We know her as a permanent part of the Enterprise, but she had to leave the Star Trek series for a whole year. The reason for Dr. Crusher’s absence from The Next Generation reads like an episode of its own.
Fans have seen her as a tough doctor, a single mother and an iconic member of the crew in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Dr. Beverly Crusher, played by Gates McFadden, was already a permanent member of Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s cast in Season 1. She gave us some memorable episodes that are still talked about today. In the second season, the character abruptly left her crew to pursue a career in Starfleet Medical.
Behind the scenes, however, things were not as rosy for her as she revealed in a 2018 interview with SBS Australia.
Gates McFadden was a thorn in the side of a Star Trek producer
There is a sad reason why Dr. Crusher left her son Wesley on the Enterprise alone in the second season. It is not related to the plot of the series, but to what happened behind the scenes and is named Maurice Hurley. McFadden reported several conflicts with the co-producer, in which aspects of the series were sexist.
When Hurley was promoted to head writer in the second season, he made short work of it: “Either she goes or I do.”
McFadden was shocked by her firing – after all, according to her agent, Dr. Crusher was one of the three most popular characters in the series at the time. Her role was replaced by that of the older and snappier Dr. Christine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur). Pulaski, who resembled a female McCoy, never really won over the fans, as Screen Rant sums up.
The series creators realized their mistake and revised their decision: Hurley was fired and Dr. Crusher returned to the Enterprise in season 3.
“I was overwhelmed”: McFadden thanks Star Trek fans for her comeback
“I know the fans had something to do with it. They [the producers] would never admit it, but I know it’s true.” With these words, McFadden emphasizes in an interview with SBS Australia her gratitude for the outcry with which her fanbase reacted to the firing. By their own account, they received thousands of letters regretting Dr. Crusher’s departure.
Even the captain himself spoke out. None other than Patrick Stewart called McFadden to ask if she wanted to return in season 3. It was a happy ending all round: just recently, we saw Dr. Crusher and Capt. Picard standing side by side on the bridge as the pair made their comeback in season 3 of Star Trek: Picard after more than 20 years.
The Star Trek world would be unthinkable without Dr. Crusher and her memory lives on today. It’s hard to believe that it was all hanging by a thread for a year.
