Denise Crosby portrayed Lt. Tasha Yar onStar Trek: The Next Generation,but she left the show before the end of the first season. Following the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-D,TNGpicked up about a century after the events ofStar Trek: The Original Series. WhilesomeTOSfans were initially skeptical of a newStar Trekshowthat didn’t feature Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) or Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy),TNGwent on to become one of the greatest science fiction television shows of all time.
Tasha Yar was initially presented as one ofStar Trek: The Next Generation’smain charactersandshe featured heavily in early episodes like “The Naked Now” and “Code of Honor.“AsTNGprogressed, however, Yar became more of a background character, while characters like Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) and Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) took the spotlight. After Crosby requested to depart the show, Yar was unceremoniously killed by an alien creature resembling an oil slick named Armus inTNGseason 1, episode 23, “Skin of Evil.”
The Reason Denise Crosby Quit Star Trek: TNG Before Season 1 Ended
Crosby Wanted Better Stories For Her Character
Denise Crosby was intrigued when she first learned about the character of Tasha Yar inStar Trek: The Next Generation. In a 2023 interview withThe 7th Rulepodcast,Crosby spoke about her audition piece and how it presented a"beautiful"scenebetween Tasha and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) that never made it into the show. This was the character Crosby wanted to play, but Yar became something less than what Crosby was promised. Despite being Chief of Security, Tasha was often relegated to hailing other ships and standing in the background.
Star Trek: TNG’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise” Finally Allowed Denise Crosby To Play The Tasha Yar She Auditioned For
Denise Crosby reprising Tasha Yar in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise” was the character she originally signed on for.
Wishing to seek out other acting opportunities, Denise Crosby met with Gene Roddenberry to discuss her options. AlthoughStar Trek’s creator wanted her to stay, he allowed her out of her contract and Tasha Yar was written out ofStar Trek: The Next Generation. In an April 2024 interview withIGN,Crosby reflected on her decision to leave the show,reiterating what an interesting character Tasha could have been.She said:“You have so much here, but I’m not going to just be the token hot blonde on the show.“So Crosby left, but that wasn’t the last fans would see of Tasha Yar.
Denise Crosby Returned To Star Trek: TNG Twice
Crosby Returned As An Alternate Universe Tasha Yar & The Half-Romulan/Half-Human Sela
ByStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 3, the show had finally found a winning formula and began delivering classic episodes. According toThe Making of Yesterday’s Enterpriseby Eric A. Stillwell, Stillwell spoke with Denise Crosby at a convention, andshe expressed an interest in returning toTNG.Stillwell and Trent Christopher Ganino began working on a story to bring Tasha Yar back. Elements from their story were eventually combined with another idea andTNG’s"Yesterday’s Enterprise"was born. This time around, Denise Crosby finally got a meatier story to work with, complete with a whirlwind romance and a heroic death.
Denise Crosby originally devised the character of Sela as the human daughter of Yar and Christopher McDonald’s Richard Castillo.
Crosby next returned toTNGas Sela, Tasha Yar’s half-Romulan/half-human daughter. It turns out Yar had actually survived the trip back in time on the USS Enterprise-C and had been captured by the Romulans. While Sela’s existence undermined Yar’s sacrifice in “Yesterday’s Enterprise” (and heaped more suffering on poor Tasha),Crosby at least got another complex character to play.Sela played significant roles in twoTNGtwo-parters (“Redemption” and “Unification”), but the Enterprise crew thwarted her villainous plots both times.
Why Star Trek: Picard Season 3’s TNG Reunion Didn’t Include Denise Crosby
The Short Answer Is That Crosby Was Not Asked To Return
AlthoughStar Trek: Picardseason 3saw the original cast ofStar Trek: The Next Generationreunite,Denise Crosby was not asked to be a part of the series.The original Tasha Yar died way back inStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 1, but the team behindPicardlikely could have found a way to bring her back. Data has died and been resurrected twice, after all. It’s unclear whether the way Crosby originally leftTNGhad anything to do with her not being asked to return forPicard,but it seems unlikely considering how much time has passed.
After her last appearance onTNG,Sela’s current whereabouts in theTrekuniverse remain unknown, but she likely would have felt out of place inPicardseason 3.
Star Trek: Picardseason 3 had a complex story with lots of moving parts, and it’s possible the producers felt that adding another character’s resurrection may have been too much.We’ll likely never know the true reason why Denise Crosby was not asked back forPicard,but the series did give Tasha Yar a shoutout. When Data’s personality fights against Lore for control of his new golem body, Data fondly remembers Tasha and the brief romance they shared. Tasha Yar may never officially return toStar Trek, but Denise Crosby remains a fixture atTrek-related events and will always be a part of theStar Trek: The Next Generationfamily.
