Gates McFadden didn't think Star Trek: The Next Generation would last long

Before Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered, there were plenty of doubts about how long the series would last. The fans who declared they would not watch any other captain or crew on the bridge of the Enterprise besides Captain Kirk and his team probably had a lot to do with that assumption. And when the first season began, things were a little rocky, and it looked like all signs were pointing toward a quick cancellation.

While there were a few episodes that stood out like The Big Goodbye and Heart of Glory, there were many more that are considered cringeworthy even to this day. In fact, one of them, Code of Honor, has been denounced by Jonathan Frakes and others with the suggestion that it should be pulled from viewing. Others like Angel One and Skin of Evil are, for the most post, skippable even though the latter is the one where Lt. Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby) dies. So it's fair to say that it's no wonder there were questions as to whether The Next Generation would be renewed for a second season.

Even Gates McFadden, who portrayed Dr. Beverly Crusher in season one and again in seasons three-seven, admitted in an interview for Star Trek All Good Things: A Next Generation Companion, that if she'd been asked years ago if the show would go for a year, she would have said it probably wouldn't. In fact, she said she thought "The Next Generation would be a short-term job."

The Next Generation picked up steam in season two, though, even if it was without McFadden, with som strong episodes like The Measure of a Man, Pen Pals, Q Who, and The Emissary really upping the strength of the season and making another season renewal easier. Fortunately for all of us fans, those who thought The Next Generation would make it beyond the first season were wrong, and the characters from the series are still going strong thirty-seven years later.