[MonsieurHood]

I just want to know. No one ever explained it to me, and I've never found anything written anywhere about it. Could someone who knows please explain it to me? Thank's in advance.

[Samuel]

Not a clue but wiki said Roddenberry never wanted her in the first place and wanted Muldaur from the beginning. So if you wish you can surmise that their working relationship wasnt that good from the start and maybe she said enough and walked. I would imagine the 'official' reason was the usual 'creative differences' thing. Hollwood same-ol same-ol.

[Big D]

From what I'm aware, Gates McFadden left the show for reasons broadly similar to what made Denise Crosby quit. Only, Ms McFadden went on a temporary hiatus, unlike her colleague's permanent departure.

[sir num nums]

It was "creative differences", whatever that means.

Thankfully they did not kill her character off, they just mentioned her form time to time during season 2.

[MonsieurHood]

Wow! Holy frippin' Zot! You mean she left, Muldaur took her place, possibly permanently, and then, when Roddenberry died, whoever was in charge of STNG brought her back? That is a phenomenal event in Star Trek history! If she hadn't have returned, a lot of important stories would have turned out vastly different. Not to mention the 7th season finale! I just thought she had a personal medical problem and had to have surgery and recover from it. That's the rumor I heard. But this is an absolute revelation to me. I wouldn't have guessed it would be just Gene's vanity in a million years!

[horatio]

Wasn't Roddenberry still in charge during the third season? Anyway, I guess he brought Muldaur in, knowing her from TOS.

This is what MA (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Gates_McFadden) has to offer about the subject, but they give no source for their information:

McFadden left the series during the second season, replaced by Diana Muldaur as Doctor Katherine Pulaski. Officially, the producers felt that the character of Crusher had not developed as well as they had hoped. Unofficially, there were some disagreements between the show's producers and McFadden as to how the character should develop, which may have led to some bad blood between her and several executive producers, resulting in McFadden's being released from her contract before the second season. But thanks to a letter-writing campaign, support from Patrick Stewart, and a personal invitation from Rick Berman, McFadden was brought back to the TNG cast for the third and subsequent seasons.

[MrQ1701]

I actually hated Dr. Polaski. I imagine other fans at the time TNG was in its second season felt the same way. Maybe the letter writing campaign had more to do with getting rid of Dr. Polaski than it did with getting Dr. Crusher back?

[Jed Starkiller]

I thought it was because she was pregnant

[kevin]

Originally Posted by horatio

Wasn't Roddenberry still in charge during the third season? Anyway, I guess he brought Muldaur in, knowing her from TOS.

This is what MA (http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Gates_McFadden) has to offer about the subject, but they give no source for their information:

McFadden left the series during the second season, replaced by Diana Muldaur as Doctor Katherine Pulaski. Officially, the producers felt that the character of Crusher had not developed as well as they had hoped. Unofficially, there were some disagreements between the show's producers and McFadden as to how the character should develop, which may have led to some bad blood between her and several executive producers, resulting in McFadden's being released from her contract before the second season. But thanks to a letter-writing campaign, support from Patrick Stewart, and a personal invitation from Rick Berman, McFadden was brought back to the TNG cast for the third and subsequent seasons.

The Continuing Missions TNG retrospective says broadly the same. That she had been 'persistent in asking for expanded parts and rewritten dialogue' and for strengthening her character. So, at the end of the season she was released from her contract.

However, Pulaski didn't work out either, and so McFadden was invited back to reprise Crusher. Reportedly (and perhaps due to a less than cordial exit first time around) the rumour was she was hired back at a lower salary than the rest of the cast.

Originally Posted by Jed Starkiller

I thought it was because she was pregnant

She didn't have a pregnancy until season 4 was filming.

[MrQ1701]

Originally Posted by kevin

She didn't have a pregnancy until season 4 was filming.

Ahh...yes. The big blue flowing jacket time!! They hid her pregnancy well, although in an obvious way.