Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Beverly Crusher
8. A Season Two Short
Star Trek: The Next Generation got off to a very rocky start. Its debut season was hit and miss, but mostly miss. Behind the scenes, cast and crew were dealing with the Maurice Hurley-burly and being lawyered by Leonard Maizlish. Denise Crosby went the way of the angry Armus, and Gates McFadden was 'fired,' 'let go,' or 'not asked back,' depending on the phraseology.
The backstage turmoil was hardly a secret to the outside world at the time. In 1989, Cinefantastique (vol. 19, no. 3) ran a piece detailing in no uncertain terms the "sturm und drang on the final frontier" that had led to "a creative exodus of writers and producers". Even legendary Original Series writer D.C. Fontana had left TNG by October 1987. Nonetheless, McFadden appeared remarkably stoic about her departure. As she said in the Cinefantastique article: "I had a good year, made wonderful friends, did good work and made some money."
Behind such stoicism was the reality of the 1980s version of the 24th century, however. McFadden had expressed concerns about Beverly's (disappointing) interactions with Wesley, and about certain sexist tropes she felt were present in scripts such as Angel One, to writer/producer Maurice Hurley. As McFadden told Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, that "really pissed him [Hurley] off." It was Hurley who was then reportedly responsible for her dismissal.
Thankfully, fans began a year-long letter writing campaign to bring Doctor Crusher back, and Patrick Stewart later rang McFadden to ask her to return for season three.