Editing Beverly Crusher (section)

==Reception==
The character has generally been positively received. Zack Handlen of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' praised [[Gates McFadden]]'s performance, as well as the inclusion of a strong, likable female character in the series, but lamented that the character's potential was never fully realized, saying she "should've been one of [[Star Trek: The Next Generation|''TNG'']]'s best characters" but that "too often, her character has been relegated to back-up roles, interjecting occasional medical jargon to give color to scenes, or else worrying to one side about whether or not [[Wesley Crusher|Wesley]] was getting enough fun in his life."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Handlen|first1=Zack|title=''Star Trek: The Next Generation'': "Suspicions"/"Rightful Heir"|url=https://www.avclub.com/star-trek-the-next-generation-suspicions-rightful-1798169336|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=August 18, 2011|publisher=[[The Onion|Onion Inc.]]|access-date=August 11, 2014|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812211656/http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/star-trek-the-next-generation-suspicionsrightful-h-60368|url-status=live}}</ref>

McFadden left the series at the end of the first season and was replaced by [[Diana Muldaur]] as Doctor [[Katherine Pulaski]] at the beginning of the second. An official announcement stated McFadden had left the series to pursue other career options. McFadden herself got a call from her agent who told her the producers had decided to go in another direction with the character. Like the other cast members, McFadden was surprised.<ref name="The Official Star Trek p. 43">("Gates McFadden - Dr. Beverly Crusher", ''The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine'' Vol. 12, p. 43)</ref> Thanks to a letter-writing campaign, support from Patrick Stewart, and a personal invitation from executive producer [[Rick Berman]], McFadden was brought back to the TNG cast for the third and subsequent seasons, with her only three appearances for season two being stock footage.<ref name="The Official Star Trek p. 43"/>

In an interview in May 2006, Berman revealed the actress was fired at end of the first season of ''The Next Generation'' because head writer [[Maurice Hurley]] "had a real bone to pick"<ref>http://trekmovie.com/2009/08/26/rick-berman-talks-18-years-of-trek-in-extensive-oral-history/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330215222/http://trekmovie.com/2009/08/26/rick-berman-talks-18-years-of-trek-in-extensive-oral-history/ |date=March 30, 2014 }} ''Rick Berman Talks 18 Years of Trek In Extensive Oral History'' Written Summary quote</ref> and did not like her acting. After Hurley departed the show's writing staff, Berman brought the actress and character back.<ref>http://trekmovie.com/2009/08/26/rick-berman-talks-18-years-of-trek-in-extensive-oral-history/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330215222/http://trekmovie.com/2009/08/26/rick-berman-talks-18-years-of-trek-in-extensive-oral-history/ |date=March 30, 2014 }} ''Rick Berman Talks 18 Years of Trek In Extensive Oral History'' quoted and expanded from Written Summary</ref>

In 2016, [[Syfy|SyFy]] ranked Beverly Crusher as the fourth best of the six main-cast space doctors of the ''Star Trek'' franchise.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/every-major-star-trek-doctor-ranked|title=Every major Star Trek doctor, ranked|last=Roth|first=Dany|date=June 29, 2016|website=SYFY WIRE|language=en|access-date=July 4, 2019|archive-date=October 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011101842/https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/every-major-star-trek-doctor-ranked|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2016, Beverly Crusher was ranked as the 20th most important character of [[Starfleet]] within the ''Star Trek'' science fiction universe by ''[[Wired magazine|Wired]]'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2016/09/star-treks-100-crew-members-ranked/|title=Star Trek's 100 Most Important Crew Members, Ranked|last=McMillan|first=Graeme|date=September 5, 2016|magazine=Wired|access-date=March 20, 2019|issn=1059-1028|archive-date=July 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220701095555/https://www.wired.com/2016/09/star-treks-100-crew-members-ranked/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, [[IndieWire]] ranked Beverly fifth in a list of important characters on ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', noting she was "pretty much flawless" and offered "valuable perspectives".

In 2017, [[IndieWire]] ranked Crusher as the sixth best character on ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/star-trek-the-next-generation-characters-ranked-1201882388/|title='Star Trek: The Next Generation': Ranking the Crew, From Picard to Pulaski|last1=Miller|first1=Liz Shannon|date=September 30, 2017|website=IndieWire|language=en|access-date=June 23, 2019|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308035710/https://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/star-trek-the-next-generation-characters-ranked-1201882388/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018, [[Comic Book Resources|CBR]] ranked Beverly Crusher the 21st best member of Starfleet.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/star-trek-starfleet-members-ranked/|title=Star Trek: The 25 Best Members Of Starfleet, Ranked|date=October 27, 2018|website=CBR|language=en-US|access-date=July 19, 2019|archive-date=June 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620180207/https://www.cbr.com/star-trek-starfleet-members-ranked/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2018, [[TheWrap|''The Wrap'']] placed Crusher as 14th out of 39 in a ranking of the franchise's best main characters prior to ''[[Star Trek: Discovery]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/all-39-star-trek-main-characters-ranked-from-spock-to-wesley-photos/|title=All 39 'Star Trek' Main Characters Ranked|date=March 21, 2018|website=TheWrap|language=en-US|access-date=June 22, 2019|archive-date=July 23, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160723165049/https://www.thewrap.com/all-39-star-trek-main-characters-ranked-from-spock-to-wesley-photos/|url-status=live}} {{verify source |date=September 2019 |reason=This ref was deleted Special:Diff/902941292 by a bug in VisualEditor and later restored by a bot from the original cite located at Special:Permalink/902940716 cite #43 - verify the cite is accurate and delete this template. [[User:GreenC bot/Job 18]]}}</ref>

In 2019, ScreenRant suggested the character was ripe for a spin-off series, highlighting her relations with Picard and also the high potential of the character.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/star-trek-next-generation-characters-spin-off/|title=Star Trek: 10 Next Generation Characters We Hope Get Their Own Spin-Off|date=June 2, 2019|website=ScreenRant|language=en-US|access-date=June 3, 2019|archive-date=July 26, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726224031/https://screenrant.com/star-trek-next-generation-characters-spin-off/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2019, SyFy Wire recommended ''[[Star Trek: Picard]]'' include Beverly Crusher, pointing out her long-time friendship with the titular character.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/star-trek-picard-the-legacy-trek-characters-we-want-to-return|title=Ranking the (remaining) legacy characters that we'd love to see on Star Trek: Picard|last=Silliman|first=Brian|date=August 2, 2019|website=SYFY WIRE|language=en|access-date=August 20, 2019|archive-date=August 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820023513/https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/star-trek-picard-the-legacy-trek-characters-we-want-to-return|url-status=dead}}</ref>  They were critical of the lack of screen time the pair had, lamenting "It was not explored, it was ignored... and Beverly Crusher had almost nothing to do in the ''TNG'' films."<ref name=":0" />