For Sirtis, Star Trek was her first big break. Prior to Deanna Troi, her acting career was going nowhere: "What they told us about The Next Generation when we first started was that we were guaranteed 26 episodes. So that was the longest job I've ever had." Initially, series creator Gene Roddenberry intended Troi to be "eye candy" - beautiful, sexy, and not very bright. He also conceptualized her as having four breasts, before his wife told him this was a bad idea. Prior to filming, Sirtis was told to lose , but thought to herself that she had to drop even more, and was often wearing plunging necklines and form-fitting dresses. After six years, the producers decided to drop the "sexy and brainless" Troi and make her a stronger character: I was thrilled when I got my regulation Starfleet uniform... it covered up my cleavage and I got all my brains back, because when you have cleavage, you can't have brains in Hollywood... I was allowed to do things that I hadn't been allowed to do for five or six years. I went on away teams, I was in charge of staff, I had my pips back, I had phasers, I had all the equipment again, and it was fabulous. I was absolutely thrilled. Reception One reviewer compared her to Leonard McCoy from the original Star Trek television series. In 2018, CBR ranked Counselor Troi as the 25th-best Starfleet character of Star Trek, in 2018; they note her role as an empath aboard Enterprise 1701-D. In 2017, IndieWire ranked Troi as the 9th-best character on Star Trek: The Next Generation. In 2016, Troi was ranked as the 24th-most important character of Starfleet within the Star Trek universe by Wired. In 2017, Screen Rant ranked Troi the 12th-most attractive person in the Star Trek universe. In 2018, CBR ranked Troi the 25th-best member of Starfleet. In 2019, Troi was ranked the sixth-sexiest Star Trek character by SyFy. In 2020, Tom's Guide recommended the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "Ménage à Troi", "Face of the Enemy", and "Thine Own Self" as having some of the best moments for this character. In 2020, SyFy Wire was very positive about her performance in the Star Trek: Picard episode "Nepenthe", explaining that "It features Deanna Troi at her very best, with Marina Sirtis at the height of her powers." Franchise appearances Besides being