10 Biggest Behind The Scenes Star Trek Mistakes That Ever Happened
6. Introduce A Teenage Character To Appeal To Younger Viewers And Then Fire His Mam (For A Year)
Wil Wheaton was introduced in Encounter at Farpoint as a bridge for younger viewers to come on board with the Star Trek franchise. He was Wesley Crusher, the son of Dr. Beverly Crusher - the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer and friend of Captain Picard.
Gates McFadden was already an accomplished choreographer before she got the role on The Next Generation. Producer Maurice Hurley wasn't a fan.
Throughout the first series, Crusher was one of the more popular characters. According to McFadden, Roddenberry told her that she was in fact the third most popular character on the show. For his part, Rick Berman lays the blame entirely at Hurley's feet:
Maurice hated Gates. He hated her and he hated the character...he managed to convince Gene to let her go.
The cast were stunned, and McFadden believed she had been let go because she had been vocally critical of several of the behind the scenes decisions. However, in an oddly lucky set of events, Diana Muldaur was not as popular as the thinly-rewritten Dr. Pulaski/McCoy stand in, and Hurley left at the end of the show's second season.
Hurley was out and McFadden was invited back, thankfully.