# The Fabulous Disappearing Dr. Crusher **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820 "2005-05-14T14:04:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/21 "2005-05-14T20:50:51Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > It always angered me that Pulaski insisted on calling Data “it”. It always annoyed me that he gave a shit, being an emotionless it, er, machine. ^ :dubious: ^ ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/22 "2005-05-14T21:05:56Z")
“If nothing’s wrong with me, there must be something wrong with the Universe.” Should’ve done that episode nude, let me tell ya. I mean, hey, I was nude… ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/23 "2005-05-14T21:06:21Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I have to second that Gates Mcfadden was absolutely gorgeous! > > There was one scene in particular where Her and Counselor Troy were doing stretches in spandex leotards or something similar. It was quite pleasing to the eye. OTTOMH, that would be the episode in which aliens from the planet of people with funky metal barrettes on the corners of their mouths discover a stable wormhole. Troi falls for an agent of one of the interested parties, a guy named Debonani Rahl(Played IIRC by that guy who played Lloyd Braun on Seinfeld in the episodes after Braun returned from a mental institution). There was a follow up Voyager episode, which had less curvy goodness. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/24 "2005-05-14T21:47:23Z")
> [@pool](#): > > I have to second that Gates Mcfadden was absolutely gorgeous! > > There was one scene in particular where Her and Counselor Troy were doing stretches in spandex leotards or something similar. It was quite pleasing to the eye. Or the episode the Naked Now (the remake of the TOS episode) when she became all hot, sweaty and restless round Jean Luc 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/25 "2005-05-14T21:48:19Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Yeah, but people hated her almost as much as they hated Wesley. > > And by “people” I mean “I.” > > I liked Pulaski. I thought the character had potential, which was squandered almost completely. Pulaski is also redited with restoring Geordi’s sight. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/26 "2005-05-14T22:05:10Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > OK, but is there a reason given why the character Dr. Crusher wasn’t on the Enterprise for a year? She really, really, really needed to get away from her son. And who could blame her? And by the way, I think Dr. Pulaski was far more interesting than Crusher, especially when she called Data “it” or mispronounced his name. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/27 "2005-05-14T22:31:51Z")
She spent a year dead for tax purposes. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/28 "2005-05-14T22:38:35Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > she called Data “it” or mispronounced his name. Captain Picard called him “Dayter”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/29 "2005-05-14T22:43:20Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > She spent a year dead for tax purposes. I was hoping she’d fall to her death down a turboshaft, personally. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/30 "2005-05-14T22:59:23Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > And am I the only one who thinks that, as annoying as Wesley Crusher was, it was a result of the way the character was developed rather than something especially wrong with the concept or the actor? I thought Wil Weaton was a good actor from his role in _Stand By Me_ (he was the kid that told stories, and grew up to be a famous author. As for Star Trek, I thought he did a good job of playing a smug bratty smartarse. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/31 "2005-05-14T23:26:58Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Captain Picard called him “Dayter”. 🙂 That’s okay, George Bush called him “Ducular.” I kid, I kid. > [@ouryL](#): > > Pulaski is also redited with restoring Geordi’s sight. I remember that episode in which she offered La Forge a set of replacement eyeballs that would look normal and have nearly the same function as the VISOR, and wouldn’t give him headaches, but I can’t recall why he turned them down. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/32 "2005-05-15T02:33:12Z")
Being about 6 years old at the time, the most I can remember from the Star Trek watching ritual in my household was that I was a really, really big Picard/Beverly shipper. And it still lingers 12 years later. I really wanted them to get together, with all the tenacity of a 6 year old who played out love stories with Barbies. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/33 "2005-05-15T05:20:38Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > She was actually the head of Starfleet Medical. > > What she did to get busted from head of the entire branch to being CMO on a starship again is not, I don’t think, explained. I am not a veteran of the navy, but… I have always heard that a true salt would take a job out in the water over a landside desk job any day, regardless of rank, pay, whatever. Same thing ought to apply times 10 in the Star Trek universe. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/34 "2005-05-15T05:36:52Z")
Interesting trivial note. Gates McFadden, using the name Cheryl, was the choreographer for Jim Henson’s _The Muppets Take Manhattan_ and _Labyrinth_. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/35 "2005-05-15T05:41:40Z")
> [@Oslo Ostragoth](#): > > I am not a veteran of the navy, but… > > I have always heard that a true salt would take a job out in the water over a landside desk job any day, regardless of rank, pay, whatever. > > Same thing ought to apply times 10 in the Star Trek universe. Like James T Kirk going from an Admiral back to Captain in the TOS movies. Not much of a punishment to him. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/36 "2005-05-15T07:54:06Z")
> [@FilmGeek](#): > > It always angered me that Pulaski insisted on calling Data “it”. Didn’t Data _outrank her_, to boot? Isn’t that insubordination? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/37 "2005-05-15T08:16:55Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Like James T Kirk going from an Admiral back to Captain in the TOS movies. Not much of a punishment to him. Yeah. It’s hard to get it on with office supplies. 😉 (“I believe you bonked my stapler.”) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/38 "2005-05-15T10:33:12Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Didn’t Data _outrank her_, to boot? Isn’t that insubordination? No, both Pulaski and Crusher were Commanders. (I imagine you would have to be in order to be CMO of a starship.) I don’t think Crusher was ever _head_ of Starfleet Medical, that would be an admiral’s job. She was just there, doing stuff for a year. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/39 "2005-05-15T20:56:05Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > At least they brought her back and even occasionally gave her a central role in an episode; she was, aside from Stewart and Spiner, the only one of the main cast who was a capable thespian, as opposed to a line-reading hack. (Okay, LaVar Burton is competent.) Michael Dorn was at least as good an actor as Patrick Stewart - who is given a lot of acting credit for having a British accent - and was certainly better than Gates McFadden or Levar Burton. I will be the first to agree that Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis are dreadful actors. It’s hard to gauge Wil Wheaton’s abilities based on Star Trek; his character was so silly, and the situations so ludicrous, that I don’t know anyone could have pulled that off. He’s been very good in some other roles. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820/40 "2005-05-15T21:18:26Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > No, both Pulaski and Crusher were Commanders. (I imagine you would have to be in order to be CMO of a starship.) But Data was still second officer; that is, third in command of the whole starship. Wouldn’t that still make him her boss? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-fabulous-disappearing-dr-crusher/303820.md?page=3)