Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Deanna Troi
8. She Nearly Didn't Make It Past Season One Of TNG
Given the pandemonium behind the scenes, it is a wonder anyone made it past the first season of TNG. We all know what happened to Natasha Yar/Denise Crosby and Dr Crusher/Gates McFadden. What you probably didn’t know, however, is that it was Troi who was originally on the chopping block.
Several fairly significant changes had already been made to the character between the pilot and the rest of the season: the extent of Troi's 'powers' was reduced with regards to her telepathic capabilities, and she also changed outfit and hairstyle. No longer was she dressed in that god-awful "cosmic cheerleader" uniform with "the ugliest go-go boots ever designed," as Marina Sirtis herself famously described it.
As briefly described in the introduction, the writers struggled with the character and her empathic abilities. According to Sirtis, she was often simply written out of scenes where Troi’s presence could have been problematic for the plot. (As Captain Janeway once said, "What I wouldn’t give for a Betazoid about now".) This led the writers to consider nixing the character before the end of the first season.
It was only with the departure of Crosby and McFadden from the show that Troi was given leave to remain. Sirtis found this out straight from the horse’s mouth (at Jonathan Frakes’ wedding during the break between seasons) when Gene Roddenberry approached her to announce that the first episode of season two would focus on Troi.