Trivia / Star Trek: The Next Generation S6E22 "Second Chances"

• Acting for Two: Jonathan Frakes plays two Rikers.
• Directed by Cast Member: LeVar Burton has his directorial debut with this episode.
• What Could Have Been: The creative staff briefly toyed with the idea of killing William Riker and having Thomas take his place. This would have changed up the status quo, with Data being promoted to first officer and Thomas being assigned as operations officer. Ultimately this plan was rejected, with executive producer Michael Piller fighting the hardest to keep the Riker the show had come to know for six seasons. He did not want to retain a character that had not had the Commander's experiences, in particular the events of Piller's own "The Best of Both Worlds." The then-tentative plans to make Next Gen feature films was also cited as a reason to keep the red-shirted Riker.