The idea of Wesley Crusher probably looked good on paper, at least to some. It's the future, there's this whiz kid genius on board, the son of an officer and personal friend of the captain. The problem was the casting. Wil Wheaton did not have the demeanor to project a likeable geek. He just came across as a spoiled kid you want to slap multiple times. I've seen shows where the geek (and there can be only one) is great, everybody likes him, or at least respects him, and I've seen shows where you just want to thrash him soundly. Wesley falls into the second category. On the show itself, everybody liked him, which added to the confusion, because almost no fans did.