One thing thatStar Trekis known for, alongside a magnificent array of science fiction technology so great it has influenced the real world, is a fantastic and diverse set of characters. From the stoic and oftenmorally complex commanding figure of Captain Sisko, to audiences' least favorite chef (Neelix), there has always been a large amount of variety in the cast.
Some of the most memorable bunch are the main bridge crew fromThe Next Generation, which included Gates McFadden’s character of Dr. Beverly Crusher. It might surprise casual viewers then, that despite her role as one of the main characters, she was in fact missing for an entire season. What happened to the doctor, and why did she return?
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Dr. Crusher appears during the first season ofTNG, but was absent during the second. The explanation was that she got a promotion, forcing her to leave not only the Enterprise D, but her teenage son too. She was replaced by Dr. Katherine Pulaski, played by Diana Muldaur, who, through no fault of the actress, was poorly received by fans. Many viewers thought she was too much of a bully to other characters such as Data, and kept looking for problems and picking arguments with Picard. While this might have been the biggest reason, it was also in part that audiences missed Dr. Crusher. For that matter, so did the cast, a tight-knit group of good friends at this point who did not appreciate McFadden being replaced.
The real-world reason for the promotion/removal of Dr. Crusher was largely down to a man named Maurice Hurley, the head writer and later co-executive producer. He was hired by Gene Roddenberry during a time when Roddenberry’s health was taking a downward spiral. Having previously been involved heavily with the production and writing of the show, Roddenberry was forced to take a step back, but ensured that there was someonehe could trust left to carry out his vision— so in came Hurley. This turned out to be a complete disaster, as Hurley disagreed and fought with the majority of the cast and crew. He refused to allow any form of conflict between characters creep into the program, and had some of the worst ideas for episodes, such as the episode “Code of Honor,” which will forever go down asthe worst episode ofStar Trekever made.
While the other writers did not think highly of him, it was the cast that seemed to get the worst of it. Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher, later complained that under Hurley’s rule he felt like a living prop, with Hurley often physically moving him around on set. Denise Crosby, who played Tasha Yar, the head of security beforethe Klingon culture buff Worfstepped in, even chose to leave the show after Hurley completely undermined her character. He turned her from a warrior to an object of desire, and she was constantly told to puff her chest out and ‘show her assets.’
However, nobody seemed to bear the brunt more than McFadden, who, for still unknown reasons, Hurley seemed to have a vendetta for. McFadden later suggested that their conflict had something to do with her strongly advocating for her character to have more substance, most of all demanding more parenting/teaching moments with her character’s son Wesley. She pointed out that the majority of male characters aboard the ship had this dynamic with him, but she, his actual mother, never did. Hurley would also constantly complain about her acting. Things got so bad between them that Hurley reportedly gave Roddenberry a choice to either fire McFadden or him. This unfortunately ended up with McFadden getting the sack one day after Season 1 wrapped, and McFadden was gone for Season 2.
While there isa consensus that Season 2 ofTNGwas better than the first, it was apparently even more dysfunctional behind the scenes. Hollywood was going through a writers' guild strike, which forced producers to recycle a bunch of old and unused scripts from the 70s show, fudging them together to make them fit with the new crew and context. All of this was happening as Hurley continued to clash with the cast and crew, until suddenly Roddenberry seemed to have a change of heart. While Hurley was seemingly continuing with what Roddenberry had originally wanted, the old creator began to break his own rules for the show (never breaking the starship rule however, that one is sacred), approving scripts that butted up directly with what Hurley wanted. The two reportedly began to clash, which resulted in Hurley’s resignation at the end of the second season.
Things got quickly better, with Michael Piller taking Hurley’s place as head writer. The show’s creators had received a plethora of requests from fans to bring back Dr. Crusher. They much preferred her to Dr. Pulaski, and it was not long before the producers asked McFadden to return. Thankfully, for both plot and character rapport, she accepted, returning tothe iconic USS Enterpriseat the start of Season 3, and the rest is history. They never explained what exactly happened with Dr. Pulaski, or why Dr. Crusher had a hump in her career, being promoted one day and returning like nothing happened the next. Either way, with her back, and Hurley gone, the show began to truly shine, and cemented itself as one of the bestStar Trekprograms to date.
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