The Wild Reason Star Trek: The Next Generation Replaced Lieutenant Commander Argyle

"Star Trek" fans are some of the most loyal science fiction fans out there, so when characters disappear or crew members change actors, there's always an outcry. But one actor allegedly tried to convince "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fans to make a new Enterprise crew member a cult favorite by soliciting fan mail from them. The end result was indignation. Viewers didn't like to be told who to root for, and the show's producers were surprised to receive letters praising the character before he even hit the syndicated airwaves.

This tale comes from "Memories of the Future, Volume 1," Wil Wheaton's collected book of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode recaps. In it, he recalls that the producers were planning on making Lieutenant Commander Argyle (Biff Yeager) the Enterprise-D's recurring engineer. While Argyle shows up in two episodes and seems to be set to become a part of the crew, he disappears without explanation and is replaced by Lieutenant Logan (Vyto Ruginis) and then Lieutenant Commander Leland T. Lynch (Walker Boone) before Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) is promoted to the position at the start of season 2.

Wheaton said that he heard this happened because of some alleged behind-the-scenes controversy. Producers had planned to keep Argyle on board if fan reaction was good, but then they got those confusing letters. On top of that, other fans complained that they had been subjected to a mail-in campaign lobbying them to ask for more Argyle. Wheaton admits his memory might be faulty, but states in the book he thinks Yeager and his people were the ones behind the campaign, which led to Yeager's dismissal. Although the character doesn't have a long shelf life, he still had an impact on the "Next Generation" world.

Lieutenant Commander Argyle may have only popped up twice on "Star Trek: the Next Generation," but he still manages to take part in a very important episode before departing. He's the one who supervises the rebuilding of Lore (Brent Spiner), Data's (also Spiner) quasi-evil twin brother. It's an act the crew comes to regret, as Lore proves vengeful and ultimately quite evil, knocking Data unconscious, switching outfits with him and trying to convince the crew to rid themselves of his brother for once and for all.

Biff Yeager has gone on to have an active career as a character actor, appearing in 13 episodes of "Gilmore Girls" as the deadpan contractor Tom. He continues to act to this day, with his most recent appearance being in a season 2 episode of the "Night Court" reboot. Though he might not have been the Enterprise-D's longest-serving Chief Engineer, he's still fondly remembered by fans to this day.