I'm one of those people that liked Pulaski and am not apologizing for it. She had more substance and wasn't a passive-aggressive like Crusher. It would have been interesting to see her develop more in the third season. Perhaps it's because I am a TOS-er and loved the fact that someone who had starred on Star Trek (No colon or subtitle) was going to do TNG.
I didn't have a problem with Crusher, but I was not one of those fans clamoring for her return back in 1989 and wasn't excited when she came back. In fact, I was pretty disappointed seeing her name in the opening credits during "Evolution" and said, in my 12 year-old voice at the time, "Oh no, this means we're going to have more mother/son stuff on Star Trek." I never liked the Beverly/Wesley dynamic. I thought it was always written badly. I thought the 2nd season was light years better than the first and liked the changes they made to the show. Pulaski, like her or hate her, at least added a new dimension to what was a pretty icy crew. She was also more authoritative and not afraid to stand up to Picard.
I know that one of the people lobbying for her return was Patrick Stewart because he felt that the addition of her added a certain, as he said, "frisson". Well, that's fine, but their relationship really went nowhere in the following 5 years of the series. The Guinan/Picard dynamic worked better than the Crusher/Picard relationship ever did.
Well, that is my opinion. I'm sure 99% will disagree, but that's what I think.