When "Star Trek: The Next Generation" first began in 1987, LeVar Burton was probably the biggest star in the cast. He had already been nominated for three Emmys, once in 1977 for playing Kunta Kinte in the celebrated miniseries "Roots," and two more in 1985 and 1986 for hosting the beloved book-based kid program "Reading Rainbow." The latter show would end up netting him 12 Emmy wins between 1990 and 2007, and cement his reputation as one of his generation's preeminent TV celebrities. The fact that he would be selected to play chief engineer Geordi La Forge on "Star Trek" only more deeply entrenched Burton in the public's awareness. 

Geordi La Forge was, more than anything, a nerd. He was deeply interested in machines and engines, and Burton was given the lion's share of NextGen's nonsensical polysyllabic technobabble. He was also notoriously undersexed. Geordi was equipped with a visor that tapped directly into his brain, feeding him...