10 TV Characters Who Died Too Early

The role of Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) in Star Trek: The Next Generation is one of TV's all-time greatest missed opportunities - plain and simple.

In the show's undeniably rough first season, Yar was easily one of the Enterprise's most intriguing characters - a tough, capable heroine with an intriguingly dark backstory.

But Crosby grew increasingly frustrated at the smaller size of her role throughout the season, and eventually asked to be released from her contract, resulting in her highly controversial demise near the end of season one.

Even if you can accept Yar's rather silly death at the hands of extraterrestrial tar-man Armus (Mart McChesney), it's unfortunate that Crosby was so committed to bailing from the show, because the uptick in quality from season two onward was undeniable.

All of the central characters became more defined and fleshed-out, and it goes without saying that Tasha Yar would've been no exception had she stuck around a little while longer.

Obviously any artist craves creative satisfaction - and, being Bing Crosby's granddaughter, she clearly didn't need the payday - but it's nevertheless a damn shame that such a compelling character didn't get a long-term tenure.

Crosby did at least return for a handful of episodes throughout TNG's run, both as Tasha Yar and her alternate timeline daughter Sela.