Hammer said:
Whatever happened to all the previous talk of her getting fired for not acquiescing to a particular writer's (Hurley, I believe) potential sexual advances on her or something?
The actors on five-year contracts (ie. everyone except Diana Muldaur) weren't at liberty to "quit" even if they wanted to. They had to seek early release from their contract, as per Denise Crosby and Wil Wheaton. Those releases were
very public knowledge. McFadden's was a very public "not being renewed".
If she'd tried to quit, she'd have been taken to court, such as happened to Farrah Fawcett-Majors on "Charlie's Angels". Farrah was ordered, by the court, to return for a number of guest spots to make up for her absence in Season Two.
Thus, Gates McFadden
was fired from TNG. The quote says, "
as being the result of a disagreement with one particular writer, whose departure paved the way for her return". In other words, McFadden's constant complaining that the writers were not serving her character's needs, as
she perceived them, plus the hair debacles (that was solved in Season Three by a set of very expensive wigs) led to complaints that she was "difficult", and her contract not being renewed.
Renewal was always from Paramount's end, not McFadden's. To not be invited back is to be fired. (She's simply found a polite way of wording it at conventions so it doesn't sound bad; it's hardly helpful to her career to keep talking about being fired from a show she happily went back to after certain staff had left.) Sure, there may have also been some sexual tension in the workplace - who knows? it's Hollywood - but no one has ever come out and pointed the finger officially, IIRC.
It was known that McFadden and Hurley did not like each other. And also that, when any of the main actors had a complaint on set in Season Two, they would all recite in unison, "Remember Gates!" (This was widely reported at conventions of the day.)
ROFL! 
