The Crusher family has a long history within Star Trek: The Next Generation's legacy. However, its beloved matriarch and the long-serving chief medical officer almost didn’t make it past the first episode. In fact, as Star Trek’s creator Gene Roddenberry and producers struggled to craft a pilot everyone could live with, they floated the idea of getting rid of Dr. Beverly Crusher altogether.
Star Trek has always crafted a special place for its medical officers. Starting with the iconic “Bones” McCoy to a holographic doctor in Star Trek: Voyager, the franchise has prioritized creating unique characters that stand out and offer depth. One of the most popular to whip out a tricorder to diagnose those in need was Commander Beverly Crusher, mother to the teenaged Enterprise crew member, Wesley Crusher.
Dr. Crusher, played by Gates McFadden, lasted the entirety of TNG's run, with the exception of Season 2. Producers didn’t renew her contract at the end of Season 1 and brought in a new character, Dr. Katherine Pulaski, instead. Roddenberry, who was still involved with the show at the time, chose to write Dr. Crusher out, rather than kill her off, to leave the door open for her return. Upon her Season 3 comeback, Crusher remained with her fellow Enterprise crew through their appearance on the big screen.
When TNG was announced in 1986, Paramount wanted a two-hour-long pilot for a premiere the following year. But Roddenberry was unhappy with the request to make an episode double the length of what he wanted. Nevertheless, Paramount was determined to make a splash with the inaugural episode and wouldn't budge. During the development of the two-hour episode, the idea came to excuse Dr. Crusher from further duties.
The pilot had a unique challenge. Most pilots are designed to sell the show's concept. However, TNG's first episode didn’t need to sell TV executives on green-lighting the show -- that had already happened. Instead, TNG had the more daunting task of introducing and developing the series' main characters. As such, producers toyed with having Dr. Crusher depart in the first episode with an emotional farewell involving her son and Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Originally, the idea was for Picard to become a mentor and surrogate parental figure to the teenager.
However, Dr. Crusher’s character proved more valuable than the idea of getting rid of her so early on. As a result, she ended up making it through that first episode, “Encounter at Farpoint." Based on the overwhelming support for her character, even more than 30 years after her first appearance, the decision to keep the doctor around clearly avoided what could have been a fatal mistake.