Gates McFadden is hosting the third season of her popular podcast, InvestiGates: Who Do You Think You Are?, and the series shows no signs of slowing down. McFadden has already had a host of guests from various Star Trek series, giving us insight into the lives of these actors who've become like family to us through their characters. McFadden's Dr. Beverly Crusher is one of those characters.
She brought the character back in the third season of Star Trek: Picard with a storyline that was stronger than any she'd had when she was Dr. Crusher aboard the Enterprise on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Dr. Crusher on Picard had a purpose, something which was sadly lacking on the series and in the follow-up movies. That's just one of the reasons why fans want to see more of this character.
Fans have been asking for Star Trek: Legacy, a spin-off show from Star Trek: Picard, since the series' third season, which ended in April 2023. With two sons out in the galaxy [Wil Wheaton's Wesley Crusher and Ed Speleers' Jack Crusher], McFadden would like to see more of how she deals with them, according to an interview she gave Trekcentral. And she would love to return as the doctor; however, as things stand, that doesn't look like it's going to be a possibilty. McFadden even says "So, yeah, I think there would be a lot of material. I don’t think it is going to happen particularly, but I would love it to."
The fact that there has been no forward movement with Legacy in almost two years does lend itself to her belief that the show [or the return of Dr. Beverly Crusher] isn't going to happen. And right now, there's only one Star Trek series currently airing, which wouldn't really work for her character, and another one in production, which is set in the 32nd century. So unless Dr. Crusher appeared as a hologram, that wouldn't work, either. The options are few, which is sad, considering Picard gave more momentum to the character of Dr. Crusher in ten episodes than she'd gotten in 154 episodes of The Next Generation.