From: johnnyp@HALDI.LCS.MIT.EDU (Johnny Piscitello)
Subject: Re: Dr. Crusher wherabouts - Season II
Organization: MIT Laboratory for Computer Science
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 22:38:50 GMT

In article <1992Dec18.014057.6387@Virginia.EDU> qtm2w@Virginia.EDU ("Quinn T. McCord") writes:
>
>	There were three main reasons that Bev Crusher was dumped:
>
>1.) She was a damper on Picard.  He couldn't have any little
>love trysts if she were around.
>2.) She was a damper on Wesley.  He couldn't develop into
>anything approaching an adult figure if his "mommy" was around.
>3.) Probably most importantly, they wanted a character that
>provided intra-ship conflict, which still doesn't happen much
>these days.
>
>	So they dumped Bev and got Pulaski.  They wanted the
>Pulaski-Data relationship to be similar to the McCoy-Spock
>relationship, in terms of the constant bickering.  One problem:
>Data doesn't bicker.  The fans disliked her because they
>thought she was "picking" on Data.  But the main reason Pulaski
>was kicked off was because another cast member (who will remain
>nameless) used his/her clout to get her fired.  They realized
>that it would be better to bring Crusher back than go with a
>third doctor, so that's what they did.
>						-Quinn

	You are way off base. McFadden was fired because she kept coming
to the set with a different hairstyle each week. Sounds ridiculous, but
it happens to be true. Amazing what backstage politics can do to the
creative flow of a show.

	The bit about someone backstage getting Diana Muldaur is ridiculous.
She became a regular on LA Law and didn't have time to be a regular on Trek.
She has had a long association with the series, playing featured guest roles
in several TOS episodes.

	As far as your hypotheses go:

	Her role with Picard was not a "damper" in the first season. 
In "The Arsenal of Freedom" and "The Big Goodbye" there are romantic 
sparks flying between them. And Picard rekindled an old flame 
in "We'll Always Have Paris". In that episode, we even have Beverly 
fretting about how she can't "compete" with Picard's old flame. This seems
to invalidate your reason (1).

	I honestly don't understand our reason (2). The entire point of
Wesley's character in the first season is how precocious he already is - in
"Encounter at Farpoint" Picard even says so to Beverly. Plus, he saves the
ship every other episode. The main conflict in Wesley's character is that
he was growing up TOO fast. Plus, when Mcfadden returned, she treats
him like a mother would. In "Evolution" she suggests he's taken on more than
he can handle at his age. In "Sarek" she slaps him, saying "don't you talk
to me that way."

	Your reason (3) was the motivation for shaping Pulaski the way
they did. The only time she picks on Data is in "Elementary, Dear Data",
and fans LOVE that episode. She more often picks on Picard - in 
"Unnatural Selection" she argues heavily with him, then disobeys orders. 
In "Time Squared" she threatens to relieve him of duty, in a rather 
"bitchy" argument with Troi.

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