Hon blev avfyrade
Enligt hennes sida i Memory Alpha , ville hon driva andra riktningar i henne karriär.
Enligt Memory Alpha:
McFadden left the series at the end of the first season and was
replaced by Diana Muldaur as Doctor Katherine Pulaski in the second
season. An official announcement states, that McFadden had left the
series to pursue other career options. McFadden herself got a call
from her agent who told her that the producers decided to go in
another direction with the character. Like the other cast members,
McFadden was surprised. ("Gates McFadden - Dr. Beverly Crusher", The
Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine Vol. 12, p. 43)
Intressant nog, men det är inte vad Wikipedia har att säga:
At the end of the first season, McFadden was fired and replaced by
actress Diana Muldaur as the Enterprise's Chief Medical Officer.
Detta utdrag refererar till följande avsnitt från en intervju med regissören Rick Berman:
Gates McFadden fired at end of first season because head writer
Maurice Hurley "he had a real bone to pick" with Gates and din’t like
her acting, Berman brought Gates back for 3rd season after Hurley left
( Källa )
När det gäller hennes återkomst:
But thanks to a letter-writing campaign, support from Patrick Stewart,
and a personal invitation from Rick Berman, McFadden was brought back
to the TNG cast for the third and subsequent seasons. McFadden was
absent for all episodes of the second season and only appeared in
stock footage in "Shades of Gray" which was used from the first season
episodes "Symbiosis" and "Skin of Evil".
Det var tydligen en besvikelse att Hurley inte levde upp till förväntningarna:
Muldaur's character, Dr. Katherine Pulaski, didn't make it to the
third season. Roddenberry described Muldaur as "a most talented
actress", and said that the decision "to let her go was made solely
because the hoped-for chemistry between her and the rest of the
starship cast did not develop."
( Källa )
För att klargöra i universet orsakades Crusher en position som head av Starfleet Medical enligt Memory Alpha .