been stolen: it is revealed that Okona has been acting as a go-between for Yanar and Benzan, who are in love with each other, and that Yanar is pregnant with Benzan's child; Benzan has offered to marry Yanar, intending to present the Jewel of Thesia, which he asserts is rightly his, as a courting gift. Okona was carrying the jewel between the two planets when he suffered engine trouble and he falsely claimed to be the father to force the two lovers to reveal the truth. Embarrassed and frustrated with how her relationship with Benzan has caused Okona to get into trouble and the quarreling of their parents, especially her father's pressuring her to marry to preserve her family's honor, an exasperated Yanar declares that she is not marrying Benzan or Okona. Okona has a heart-to-heart conversation with Yanar about how she cannot throw away her relationship simply because their parents cannot "behave themselves". Yanar takes heed to Okona's advice. She and Benzan profess their love to each other in front of Debin and Kushell, who finally realize how happy their children are with each other. Picard cannot get involved in the internal political disputes between the two planets and allows Okona to go on his way once his ship is repaired; Debin and Kushell are left to argue (in a friendly manner) about wedding details. Lt. Commander Data is motivated to explore the concept of humor after meeting Okona. Prompted by Guinan, Data uses the holodeck to generate a comedy club setting and stand-up comic (played by Joe Piscopo) as his adviser but when he performs in front of the holographic audience, he is dismayed to find that they laugh at anything he says or does. Guinan cheers Data up by explaining that being able to laugh or make people laugh is not the final result of becoming human. As the Enterprise parts with Okona, Data is able to unintentionally make the crew laugh but does not at first understand the joke. Production Casting Billy Campbell was credited as William O. Campbell for his role as Okona, differentiating him from William Campbell who appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series episodes "The Squire of Gothos" and "The Trouble with Tribbles". Billy Campbell was a candidate for the role of Commander William T. Riker, but executive producer Rick Berman has explained that the executives casting the series considered Campbell