page_title: Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 3)
section_title: Casting
hierarchical_section_title: Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 3) / Production / Casting
caption_attribution_description: English: Actress Gates McFadden.
context_page_description: The third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation commenced airing in broadcast syndication in the United States on September 25, 1989 and concluded on June 18, 1990 after airing 26 episodes. Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise-D. Season three featured the return of Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher after she was replaced by Diana Muldaur for the second season. The season also saw the debut of several actors who would reappear in the same roles and others throughout the franchise, such as Dwight Schultz as Lt. Reginald Barclay, and Tony Todd as Kurn.
  Further changes occurred to the writing staff, with Michael Piller brought on board as executive producer after Michael I. Wagner held the position for three weeks. Ronald D. Moore also joined the staff following the submission of a script for "The Bonding". Hans Beimler, Richard Manning, Melinda M. Snodgrass and Ira Steven Behr all left the staff at the end of the season.
context_section_description: Gates McFadden returned to the role of Doctor Beverly Crusher in the third season, the character had been written out for season two and replaced with Diana Muldaur playing Doctor Katherine Pulaski. Roddenberry had ensured that Crusher was not written out permanently to allow for her return in the future. Keith DeCandido blamed her departure on Maurice Hurley. After he left the series, McFadden returned. At the end of season 2 Patrick Stewart was asked by the producer what he wanted and he asked for new uniforms, more action scenes and for Diana Muldaur to be fired and McFadden brought back
  Season three saw further appearances for several recurring characters from the franchise, including John de Lancie as Q in "Déjà Q", Majel Barrett as Lwaxana Troi in "Ménage à Troi", who had both appeared in multiple episodes of previous seasons. It also featured an appearance by Mark Lenard as Sarek. Lenard had previously appeared in this role in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Journey to Babel" as well as the film franchise. Denise Crosby, whose character Tasha Yar was killed in the first season episode "Skin of Evil", returned in "Yesterday's Enterprise" due to changes to the timeline seen in the series. The events of that episode would set up appearances in The Next Generation for the actress as the half-Romulan character Sela in later seasons.
  The season also featured the first appearance of actors who would later reappear both in The Next Generation and later series of the franchise. These included Tony Todd as Worf's brother Kurn, who would appear in this role later in the series and also in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. "Hollow Pursuits" marked the first appearance of Dwight Schultz as Lt. Reginald Barclay in the franchise. He would become a recurring character in the series, and go on to appear in several episodes of Star Trek: Voyager and the film Star Trek: First Contact (1996). Schultz had previously been known for his role as H. M. Murdock in the television series The A-Team.
  Susan Gibney appeared as Dr. Leah Brahms in "Booby Trap", and would later return in that role in "Galaxy's Child". Gibney was also considered for the role of the Captain Janeway in Voyager and played Captain Erika Benteen in the Deep Space Nine episode "Paradise Lost". An actor who later gained a recurring role in Deep Space Nine following an appearance the third season of The Next Generation was Max Grodénchik. He appeared as the Ferengi Sovak in "Captain's Holiday", and as another Ferengi in the fifth season's "The Perfect Mate". In DS9, he was initially cast as a "Ferengi Pit Boss" in the pilot episode, "Emissary". That character would soon become Rom, who by the end of the series was the leader of his race. Jennifer Hetrick also made her first appearance in "Captain's Holiday" as Vash. She would also appear as that character in "Qpid" and Deep Space Nine's "Q-Less".
  Andreas Katsulas made his first appearances as the Romulan Tomalak in "The Enemy" and "The Defector. He would later reappear in episodes of later seasons, in both "Future Imperfect" and the series finale "All Good Things...". Charles Cooper and Patrick Massett appeared as K'mpec and Duras respectively in "Sins of the Father", and would also appear in those roles once more in "Reunion" in the fourth season. A number of other actors also appeared during the season in prominent guest star roles, including Saul Rubinek, Tricia O'Neil, Harry Groener and James Sloyan. Groener returned to Star Trek during the final season of Star Trek: Enterprise in a different role during the episodes "Demons" and "Terra Prime".
caption: Season three saw the return of Gates McFadden to the main cast role of Dr. Beverly Crusher.
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