 = We 'll Always Have Paris ( Star Trek : The Next Generation ) = 
 
 " We 'll Always Have Paris " is the 24th episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek : The Next Generation , first aired on May 2 , 1988 , in broadcast syndication . The story and script were both created by Deborah Dean Davis and Hannah Louise Shearer , and the episode was directed by Robert Becker . 
 Set in the 24th century , the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise @-@ D. In this episode , the crew respond to a distress call from Dr. Paul Manheim ( Rod Loomis ) . While the crew must deal with the results of Manheim 's haywire experiments with time , Captain Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) must deal with his former love Jenice ( Michelle Phillips ) , who is also Manheim 's wife . 
 The story of the episode was influenced by the film Casablanca , and was affected by the timing of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike . Because of the strike , the script was written in five days and it was only when it was filmed that it was discovered to be incomplete . Shearer was not happy with the result and felt that the on @-@ screen chemistry of Stewart and Phillips was lacking . Reviews of the episode have been mixed , with one reviewer summing it up by saying " there ’ s nothing I can point to at this episode and say is wrong , but it ’ s one of the more forgettable episodes . " 
 
 = = Plot = = 
 
 The Enterprise , along with other ships in the sector , experience a localized time @-@ distortion , and soon after receive a distress @-@ call from Dr. Paul Manheim in a nearby system . Commander Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) recalls that Manheim was ejected from the Federation Science Institute for conducting unauthorized experiments . They find the distress signal coming from a facility on a planetoid surrounded by a force @-@ field . When they make contact with the facility , a woman requests help to save her husband , Dr. Manheim , and lowers the shields . 
 The two are brought aboard and while Dr. Crusher ( Gates McFadden ) tends to Dr. Manheim , who is having convulsions , Picard discovers his wife is Jenice , Picard 's former love from before he decided to join Starfleet . Jenice warns that her husband was working privately in his laboratory , but that she didn 't know what he was working on . She also alerts the crew to numerous security protocols that he has installed at the facilities . As the crew prepares to send an away @-@ team to investigate the laboratory , they experience more time distortions , described by Data ( Brent Spiner ) as " Manheim effects " . In one instance Picard , Riker and Data enter a turbolift only to see their past selves conversing outside of the lift . The crew find that they cannot complete a transporter beam to the facility due to the instabilities . 
 Dr. Manheim recovers long enough to explain that he was doing experiments involving time , gravity , and funnels to other universes , and suspects his last experiment is running out @-@ of @-@ hand . Manheim explains that he is trapped between two dimensions and Data determines that the experiment must be shut down during a time fluctuation or else it will simply grow larger . Manheim provides the crew with the correct coordinates to beam down to avoid the security fields . Picard admits to Jenice that he worried about losing her again after he left her in Paris , and vows to correct Dr. Manheim 's experiment . 
 As he is affected less by the distortions , Data is sent down alone and disables the remaining security measures before entering Manheim 's laboratory . He finds a column of energy emanating from a dimensional matrix , the source of the time distortions . Data , though briefly affected by the time distortions , is able to add anti @-@ matter to the matrix , causing the matrix to stabilize and halt the time distortions . Dr. Manheim fully recovers , and he and Jenice thank Picard and the crew for their help . Picard and Jenice use the holodeck to recreate one more encounter at a Paris café , before she returns with her husband to the planet . 
 
 = = Production = = 
 
 " We 'll Always Have Paris " is named in reference to the Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman film Casablanca . As well as the title of the episode and the love triangle in the story , the Blue Parrot Café from the film is directly mentioned by Captain Picard . Casablanca was also the basis for the earlier Star Trek : The Original Series novel The Entropy Effect , and would be so again in the Deep Space Nine episode " Profit and Loss " . 
 The story was originally pitched by Hannah Louise Shearer and Deborah Dean Davis , who were also given the job of developing the script . The writing of the episode suffered from the timing of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike , with Shearer and Dean Davis completing the script in five days . The premise of the story was a combination of their idea of a story " about a professor whose work wasn 't appreciated and had to go off on his own " and that of Maurice Hurley who wanted a story with a time anomaly . The final draft was dated 22 February and featured numerous differences from the filmed version , including Jenice being called Laura , a number of different interactions for the crew , and Riker , Worf and Data all being involved in shutting down Manheim 's equipment . The script was finalised a week before the episode was filmed , but the writers strike caused further issues when it was discovered during filming that the scene where Data was to fix the time distortions hadn 't been completed . 
 Robert Legato and Rick Berman spent forty minutes on the telephone with Shearer during the strike . While she refused to write the lines during the strike , Berman suggested dialogue and Shearer would give opinions with Legato taking down handwritten notes . Legato decided on the directing notes himself , and used a whip pan shot instead of an effects shot to film the three Datas as director Robert Becker had never used effects shots previously . Shearer wasn 't happy with the final result , saying " we were writing the most romantic episode in the world " but that " it was toned down 75 % " . 
 Shearer later complained of a lack of chemistry between Michelle Phillips and Patrick Stewart , which Phillips blamed on the conflicted nature of the character in that she was committed to her husband but also wanted to see Picard once more . Phillips , a Star Trek fan , is better known for being a member of the 1960s group The Mamas & the Papas . Rod Loomis ' previous science fiction outing was in Bill and Ted 's Excellent Adventure as Sigmund Freud , and Lance Spellerberg would later return in " The Icarus Factor " where his transporter chief gained the name Ensign Herbert . The image of 24th century Paris was a matte painting which was re @-@ used in Star Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country where it was hung outside the office of the Federation president . 
 
 = = Reception = = 
 
 " We 'll Always Have Paris " aired in broadcast syndication during the week commencing May 5 , 1988 . It received Nielsen ratings of 9 @.@ 7 , reflecting the percentage of all households watching the episode during its timeslot . This was the same ratings received as the previous episode , " Skin of Evil " . 
 Several reviewers re @-@ watched the episode after the end of the series . Michelle Erica Green reviewed the episode on behalf of TrekNation in September 2007 , comparing certain elements of the episode to Casablanca and the series finale " All Good Things ... " . These included the ending where time distortions caused Data to be replicated three time in " We 'll Always Have Paris " compared to the similar situation with three Picards in " All Good Things ... " . Overall she thought that the episode was better than she recalled previously . Jamahl Epsicokhan at his website " Jammer 's Reviews " described the episode as too simple , especially the ending which he said was " they give Data a canister , which he sticks into a hall of mirrors ; problem solved " . 
 Zack Handlen , reviewing the episode for The A.V. Club in May 2010 , said that he enjoyed the " time blips " in the episode , but that he wasn 't a fan of the romance between Jenice and Picard . He also felt that there wasn 't much follow up on Manheim 's experiments and that he seemed to be left to cause a more serious accident in the future . Keith DeCandido watched the episode for Tor.com in July 2011 . He thought that Michele Phillips was " incredibly radiant " , and said , " there ’ s nothing I can point to at this episode and say is wrong , but it ’ s one of the more forgettable episodes " , giving it a score of four out of ten . 
 
 = = Home media release = = 
 
 The first home media release of " We 'll Always Have Paris " was on VHS cassette was on July 1 , 1992 in the United States and Canada . The episode was later included on the Star Trek : The Next Generation season one DVD box set , released in March 2002 , and was released as part of the season one Blu @-@ ray set on July 24 , 2012 . 
 
 