Trivia / Star Trek: The Next Generation S2E18 "Up the Long Ladder"

• Creator Backlash: It's no surprise to anyone that the actual Irishman Colm Meaney is not a fan of the episode, and it's rather cringy just watching him in a brief scene where he shakes the hand of such a stereotypical Irish character. Meaney would later insist that "If Wishes Were Horses" change a leprechaun to Rumpelstiltskin.
• Deleted Scene: Several scenes were filmed but later cut from the episode during editing:
  • Riker returns to the bridge after his romantic encounter with Brenna O'Dell.
  • An alternate version of the Observation Lounge scene where Granger describes the Mariposan history of cloning, with a few additional lines of dialogue.
  • Danilo O'Dell tells the Bringloidi settlers a story of the colony's founding.
  • Data expresses a wish to further study the combined colony; Worf recites Klingon poetry.
• Development Gag: When the Bringloidi and Mariposans agree to join their societies, Danilo quips "Send in the clones", which was actually this episode's working title.
• Executive Meddling: The Bringloidi weren't originally intended to be an Irish Planet of Hats, but when writer Melinda Snodgrass used the analogy of Irish immigration to the United States while explaining the episode concept to showrunner Maurice Hurley, Hurley insisted that she write the Bringloidi as an actual Irish-inspired society. That said, Snodgrass didn't have much issue going along with the request, as she herself was of Irish descent.
  • It should also be noted that Hurley himself was a very proud Irishman and led St. Patrick's Day parades in the past, the not-Irish were never meant to be stereotypical but it's what happened after several rewrites and budget issues that caused the actual episode's message of "those outsiders you think are so smelly and wrong-colored, can bring enormous benefits to your society because they bring life and energy" to be lost.
• Magnum Opus Dissonance: Despite it being generally regarded as one of the show's worst episodes, writer Melinda Snodgrass and showrunner Maurice Hurley both considered it among their favorite episodes.
• Throw It In!: When Patrick Stewart was laughing while shooting the scene where Picard meets the Bringloidi (even though Picard's meant to be incensed), Jonathan Frakes helped him remain in character, and Stewart ad-libbed the line "Sometimes, Number One, you just have to... bow to the absurd."
• Working Title: "Send in the Clones."

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