By Chris Snellgrove
| Revealed
It took Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology a few tough years to actually discover its area legs, and the present went by many adjustments alongside the way in which. One momentary change was changing Dr. Crusher with Dr. Pulaski in Season 2 earlier than bringing Crusher again for Season 3. Many have typically puzzled why Pulaski herself obtained changed after the second season, however the rationalization is sort of simple: merely put, she pissed off far an excessive amount of of the Star Trek fandom.
Dr. Pulaski Enters Star Trek
The Subsequent Technology was a bit extra like The Unique Sequence again within the day, and the brand new physician character represented the producer’s need to channel the early adventures of Captain Kirk. That’s why Pulaski was performed by Diana Muldaur, somebody who acted alongside William Shatner within the authentic Star Trek collection. Her character was additionally loosely modeled after Dr. McCoy, which is why she hates utilizing the transporter and has a cantankerous angle in the direction of Information, the android who serves as TNG’s model of Mr. Spock.
Nevertheless, there was a serious Pulaski drawback from the start: whereas Star Trek: The Unique Sequence thrived on occasional battle amid the crew, The Subsequent Technology was a present the place everybody roughly obtained alongside. When this new physician was introduced in, although, she instantly started butting heads with Captain Picard. She additionally had such an antipathy in the direction of Information based mostly on him being an android that followers accused her of racism, a label which by no means actually went away.
Looking back, it’s simple to see why Pulaski’s character was dreamed up by Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology producers. Her being a stern, gender-swapped clone of Dr. McCoy helped her immediately stand out from the softhearted and nurturing mom determine of Beverly Crusher. Plus, having her butt heads with different characters launched battle within the present, one thing Gene Roddenberry had forbidden and which had made the writing of season 1 actually undergo. And the truth that Muldaur starred in The Unique Sequence meant that she may win over older followers nonetheless on the fence in regards to the new spinoff present.
Pulaski Was Not A Fan Favourite
That each one sounded good on paper, however after a season of making an attempt to make Pulaski occur, the Star Trek writers and producers threw within the towel. Producer Rick Berman later admitted that her character “by no means fairly labored…Physician Pulaski simply by no means actually fairly solidified.” Accordingly, the present didn’t invite Muldaur again, although she wasn’t disillusioned as a result of she felt the brand new spinoff centered an excessive amount of on expertise and too little on character-building.
One of many huge causes that Pulaski didn’t come again to the brand new spinoff was the Star Trek fandom, lots of whom launched a passionate letter-writing marketing campaign to convey Gates McFadden’s Dr. Crusher again to the present. They have been joined by Patrick Stewart, who was equally passionate in his private marketing campaign to convey his outdated colleague again. The mixed strain of the followers and TNG’s captain was sufficient to trigger Berman to personally invite McFadden again, and the remainder is tv historical past.
Dr. Pulaski had many fascinating qualities that made her an interesting character, however she by no means actually gelled effectively with the nippiness vibe of Star Trek: The Subsequent Technology. Thankfully, she was changed by Gates McFadden, a killer actor whose character solely obtained extra outstanding and in style as time went on. Ultimately, Dr. Crusher was a central character within the remaining season of Picard, and that significantly satisfying plot would probably by no means have occurred if not for the extraordinary fan marketing campaign to ditch Diana Muldaur and convey Gates McFadden again to the Enterprise the place she belonged.
