Why was she not in season 2 of Star Trek?
Contract dispute?
shareAccording to wikipedia: Maurice Hurley, head writer and showrunner, did not like working with McFadden and, at Hurley's demand, she was let go at the end of season one. Diana Muldaur joined the production as the Enterprise's new chief medical officer, Dr. Katherine Pulaski, for the second season.
Series creator Gene Roddenberry admitted that the Dr. Pulaski character did not develop a chemistry with the other characters, so McFadden was approached to return as Dr. Crusher for the third season.
Which I didn't know - I just assumed she took a break for family reasons.
I find it weird that Wes was still on the Enterprise, but his mother somehow disappeared from the ship. I knew about Pulaski being the replacement, but I had no idea it was because of a behind the scenes feud.
shareRoddenberry also had a professional admiration for Diana Muldaur which helped grease the skids for McFadden's departure following Season 1. Repeat appearances on the original show were very seldom but Muldaur appeared twice. I had heard that Muldaur was somewhat old school on the set which gave the impression of her being remote with the other actors. Also, my impression was that Muldaur did not want to be tied down to a series.
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I'm not sure if it was the writing, direction, or Muldaur herself, but her character just didn't seem to meld with everyone else. I think they could have done a better job with the character.
I would say it was Muldaur herself. Like I said above she was old school and part of that was getting a scene done in a couple of takes. Supposedly, Spiner and a couple of others loved to freewheel while shooting which bothered Muldaur.
sharePulaski was the worst.
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