Star Trek: Phase II

The Paramount Television Service was announced on June 10, 1977.[11] Seven days later, Roddenberry announced that Star Trek would be returning to television on the new service,[12] saying that "Hopefully it will be even superior" to The Original Series and that casting would include "as many of the old faces as possible, as well as an infusion of new ones".[12] At the time, The Original Series was being broadcast on 137 stations in the United States in syndication, and it was expected that the new television service would provide a single evening package that could be broadcast by these independent stations as well as Paramount's recently acquired Hughes Television Network.[12] It was hoped that this station could become the fourth national network in the United States;[13] Diller and his assistant Michael Eisner had hired Jeffrey Katzenberg to manage Star Trek into production, with a television film due to launch the new series at a cost of $3.2 million – which some claimed would have made it the most expensive television movie ever made to date.[14]

Roddenberry said that the show would continue to cover modern themes in a science fiction way as had the first series, saying that these could include hijacking, nationalism, and radicalization of both individuals and groups. He also wanted to show 23rd-century Earth for the first time, and said that this had been the answer to Paramount executives asking him if there had been anything he wanted to do on The Original Series but could not. A further change was to be the number of female cast members, as NBC had a requirement of a maximum of one-third, and Roddenberry wanted to have them appear in authority positions.[13]

The expectation was that the two-hour pilot film would be broadcast in February 1978, with weekly episodes following, broadcast in an 8 pm EST timeslot on Saturday nights.[15][16] Gary Nardino, who was placed in charge of the new network, said that "Star Trek was absolutely the lead horse of the new network. Because the advertisers recognized the strength of Star Trek in the syndicated market."[17] Prior to commencing production on the new series, Roddenberry took a two-week vacation in order to rid himself of negative feelings about the way that production on the feature film had gone. He described his concerns saying that he did not want to "drag a corpse of anger, defeats and double-crossing behind me" onto the new show.[13] Robert Goodwin was placed in charge of developing the feature films that would follow each week's episode of Star Trek, and the movie-length pilot as well. Roddenberry wanted to meet him, and despite Goodwin's lack of Star Trek background, he was convinced to be a producer on the series instead.[18] Roddenberry described him as the "producer producer", in that Goodwin would deal with all the technical aspects of the production. For the screenwriting aspect of the production, Harold Livingston was recruited, who recalled that the technical/screenwriting split of the executive producer role was innovative for the time. Like Goodwin, Livingston had not previously worked on Star Trek, but had worked on Mission: Impossible, a different Desilu Productions television series.[19]

Roddenberry was given complete creative control over the new television project by Paramount, which had promised him that it would be able to make the project a "first-class effort" with the budget to suit.[13] Matt Jefferies, who had worked on The Original Series, was recruited as a technical advisor. He had designed the original USS Enterprise alongside Pato Guzman, but was unwilling to give up a position on the television series Little House on the Prairie for a 13-episode order on a new Star Trek series. Roddenberry was adamant that Jefferies was the right person to update the Enterprise, and agreed a position that the designer could advise the new show, but would have to choose between it and his main duties on Little House on the Prairie if the Star Trek work started to interfere. This occurred quite quickly, after Jefferies conducted design work on the new version of the Enterprise at a hotel in Tucson, Arizona, while on a location shoot for Little House on the Prairie, and could not attend meetings with Roddenberry and the producers in Los Angeles. He recommended Joseph R. Jennings as the main art director on the series; Jennings had worked for Jefferies during the second and third seasons of The Original Series.[19] Jefferies' re-design of the Enterprise was based on the principle that the technology was updated over time, but the general silhouette remained the same. He highlighted that the engines would specifically be designed to be replaced, so the external design of them was completely changed. Brick Price Movie Miniatures was hired to produce the physical models of the vessel in two sizes, an 18-inch (46 cm) version for long shots, and a larger 5-foot (1.5 m) model built by Don Loos cast in moulds of fiberglass.[20] Other models were built specifically for the pilot film included an open frame orbital drydock, tetrahedron shaped models for a space office complex and space taxi, and the golden head and neck of the impossibly long "Vejur" space entity.[21]

Only a few former Star Trek crew members were recruited. Costume designer William Ware Theiss began working on new designs for the Starfleet uniforms, some based on his creations for The Original Series, others being a radical departure. Michael Minor—who had created set decorations and props for The Original Series' third season—was brought in as a production illustrator, working with Lee Cole in the Art Department under Jennings.

Other creations that were updated included the phaser, which were built to the same design as in the previous series, but were built out of aluminium instead of the fiberglass resin props used before. The battery packs were detachable, and contained actual batteries that activated strobe lighting on the main body of the prop.[22] Technical advisers were recruited, such as Marvin Minsky, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his wife Gloria Rudisch.[23]

Set production was underway by the start of August, with stage 8 on the Paramount lot designated as the "planet set", while stage 9 was where the Enterprise sets were located. By August 9, the foundations of the bridge set was built, with a plaster mould used to produce fiberglass "skins" for the various prop consoles and walls.[24]

By August 16, Livingston had held pitch meetings with more than 30 writers who were interested in scripting episodes of Phase II.[25] Some of these, such as Theodore Sturgeon, David Gerrold and Norman Spinrad,[25][26] had previously written episodes of The Original Series. Also pitching to write an episode was Star Trek actor Walter Koenig.[25] In order to have the scripts delivered in an efficient manner, Roddenberry decided that he wanted all the scripts for the first batch of episodes completed prior to filming began on the pilot. He was confident that because of The Original Series, that the writers would not have difficulty in writing new scenes with already established characters.[27] However, Livingston and the writers did not know how the new characters would relate to the original ones.[28] Despite this, Roddenberry claimed at the time that the relationships between the characters would take time to be built over the course of several episodes, and that fan reaction to certain characters and events would define how frequently they would appear.[13]

By September, it had become apparent that they needed to hire a story editor. Roddenberry's assistant, Jon Povill, had already been conducting these duties on a script entitled "The Child", and so Livingston suggested that Povill should be recruited in that role permanently. Roddenberry disagreed, but Livingston threatened to quit unless Povill was hired. Povill was subsequently recruited as story editor, but Livingston said that this action was the one that caused a breakdown in the relationship between Roddenberry and himself.[28]

The two-hour pilot film was to be based on a story outline Roddenberry had written for the aborted series follow-up to his 1973 Genesis II TV movie. That story, titled "Robot's Return" featured a gigantic alien craft coming to Earth searching for its origin. Alan Dean Foster, who had previously adapted episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series in a series of short stories published in the Star Trek Logs series of books,[29] was hired to adapt this story idea for Star Trek and in the process introduce the newly redesigned and refitted USS Enterprise and its crew, both old and new, as they confront a gigantic, aggressive, seemingly omnipotent alien intruder bound for Earth. With a looming production deadline and unable to find a suitable experienced TV writer to develop this story into a teleplay, Harold Livingston took on the writing job himself.

Phase II screen-test photo of David Gautreaux as Xon

By August 1977, discussions had been held with the main cast from The Original Series, as well as some of the actors who had played recurring characters. While none had been signed at the time, Roddenberry expressed confidence that they could do so with the exception of Leonard Nimoy, who had stated that he would not return to television.[13] However, Nimoy said separately that the first offer he received from Roddenberry for Phase II was only for the pilot and then guaranteed appearances in two out of every 11 episodes that followed,[30] which he rejected.[31] Nimoy and Roddenberry were not on good terms, following a legal suit launched by the actor against Paramount over merchandising rights featuring his likeness; Roddenberry had refused to support Nimoy in the case.[32] There was also a problem with the return of William Shatner: owing to the pay he was to receive for the pilot and the first thirteen episodes, the studio wanted a contingency plan to replace him afterwards. Shatner was aware at the time that the plan was either to reduce his appearances after the initial episodes and reduce his ongoing fees, or—he believed—to kill off the character permanently if he refused the pay cut.[31][33] Negotiations began with Shatner on June 10, but it was not until September 12 that his return was announced.[34]

Each of the returning former cast members was signed to contracts stipulating that they would be paid for the pilot and the 13 episodes regardless of whether the series went into production.[35] They were also given substantial pay increases over what they had received on The Original Series. For example, DeForest Kelley was paid $17,500 for the first four weeks, then $7,500 per episode for the rest of the first season.[36] Regulars actors including James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Majel Barrett had on The Original Series only had contracts for a certain number of appearances or been freelance players paid a daily rate, but here all were under contract for the initial series order.

The problems with Nimoy and Shatner necessitated the creation of two new characters.[31] In Goodwin's first draft show bible, he included descriptions for a new "Ship's commander" character, and a "Young Vulcan". The latter character was specifically attributed as being a second-cousin of Spock, and also a half-human/half-Vulcan. He also added a new Yeoman character, but Roddenberry was concerned at the time about the character, writing to Livingston "Simply adding a 'flunky' female to the bridge may not satisfy our needs for gender equality."[37] This discussion began the process that resulted in the creation of Ilia, a new female character who was not intended to replace one of the previous cast members.[29] In charge of casting these new members of the crew was Robert Collins, who had been hired to direct the pilot.[38] Xon would later be changed to a full-blooded Vulcan.[39]

David Gautreaux was cast as Xon on September 26,[40] after approaching the casting director himself, having no agent.[41] He had heard about the part, as he was dating the employee of an agent at the time.[42] The final audition for the role had eight actors, including Gautreaux, of various ages and sizes. Gautreaux later said that the one thing they all had in common was a slightly alien appearance. He was hired to a $15,000 fee for the pilot, a guaranteed payment for the 13 episodes whether or not they were filmed, and a six-year option on his contract. Despite this, he was required to return for a further audition within a couple of weeks. Majel Barrett was due to return as Christine Chapel, this time as a doctor, and the actress was concerned that the romantic chemistry she shared with Nimoy might not work with a younger actor. She instead wanted an older British actor to play the role. Gautreaux, now with an agent,[41] secured a further $2,500 fee to return and audition again, since it would cause him to miss out on a guest appearance for the same fee on the television series Fantasy Island.[43] He retained the part, saying that the other actor was "absolutely abominable". It was only after this further audition that he was told what few others knew at the time: that Phase II had already been cancelled, and they were instead going to make a feature film.[41]

Following announcements of Gautreaux's Xon replacing Nimoy's Spock, Gautreaux began to receive threatening fan-mail suggesting that he was going to be poisoned or dosed with LSD.[39] He began to prepare for the role by purchasing a television set and watching old episodes of Star Trek, in order to portray the most accurate Vulcan he could. He fasted over the course of ten days and grew his hair long. Gautreaux sought out potential coaches who had worked on The Original Series, and later highlighted the help provided by Jeff Corey who had appeared in "The Cloud Minders". Despite not being a Star Trek fan previously, he said he had begun looking forward to portraying Xon by that point.[39]

Phase II screen-test photo of Persis Khambatta as Ilia

On October 28, Persis Khambatta was hired to portray Ilia. She had been required to wear a bald cap for her screen test, although at this point the character also wore elaborate headgear in some footage.[40] Roddenberry was insistent on this as a character attribute, but others such as Eisner hated the idea of a bald female character.[41] His notes said that while a bald female character would be an interesting addition, it may prevent the audience from feeling at ease with Ilia and so the style may need to be given to a different character entirely.[44] The auditions by this time were not held under the pretence that they were to play a part in a television series, but were openly talking about Star Trek becoming a feature film.

The casting for first officer Willard Decker had been delayed, both because of a slight delay in the production but also because the writers were no longer sure that the character was needed at all.[41] This was despite auditions being conducted at the same time that Gautreaux was cast as Xon,[45] during which, in his second audition with Barrett, he also read lines against ten actors competing for the role of Decker.[43]

One further change to the cast was to have been the return of Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand. In 1977, having read the back cover of Susan Sackett's Letters to Star Trek book and discovering that one of the frequently asked questions sent into the production team was "Whatever happened to Grace Lee Whitney?", Whitney herself got in touch with Sackett and was invited along to meet with Roddenberry at his office in Paramount Studios. He was excited and happy to see her, and immediately offered to bring back the character for Phase II, describing the removal of Rand from The Original Series as his greatest mistake and blaming it on NBC executives. He said that "when Captain Kirk came back from having affairs with all these other women on all these other planets – he'd have to deal with [Rand]. What a great plot-thickener that would have been!".[46]

A key premise of the "In Thy Image" story was to see Earth itself threatened for the first time in Star Trek.[47] Producer Goodwin proposed that this story should be the two-hours pilot of the series at a meeting with Eisner on August 3. He would later recall that this specific meeting changed the direction of the franchise, as Eisner declared that Foster's story was the one that he had been looking for to make a feature, not a television, film. At the same time, Paramount had come to realize that the expected advertising revenues for the Paramount Television Service could not support a fourth network, and so there was no possibility of creating the series. By this point, costs for the series had already reached $500,000, and the studio was looking to recoup those expenses in some manner. The initial concept was to continue with the pilot, and then attempt to sell the series to NBC, CBS, or ABC. But the Paramount executives were concerned about losing control of a potential franchise, and by moving the pilot into a feature film, it gave them the ability to keep it in-house.[48]

However, because of the number of times that a Star Trek film was announced in the 1970s, the Paramount executives decided that they could not lose face once more by making an announcement, only to potentially reverse the decision in several months time. Because of this, production continued on Phase II for a further five months after the decision was made that it would not go into production.[49] By November, Livingston and Roddenberry were no longer working well together. They had each re-drafted "In Thy Image" themselves, and presented these versions to Eisner. The Paramount executive's response was that Roddenberry's version was suited for television, and Livingston's was better for a motion picture – and better overall. Collins was assigned to combine certain elements of Roddenberry's version into Livingston's and to complete that draft by the end of the month.[50]

The first public announcement of the cancellation of the Paramount Television Service and Phase II came at the hands of the gossip columnist Rona Barrett at the start of December. In response, Paramount released a statement that said the new network had been pushed back to the fall of 1978, and that Phase II had its episode order increased from 13 to between 15 and 22.[51] Despite this, behind the scenes, production continued on Star Trek as a film, not as a series. One of the changes around the same time as Barrett's reports was the realization that all the model work completed thus far had to be restarted from scratch, as it was not detailed enough to be blown up on a motion picture-sized screen.[52] Two further changes took place in December: Collins was dropped as director, for Paramount wanted a motion picture director and not one with experience only in television; and Livingston allowed his contract to run out and left the production, owing to the poor relationship he had with Roddenberry.[53] By January, Paramount no longer pretended that Star Trek was to be anything other than a feature film.[54] Livingston was brought back, but only in a writing capacity, and Robert Wise was hired as director on the film to replace Collins.[55]

Phase II would prove influential on The Next Generation, whose creation began just over seven years later.[49] The characters of Xon, Decker and Ilia were used as the basis for the creation of Data, William Riker and Deanna Troi.[31] However, the series was allowed to be different in tone from the planned Phase II, for the feature films that had come before it had changed the audience expectations of what Star Trek was.[78] It was originally proposed in Gerrold's The Worlds of Star Trek to have the second-in-command leading the away team, and it was anticipated that this would be included in Phase II – it was instead first introduced in The Next Generation.[79]

Owing to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, work on the second season of The Next Generation was delayed. The producers sought scripts that could be put into production as quickly as possible once the strike was lifted, and so "The Child" from Phase II was picked as one that could be used in the new series with Ilia's place in the script swapped out in favor of Troi.[80] A further Phase II script was adapted later in the series, when "Devil's Due" was converted for The Next Generation in the fourth season.[81]

Certain elements of Klingon culture, such as the Emperor, and a general influence of Japanese culture with honor at the forefront, were first explored with the script for the two-part "Kitumba". Writer John Meredyth Lucas said that "I wanted something that we had never seen before on the series, and that's a penetration deep into enemy space. I started to think of how the Klingons lived. Obviously for the Romulans we had Romans, and we've had different cultures modeled on those of ancient Earth, but I tried to think of what the Klingon society would be like. The Japanese came to mind, so basically that's what it was, with the Sacred Emperor, the Warlord and so on." While the episode itself was later filmed for the fan production Star Trek: New Voyages,[82] Star Trek first visited the Klingon homeworld in The Next Generation episode "Sins of the Father", and the themes would be revisited through the series.[83]

Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens described Voyager as the "conceptual cousin" of Phase II, in that it was used to launch the United Paramount Network (UPN) in January 1995. This was the fifth network, as Diller had moved to the Fox Entertainment Group in the years between Phase II and Voyager, where he launched the fourth network, the Fox Broadcasting Company.[84] They hypothesised that Phase II would have seen a similar decline in ratings as seen by Voyager during the course of the first season, except this decline would have resulted in the cancellation of Phase II at the time of first broadcast in 1970s. While they felt this would not have been the end of the franchise, they suggest it would have resulted in a more immediate reboot with the entire crew re-cast.[78]