Editing Reginald Barclay (section)

==Conception==
[[University of Rochester]] professor [[Sarah Higley]] created Reginald Barclay in her script for the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' third-season episode "[[Hollow Pursuits]]". Before writing the script, Higley knew that she wanted to write about the less-exceptional members of the {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701-D|2}} crew, saying, "I thought there wasn't enough emphasis on the less outstanding, less [[child prodigy|''wunderkind'']]-like crew members".  She described her initial conception of Barclay as "a repulsive guy […] wrapped up in himself, brilliant in his field, [and] socially a wash-out."  She gave him the pompous name Endicott Reginald Barclay III to suggest he "had always suffered from an [[inferiority complex]] and just couldn't deal with the ultra-maturity and shining qualities of the rest of the crew."  Higley based Barclay on [[Till Eulenspiegel]]<!-- original: "Til Eulenspiegel" -->, a [[practical joke|prankster]] from [[German folklore]]: the original Barclay pranked the crew, taunted them about their weaknesses, and called their bluffs before being sent to a [[psychiatric hospital]].<ref name="1991-09 official TNG mag" />

[[Paramount Television]] bought "Hollow Pursuits" within a week of Higley's submission, but wanted to change the script to make Barclay save the day while being less acerbic and sarcastic.  Higley would later recall how she had made Barclay "repugnant" while the studio wanted somebody with whom the audience could identify: someone "whose stuttering, shyness and lack of self-confidence would speak to [the] shy and socially maladjusted".<ref name="1991-09 official TNG mag" />  As the character's actor, [[Dwight Schultz]] described Barclay as a ground-breaking character in terms of his normal fallibility.<ref name="1997-08 STTOMM" />  In the British magazine, ''[[TV Zone]]'', Schultz thanked Roddenberry for creating the character, saying, "He realized that that type of character was missing from the programme and, eventually, said, 'Let's fill that spot.{{'"}}<ref name="2001 TV Zone" />

In a script for "Hollow Pursuits", Barclay is described as a "shy individual with a perpetual frown born of stress and unhappiness between his brows.  […]  What we notice most about him is that he is uncomfortable around other people to the point of agony… he rarely makes eye contact… when he speaks, he hesitates, desperately afraid of saying the wrong thing… which he occasionally does."<ref name="1990 Hollow Pursuits script" />