In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Captain Picard was often seen telling young upstart Wesley Crusher to shut up. How often did this happen, and furthermore, when did it happen first? 
asked May 14, 2016 at 4:13
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4Not an answer because I don't know, but I think the first time was in "Datalore", when Wesley first realized that Lore was impersonating Data. I can't think of another time as it was out of character for Picard to say it at all. One of my least favorite episodes BTW, for that reason.– JolenealaskaCommented May 14, 2016 at 4:46
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21Not nearly enough times.– childofsoongCommented May 14, 2016 at 10:03
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@childofsoong: clicked on this "hot network question" mostly to make the same joke. Although really I liked the character, and don't mean that.– Peter CordesCommented May 14, 2016 at 11:02
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1Not the same thing exactly, but relevant– MachavityCommented May 14, 2016 at 13:08
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1 Answer
Once
There are only four times when someone told Wesley to "shut up" on TNG, and two of them are the same.
Datalore (1x13)
Twice, by two different people
PICARD: Shut up, Wesley. (turning) Lieutenant Yar, pick a good security team, let me know what he does.
and
WESLEY: Since I am finished here, Captain, may I point out... ?
BEVERLY: Shut up, Wesley!
The Dauphin (2x10):
WESLEY: I don't think this is my style.
GUINAN: Shut up, kid. (to Riker, dreamily) Now tell me more about my eyes.
Shades of Grey (2x22):
WESLEY: I don't think this is my style.
GUINAN: Shut up, kid. (to Riker, dreamily) Now tell me more about my eyes.
Yes, the last two are the same. There was a writers' strike going on at the time of Shades of Grey, and the episode had to be produced quickly and on a low budget.
...the low-budget nature of the episode means we barely see anyone outside of flashbacks: there's Picard, Geordi, Data, Pulaski, Troi, and Riker, and an extra or two.
Only one of these times is Picard; ironic for such an iconic phrase.
I searched all the scripts here to confirm that these are the only cases
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3It’s too bad they didn’t air a My Little Pony episode during the writers’ strike. That would have lent weight to this theory. (original MLP) Commented May 14, 2016 at 5:46
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2@iMerchant - "Because of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike they had to shoot this episode in 3 days. It's pretty much crap, consisting of repeat cut + pasted clips from Season 2 and was described by its writer, Maurice Hurley as 'terrible, just terrible.' " –– AdamantCommented May 14, 2016 at 5:49
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3@Nate Eldredge: The latter. Riker is in some kind of a coma and relives previous events in his mind.– chirluCommented May 14, 2016 at 16:36
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2Ah well, I guess it could be worse... there could have been multiple writers strikes, each one producing a Shades of Gray like episode, the final one being a rehash of all the other rehashes.– user11521Commented May 14, 2016 at 18:06
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3@maguirenumber6 It was because Wesley didn't shut up when Picard told him to. She was trying to stop him from digging himself deeper into the hole.– jpmc26Commented May 14, 2016 at 20:55