TV & VIDEO - Dec. 7, 1988

In a coming episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” the Enterprise’s resident android, Lt. Commander Data (played by Brent Spiner)--longing as always to be truly human--goes to the ship’s “holodeck” to learn the ins and outs of humor. And who should appear as Data’s guide to human ha-ha’s but comedian Joe Piscopo? Piscopo’s character answers Data’s query about humor with: “What’s funny? Tip O’Neill in a dress is funny. Words that end in ‘K’ are funny. A briefcase that looks like a fish is funny. Things that make you laugh are funny.” Throughout the episode (airing Dec. 17 on KCOP Channel 13), Data tries out humor in the form of riddles on the crew with no results--even Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan character, who runs the ship’s R & R area, can’t help him. What gets Data his long-sought laugh? An unintentional pun.