“Star Trek: The Next Generation” is seen today as a watershed sci-fi series that changed the shape of television and made the genre respected again. But because it was a reinvention of an iconic show with a passionate fan following, many also viewed the series as a huge risk for the Paramount studio. Looking at the show when it was first in development, however, you’ll start to understand why it seemed so risky. Take the initial concept for the character of Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), for example: she was originally created as — believe it or not — a triple-breasted alien officer.
Writer D.C. Fontana, who’d contributed to the original “Star Trek” series, was brought in to further develop the show, and quickly made changes to Troi’s character. “I objected to Troi having three breasts,” Fontana told Entertainment Weekly in a 2007 retrospective on the series. “I felt women have enough trouble with two. And how are you going to line them up? Vertically, horizontally, or what? I was like, please, don’t go there. And they didn’t, fortunately.”
The notion of a triple-breasted woman may seem laughable, and indeed, the idea was later used as a gag in the 1990 sci-fi classic “Total Recall.” But it also speaks to “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry’s obsession with sex on television, made worse by the sexist reason he almost sidelined Troi from the show entirely. Thankfully, Troi remained, quickly becoming a much more well-rounded character and not mere eye candy.
Troi was almost played by another TNG regular
The early concepts for “Star Trek: The Next Generation” were quite different than what we got on screen in the show’s premiere episode, “Encounter at Farpoint.” In addition to many of the names being different — the young son of Dr. Crusher was originally named Leslie, for example — two of the characters swapped actors. Originally, Troi was envisioned as a leggy blonde, and the actor up for the role was none other than Denise Crosby, who went on to play Lt. Tasha Yar.
As D.C. Fontana describes it, Yar was originally intended to be a Latina character, and “Aliens” star Jenette Goldstein was in line to fill the part. But Goldstein, Fontana noted, wasn’t Latina, nor was she anything like the character described on the page. “The original description of Troi was this cool, Icelandic blonde,” actor Denise Crosby told Entertainment Weekly in 2007. “Almost Spock-like.”
Ironically, it was Marina Sirtis who came in to audition for Yar. “Somewhere, about the second or third audition, Gene Roddenberry had this idea: Let’s just switch them and see what happens.” What happened was that Sirtis snagged the role of Deanna Troi, with Crosby stepping into the boots of Tasha Yar. And while Crosby split from the series at the end of Season 1, joining the ranks of “Star Trek” characters who died too soon, fans no doubt agree that the ultimate casting choices were the right way to go.