Riker: with beard or without

[Toban Kal]

I prefer the way Riker when he had the beard.
His nickname of ensign baby face was well earned. he did look young without it.
He never did look right to me. he looked better with than without.

 

[Anika Hanson]

Without the beard and slimer like he was in season one.

Whatever happened to Riker between the end of season one and the begining of season two - he put on so much weight. His personality changed too. He seemed more easy going in season one but he became more agitated by things after that and tense, whereas in season one he took everything in his stride.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Hm...I preferred him without the beard. But then again, I'd say that's true of most men, in my book.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Without the beard and slimer like he was in season one.

Whatever happened to Riker between the end of season one and the begining of season two - he put on so much weight. His personality changed too. He seemed more easy going in season one but he became more agitated by things after that and tense, whereas in season one he took everything in his stride.

Riker seems more serious without the bread. Jonathan Frakes played Riker in the first season as if he were Gary Cooper playing Riker (which I think was the description given to him by GR).

After season two, Riker is loose and friendly. But I do agree he is more agitated when it's an alert situation ("Red alert!").

 

[flightmech73]

Personally I got a kick out of Thomas When he ripped the side of his beard of and had a goatee. That was classic.

 

[Dane_Whitman]

With the beard ofcourse! Most men look better with facial hair. It's a primal thing!

 

[Tomalak]

Without the beard and slimer like he was in season one.

Whatever happened to Riker between the end of season one and the begining of season two - he put on so much weight. His personality changed too. He seemed more easy going in season one but he became more agitated by things after that and tense, whereas in season one he took everything in his stride.

And Picard became more approachable and chummier. Slightly.

Must have been a transporter malfunction.


In all seriousness, Frakes looked better clean-shaven. It really did take ten years off him - just look at Insurrection. These days, however, I suspect the gains will be marginal. The facial fuzz does a service in concealing the additional chins he has developed in his fifties.

 

[EnsignRicky]

I liked him better with the beard, it was very nautical. I heard he grew it because he looked a lot like Potsie Webber. Of course this was back in the days when more people knew who Anson Williams was.

 

[Red Ranger]

Personally I got a kick out of Thomas When he ripped the side of his beard of and had a goatee. That was classic.

Me, too! (BTW, "goatee" is a misnomer -- it's really a "circle beard." A goatee is when you have hair on your chin but no mustache!) Of course, I voted "beard," because without it he looked like a cross between Anson Williams (Potsie) and William Shatner, with a bit of Stephen Collins (Will Decker) thrown in for good measure! Too bad Will Riker never had the circle beard, would've been cool! I say this as I frequently sport a circle beard and it makes the ladies crazy! -- RR

 

[sbk1234]

I voted with beard. As a bearded man myself, I may be biased. It may also be that now I'm so used to him with facial hair. I remember when he first grew it as Riker, I was thinking "Get rid of that beard!"

 

[Falcor5]

With Beard! I always thought it would have been cool if there was a TNG mirror universe episode and Riker did not have a beard but had a Mustache

 

[tmclough]

With beard...because I have a beard!

 

[cultcross]

With beard; he always looked too baby-faced and young to be a commander being offered his own ship in his season 1 guise. Too much a Jim Kirk clone. Adding the beard made him distinctive.

 

[WillsBabe]

I remember when he first grew it as Riker, I was thinking "Get rid of that beard!"

I remember thinking, "Hello, salty goodness." Or I would have, but it was probably going to be another decade before Whedonisms entered my vocabulary.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

Definitely with. I actually tend to think that most men look better without facial hair, but Riker was too much of a pretty boy without it. He looked like a Ken doll come to life. The beard toughened him up a bit.

 

[Dream]

With beard.

 

[shapeshifter]

A persons face, chin actually, determines if a beard, or at least a goatee is in order and he has one of those chins which begs covering up.

 

[Alrik]

Another vote for with. But then again, I've had the aforementioned 'circle beard' for nearly 10 years now.

 

[sbk1234]

I remember an interview with Jonathan Frakes where he said he grew it during hiatus, because he normally likes to have a beard, and expected to be told to shave it when he returned to work. He was surprised when they didn't tell him to get rid of it.

 

[Kirk1980]

I remember an interview with Jonathan Frakes where he said he grew it during hiatus, because he normally likes to have a beard, and expected to be told to shave it when he returned to work. He was surprised when they didn't tell him to get rid of it.

That is correct, sir!

Get that man a cookie!