Fans attending the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo in Calgary, Canada, this spring will be able to see nine castmembers from Star Trek: The Next Generation in the same place.

The Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo will be held from April 27-29 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

In attendance will be: Sir Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Wil Wheaton, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn and Denise Crosby.

The TNG actors will be seen at various events at Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo, including panels and discussions, autograph sessions and various photo opportunities.

On April 28, TNG EXPOsed will feature the entire TNG cast together on stage at the Stampede Corral.

Other guests at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo include: Adam West, Amanda Tapping, David Prowse, Robert Englund, Tom Feldon, John Noble, Hayden Panettiere, George Perez, Yanick Paquette and Dale Eaglesham.

Beckinfield, created by Theatrics, premiered last year and is the story of a small town that is anything but ordinary, where there are “snooping scientists, alleged UFOs, a seemingly haunted library,” and an “earthquake that ’caused no damage.’”

Participants in Beckinfield receive story updates and they then “film a video diary in the character they developed, using it to advance the story of a town whose run-in with the spirits of the natives who once occupied the land is wreaking havoc throughout the entire community.”

Nearly three thousand actors take part in the project.

Frakes will be playing Dylan Marks, a director of a play that will tell the story of Beckinfield. Those wishing to be part of this in-story play will be able to audition through their video diaries, with a winner (who will take home $10,000 in real life) to be announced at the upcoming MacWorld conference in San Francisco at the end of January.

“We have brought in an incredible casting director in Scott David, and when we decided that we were going to do this in-world contest and bring in a celebrity director who is part of the world of Beckinfield, Scott recommended the wonderful Jonathan Frakes,” said Tracy Evans, Chief Operations Officer of Theatrics. “He has become a character, and is actually going to be the final judge of this content that we have currently running.”

To learn about Beckinfield, or to find out how to take part in the web series, head to the link located here.

Frakes acknowledged the importance of the fans who supported Star Trek: The Next Generation and its actors. “My position is if someone’s not going to enjoy being [at the convention], they shouldn’t show up,” he said. “I’ve seen people come to these and not realize that they were lucky to have these fans and we have a responsibility to thank them.”

Working on Trek was a blessing for Frakes, although it had its downside as well. “It changed my life,” he said. “How could I not be [a fan of Star Trek]? It’s a double-edged sword working in Star Trek, though. There’s not many acting jobs unless you’re Patrick Stewart, but I was lucky enough to find another craft in directing.”

Frakes would take on the role of Riker again if asked, and would prefer not to be replaced if a rebooted Star Trek: The Next Generation was done. “Gosh. I supposed I could be made younger,” he said, “but I plan to play Riker as long as I’m alive.”

Two preview videos have been released; one featuring Frakes in a cameo in the show, and the other one highlighting Genie Francis, who is the guest star in the Three Times a Lady episode, which airs tonight.

In Three Times a Lady, when a waitress, played by Francis, with multiple personalities enters Bar Karma, the staff must determine which personality has the karmic dilemma and how to help her. Two clips of Francis as the waitress, seen here, show Francis as drunken waitress Kelly and perky waitress Luna.

The other video, shown here, is the Frakes cameo.

Three Times a Lady airs tonight at 10 PM on Current TV.

The opportunity for fans to have their questions answered is to celebrate the premiere of the Three Times a Lady episode of Bar Karma, which was directed by Frakes and stars his wife Genie Francis.

To submit questions, follow this link, or post the question on Facebook (be sure to “like” the Bar Karma Facebook page), or on Twitter (must use the hashtag #BarKarma) before 5 PM ET on Friday, April 1. Frakes’ responses will be posted on Thursday, April 7, the day before the Three Times a Lady premiere, which will air on Friday, April 8 at 10 PM on Current TV.

In Three Times a Lady, when a waitress, played by Francis, with multiple personalities enters Bar Karma, the staff must determine which personality has the karmic dilemma and how to help her.

“Set at a mystical watering hole at the edge of the universe, Bar Karma stars William Sanderson (True Blood, Lost, Deadwood) as James, the 20,000 year-old bartender, Matthew Humphreys (Obsessed, Big Love, The Forgotten) as bar owner Doug Jones, and Cassie Howarth (Deranged High, Deathclock) as the lone waitress, Dayna. The series answers the age-old question: ‘What would happen if you could change your fate?’ Set in a time-traveling bar owned and operated by members of the mysterious organization Karma, Inc., each weekly episode follows a new bar patron as they enter at happy hour and must make a life-changing, and possibly world-saving, decision.”

The episode will “center around a woman, in the present day, who either has multiple personalities, or she’s a twin. In previous roles, Genie Francis has accidentally killed a few people, suffered a mental breakdown and been in a catatonic state. What will her character be up to in Bar Karma? And what is her karma dilemma?”

“Bar Karma, the first series to give viewers control of the show content before it hits air, was created by game creator Will Wright (The Sims/Sim City) and Worldwide Biggies CEO Albie Hecht. Set at a mystical watering hole at the edge of the universe, Bar Karma stars William Sanderson (True Blood, Lost, Deadwood) as James, the 20,000 year-old bartender, Matthew Humphreys (Obsessed, Big Love, The Forgotten) as bar owner Doug Jones, and Cassie Howarth (Deranged High, Deathclock) as the lone waitress, Dayna. The series answers the age-old question: ‘What would happen if you could change your fate?’ Set in a time traveling bar owned and operated by members of the mysterious organization Karma, Inc., each weekly episode follows a new bar patron as they enter at happy hour and must make a life-changing … and possibly world-saving … decision.”

Bar Karma is being billed as “the world’s first community-developed television series.” Bar Karma, “created by world-renowned video game designer Will Wright (creator of The Sims and SimCity) and Worldwide Biggies’ CEO, Albie Hecht, the twelve-episode series creates a new benchmark in television programming by inviting a community of fans to drive the show’s content – from story lines to art direction, soundtrack to brand integrations.”

Fans of Frakes will be able to “participate in the creation of the series by logging on at current.com/barkarma, through social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter or through free iPhone, iPad and Android apps to submit story ideas. Viewers will be able to cast their vote for their favorite storyline they would like to see Frakes direct. The episode will air on Current TV in early April.”

Bar Karma, starring William Sanderson (True Blood, Lost, Deadwood) as James, a 20,000 year-old bartender, Matthew Humphreys (Obsessed, Big Love, The Forgotten) as bar owner Doug Jones and Cassie Howarth (Deranged High, Deathclock) as lone waitress Dayna, is the story of a time-traveling bar at the edge of the universe “owned and operated by members of a mysterious organization named Karma, Inc.” In each weekly episode, “a new bar patron enters at happy hour and must make a life-changing and possibly world-saving decision.”

Bar Karma will premiere on Current TV on Friday, February 11 at 10 PM EST/9 PM CST. “Bar Karma uses Wright’s innovative, easy-to-use Storymaker application, which users can access by logging on at http://current.com/shows/bar-karma/, as well as through social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter (@barkarma), and a free iPhone App. Each week, the global online community (which has been participating in the creation process since mid-November), is invited to vote on the top storylines chosen by producers. Once a final storyboard is selected by the community at large, the producers will adapt, shoot, produce and edit the winning storyline into a thirty-minute episode. Users whose submissions are used will be on the credit roll at the end of the show.”

Frakes will appear on the BIGFANBOY podcast episode #200, which will begin shortly before midnight, around 11:50 this evening. The link to the podcast is located here.

The interview with Frakes is to promote his upcoming appearance at the Dallas Trek Fandays this weekend, where other Trek actors including William Shatner, Brent Spiner and Michael Dorn will be appearing, along with Star Trek guest actors Lawrence Montaigne (Amok Time, Stonn), Bobby Clark (Arena, Gorn) and Christopher Lloyd (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock).

Listeners can join in the chatroom live or they can phone in their questions.

BIGFANBOY podcasts cover “just about everything in pop culture. Featuring interviews with comic book creators, celebrities, and filmmakers, this is a show every fanboy will love.”

Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker) was reunited with Michael Dorn (Worf) and Suzie Plakson (K’Ehleyr) on stage on Saturday, but he immediately jumped into the audience to ask his former co-stars some joking questions, such as, “What is Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) really like?” to which Dorn responded, “Patrick Stewart is really nice, but he’s not that talented. It’s just the accent.”

The three actors reminisced about the camaraderie between the TNG cast, to the point that their joking occasionally scared directors off. “[The cast was] funny enough that they didn’t have to do practical jokes,” Plakson said.

“We ran a couple directors out of the biz,” Dorn admitted, while Frakes confessed, “We were like bad children.”

Dorn defended the cast’s professional attitude once the cameras started rolling. “When they said action, we were on,” he said. But after the director yelled cut, it was a different story. “Jonathan would run around the set, singing until he [literally] fell through one of the walls!” Dorn recalled.

Frakes mentioned he’s going to be directing an episode of Chuck, and discussed his gig directing the TNT show Leverage. “Whenever possible I offer roles to them jobs,” he says of his former co-stars on TNG. “And they turn them down. I offered Brent Spiner (Data) a job on Leverage. Brent said, ‘I don’t know Johnny.’ I said, ‘You don’t have to read.’ Brent said, ‘Eh… call me when someone turns it down.” After that happened, Frakes called Spiner back and said, “‘Now you have to do it.’ And he showed up.”

Dorn penned a romantic comedy with his producing partner and revealed that former co-star Marina Sirtis (Counselor Troi) is set to star in it. He shared that his dream project would be making a pilot of a TV show he wrote entitled High Flight about a flight school.

On Sunday, Robert Duncan McNeill (Tom Paris) took the stage to discuss his role on Voyager as well as his long-running directing gig on the NBC show Chuck. “Star Trek was my last acting job,” McNeill said of Voyager, noting he’s been directing since playing Tom Paris. “They keep talking to me on Chuck, saying [I] should do a guest role as a bad guy or something, but I don’t know.”

Though he’s no longer acting, he’s still close with many of his Voyager co-stars. “On most shows, you do just move on [after they end],” McNeill said. “But Star Trek is different because it’s got [the fans], a built in family. The guys [from Voyager] have remained close. It started the first season of Voyager—we went out for a steak dinner. It was so fun we decided to make it a regular thing. We haven’t really moved on: we still hang out, the guys still get together [regularly].”

McNeill told the audience that former co-star Garrett Wang (Harry Kim) had come to Chuck to shadow him as a director. “[He's] been spending some time with me on the Chuck set,” McNeill said. “Tim Russ (Tuvok) was doing a day on The Whole Truth, which films right next door to us, so we had a mini-reunion.”

McNeill acknowledges that the closeness between the cast of Voyager is a special thing. “I [directed and produced] a show called What About Brian a few years ago, and I saw one of the actors a few weeks ago, and he said he doesn’t see anyone [from that show].”

Because Chuck, which was recently renewed for a full season, has struggled in the ratings during the course of its run, McNeill worried about the show’s survival in its early years. “I kept thinking the show would get cancelled after the first season and the writers’ strike,” he admitted. “[Now] I actually feel like we’re a hit for NBC. As Heroes was fading, as The Event is fading, we’re actually up eight to ten percent. The cast is awesome and the concept is incredible.”

McNeill enjoys being on Chuck, and finds the show’s tone is the right one for him. “I like being on a comedy,” he said. “It’s more fun. I couldn’t do a Law & Order show now. I wouldn’t want to spend my day talking about horrible crimes; I’d rather talk about fart jokes.”

When asked about his style of directing versus that of former co-star Roxann Dawson (B’Elanna Torres), McNeill shared they have very different sensibilities as directors. “She’s very serious, and I’m an idiot,” he joked, adding, “She’s incredibly well prepared. I go off instinct.” When asked further about his directing style, McNeill revealed, “I’m an actor’s director because I’m always looking for that emotional experience.”

McNeill cited “Someone to Look Over Me” and “Parturition” as favorite episodes of Voyager, along with “Caretaker,” the show’s very first episode. “I like the pilot; the first episode was so epic,” he said. “I think we shot for 28 days, which is like a feature.”

“The first season or two, there was a lot of confusion about who these characters were,” he went on. “The writers were throwing everything and the kitchen sink at us. We were confused, [wondering], ‘Do we like each other? Do we get along?’ The studio and the writers were at a loss for what the show was. Because of that, the actors had a hand in the direction [their characters took].”

McNeill had qualms with his character early on in the show’s run. “My character early on was not a nice guy,” he admitted. “He was a womanizer, he was rude to people. Everybody hated me! I hated me—I was a jerk. I told the writers, if you keep writing this guy this way, you might as well write him off because no one is going to like him.”

Despite Tom Paris’s initial introduction, McNeill doesn’t agree with comparisons that suggest Paris and the character McNeill played on TNG, Nick Locarno, are essentially the same character. “People say Tom Paris and Nick Locarno are the same, but I don’t think so at all,” McNeill said. “Nick Locarno pretended to be a good guy in the outside but was really a rotten guy on the inside, whereas Tom Paris pretended to be a rotten guy on the outside but was really a good guy on the inside.”

In addition to his job directing on Chuck, McNeill has a project at Warner Brothers entitled 30 Minutes. “[It's] about a pizza delivery place and [the] misfits [who work there],” he revealed, describing it as “My Name is Earl/Scrubs mixed with 24 and Chuck.” The director also has a project at ABC Studios about “an old Hollywood hotel where crazy things happen.”

Enterprise actor John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox) followed McNeill onto the stage for an irreverent session during which he joked with fans about everything from his co-stars to politics. “I’m left alone on stage because they’re all getting stoned!” he said of his former co-stars Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker) and Dominick Keating (Malcolm Reed), who weren’t able to attend the convention.

Billingsley updated fans on his current projects: “I’m doing an episode of The Mentalist [right now]. Connor Trinneer is doing the same episode. I’m not the killer, and I’m not the victim. I’m [also] doing a couple of indie films.”

The actor also detailed two practical jokes he played on Enterprise lead Scott Bakula (Captain Archer). “For Scott Bakula’s birthday party—his 70th, I think—I dressed up as his first wife. I had large bosoms and a floozy blonde wig and came in with a vodka bottle, saying, ‘Scott, Scott, how could you leave me?’ I didn’t check if his children were there and they were, and they started crying. They thought I was going to their dad!”

Billingsley also pranked Bakula during the filming of “Dear Doctor” in the show’s first season. “There was a running voice over, and there was a scene in which I’m on the bridge and we stopped to pick up a disabled space ship. I recorded [a voice over] for the first rehearsal that said, ‘Look at the ass on that captain! I’d like to pull his pants down and give him a jolly rogering!’ Scott took it well.”

He also added that he wasn’t happy with the show’s oft criticized finale, “These Are The Voyages…,” joking that he would have liked to see a different ending for his character. “It would have been nice if I’d been an intergalactic god,” Billingsley said of how he would have liked the show to end for Dr. Phlox.

Frakes found out, as happens to so many actors and actresses, that sooner or later, the acting jobs peter out and one must turn to other ways of earning a living. “Thank God I learned this second craft [directing],” he said. “I really don’t know how I’d be supporting my family. I’d be looking for another kind of gig.”

Other actors, including his wife Genie Francis, and his Star Trek co-workers have also seen jobs dry up, with one notable exception. “Genie isn’t working the way she used to and my peers as actors – at least from the Star Trek guys, with the exception of Patrick [Stewart] – are struggling as well,” said Frakes. “Some of it is by choice, granted, some of it is just by the double-edged sword that Star Trek has been for all of us.”

The directing work keeps Frakes busy and he has directed single episodes of some shows, and multiple episodes of others. “It’s great to go back to Leverage and I’m looking forward to going back to Castle and NCIS: Los Angeles because you know the players and you have a shorthand,” said Frakes. “Yet, I just finished The Glades and also Burn Notice. Those are shows I’d never done before and I didn’t know anyone with the exception of the D.P. and also Gabrielle Anwar [of Burn Notice], who was in The Librarian. And there’s something to be said for that, too, for the unknown and taking your bag of tricks someplace new. Your jokes work because people haven’t heard them one hundred times.”

Frakes, whose future work includes NCIS: Los Angeles, Castle and Chuck, is grateful to be so busy. “What a blessing this year has been,” he said.