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In a typical Star Trek episode you have the regular cast (i.e. the ones listed in the intro), possibly some recurring characters (e.g. Garak or Lwaxana Troi), and usually also at least 1 main guest actor/actress who has a significant role in the plot.

There's typically also non-speaking background extras and some random non-speaking dude at the helm, but I'm not counting those.

So I'm curious: are there any Star Trek episodes from any series that feature no speaking guest cast, but only regular, recurring and background cast?

The (widely loved) TNG clip show 'Shades of gray' fits the description for the newly filmed parts (only the main cast and the universe's favorite recurring transporter chief Miles O'Brien), but the flashbacks do contain other guest actors.

I've looked at the list of bottle shows, but can't find any there.

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  • “The (widely loved) TNG clip show 'Shades of gray'” — It's like The Menagerie, only much cheaper!
    – Paul D. Waite
    Aug 28, 2020 at 14:25
  • Does ENT: Dead Stop count? The only guest star was Roxann Dawson (Torres) as the voice of the computer. She's regular cast but on another series...
    – Valorum
    Aug 28, 2020 at 15:36
  • Does ENT: These are the Voyages count? The show had a variety of guest stars but all (with the exception of Shran who was a recurring character on Enterprise) cast regulars from other Star Trek shows.
    – Valorum
    Aug 28, 2020 at 15:45
  • Interesting, I didn't think about regulars from another series, but that fits the spirit of my question, so I feel they count
    – dennis_vok
    Aug 29, 2020 at 14:11
  • @Valorum: Jeffrey Combs, of course, might be the king of Start Trek. He did not only play a recurring character on ENT but also two (or 6 depending on how you count, playing 5 different clones of Weyoun) recurring characters on DS9 (in one episode even both of them), plus appearing as one-off characters on VOY, ENT and two different ones on DS9, not to mention various voices in Star Trek video games.
    – Jörg W Mittag
    Aug 29, 2020 at 20:31

3 Answers 3

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Several episodes of Voyager had no guest stars who weren't either future/former regular cast members or recurring cast members.

Several episodes of TNG had no guest stars who weren't either future/former regular cast members or recurring cast members.

  • TNG: Time Squared featured two guest stars; recurring guest Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) and recurring guest Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney).

  • TNG: Shades of Gray featured two guest stars; recurring guest Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) and recurring guest Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney).

  • TNG: Parallels featured two guest stars; recurring guest Alyssa Ogawa (Patti Yasutake) and former cast regular Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton).

Several episodes of DS9 had no guest stars who weren't either future/former regular cast members or recurring cast members.

  • DS9: Fascination featured three guest stars; recurring guest Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett), recurring guest Bareil (Philip Anglim) and recurring guest Keiko O'Brien (Rosalind Chao).

  • DS9: Heart of Stone featured four guest stars; future cast regular Rom (Max Grodénchik), future cast regular Nog (Aron Eisenberg), recurring voice actor Majel Barrett and recurring guest Female Changeling (Salome Jens).

  • DS9: Return to Grace featured three guest stars; recurring guest Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), recurring guest Ziyal (in this instance played by Cyia Batten) and recurring guest Damar (Casey Biggs).

  • DS9: The Ascent featured two guest stars; future cast regular Rom (Max Grodénchik) and future cast regular Nog (Aron Eisenberg)

  • DS9: Call to Arms featured six(!) guest stars; recurring guest Garak (Andrew J. Robinson), recurring guest Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs), recurring guest Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), recurring guest General Martok (J. G. Hertzler), recurring guest Leeta (Chase Masterson) and recurring guest Ziyal (in this instance played by Melanie Smith)

  • DS9: Behind the Lines featured seven(!) guest stars; recurring guest Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs), recurring guest Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), future cast regular Rom (Max Grodénchik), future cast regular Nog (Aron Eisenberg), recurring guest Damar (Casey Biggs), recurring guest Admiral Ross (Barry Jenner) and recurring guest Female Changeling (Salome Jens)

  • DS9: Favor the Bold featured eleven(!!) guest stars; recurring guest Garak (Andrew J. Robinson), recurring guest Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs), recurring guest Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), future cast regular Nog (Aron Eisenberg), recurring guest Damar (Casey Biggs), recurring guest Admiral Ross (Barry Jenner), recurring guest Female Changeling (Salome Jens), recurring guest General Martok (J. G. Hertzler), recurring guest Leeta (Chase Masterson) and recurring guest Ziyal (in this instance played by Melanie Smith)

  • DS9: Sacrifice of Angels featured nine(!) guest stars; recurring guest Garak (Andrew J. Robinson), recurring guest Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs), recurring guest Damar (Casey Biggs), recurring guest Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo), future cast regular Rom (Max Grodénchik), recurring guest Female Changeling (Salome Jens), recurring guest General Martok (J. G. Hertzler), recurring guest Leeta (Chase Masterson) and recurring guest Ziyal (in this instance played by Melanie Smith).

  • DS9: Waltz featured three guest stars; recurring guest Garak (Andrew J. Robinson), recurring guest Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs) and recurring guest Damar (Casey Biggs).

  • DS9: Afterimage featured two guest stars; recurring guest Garak (Andrew J. Robinson) and recurring background character Morn (Mark Allen Shepherd).

  • DS9: Treachery, Faith, and the Great River featured six guest stars; recurring guest Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs), recurring guest Damar (Casey Biggs), recurring guest Martok (J. G. Hertzler), future cast regular Rom (Max Grodénchik), future cast regular Nog (Aron Eisenberg) and recurring guest Female Changeling (Salome Jens).

Several episodes of ST: Enterprise had no guest stars who weren't either future/former regular cast members or recurring cast members.

  • ENT: Shuttlepod One featured no guest stars

  • ENT: Doctor's Orders featured no guest stars

  • ENT: Observer Effect featured no guest stars

  • ENT: Dead Stop featured a single guest star, Voyager regular Roxann Dawson.

  • ENT: These are the Voyages had six guest stars; TNG cast regular William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), TNG cast regular Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), TNG cast regular Data (Brent Spiner), TNG cast regular Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), TOS cast regular James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and recurring guest Shran (Jeffrey Combs)

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    Pulaski is considered a recurring guest and not a regular? I thought she was a regular for that season, like Tasha.
    – tbrookside
    Aug 28, 2020 at 15:50
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    @PedroA - A combination of going through the credits on IMDB and going through the credits on Wikipedia. Also I've seen every episode of these about a dozen times
    – Valorum
    Aug 28, 2020 at 20:03
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    So the category definitions here go by credits? I would have guessed Meaney as Miles O'Brien was a regular.
    – aschepler
    Aug 28, 2020 at 23:04
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    @aschepler - He was always a guest star on TNG. Latterly he was regular cast on DS9
    – Valorum
    Aug 29, 2020 at 0:08
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    @Basya - I assumed at the time that PMar would update their answer...
    – Valorum
    Sep 1, 2021 at 13:44
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ST:TOS episode "The Tholian Web" featured only recurring characters.

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    Except for the Tholians, but they didn't have many lines.
    – Cristobol Polychronopolis
    Aug 28, 2020 at 19:38
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    If you're doing TOS episodes, you might want to add The Enemy Within and The Immunity Syndrome to your list.
    – Valorum
    Aug 28, 2020 at 20:19
  • @CristobolPolychronopolis - Sean Morgan was also listed as additional cast in the credits (one of two named appearances) but not as a guest star.
    – Valorum
    Aug 28, 2020 at 20:21
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    @CristobolPolychronopolis They had lines all over the screen!
    – Chris Bouchard
    Aug 29, 2020 at 2:56
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    "The Tholian Web" was my first thought. IMDB confirms this is, pointing out that it was not only constrained to series regulars but also includes all of them (Sulu and Chekhov in the same episode!). IMDB also suggests "The Enemy Within" and "The Immunity Syndrome" as meeting the criteria. On the other hand, Wikipedia lists nine guest appearances for the Tholian Web, including Barbara Babcock who provided for the Tholian commander and various crew members. Spot checking, it seems like the uncredited crew members were recurring crew members in many episodes.
    – Adrian McCarthy
    Aug 30, 2020 at 14:54
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If we're counting Star Trek: Enterprise, the episode "Shuttlepod One", which is a bottle episode of Malcom and Trip on the titular vessel, has no guest stars nor background performers (the only Star Trek episode to hold that distinction.

Note: Only seven characters/actors appeared on that episode, all of whom are regular cast members (Archer, T'Pol, Reed, Tucker, Mayweather (voice only), Phlox, and Sato

In the episode Doctor's Orders, which features Phlox hallucinating whilst the rest of the crew is in stasis, there are a number of uncredited co-stars and some archive footage is used

The episode Observer Effect also features only the main cast, and a couple of uncredited co-stars, and the main cast are playing not only their usual characters, but non-corporeal aliens in the bodies of their usual characters

Source: Memory Alpha (credit goes to Valorum for pointing out the other two episodes)

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