After Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Terry Farrell Worked On An Underrated Ted Danson Sitcom

Deep cut Trekkies likely know about the departure of actress Terry Farrell from "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" at the end of the show's sixth season. Her character, Jadzia Dax, was infamously killed off and replaced by a younger character named Ezri Dax (Nicole DeBoer) for the show's seventh season. Farrell has said in interviews that "Deep Space Nine" had become exhausting, and that the showrunners wouldn't listen to her requests to reduce the size of her role, or the number of episodes she was to appear in. She wanted Dax to become a recurring character. Sadly, the showrunner decided to kill her instead, blocking all chances of a return. 

Also, Farrell said that working with the show's executive producer, Rick Berman, was a nightmare, as he would constantly comment on her body and make rude, misogynistic comments about her breasts. For both those reasons, Farrell left "Deep Space Nine." Her final episode aired on June 15, 1998. 

But she was never hurting for work. Farrell immediately landed a gig on the CBS sitcom "Becker," which debuted the following November. "Becker" was a Ted Danson vehicle that became an enormous success, running for six seasons and 129 episodes. Farrell played the character of Reggie, who ran the diner where Danson's character, Dr. John Becker, like to frequent. Becker was a stubborn misanthrope who liked to be prickly and mean to everyone. Reggie was a strong-willed character who called Becker on his crap. For the four seasons that Reggie appeared, there was palpable romantic tension between her and Becker. She, in many ways, served as Becker's conscience. 

"Becker," incidentally, is a pretty great series.

"Becker" had a pretty simple premise, more tuned to character than to situation. Dr. John Becker, as mentioned, was a caustic and horrible human-hater who constantly complained about how the world was falling apart and how terrible people are. He ran a small practice in the Bronx, which forced him to interact with the neighborhood. He also had a streak of caring, something that his close friends were able to tune into. Becker is a great character. 

Reggie was too smart to let Becker rave, which he respected. Becker was also friends with Jake (Alex Désert) a blind man who ran a newsstand, and sometimes hung out with his co-workers from his office. His office manager was Margaret (Hattie Winston), who was as compassionate as Becker was brusque, and his assistant Linda (Shawnee Smith) who could be ditzy, but was always good-natured and kind. The best scenes of "Becker" came when Becker, Jake, Reggie, and Linda were all together, bantering and talking about life. 

For its first four years, "Becker" aired right after the hit show "Everybody Loves Raymond," so it did very well in the ratings. Curiously, Farrell was cut from the series at the end of the fourth season, her final episode featuring a scene where Reggie and Becker finally kissed. This came as a surprise to everyone, something Farrell has talked about in interviews. Reggie was replaced by a character played by Nancy Travis (Danson's co-star in "Three Men and a Baby" back in 1987) for the final two seasons. The show's ratings started to flag after that, so one might be tempted to say that Farrell was the reason the series worked.

Farrell was baffled, unsure as to why she would be suddenly dropped after four seasons. She initially thought it was a prank. For the Lubbock Online website, Farrell talked a little bit about her departure from "Becker," including the surprise of being fired. In her words:

"I've been trying to adjust to the shock of it, quite honestly. It's hard not to take it a little personally, for someone to say, 'You did a great job, but we don't need you anymore.' Especially with the last three stories (when Reggie's feelings for Becker intensified), you could only think, 'This has to be a really bad joke.' After 94 episodes, I don't understand." 

Farrell said that the role of Reggie evolved pretty quickly. Early on, she was instructed that Reggie and Becker should have very obvious romantic tension, but the producers eventually decided that their relationship should evolve. She said: 

"I was originally told that the very last scene of the very last episode of 'Becker' would be Becker and Reggie going on their first date, but that was a long time ago. I learned from doing earlier series that so many things are beyond your control, you shouldn't waste time thinking or worrying about them. All you can do is to do your best job and hope people like it."

People did like "Becker," at least as long as Farrell was present. Despite the sudden firing, though, Farrell now has two quality shows on her resume. A hit sci-fi series, and an underrated hit sitcom. "Becker" won no Emmys, which seems like an injustice. At the very least, one can still revisit the show's first two seasons on Pluto TV.