Follow us on Google News
Get the latest updates directly in your Google News feed
Patrick Stewart, the veteran actor known for portraying the role of Jean-Luc Picard in theStar Trekfranchise, has had a great rapport with his co-stars. Being friendly and humorous in nature, there have been very few instances where Stewart might have lost his cool.
During the first season ofStar Trek: The Next Generation,however, Patrick Stewart and the cast members had a rough start. From getting to know each other to producers allegedly trying to take control of the series, there was a lot of chaos, and Stewart was allegedly blamed for the removal of one actress from the series!
Sir Patrick Stewart And Gates McFadden: A Bad Match?
Gates McFadden portrayed the role of Dr. Beverly Crusher in the first season ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.Being the chief medical officer on board the U.S.S. Enterprise-D, McFadden was quite an important character, but chaos behind the scenes had already started to affect the series.
As per a report bySlashFilm, McFadden was hated by one of the series producers Maurice Hurley. When the first season ended, Hurley became the showrunner of the series and immediately fired McFadden from the role, replacing her character with Dr. Kate Pulaski.
“That’s exactly the person we’re looking for”: Paramount Would’ve Never Let Strange New Worlds Redeem Star Trek after Discovery Backlash if One Marvel Star Wasn’t in it
Fans weren’t exactly fond of Pulaski and in the third season, Gates McFadden was brought back to reprise her role of Dr. Beverly Crusher. Susan Sackett, the personal assistant of showrunner Gene Roddenberry, revealed that Patrick Stewart and McFadden allegedly did not like each other.
I don’t think she and Patrick worked well together. It was mainly his request. There were some acting conflicts. Some actors work better with other actors.
The blame was shifted on Patrick Stewart but reports stated otherwise. Fans felt that Stewart and McFadden had better on-screen chemistry than some of the other pairs on the show. It was indeed a controversial coincidence that as soon as Hurley became the showrunner, McFadden was fired.
Then they tried Diana Muldaur, but she couldn’t remember her lines because she had a lot of technical things to say, so they brought back Gates. Gene had worked with Muldaur, so he was fond of her and thought she’d do a good job, but this wasn’t the right role for her.
Despite these accusations and blame games, Gates McFadden was brought back for her role as Dr. Beverly Crusher and the world returned to normal. Things did seem weird since Stewart didn’t have much to say about the whole ordeal.
“What’s wrong with you guys on this one?”: Patrick Stewart Once Did a Star Trek: TNG Episode With an X-Men Co-Star That Could’ve Brought Down the Show
The case was reopened when an executive producer from the show contradicted the claims made by Susan Sackett. As per the executive producer, Hurley had reasons to hate both Gates McFadden and her character, and somehow convinced Gene Roddenberry to fire her!
Executive Producer Rick Berman Defended Patrick Stewart
As mentioned earlier,the first few seasons ofStar Trek: The Next Generationwere quite chaotic. After the blame was put on Patrick Stewart’s alleged incompatibility with Gates McFadden, the case went cold for a while.
Rick Berman, who was an executive producer onStar Trek: The Next Generation,revealed that the accusations were totally false and untrue. In an interview (via SlashFilm), Berman stated that Stewart had nothing to do with it and Maurice Hurley just wanted to showcase his power!
Patrick had absolutely nothing to do with it. He [Hurley] didn’t like her acting and he didn’t like her.
Whatever the case may be, the end result was that Gates McFadden was gracefully brought back to the series, and the 1987 show went on to receive worldwide fame and acclaim for being just plain awesome.
“I panicked… How am I going to play this?”: The Star Trek Character That Terrified Brent Spiner Was Neither Data Nor Lore, He Ended up Playing Him Anyway
Star Trek: The Next Generationreceived a rating of 8.7/10 on IMDB and a whopping 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. The show ran from 1987 to 1994 and was heavily praised by fans and critics alike.
With 7 seasons to its name,Star Trek:The Next Generationis available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.
Visarg Acharya
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3263
Visarg Acharya is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 3000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past three years and a copywriter at a corporation. Visarg usually covers news and theories on the MCU and the DCU, with an emphasis on Avengers and Superman; Game of Thrones, and more.A Tarantino fan, Visarg, spends his time critiquing various directors’ filmographies and watching them with curiosity. Medieval fantasy like The Lord of the Rings or sci-fi movies like Interstellar, watching the latest horror movies, and listening to Hans Zimmer become his comfort zone. When idle, he can be found reading fantasy novels with a terrible cup of coffee in hand.
