With all due respect to Stewart, his memory isn't always the best when it comes to Star Trek, even by his own admission. I remember the story about the time he caught a TNG rerun on TV and had actually completely forgotten filming that particular episode. And no, I don't think he mentioned which episode it was.
It's true, he doesn't really remember much about TNG's specific episodes - he's more the type who remembers general character traits of Jean-Luc. The PIC writers are the ones with the geeky details and who then write the stories and then discuss the results with him and see what his input is regarding the JLP story parts (hence his Executive Producer title, it has to come from SOMEWHERE). Contrary to popular beliefs in certain "fan circles" tho, the writers aren't shoving empty sheets of paper at him like "please write us a Jean-Luc storyline, only YOU can tell us the way".
And while I do also disagree with some of his Trek movie ideas back then and while I also don't agree with ALL of his takes on Jean-Luc now (although I as someone who has been a massive fan of his for two decades can totally see where he's coming from when he says he's incporating elements from his own life into Jean-Luc's life, trust me, he's approaching this from a VERY loving and self-reflective point of view), I still think it's wise to include him in some parts of the creative process because this is the only way in which this whole thing works and the only way you can get his full cooperation.
I don't think he'd have signed on to do the show if they had told him "we write everything and then we show it to you and then you shut up and act". You CAN'T do that, not when Jean-Luc Picard is involved - Jean-Luc is as much his "baby" as he is Gene Roddenberry's. Sir Patrick was the one who turned Gene's basic idea into a beloved and iconic character, not only through his acting but also through his input behind the scenes. He was used to having Rick Berman's ear back then. He was used to adding aspects of his own life into Jean-Luc's life. At some point during the show's later seasons he literally no longer had to get into character. He just WAS Jean-Luc, and Jean-Luc was him. He was completely immersed. And now PIC is simply no different in any of those regards. I knew this would happen - that he would BECOME Jean-Luc again, I mean - the relationship between Sir Patrick and Jean-Luc is very unique and special, always has been. Hence his words now about there being no real difference anymore between him and Jean-Luc. It makes perfect sense if you look at it from the background I just mentioned. It doesn't come from a point of "ONLY I AM PICARD AND KNOW BEST AND I WILL RUIN IT ALL BECAUSE I CAN MWAHAHAHA" (I've seen that this is now the hateful take on his latest interview from certain Youtubers), it comes from a point of "he has always been with me and now, unlike back then when I tried to get away from him because it scared me how close we had become to being the same person, I am now able to fully embrace him". Letting go of fear of being close to someone... does that sound like a familiar experience Jean-Luc is having as well right now? See?
Sorry, I rambled. A nasty habit I picked up from Jean-Luc. Blame him.
Aside from the hotel room story (the one where he said some hotel dude caught him watching TNG and he worried about the hotel dude thinking how sad he must be that he's watching his own show, lmao) Sir Patrick indeed tweeted once about catching a TNG episode and ending up watching it - in his typical style he then complimented his fellow cast members on a fine piece of work (because that's just how he rolls, he's an ensemble actor, he doesn't shove others out of the spotlight to catch some more for himself). He did mention that he watched "Encounter At Farpoint" recently tho - he said he remembered how terrified he was when they shot his first scenes and how this influenced his performance, which is why Jean-Luc is - seemingly - super cold in the episode. I really enjoyed how he reflected on it. It's a little dream of mine to watch a random TNG episode with him. I think this would be SUPER interesting.
