Star Trek: The Next Generation featured an entirely new crew from the existing seasons and introduced many new faces. The show bid farewell to The Original Series actors and helped elevate the careers of new actors like Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, and Jonathan Frakes.
However, several fans were shocked when a prominent star Denise Corby, who played the chief of security, Lieutenant Tasha Yar left the show even before Season 1 concluded. Despite her return as a guest in the later seasons, Crosby admitted that she had to leave the show early due to poor script.
Why did Denise Crosby leave Star Trek: The Next Generation so early?
Denise Crosby’s Tasha Yar, hailing from the planet of Turkana IV was a favorite among fans and the makers. But the presently-66-year-old actress did not like her role very much and decided to leave the show midway, even before Season 2.
Star Trek is one of the leading media franchises in Hollywood. The success of The Original Series also led many aspiring actors to dream about working in the franchise. The makers as well as fans could not believe it when Denise Crosby asked to leave the show even after being a fan favorite.
Nevertheless, ardent fans remember that Season 1 of the Patrick Stewart show is considered one of the poorest. Denise Crosby did not like how her character was treated and became one of the rarest primary characters to die. Surprisingly, as the show improved with the later seasons, Crosby made guest appearances.
In a recent interview with IGN, Denise Crosby revealed that despite being reluctant to return to Star Trek, she was convinced after reading the script of the Season 3 episode, Yesterday’s Enterprise. She loved the script and joked that she had to die to get a good script.
I always make this joke at cons and stuff: I had to die to get a good script.
As the stories were improved and Crosby left back her greatest complaint with the show, the actress returned twice to the franchise. After returning as her alternate version in Yesterday’s Enterprise, she also appeared as Tasha Yar’s half-human, half-Romulan daughter and Picard’s nemesis Sela in subsequent seasons.
Star Trek: TNG was becoming frustrating for Denise Crosby
Firstly, the Trekkies were not very pleased when it was announced that William Shatner‘s iconic series would return with new characters. Although Patrick Stewart excelled as Picard, the pilot season of The Next Generation did not have a good run.
According to Trekmovie.com, Denise Crosby felt “miserable” with how her character arc progressed. She requested the makers to remove her character because she wanted to explore new opportunities and was afraid to do the same thing “for the next X-amount of years”.
I was miserable. I couldn’t wait to get off that show. I was dying. This was not an overnight decision. I was grateful to have made that many episodes, but I didn’t want to spend the next six years going ‘Aye, aye, captain,’ and standing there, in the same uniform, in the same position on the bridge.
While Tasha Yar’s death in Skin of Evil led many fans and the makers to lose their favorite character, it benefitted another Star Trek actress Marina Sirtis. The Deanna Troi actress clarified that she was about to get fired but as two main female actors Denise Crosby and Gates McFadden left the show, she was saved.
Star Trek: The Next Generation can be streamed on Paramount+.
