A week of "Blue Skies": "Star Trek: Picard," "This Is Us"

The song "Blue Skies" has a long history, longer in fact than I realized. I think the first version of the song that I know was Benny Goodman's, and the song predates that vintage gem, For that matter, I did not know that "Blue Skies" has an extensive connection to "Star Trek: The Next Generation," which explains its appearance in the season finale of "Star Trek: Picard." What was strikingly resonant about its inclusion was that the season finale of "This Is Us" also involved the song, lovingly, in a monologue by Dr. K (the great Gerald McRaney), the doctor who delivered Kate and Kevin and brought Randall to the family.

The monologue was pretty good, although the show conceded that it was not as good as a previous Dr. K chat, and much the same could be said of "This Is Us" overall this season. Yes, there were astounding moments, including the nothing's-sacred verbal brawl between Kevin and Randall in the finale. But it also felt at times as if it was spinning its wheels, that the characters had become so aimless that the show itself felt that way -- as if time shifts alone were enough to keep it going.

"Picard" had a similar problem, It was at times wonderful, especially in the way it integrated past "Star Trek" characters and embraced the way age and history had affected Picard. Other moments, though, felt slow and predictable, including in the over-extended resolution of Picard's life in the finale.

Yet, in both cases, "Blue Skies" made a difference. It's a malleable song, capable of conveying joy and jauntiness in some hands, wistfulness and even irony in others, and change in those tones across the same presentation.

For "This Is Us," the irony was palpable -- not only in how it augured not blue skies but despair for Dr. K, but in the catastrophic paths taken by Kevin and Randall in their argument. While a final shot suggested that they would recover from their damage, the recovery was derived from the sight of their dying mother. At the same time, though, Dr. K found a way to see the song as joyful again.

On "Picard," whatever the echoes for devoted "Star Trek" fans, the performance has a current of sorrow as the blue skies for Data are his dying -- melancholic for those of us who have loved Data, and unfortunately uncut by the obvious trickery in Picard's death and resurrection. No creative blue sky there.

Still, how is it possible not to love the song in some rendition? My favorite is Willie Nelson's, so we'll close with that.