Over the weekend, The Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo announced that a part of their celebration in April, they have secured all 9 original principal cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The television series started in 1987, and lasted 7 seasons running strictly over syndication.

The show is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year, and other than a Bluray release of every episode in high definition, nothing else was planned, until now. Sir Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton and Denise Crosby have all been confirmed to make a stop just down highway 2 for a cast reunion, the first in the past 20 years.

Calgary Expo creator Kandrix Foong told us that bringing in the entire cast has been something they have been working on for quite a while.

In this day in age, keeping a secret this big is tough to keep off blogs and social media, but Foong said it was tough, delayed, and a relief to have out there when they wanted it out, not when someone leaked it.

The weekend will see other non-starfleet actors and actresses available for patrons to check out. Robert Englund (Freddy from the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise), David Prowse (The guy in the Darth Vader Costume for the original trilogy), WWF Superstars Jake 'The Snake' Roberts and the Honky Tonk Man, Adam West (The original Batman, and Mayor of Quahog), and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter franchise) are all scheduled to attend.

Included in the original cast festivities will be a separate celebration at Calgary Stampede Corral on the evening of Saturday, April 28, 2012. Star Trek TNG EXPOsed will be a 90 minute panel discussion and Q n’ A session moderated by InnerSPACE hosts Teddy Wilson, Ajay Fry and Cynthia Loyst, with a video presentation in honour of the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. 

John Quong, owner of The Treasure Cove on East Lake Blvd here in Airdrie, says that Star Trek is still relevant in the minds of local collectors, with many requests for related comics, action figures, and other memorabilia hitting his store.

Quong says they still have lots of things you can pick up now, to have in preparation for a visit to Calgary Expo in April.

This year's line up, including the TNG reunion, could put the Calgary Expo on the map, according to Quong. He says pannels were done down south through the 90s for promotion while the show was still on, but this is the first time in Canada that the full cast will be on one stage.

For fans of the genre, the series, or the universe that is Star Trek, this very well could be one of the last times this cast could be together, according to Quong.

It may just be worth the trip to head down to the Calgary Expo in April to see this line-up one more time, all in the same place. And this is coming from a Star Wars fan.

Live long and prosper. (you gotta end with that, right?)