seems like a futile gesture giving that in this point of the series we've established that he lacks the capacity to feel emotions like ordinary humans do. This all tested my patience and I switched off before the end.

Comedy episode

[Tiffinki · 5 February 2006]

This is a humorous episode of Star Trek NextGen. Although it has been bashed heavily, it is really a lighthearted story. It does get sappy at certain moments, but it's good for a few laughs. Okona is a good character for a single episode, as rakish rogues go.

This episode contains one of the rare moments in which we get to see Guinan in a place other than Ten-Forward.

All in all, it is a good step away from the usual Trek story lines and the creators had the good form to not make another one exactly like it. It stands as a fairly unique episode, quite funny, but if the creators had modeled another story after it, that would have been walking into a big bear trap.

Better than anything with Billy Campbell has any right to be

[ositalinguista · 7/10 · 11 July 2021]

Tbh i thought it was going to be an awful rewatch but I found it really charming...what i liked was that the entire crew was just as irritated with the whole plot as I was. The extreme distaste Picard brings to everything is so lovely. And I never liked Data much previously but as a newly diagnosed autist discovering the world again, I'm finding his arcs so much more charming. Internalized ableism is always a fun one to shed.

"Because you pal, are a tough room."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 4 October 2023]

One thing bothered me about this episode. When Debin of Atlec expressed his displeasure with the roguish Thadiun Okona (Billy Campbell), believing that he got his daughter Yanar (Rosalind Allen) pregnant, Captain Picard's (Patrick Stewart) response to the matter was quite dismissive, stating that it was an 'arcane' concept to be upset over something like that. I'd hate to think that humanity is getting that indifferent where it would simply be okay for a guy to get a woman pregnant without consequences. That was the implication I got out of that scenario.

I much rather enjoyed the side story of Data (Brent Spiner) attempting to understand humor in human terms. Seeing Joe Piscopo as the comic on the holodeck was cool, quite patient as he tried to walk Data through some of the finer points of telling jokes and funny stories. Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) tried to do the same, although her distinction using the terms 'noid' and 'annoyed' was a little opaque. I didn't see how that could have helped the would-be android comedian.

The overarching story with the aggrieved fathers going after Okona's hide was handled satisfactorily enough when it was revealed that he was the go-between for Yanar and Benzan (Kieran Mulroney), who was the real father of the woman's baby to be. However, with Okona making the romantic rounds with a handful of ladies aboard the Enterprise, including transporter operator Teri Hatcher, I wonder how Captain Picard would have felt if he found out that one of his crew was pregnant after Okona left the starship. Would his attitude have been considered arcane?

A younger Harry Mudd

[laurentiupopa79 · 5/10 · 28 September 2018]

If you watched Star Trek: The Original Series and you are wondering what is Harry Mudd's equivalent in Star Trek: The Next Generation, this is the episode for you. It might as well ve branded as Harry Mudd great-grandson.

Data and Okona story !

[nicofreezer · 8/10 · 31 August 2021]

Very Entertaining épisode of TV , what I like about the next generation episodes as for now, is the fact there is often 2 stories in 1 episode ! This is something the original series did not, there was only one story by épisode. ( Im dont Say the next gen is better , nope but this 2 stories idea is pretty good) Data try to Learn about beeing funny And Okona is everything Data is not Solid story 8.25/10.

How to Make an Unfunny Comedy Introspective

[Samuel-Shovel · 2/10 · 15 July 2019]

In "The Outrageous Okona" a swashbuckling ship captain ends up aboard the Enterprise while his ship is being repaired. Soon, two dueling factions of a shaky treaty show up demanding this Captain Okona be handed over to them for different reasons. One is convinced that Okona has stolen it's planet's crown jewel while the other accuses him of impregnating the princess. Picard must figure out what to do with this rogue. Meanwhile, Data tries his best to learn what comedy is and what makes a joke funny.

This episode is very, very strange. The Data plotline takes up a giant chunk of this episode and is pretty all around awful. I get that this is supposed to be one of those think pieces that delves into what differentiates an android from a human but it's just so poorly done. Joe Piscopo's presence doesn't help things.

The Okona character isn't much better. He's the uber-stereotype of a renegade space man: on a broken down ship, seducing all the females aboard, charming all the men. It's just a bit much. Even the plot twist at the end felt very cliqued. The only part I like are Data's scenes with Guinan. She really brings a soothing presence into an otherwise stormy episode.

Boring

[tomsly-40015 · 2/10 · 19 May 2023]

Well, I watched TNG back in the days when I was a teenager. Different times, movies and series were slower paced, less action packed and not stuffed with CGI. When watching TNG in 2023, I realize how boring many if the episodes actually are. Of course it has to do with the experience with other shows of today as a comparison.

The story of this episode could have been played everywhere. In fact it did, because it is based on a Romeo & Juliet setting. Two families in dispute with each other while their children fell in love. We have this huge galaxy, extra-terrestrial life forms everywhere, lots of strange things to discover. Yet, TNG mainly shows us soap operas.

Data trying to be funny was also rather cringe. So much missed opportunity in hindsight. They could have elaborated on what makes humans human and why it is hard for machines to grasp human emotions. In a Sci-Fi series this could have opened up discussion about AI, algorithms etc. But maybe back in the 1980s they didn't think so far. Today with ChatGPT mimicking human knowledge and interaction we experience, how quickly human.uniqueness can fade and how the gap between humans and machines are becoming smaller, yet computers still can't feel and be as human as we are.

I prefer not to rate it

[Filmreader · 5 January 2022]

When I saw it first time in TV was interesting.

When I saw it again online many years later in internet was just ok.

But in the 3rd time I found it boring.

Every time I rewatch Star Trek TNG I skip it.

Snooze Fest

[zombiemockingbird · 2/10 · 27 March 2023]

I keep waiting for the Enterprise to actually explore something, instead of doing soap operas and sit coms. This episode was just pointless. The Don Juan guy was neither charming nor interesting and Picard spent way too much time trying to figure out something that just wasn't his problem. Like Okana himself said, just fix his ship and let him go. The people involved were just a bunch of silly people who have NOTHING to do with the Enterprise or space exploration. There was nothing remotely interesting about them; they're random strangers, and I couldn't care less about their problems. The Data humor thing was also pointless. None of the jokes anyone did were the least bit funny and Joe Piscopo was embarrassing. I guess I missed whatever point they were trying to make.

Data The Comedian

[Gerardrobertson61 · 5/10 · 15 April 2020]

OK, so it's not one of the greatest episodes of Season 2 and it is one of those episodes where fans either like or hate it. Personally,I enjoy it. To me, this is like the songs and dance of episodes of later shows like Buffy, it allows the cast to not be so stiff and to a degree, be a bit humorous. Love how Data tries to understand humour, Okona was good character for one episode, he's no Q, but he did fill the role well. It did get a bit of the soap opera side with the pregnancy and the stolen jewel, but it did keep amused for 41 minutes. There are worse episodes of TNG than this one.

A Senior trekker writes...................

[celineduchain · 5/10 · 2 January 2022]

The Second Season of Star Trek the Next Generation has often been downplayed due to multiple production and writing staff problems, and several major cast changes. Although of mixed quality, it does contain some outstanding and brilliant episodes. Senior Trekker is extremely grateful to all those people who worked so hard under difficult circumstances to keep it on our screens.

Data's efforts to understand humour in this episode are probably best overlooked, although I do remember this episode attracting a great deal of criticism at the time. Maybe the plethora of unfunny, "in jokes" about the 20th century entertainment business worried Star Trek fans fearful of the show taking an unwelcome direction into parody. Their fears turned out to be groundless and we did get to hear some extremely well delivered dialogue from Whoopi Goldberg.

The way in which her character, Guinan, was shoehorned into another "caring female" role as a sympathetic bartender ought not to have worked but, hey folks, this lady could make you laugh over a seed catalogue. We were very lucky to have her in TNG and it was wonderful to see the way in which everyone who performed with her from here on in seemed to up their game, almost as if they were straightening their uniform and setting their jaw before a big challenge.

Okona himself, the lovable rogue with a heart of gold, was played by Billy Campbell who seems to have worked consistently in television ever since. His storyline was also pretty forgettable although fans couldn't fail to notice his liaison with soon-to-be-famous Terri Hatcher who apparently thought such a small part was beneath her. Silly girl.

(Senior Trekker scores every episode with a 5)