In both the TNG and Star Trek: The Next Generation films, Gates McFadden portrayed Dr. Beverly Crusher; however, due to backstage problems, McFadden’s role was swapped out in season 2. Beverly Crusher, who is noted for being a regular member of TNG’s main ensemble, was first presented in the show’s pilot episode, “Encounter at Farpoint,” along with her adolescent son, Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton).
Wesley was left behind when Dr. Crusher left the Enterprise to lead Starfleet Medical, as revealed at the beginning of TNG season 2.
At the beginning of TNG season 2, episode 1, “The Child,” Dr. Katherine Pulaski (Diana Muldaur) assumed the position of Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Enterprise-D. However, Gates McFadden returned to TNG at the beginning of season 3, where she stayed for the duration of the successful series.
Dr. Pulaski was an unpopular replacement for Dr. Crusher, and another switch happened in between seasons. Although the character’s brief absence from the Enterprise is explained by Dr. Crusher’s wish to take a promotion and further her career, McFadden’s departure from the program and subsequent return are explained by a few real-life factors.
Dr. Beverly Crusher’s Reasons for Leaving Star Trek: TNG in Season Two
Due to Gates McFadden’s dismissal by co-executive producer Maurice Hurley, Dr. Crusher was absent from season 2 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. During its turbulent first year, TNG’s production was notoriously chaotic, and several of the show’s writers left.
Hurley consequently became TNG’s head writer and started to make his mark on the show after Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek: TNG, took a backseat to TNG’s daily operations. The characters of Gates McFadden and Beverly Crusher, whom Hurley detested, were among the objects of his wrath.
Hurley “had a real bone to pick with Gates,” according to Star Trek producer Rick Berman, which is why McFadden was let off. Hurley, in turn, didn’t appeal to McFadden either.
McFadden stated the following in an interview with SBS Australia in 2018:
One of the male writer-producers and I had argued over several things that I believed to be sexist. I’ve heard him say, ‘Either she goes or I go.’ Knowing how well-liked my character was, I was surprised that I was let go.
However, he didn’t want to interact with me because he was going to be writing more and more. The fact that they asked me to return after getting rid of him was fantastic.
Hurley went straight to Roddenberry to request Gates’ release. For whatever reason, Berman chose not to intervene or stop McFadden from being fired and replaced in TNG season 2 by Diana Maldaur’s Dr. Pulaski.
Hurley, however, was only the showrunner of TNG for one season. After then, Star Trek: The Next Generation was run by Rick Berman. Since Dr. Pulaski was not well received by fans, Berman wanted McFadden to return when Hurley left at the conclusion of TNG season 2.
Additionally, McFadden thinks that some of the show’s producers might have thought the program “had too many women.” Just a few episodes before the conclusion of TNG season 1, Denise Crosby, who played Security Chief Tasha Yar, quit the show because she thought her role wasn’t given enough responsibility.
Although it appears that McFadden also desired to have a more active part as Dr. Crusher, the original authors were unsure of how to proceed with her character.
Why Star Trek: TNG Season 3 Featured Dr. Beverly Crusher Again?
McFadden claimed to have gotten “thousands of letters” from Dr. Crusher’s admirers who missed and loved her after she was fired. The desire for Dr. Crusher to return to the Enterprise was not limited to the fans.
McFadden was contacted by Captain Picard himself, who requested that she come back. Patrick Stewart, according to McFadden, “was the first person to call me and ask if I’d consider it.”
With the approval of her co-stars, McFadden made a comeback as Dr. Crusher in season three of Star Trek: The Next Generation after Maurice Hurley left the show.
For the remainder of TNG’s seven seasons, McFadden played Beverly Crusher, and in the four TNG feature films, she reprised her role as Dr. Crusher.
In Star Trek: Picard Season 3, Dr. Crusher Made a Comeback
Dr. Beverly Crusher and Gates McFadden did not appear in the first two seasons of Star Trek: Picard, but she made a comeback in season three. McFadden was allowed to portray a very different version of her famous doctor, one that was more in line with Gene Roddenberry’s initial vision for Beverly Crusher in Star Trek.
Following her last appearance in a TNG film, Star Trek: Nemesis, Dr. Crusher departed the USS Enterprise-E and broke off communication with Captain Picard and her fellow crew members, according to Picard season 3.
Beverly reared Jack Crusher (Ed Speleers), Picard’s kid, on the edge of the United Federation of Planets while she was secretly pregnant with him. As adults, the Crushers conducted missions to worlds outside the Federation’s control in the manner of “doctors without borders.”
Jack is an intriguing new addition to the lore of Star Trek: The Next Generation, while Dr. Beverly Crusher had a significant role in the third season of Star Trek: Picard. In Picard season three, Crusher’s first objective was projecting Jack, who she ultimately concluded was born with organic Borg DNA that he acquired from Jean-Luc, the former Locutus of Borg.
Jack was spared from becoming the Vox of Borg and assimilating into Starfleet by Beverly and Picard. Beverly was promoted to Admiral and became the director of Starfleet Medical as a result of Dr. Crusher’s brilliant solution to the Changeling infiltration of Starfleet.
Without McFadden’s decision to come back, these tales would not have been conceivable, and Star Trek: The Next Generation would not have been as good without Dr. Beverly Crusher.
Wondering about the adventures of Dr. Beverly Crusher in Star Trek: TNG? Her tale is as recognizable as the series itself, from the backstage drama to her victorious comeback. For a detailed look at her influence on the franchise and her return in Star Trek: Picard, visit our website! Check out the legacy right now.