# Canned Star Trek cast members **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 25, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794 "2002-07-25T16:54:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/1 "2002-07-25T16:54:34Z")
Does anyone know the background of why Denise Crosby was fired from “The Next Generation” and why Terry Farrell was canned from “Deep Space Nine”? ---
**Author:** ![NeutronJack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/neutronjack/32/4134_2.png) [@NeutronJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeutronJack)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/2 "2002-07-25T17:25:06Z")
“fired”, “canned”, you say. How do you know that they didn’t quit? ---
**Author:** ![taggert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/96bed5/32.png) [@taggert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taggert)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/3 "2002-07-25T17:38:07Z")
I had always heard that the decision was theirs. I didn’t miss Denise Crosby as I didn’t care for her acting style. She came back as a Romulan commander for a later episode, suggesting it was voluntary. Terry Farrell supposedly left because she didn’t care for the subject matter. I don’t know when she started playing Reggie on Becker, but it may have been thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/4 "2002-07-25T17:44:31Z")
IIRC, Farrell decided she’d leave DS9. Berman was mad, and said she’d never work in this town again. Two days later, Paramount hired her for Becker (which she was let go from at the end of this season) ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/5 "2002-07-25T17:56:14Z")
The only regular cast member I specifically heard was “canned” was Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) from the original series. The reasons were never fully explained, but Whitney herself has admitted that was during a very rough period in her personal life. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/6 "2002-07-25T18:16:25Z")
I have always heard that Rand was written out of TOS because the powers-that-were felt there was a risk of Kirk getting “tied down” to her romantically, limiting his options to pursue otherworldly skirt. Heaven forfend. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/7 "2002-07-25T18:31:27Z")
You can get 'em in a can now? ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/8 "2002-07-25T19:00:13Z")
I thought they got rid of Crosby because they realized that Worf and Yar had basically the same job, and it was getting too hard to write for such a large ensemble cast and pay attention to all the main characters. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/9 "2002-07-25T19:26:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kunilou \* > \*\*The only regular cast member I specifically heard was “canned” was Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) from the original series. The reasons were never fully explained, but Whitney herself has admitted that was during a very rough period in her personal life. \*\* Acording to Shatner in his memiors, GLW was canned because she got hooked on drugs and became unreliable as an actress, a skid that eventually landed her on the streets hooking. She kicked and pulled herself out of the gutter during the 70s, and I for one admire her strength in doing so. It was nice to see her camios in the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/10 "2002-07-25T20:09:20Z")
As far as Denise Crosby goes, according to [this](http://www.trekdoc.com/database/press/6.htm)… > [@](#): > > **Several months into the series’ extremely shaky first season, she asked to be written out, frustrated with scripts that left her standing around far too often. “I was going to become sort of lobotomized if I stayed on the show much longer,” she said. Ironically, the episode where her character was killed offered her a long, eloquent monologue, exactly the kind of material she had craved for in the first place. “It was very beautifully written, and really hit some personal notes, how I felt about all those actors,” she explained. As to the rather arbitrary method the writers used to dispose of Tasha Yar, she said, "I knew the concept that Gene Roddenberry was after, that my character’s death should be so unprovoked and so sudden that it would render itself horrific, but in hindsight it just fell flat. I think most people felt that, here you are killing off a well-loved character and it should have been more spectacular."** Personally, I felt that her death episode was the worst of the series, and her final “farewell” speech was campy and stilted. But then, I never liked her character either. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![WSLer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@WSLer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WSLer)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/11 "2002-07-26T01:24:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by KneadToKnow \* > \*\*I have always heard that Rand was written out of TOS because the powers-that-were felt there was a risk of Kirk getting “tied down” to her romantically, limiting his options to pursue otherworldly skirt. > > Heaven forfend. \*\* In addition to what Weirddave said, Whitney was a self-proclaimed “nymphomaniac” during her time on the show. ---
**Author:** ![Pythagoras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@Pythagoras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagoras)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/12 "2002-07-26T01:57:48Z")
I heard Denise Crosby posed for Playboy and the producers of star trek were not pleased. ---
**Author:** ![Arliss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Arliss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arliss)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/13 "2012-02-19T07:07:09Z")
> [@Pythagoras](#): > > I heard Denise Crosby posed for Playboy and the producers of star trek were not pleased. She posed for Playboy long before her gig with Star Trek. Her spread (no pun) in the May 1988 issue of Playboy was a reprint from the March 1979 edition. The pics can be found here: [spoiler][http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/denise-crosby[/spoiler]](http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/denise-crosby%5B/spoiler%5D) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/14 "2012-02-19T07:17:13Z")
Gates McFadden and Crosby both left after the first season because their characters were so under used. Gates McFadden did come back in season 3. I think that’s a first in tv for a actor to quit and then return after a season? Season 1 of TNG was pretty bad. There were only a handful of good episodes. I’m surprised more of the actors didn’t leave. Thank goodness it got much better in S2 and then really good in Season 3 through 6. ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/15 "2012-02-19T07:54:20Z")
A temporal zombie? (9.5 years) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/16 "2012-02-19T13:27:49Z")
Would Rosalind Chao (Keiko O’Brien) also count as a Star Trek (DS9) actor who left after not being used enough? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/17 "2012-02-19T14:06:39Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **Arliss**. We ask that people use the two-click rule for NSFW links, like Playboy pix. Putting the link in a spoiler box suffices, and I have done that for you. To the rest of you: Yes, this is a zombie. Yes, the person came in and resuscitated it to link to a Tumblr. I’m going to leave both the thread and the link open; y’all can either participate in the thread or let it return to the grave as you see fit. **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/18 "2012-02-19T14:35:52Z")
Speaking as the OP, I have nothing bad to say about zombies that offer nude pics of Denise Crosby. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/19 "2012-02-19T15:13:08Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > Would Rosalind Chao (Keiko O’Brien) also count as a Star Trek (DS9) actor who left after not being used enough? I don’t think she was ever a regular cast member. She had a recurring role, and I think her character appeared in every season (or at least, she was in the first and last seasons, so she was there for the length of the show). DS9 was like the Simpson’s Springfeld in space: there were a million reoccurring secondary characters. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794/20 "2012-02-19T15:35:43Z")
She wasn’t a regular by her choice. She didn’t want to commit that much time to the show, due to a desire to spend more time with her family. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-star-trek-cast-members/120794.md?page=2)