Dr Pulaski vs Dr Crusher

[The Urban Spaceman]

I'm well are that many people never liked Dr Pulaski when she was first introduced to the Enterprise, but I never understood why. She has got quite a unique personality and plays off the other characters, particularly Data, very well, and she is an excellent doctor who keeps her mind on the job. This is in opposition to Dr Crusher who I feel spends far too much time making moon-eyes and pouting at Picard, I find her character quite bland, and she is a terrible doctor: she never knows what is wrong with her patient. Her reply is always "I don't know" or "I'm not sure" or "I have no idea" and "I need to run more tests".

Can anybody offer any thoughts on why the fans preferred Dr Crusher (other than the fact that she's a pretty woman, of course)? What are your thoughts? Who do you prefer?

[maneth]

Dr Crusher without a doubt. Pulaski was downright unethical at times, especially in Unnatural Selection.

[McAvoy]

I never had a problem with both. Though, calling Data 'it' was kinda annoying.

[The Urban Spaceman]

Dr Crusher without a doubt. Pulaski was downright unethical at times, especially in Unnatural Selection.

In what way was she unethical? What do you think Dr Crusher would have done differently in her position? As a mother herself, I can easily imagine Crusher pushing for saving the children.

I never had a problem with both. Though, calling Data 'it' was kinda annoying.

She really only did that in the beginning; she did slowly come to acknowledge Data as a unique, living individual. I thought it was a good way of showing the audience that overall, the Federation may be perfect and accepting of others, but individuals within it can be flawed and critical of other life-forms. It was nice to see that little bit of humanity aboard the Enterprise. That little bit of imperfection and realism.

[Gormagon]

I never liked her personality much.

[Snowman37]

I think it wasn't that people preferred Dr. Crusher but rather that they simply didn't like Dr. Pulaski. The idea was to avoid the doctor ending up as Picard's token girlfriend. Pulaski was envisioned as a female McCoy, and they were trying to create the Spock-McCoy friction with her and Data. It just didn't work out as intended. The actress backed out after the season finished. Rather than risk having a new doctor every season, Crusher returned, and I'm sure the actress got a raise. haha

[mr_kennedy]

Dr Crusher, didn't really like Dr Pulaski much at all but i think they were trying too hard to make her like Bones

[maneth]

Yeah, I think that's my biggest gripe with her. Also, I don't think there was much risk of making Crusher Picard's token girlfriend, he was too self-contained a character for that. But I think having Dr Crusher away for a season was ultimately a good thing, as it allowed Wes to grow up a bit and get away from his mother's skirts. He was nowhere near as annoying as in season 1!

That said, I liked Diana Muldaur in her two TOS appearances (Dr Miranda Jones in Is there in Truth No Beauty and Ann Mulhall in Return to Tomorrow).

[Rocket_Scientist]

I'll be the odd one out...I actually liked Pulaski. Granted, at first I was not at all fond of her and I really wanted Crusher back, but as the season went on she started growing on me. By the time she left I liked her rather much and was sad to see her go. Her personality certainly wasn't welcoming and I can see how she may have been trying to much to be like McCoy, but I still appreciated the character quite a bit.

[P-90_177]

Yeah, I think that's my biggest gripe with her. Also, I don't think there was much risk of making Crusher Picard's token girlfriend, he was too self-contained a character for that. But I think having Dr Crusher away for a season was ultimately a good thing, as it allowed Wes to grow up a bit and get away from his mother's skirts. He was nowhere near as annoying as in season 1!

That said, I liked Diana Muldaur in her two TOS appearances (Dr Miranda Jones in Is there in Truth No Beauty and Ann Mulhall in Return to Tomorrow).

Crusher was also no where near as annoying in season 3.
But I never minded Pulaski. She was actually a little more believable than many of the characters. I never really thought of her as a female McCoy although with it having been mentioned I can see the similarity. Nevertheless I found her a fairly interesting character who had a lot of promise. I think it's actually a shame that she never returned.

[rushy]

Well, Pulaski was sort of a female McCoy while Crusher was just obsessed with Picard and Wesley. Both were good characters in their own way. Personally, I'd choose Pulaski. I just liked her a bit more.

Edit: I hadn't read any of the posts above when I said "female McCoy".

[The Urban Spaceman]

I'm glad that the other Trek series had doctors who were present from start to finish. McCoy was great in TOS (some might even say he was the real McCoy!.. sorry, I won't make any more puns) and for me, it wasn't a proper TOS episode if Bones didn't get to say "He's dead, Jim" in relation to at least one red-shirt per ep. In DS9, I think Bashir made a fantastic doctor, but it was more his ongoing and developing friendships with the other characters that really made him come alive for me, more than his medical expertise. And then in VOY, The Emergency Medical Hologram might just be my favourite doctor ever, and not just because Robert Picardo ranks highly in my list of favourite actors -- the EMH also allows us to see things from a different perspective and I think in many ways, even though he's a hologram, he's the most human of all the doctors we've had to date. And not forgetting ENT of course -- I liked Dr Phloxx as well.

Just a shame that TNG broke the mold a little. I don't know why Crusher didn't return for season 2 and was replaced by Pulaski... was it because of a scheduling conflict, or was she pulling a Daniel Jackson?

[rushy]

I'm glad that the other Trek series had doctors who were present from start to finish. McCoy was great in TOS (some might even say he was the real McCoy!.. sorry, I won't make any more puns) and for me, it wasn't a proper TOS episode if Bones didn't get to say "He's dead, Jim" in relation to at least one red-shirt per ep. In DS9, I think Bashir made a fantastic doctor, but it was more his ongoing and developing friendships with the other characters that really made him come alive for me, more than his medical expertise. And then in VOY, The Emergency Medical Hologram might just be my favourite doctor ever, and not just because Robert Picardo ranks highly in my list of favourite actors -- the EMH also allows us to see things from a different perspective and I think in many ways, even though he's a hologram, he's the most human of all the doctors we've had to date. And not forgetting ENT of course -- I liked Dr Phloxx as well.

Just a shame that TNG broke the mold a little. I don't know why Crusher didn't return for season 2 and was replaced by Pulaski... was it because of a scheduling conflict, or was she pulling a Daniel Jackson?

A - The EMH was my fav character on the entire Voyager. His stories were always fun to follow(no exceptions).
B - For TOS fans, try the old games "25th Anniversary/Judgment Rites" again. For those who do not know this, the two-parter game features 15 new TOS episodes in which you can control all TOS characters, purposefully kill redshirts(McCoy's quote is not missing), meet Trelane again and more.
C - Dr. Phlox was a great doctor, but I liked him more as an unofficial Counselor.

Edit: The TOS games are on PC.

[the fifth man]

While I thought both did a fine job, I would choose Crusher if forced to.