Been going through Season 1...

[Therin of Andor]

When Roddenberry, et al, created him I doubt they planned to make him Security Chief by the end of S1, which means they had faith in the writers and actor to make the character stand out and distinguish himself as much as Data and the others. As I said before his episodes were about the character not the job description.

In fact, Worf was an afterthought. His character doesn't have a biographical entry in the Season One Writers' Guide, except that there is mention that Starfleet has made peace with the Klingons and one serves on the Enterprise. During early filming of "Encounter at Farpoint", it was decided to ramp up Dorn's participation in the rest of the season. So that's why we see him as a bit of an everyman on the bridge that year.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Worf was certainly one of the most hyped characters of TNG -- it was a really big deal to have a 'former bad guy' Klingon on the bridge.

What was hyped, at first, was peace with the Klingons, not Worf the Klingon. Worf himself was really going to be quite a minor character.

In my memory, Tasha Yar was considered hard-edged and unlikable, so her death was mostly a non-event as far as fans were concerned at the time.

I disagree. She certainly had her fans, but the character wasn't living up to initial promises. "Macha Hernandez" was to have been a Jeanette Goldstein-type who would even order Riker around on away missions.

A few episodes gave her some really heavy-handed, clumsy dialogue (esp. her Just say 'No!' speech to Wesley about drugs). But there were many scenes that worked beautifully. And her farewell speech was perfect.

As a part of the committee that put together a ST newsletter at the time, we were spoilerizing ourselves a lot. We ran "special sealed sections" when we had highly controversial spoilers, but we knew that Crosby had negotiated breaking her contract and even which episode was likely to remove Yar from the series. What was effective is that, even after she was dead, dead, dead, it looked like Crusher was going to revive Tasha. At first. In a reverse of the Spock death in ST II, Yar is killed early in the episode (the original intention of ST II), and it works extremely well as drama.

 

[Noname Given]

And last night I watced Skin Of Evil, which made me wonder what the general feeling towards Yars death at the time was?

Did people expect her to be brought back to life later in the episode? Or in a later episode (no cracks about Yesterdays Enterprise, that was a one off!)?

Were people shocked to see her die? Was it common knowledge that she was leaving before the end of Season 1?

I just find it a bit odd to see a main character die in any TV seres. And forgive my ignorance on the subject, I was only about 4 months old when the original episode was broadcast.

At the time it was HEAVILY reported in the mainstream media WHY Crosby was leaving; so no, no one expectyed her to come back (and the producers/writers really showed their final disdain for the character and the actress as Yar died because she was shown as utterly stupid on screen (IE - She'as supposed to be the most trained 'combat savy' crewmember - she's HEAD of security; yet, after being warned by a being who PULLED A SHUTTLE FROM SPACE, and threatened death if his desires aren't complied with, just says:

"Enough! We have given you good reason!" - then tries to walk past (not even looking at the creature); and gets zapped.

And you gotta love how Riker didn't even bother to order her to halt; say "As you were Lieutenant!", etc.

Just the absolute worst writing from the git go; and I have to say, when I was watching TNG first run back in 1987 - I was AMAZED it giot renewed as the majority of the writing in the first season and a lot of the second season was just horrible.

 

[Worf'sParmach]

In fact, Worf was an afterthought. His character doesn't have a biographical entry in the Season One Writers' Guide, except that there is mention that Starfleet has made peace with the Klingons and one serves on the Enterprise.

What was hyped, at first, was peace with the Klingons, not Worf the Klingon. Worf himself was really going to be quite a minor character.

These two points are why I think had Tasha not left, Worf would have stayed a more minor O'Brien-esque character. It's as if when she left the writers said, "Well, we've got this Klingon so we might as well use him."

 

[BrownShatner]

Worf was certainly one of the most hyped characters of TNG -- it was a really big deal to have a 'former bad guy' Klingon on the bridge.

What was hyped, at first, was peace with the Klingons, not Worf the Klingon. Worf himself was really going to be quite a minor character.

Comeon, having a Klingon on the bridge had an immediate "wow factor" - it was a huge visual hook for the series. Nobody was that interested in the intergalactic politics until after they'd watched many episodes. (I'm talking about average viewers, not superfans who published their own Star Trek newsletter.)

The Worf character may have been an afterthought, but it was a very smart afterthought. They essentially turned him into a major character after the first round of scripts.

 

[Eckauskas]

Some interesting thoughts here.

It was something that really intruiged me, as there have been many jokes about the expendable red shirts of TOS, coupled with the irregularity of any show killing off one of it's main characters.

Personally, I really like Worf as a character and although I have nothing against Tasha Yar, I'm glad she walked, so that he could flourish in his new role.

 

[Worf'sParmach]

The Worf character may have been an afterthought, but it was a very smart afterthought. They essentially turned him into a major character after the first round of scripts.

Agreed, though an afterthought, it was a very smart afterthought.

Here's a few original promotional photos. Though Worf is in the ones taken later on, he's not in any of these: http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/publicity/season1/nextgen_creators_cast.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/publicity/season1/cast_s1variant2.jpg

The TNG Companion (and Worf's Memory Alpha article) says that he was the last of to be cast of the TNG regulars and that he was initially meant to be recuring character. It was about the time that Denise Crosby decided to leave that Worf's role began to increase, and IMO, that's not a coincidence. So I stand by my initial comment that Denise Crosby did Michael Dorn a huge favor.

 

[Holdfast]

I was totally shocked. As it was pre internet, and I was in college at the time, I had no prior knowledge of Crosby leaving. All episode I figured somehow Armus would be swayed to restore her because Star Trek had never killed a main character and left them dead. At the end, during her memorial, I remember thinking wow she really is gone.

Pretty much my reaction too. I didn't know any spoilers in advance nor did I follow any of the show's news and was sure she'd somehow get resurrected, just because that's what happened to main characters who "died."

That made it a very good episode to me. The memorial scene itself was nicely-written too.




As for Worf, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the initial plan was for no TOS aliens in TNG, but that someone in the studio persuaded Roddenberry that some kind of like to TOS would be a good idea, hence putting a Klingon on the TNG bridge. Don't know just how much of that is accurate, or scuttlebutt.

 

[Hober Mallow]

As for Worf, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the initial plan was for no TOS aliens in TNG, but that someone in the studio persuaded Roddenberry that some kind of like to TOS would be a good idea, hence putting a Klingon on the TNG bridge. Don't know just how much of that is accurate, or scuttlebutt.

I remember reading as much years ago in, I think, the TNG Companion, and maybe something written by Justman.

 

[CaptainMatt]

I was sad that Yar had been killed off. I had a serious crush in her in 1988.

 

[Holdfast]

As for Worf, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the initial plan was for no TOS aliens in TNG, but that someone in the studio persuaded Roddenberry that some kind of like to TOS would be a good idea, hence putting a Klingon on the TNG bridge. Don't know just how much of that is accurate, or scuttlebutt.

I remember reading as much years ago in, I think, the TNG Companion, and maybe something written by Justman.

I'm glad my memory isn't playing tricks on me.

It does make Worf very much an afterthought to the whole process, but his presence was certainly handy once Denise Crosby left. Upthread, Worf'sParmach suggested the writers must have thought, "Well, we've got this Klingon so we might as well use him." I suspect that's true, but fortunately it worked out well!

 

[Anji]

I saw TNG in its original run.

There was no surprise that Crosby and McFadden were leaving. Word had gone out in TV Guide magazine and in the fan network (which is how we all found out stuff before the Internet) prior to the episode airing.

It was only by the fan network that we found out why both women were leaving...and we supported their decisions.

 

[CaptainMatt]

McFadden left because Roddenberry thought she was not working as a character, or was as popular as other characters were on the series during it's first season. He realsied his mistake eventually and brought her back for Season Three.

 

[Harvey]

That's what was said publicly. But didn't she come into conflict with Maurice Hurley, one of the producers and the head writer at the time?

 

[CaptainMatt]

I am sure I don't know, sorry friend.

 

[RAMA]

And last night I watced Skin Of Evil, which made me wonder what the general feeling towards Yars death at the time was?

Did people expect her to be brought back to life later in the episode? Or in a later episode (no cracks about Yesterdays Enterprise, that was a one off!)?

Were people shocked to see her die? Was it common knowledge that she was leaving before the end of Season 1?

I just find it a bit odd to see a main character die in any TV seres. And forgive my ignorance on the subject, I was only about 4 months old when the original episode was broadcast.

Indifference, but it did make for a good storyline at various times for the crew in future stories so it was a good thing overall.

I believe several leaks occurred before the episode hit, the fan club magazine may have reported it first.

RAMA

 

[Therin of Andor]

There was no surprise that Crosby and McFadden were leaving. Word had gone out in TV Guide magazine and in the fan network (which is how we all found out stuff before the Internet) prior to the episode airing.

Actually, there was a huge shock that McFadden's contract option was not picked up, incuding for the actress. The intention had been that they were planning to write out Troi/Sirtis (or at least try to pump up the Troi character with the bar and office sets, to give variety to her scenes.) Suddenly, it was McFadden they weren't happy with, so Troi was reprieved. According to Richard Arnold at a convention at the time, IIRC, Gates McFadden had been painted as a whiner, and her character was also "too whiny". Supposedly, she was often suggesting that her character be matched up with Picard, and the writers were resisting. (Another rumour says that Stewart wasn't keen on a romantic pairing for Picard.) There was also a complication with the actress's fine hair holding its style under studio lights; it was causing production delays, which is why she was given an array of red wigs at the beginning of Season Three.

All of these sound petty reasons, but when you realise there was also the harrassment troubles, from someone on the production team, you can see how it was suddenly easier to sweep away all these problems by bringing in Pulaski as a female McCoy. And the setting up of the "Oh, we decided to go in a different direction" story.

It was only by the fan network that we found out why both women were leaving...and we supported their decisions.

There was never a smokescreen about why Crosby was leaving. She was publicly dissatisfied, asked for more to do, and the writers were unable to promise that - and they let her out of her contract. They could have held her to it for five years, like had already happened with Farrah Fawcett-Majors at "Charlie's Angels" (she failed to report for filming of Season Two, was sued, then ordered by the courts to make several guest appearances), but that kind of publicity can be messy.

 

[davejames]

Pulaski was probably the best thing that ever could have happened to Gates. It suddenly gave fans a whole new love and appreciation for her character.

And while I was never terribly attached to Yar, I do think it's a shame we never go to see her develop and grow in the way the other characters later did.

 

[Jonesy]

Lt. Yar was a might-have-been, if she had stayed, and if the writers had put as much effort and backstory into her as they eventual did with Worf, Yar could have been one of the shows better characters.

And prior to Yar's death I believe Worf was a "General Bridge Officer."

To me, Crosby was at best a mediocre actor. I'm not saying all of the actors were academy award winning talent, but most of the acting by Crosby in TNG (and elsewhere) was poor.

I don't think it would have mattered if she had stayed.

 

[CaptainMatt]

It would have eased the ire of the Yar fans though. I would not have minded all that much had she stayed and greatly missed her initially when she was gone. Episodes like "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "All Good Things" were extra special because of her involvement.