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."

[2] 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".

[1] The Next Generation showrunner Michael Piller recalled that sometime prior to casting Schultz, the actor had told executive producer Rick Berman that he would love to appear on the show.

In 1990, Schultz was working with Goldberg on The Long Walk Home when he discussed with her that he was a big fan of The Next Generation and knew Brent Spiner (Data) and Jonathan Frakes (William Riker) from his time in New York City.

Then, approximately a month after returning from The Long Walk Home, Schultz heard from his talent manager that the powers-that-be at The Next Generation had extended a job offer.

"[2] For the fourth season, bringing back Barclay was on executive producer Michael Piller's to-do list, but they were having trouble finding a vehicle for the character; they did not want to return to the well again for the "nervous chap in the holodeck".

[13] In the second season's "Elementary, Dear Data", a troublemaking self-aware holoprogram of Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis) was accidentally created and then stored in long-term memory at the end of the episode.

[15] After Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Data (Brent Spiner) cure the afflicted, Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) names the virus "Barclay's Protomorphosis Syndrome".

Originally, the guest star was going to be The Next Generation's LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, but episode writer Brannon Braga decided it would be much more fun to couple Barclay with the Doctor (Robert Picardo), holographic software called the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH).

The Companion further infers that Barclay took a leave of absence from the Enterprise to work on the EMH because the character is aboard the Enterprise-E in the 1996 film, Star Trek: First Contact.

[19] Following the events of First Contact, in Star Trek: Voyager's sixth season episode "Pathfinder", now-Lieutenant Barclay has been stationed on Earth for two years.

After being caught by security officers, Barclay's theory pans out, and all is forgiven as Starfleet briefly communicates with Voyager personnel for the first time since the fourth season episode "Message in a Bottle".

[20] Barclay returns to the Jupiter Station Holoprogramming Center in "Life Line" to liaise between the Doctor and his programmer, Lewis Zimmerman (also portrayed by Robert Picardo).

After it appears that the holographic program has failed to reach Voyager for a second month in a row, Barclay intrudes on Troi's vacation to confide in her that he believes his ex-girlfriend (Sharisse Baker-Bernard) may have something to do with it.

In the future he is Commander Barclay, and a lecturer at Starfleet Academy who provides an aged Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) with data and a shuttlecraft she will need to travel back in time.

After Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard) insisted that he join the convention circuit, Schultz was "overwhelmed" by the reaction: "[People] really do identify with Barclay because he has difficulties.

The authors describe Barclay as an "archetypal Trek-nerd, opting to exist in a fantasy world due to inadequacies that prevent him from fully engaging with the real one."

[27] Both showrunner Michael Piller and director Cliff Bole disagree with the perception that Barclay was meant to represent "self-absorbed Trek fans who are so obsessed with the show that they are oblivious to reality."

Shepherd uses Barclay as an example of this, stating how even though the character does not completely overcome his social anxiety disorder by the end of "Hollow Pursuits", he has made steps towards improving his self-confidence.

Roberts also explains how Barclay is intended to be not only "[a] stand-in for Star Trek fans", but also representing both Experience participants and home viewers "who are not in control of the fantasy narrative.

"[26] In The Influence of Star Trek on Television, Film and Culture, Sue Short described Barclay as "the most improbable member of Starfleet" due to his propensity for daydreaming and solitary pursuits.

[31] When Comic Book Resources ranked Star Trek's best 20 recurring characters in 2018, Barclay was sixth behind Sarek, Lwaxana Troi, Dukat, Elim Garak, and Q.