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A shame it never happened. A live-action Star Trek series made during the '70s would have been a real treat, as I love '70s sci-fi aesthetics. It possessed the unbound imagination and psychedelic wonder of the '60s with the sleek futurism and abstract graphics that would become era-defining in the '80s.
Thank god it didn't happen. Because if it did, history would have played out differently and we most likely wouldn't have gotten TNG AND DS9. No doubt there would have been series in the 80s and 90s but i betcha anything they would have focused on the TOS cast. Also, the movies probably would have never happened or would have been vastly different.
I remember the very first TMP posters. In 1979. They shown the phase 2 Enterprise . Then when I saw the movie I was confused when I saw the movie Enterprise. Later I found out about phase 2.
There's another good fan series called Star Trek: New Voyages a.k.a. Phase II, which has two episodes based on original Phase II scripts (Kitumba and another adaption of The Child). It doesn't quite reach STC though.
The original Star Trek was amazing and it was the single biggest influence on my childhood. I have to give Roddenberry credit for making it happen. But the really great episodes came from far, far better writers like Norman Spinrad and Theodore Sturgeon. Roddenberry himself gave us gems like "The Omega Glory". He was a profoundly terrible writer, is what I'm saying, and his attempts to mix SF and religion weren't so much "controversial" as "pretentious" and "ridiculous". As far as the man personally- and I'm cautious before I make pronouncements like this about people I never knew personally- but the preponderance of the evidence is he was a scumbag.
I remember reading Grace Lee Whitney’s (Yeoman Rand) opinion of him. Producers told him to lose a female cast member. Couldn’t do Nichelle Nichols because Uhura was part of the progressive image of his show. Couldn’t do Majel Barret as Nurse Chapel because she was Roddenberry’s love interest. So the other blonde white girl was axed from the series early, and she described her depression and spiral into substance abuse afterwards.
Yeah it definitely would have been interesting to to see Phase Two before Star Wars influenced the Sci Fi world. The Motion Picture gets a lot of hate but it’s one of my favorites. The ship, inside and out, has a sleek look to it. The influence of the 70s has a nice look.
Visually The Motion Picture does well and in that respect is very underrated. However the plot itself - which I feel is a very good one if done well - would have been far better suited to TV - for a big 'spectacular' movie it is a bit too ... well, almost too mundane. I don't hate TMP (far from it) but it was lacking that certain something (and was way too long).
One day we'll invent a device that allows us to see alternative timelines and we'll finally be able to watch Phase II. And the original ending to Final Frontier...
72 about the time the reruns started after school I was in the third grade. It was a mainstay everyday after school till the 80's . it kept me sane I lived in the boonies.
Same in Mobile, AL on CBS WKRG 5, it ran on Sunday nights at 10:30-11:30, then a couple years later it moved to Thursday nights at 7:30-8:30, and then after Star Wars came out it ran from daily in the afternoon 4:00-5:00. My family hated it so I didn't get to see it at night but the afternoon timeslot wasn't a problem as long as my chores and homework was done. Never saw it in color until I bought them on VHS in the late '80s early '90s. I no longer have the VHS copies but I do have them on DVD with desire to get the Blu-ray, I'm done buying the same thing over and over in the next format that comes out.
JohnFourtyTwo Blu-ray is a huge jump in quality. They had to go through and remaster the whole series. Same thing with TNG. Since they were both shot on 35mm, the resolution is higher than HD.
@@5roundsrapid263 TOS looks as though it was produced yesterday. Such beautiful quality. TNG had a problem. The show was filmed and switched to video tape for easy editing but the masters needed converted... very expensive process.
I would say more than a few years personally. TNG’s development started in 1985/1986 for the 1987 release. The Motion Picture and ergo Phase II was practically in some way shape or form in production for much of the mid to late 70’s.
Really enjoyed this video and hadn't realised the Phase II series was so fully developed before being cancelled... it's interesting to imagine what Star Trek might have become if they went ahead with Phase II and not the movies.
Being an old guy, I too remember in the 1976 period, there was great, building excitement that ST Phase II was coming back to tv, possibly as a once a month, ninety minute episode. I think that format would have been wonderful - more time to develop a story.
"Star Trek Phase II was never realized" - So what were we doing for 10 years? We actually filmed some of the episodes originally written for "Phase II" like "World Enough and Time" and "Kitumba." We even changed our name from "New Voyages" to "Phase II" in honor of that series, talked about in this video, and you even used OUR Phase II logo, not the original Phase II logo from the 70s. . You can learn about and see all our episodes at www.stnv.de Regards, Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II.
@Gareth Fairclough TNG used "The Child" and "Devil's Due" and some aspects of other episodes. The original author of "The Child" was unhappy with how his script had been rewritten for TNG and we then filmed "The Child" how he wanted it. WEAT and Kitumba were not filmed by TNG.
It's a measure of the fan film community's success that I expected this video to be about the fan films, not about this not-TV series. I loved "World Enough and Time."
This was a great mini documentary. I already knew somethings about the Phase II show , but this video definitely answered some of the questions that I had about the project. Thank you for an interesting and informative video about Trek , I'm in my 40s and I've been s fan since I was 4 years old.
Back in the 76 77 when I was young I heard they were going to make a new Star Trek tv show. I was hoping it would happand but I was sad that they droped it,
@@yvesnyfelerph.d.8297 sorry but in my opinion, TNG was more of a soap opera. The Original Series with Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov , Scotty, and McCoy is the only good Star Trek show. The original 6 movies were great and after that, it kinda went downhill. But that's just my opinion.
I wish the “The God Thing” got produced as I really think it’s a fantastic concept, I think it really would have gotten people to think outside the box and perhaps question things a bit more. Phase II would have been a fantastic series because I think the 70’s influence would have made it interesting/fun. It’s great to learn more about this time period of Star Trek history, great documentary.
It was produced, it was called Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. I'm not joking, this movie was that episode and the only Star Trek movie William Shatner directed. The best parts were the beginning and ending where Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are camping in Yosemite National Park. Everything else in the middle is garbage except for maybe Spock's half-brother Sybock, now he's interesting and fun to have at parties. The movie flopped faster than a dead fish; the first few days the movie theaters were packed then they couldn't give away tickets.
JohnFourtyTwo yeah I remember that, I was completely disappointed with the movie. I think “God Thing” would have been better if it was produced as it was originally intended back in the 70’s.
I wasn't expecting Michael Eisner to be referenced in a Star Trek video, every time I hear that name I remind myself of Defunctland and Yesterworld. hahaha
Ah, back when the creators cared about what the fans thought at least enough to continue the project as a movie. I'm pretty sure CBS hates trekkies and the best Star Treks you can find now that are new are the indi versions you find here on YT.
Back then they listened when they got tons of real fan letters in the mail. Now all they have to do is click the delete button and all that e-mail goes away like it never existed.
The only Star Trek show that is currently on TV, that respects the true spirit of Star Trek is Lower Decks and that's because the creator of the show is a true Star Trek fan, unlike Kurtzman, who seems like he has never watched a previous Star Trek show in his life, if the creator of Lower Decks was in charge of making the other live action shows we would have shows that are a lot more like the shows that were created by Roddenberry, shows that Star Trek fans can appreciate.
@@SnowDaulphin When ST TMP came out that was the back story going around that Will Decker and Matt Decker was father and son, Matt was considered the General Patton of Star Fleet when it came to ship to ship combat.
Willard Decker is described as being Matt's son in the "Star Trek [Phase] II Writers Guide", the "bible" for the proposed TV series. Note that none of the actors who screen-tested for Willard Decker succeeded. Stephen Collins didn't actually audition for Decker until Robert Wise took up the director's role for "The Motion Picture".
I wonder what Roddenberry would think of the Star Trek shows they got today like that Discovery series. They dont have any of the problems in terms of production budget, sfx and practical effects and sets that they had back then. But something seems to be lacking with these new modern Trek shows.
This was awesome because I was aware of phase 2 but this is the most detailed documentary of it. I enjoyed this very much and thank you for making this.
So interesting and informative, nice work! I always wondered what Phase II would've been like, and never realized that we all got a taste of it in TNG.
Mine may be a dissenting voice, but I'm rather glad this series never materialized. It would have had two problems that would have ensured its inferiority to the original: No Spock, and trying to make Kirk more like Picard later turned out to be, which is not right for the character. Leonard Nimoy was simply unwilling to play the part in an ongoing series again. (He was willing to do it for the movie, and was lured back for Star Trek II partly because he got them to promise they'd kill Spock off -- and then, inexplicably, he finally overcame his longstanding ambivalence about the character and embraced it at last, so they had to find a way to bring Spock back for Star Trek III.) Kirk would have been played as older captain, and with a younger executive officer (Will Decker -- note the name similarity to Will Riker) to handle away team missions and so forth. And that works just fine for a diplomat-type leasder such as Picard, but just doesn't work as well for a more aggressive, action-oriented character like Kirk. No, I really think it worked out better that the original series cast ended up doing movies instead of a new series that pulled them away from the formula that had made TOS so successful, and then made it more like what TNG turned out to be. I think the TNG formula worked better for an all new cast that came free of expectations that the characters should be what they'd always been before, and what the audience had grown attached to.
Totally skipped the years 1973-75, during which Star Trek The Animated Series was being aired on Saturday mornings, and totally greased the wheels for Phase II and TMP.
At 12:20 the mention of Xon being the inspiration for Data is incorrect. The android character Questor from the failed pilot The Questor Tapes was supposed to be the inspiration for Data.
When the "Phase II" scripts of "The Child" and "Devil's Due" were reconfigured for TNG, dialogue written for Xon was given to Data (and Decker and Ilia's lines went to Riker and Troi). But Data of TNG was derived mainly from "The Questor Tapes".
Sal Paradise They didn’t think Nimoy was interested so he was only written in to two episodes, and then Nimoy was offended he was only written in to two episodes?? Sound like a right bunch of prima donnas! Hollywood, hey?!
@@CaptainSpalding72 Most of the cast hated Shatner for pretty much the same thing, even Roddenberry didn't like him for always upstaging him. James Doohan hated him so much he refused an interview with him for one of his biographies. They looked like a happy family onscreen but in real life was totally different.
@@JohnFourtyTwo they have since reconciled. At at least with Nichols, Koenig. Takei is still a grudge holding twat. No one can remember what exactly Shatner did to him. Doohan and Shatner buried the hatchet a few years before his death. The show was about the starship Captain and Shatner was the star of the show. The Supporting cast didnt understand that for some dumb reason.
Great video. One niitpicky thing... Persis Khambatta's character name was pronounced Eye-Lee-Uh. Also, that background music sounds like "Can You Read My Mind" from Superman repeating over and over.
One thing left out: Paramount was trying to start its own TV network and "Star Trek: Phase II" would have been its flagship show. When both went bust (I think it was the rise of HBO on cable that scared Paramount out of running a high-channel VHF or UHF network) the movie was created to make back some of the investment.
This is a first! Comment and hearing this lore Thank you! That being said I'm not a die hard fan more of a general Sci-Fi enthusiast. What I do know is that of all the future world building that Science Fiction has done I would chose the Star Trek Universe over almost all others so far...
I remember the 1979 TMP posters showing the PHASE 2. Enterprise . They were not showing the TMP ship until you saw the movie. So I was.confused when I saw the movie for the first time. I thought the artist of the poster goofed up or somthing. I had no idea there was a PHASE 2 show that was originally in the making.
Great video! Would have been the *2nd* unaired pilot. Loved seeing screen test footage of Persis in TOS era uniform as Ilia & Dave Gautreaux (Epsilon 9 Cmdr. Branch) as Xon.
What was really cool was how the Ralph McQuarrie concept Enterprise at 2:30 made it into Trek canon. You can find it in the starship graveyard scenes in TNG "The Best of Both Worlds" Part II and "Unification" Part II, along with Bill George's early Excelsior concept.
@@CaptainSpalding72 Exactly right! It's about time they got some serious mileage out of that design. That's Star Trek for you. Doesn't throw anything away. Instead, it just puts it away somewhere in a box until someone gets an idea.
In some parallel reality, 'Phase II' exists... and I believe that late-'70s continuation of the classic series would have been great. I wonder why they only chose to use Spock for two of the proposed 13 episodes, considering Spock was, beyond arguably Kirk, the most iconic character? Unless Nimoy was asking too much fee, it is baffling. Another influence of Phase II (and thus TMP) had on TNG was the Holodeck. We see a very early concept of this in TMP, with games and relaxation much more based in "reality" but clearly the seeds of what would become the holodeck. I believe this concept was in the original Phase II outline. TMP has got a lot of flack over the years (and rightly so in many regards), but I think the story itself would have fared much better on TV not the big screen. It is a decent plot if used well and would make a good TV episode, but is not spectacular enough, even a bit mundane, for a big screen outing IMO. Oh by the way, I love the style of those old painted concept art pictures, I really miss that style in this everything-done-by-a-computer age.
Production illustrator/art director/designer Mike Minor was quite involved in the (at first) new tv series before going on to the motion picture version and work on the follow-ups. He gave me a copy of those early script efforts to get the show onto tv screens (though I couldn't talk about them publicly or in print), and I got to go through a lot of his wonderful drawings, some of which are featured here. (I still have the TREK/studio letterhead and envelope he gave to me as "souvenirs", which he designed, based on his iconic-dynamic painting of the Enterprise at 3/4 angle.) Great memories.
People you meet in the "ruined it for everyone" ring of Hell: Yoko Ono, Kathleen Kennedy, Gail Berman (cancelled Firefly), Meghan Markle, and the guy from Paramount who cancelled Phase II.
The Motion Picture was basically a reworking of season 2 episode The Changling with the evolved probe now changed to Voyager as voyager didn't exist at the time of the series but ties into the story well.
Matthew Cooper I saw the ad in one of my comics a little later in ‘78 in the inside back cover, I believe. It blew my mind, plus seeing Scotty with a ‘stache made me recognize him as the Commander from the first season of Jason of Star Command! My 7th grade English teacher took our entire class to see the movie during a matinee, still don’t know how she got permission!
Good overview for those who hadn't heard of this before! But odd there wasn't any mention of Paramount looking to create their own TV network with Phase II as its flagship show; the new network (eventually realized as UPN in the '90s, with another Trek series (Voyager) as its flagship) and its delay was an important part of Phase II's development and cancellation.
Fascinating! I've always been a Trekie having watched TOS every night after school. So I remember reading about the planned "Phase II" series in Sci-Fi magazines and being as disappointed as Mr.Scott assigned to a ship other than the Enterprise when it didn't materialize. Then there was the rumor of a movie and talk about the script involving GOD.
TMP and the VGer story was a retread of TOS "The Changeling". Virtually identical stories - Earth probe, lost, damaged, found by machines , fixed, sent back to find it's creator.... How did no one ever notice this??
I read once that it was not only the release of Star Wars that helped cancel the series, it was the release of "Space 1999" into American syndication that was also a factor. The special effects in Space 1999 were beyond anything that they were ready to create for television, so they decided to make the movie instead.
@@DMSProduktions mate, he mispronounces basic words and is a bad. reader, who doesn't. read far enough ahead. and this is what causes. the stilted, cadence,
Phase II never came out because Paramount was trying to launch its own television network but couldn't. The other "big three" networks in the US went to all their biggest commercial clients and told them if they ran commercials on Paramount's new network then NBC, CBS and ABC would stop showing their commercials on their networks. Paramount needed advertising to launch and nobody were willing to work with them and only them. So Paramount scrapped their network plans and channeled all the expense of founding a television network onto Star Trek: The Motion Picture's budget.
As much as I loved the original series, and trust me I literally GREW UP a fan of Star Trek which aired on my second birthday for the first time. I always loved the adventures of Spock, Kirk, McCoy and Scotty!! Even the animated series peaked my interest as I was still mainly a child when they came out!! But then over time came shows and movies like Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica, and the original 1977 Star Wars: A New Hope and I was hooked on other franchises. So much so that when Star Trek The Next Generation came out and then Deep Space Nine, I hated those shows to the point where I started to question why anybody would like them!! After all Kirk was the "Shot first ask questions later" type of guy and then you had Picard who was basically a huge wussie that always tried to reason or compromise himself out of a bad situation!! Sorry but have you LOOKED at the world around you, because those tactics SELDOM IF EVER actually work!! You can't "reason" or "bargain" with a lot of people even in today's world 2019, and it is as true in The Original Series as it is today.....actions speak louder than words!!! Besides too by the time The Next Generation came out, I was then in my mid to late 20s, and I had already started becoming way more cynical about things I saw around me as well too!! And for years I worked my tail off thinking "Some day I will get ahead, some day I will win" and year after year all that I had held close to my heart slowly died, including the ambition to set goals, the hopes and dreams I once had, and the feelings of "love" and "caring" I so strongly searched for were gone!! And now in my late 30 near 40s I hated watching reruns of Star Trek the Next Generation and thought to myself "Who writes this crap? The world is never going to be so diplomatic, shiny and "perfect" and only a fool could buy into these stupid ideas of how our species "over came" our problems to make THIS SHIP!" You see in my life by the time I hit my 40s I had never seen compassion, I had never known actual LOVE, hell I didn't know a single damn person that actually GAVE A SHIT about anybody but themselves either anyhow as well......and it was around 2002 and my world was literally falling apart around me!! And for the next 4 years, through periods of homelessness and despair I refused to watch a lot of TV as usual!! Star Trek the Next Generation was for people too stupid to realize that in the real world "diplomacy" and "reason" do not always work. And in my life ALL I had ever known was chaos, conflict pain and suffering, to the point where I just wanted to be "left alone" and "do my job" and just "keep on to my own thing" to do what I do best.....survive and get through another day!! And for the next ten years I lost total interest in Star Trek, Star Wars, Enterprise, The Next Generation, Battlestar Galactica, and ANY OTHER silly stupid TV show or movie, that made meaningless ideas of "political correctness" and fairness and social justice their priority!! To me there was just something "missing" in science fiction a sense of "THIS could be real" about it that seemed to make the Sci Fi empty and hallow to me!! Like I just said I was homeless in 2002....that is important!! You see in 2008 I returned to my home state of New York, and I dreaded coming back having lived in North Carolina for almost 5 years. After all it meant being homeless a bit longer and I had been homeless at that point for almost 9 years and getting close to ten years when I think about it!! And after bouncing around living in a Walmart parking lot in a 1985 Chevy van, and then a tent in a camp ground for almost two more years I found myself living in a mobile home owned by a friend of mine who took me in finally. The year was 2010 now AND as I sat on my computer one night reading a few different things on RU-vid, I stumbled across a show from 2002 I had never heard about...........FIREFLY!!! It is then after watching Firefly I realized, that I am a lot like Malcom Reynolds! I have lost faith, lost hope and in my world nothing is ever just easy!!! And you are better off to shot first and ask questions later...because diplomacy NEVER WORKS only actions do!!!
Those of us older enough to remember, in the first 1/3 of the 70's, Star Trek had kind of a renaissance thanks to syndication and Star Trek toys were produced and were highly popular. Then came the Animated series which was fantastic(all original cast members returned except, IIRC, Walter Keonig which, strangely, was because they couldn't afford the entire original cast). But that show had success as well which probably rekindled interest in a live action show again. Unfortunately it didn't come to pass but we did get a resurgence in Star Trek mostly thanks to the movies then TNG.
How sad we all missed out on Star Trek Phase 2. I would've watched that as I've watched everything Star Trek since the original TV series aired in Australia in 1968 (I think).🖖
But Phase 2 *was* actually made into a series! In fact *two* fan web series with good production value (ST continues ans ST: New Voyages Phase II) were made in the last 10 years with about 10 episodes each, both with TOS characters continuing the 5 year mission. Course it wasn't like it was going to be - Decard and Illia have both played their part other ways - but they did adapt original scripts of phase 2 and bring back some of the old cast members. Unfortunately, Paramount's recent litigation with ST Axanar made them unable to continue as they had been, but they got in a good run of episodes. You can find both on youtube.
Star Trek Continues begins about 2 seconds after "Turnabout Intruder" ends, and its final episode has Kirk in his Admiral's uniform, pre-TMP. There were more episodes planned, but the Axanar situation happened and they were unable to make those other episodes. It's a shame, because this is (in my opinion) the best of the fan film series.
The TMP bridge was built over the top of the framework of the "Phase II" bridge. When it was finally pulled down, to clear the "Star Trek: Voyager" soundstage for filming to begin on "Enterprise", rotting wooden struts were seen to be marked "Star Trek II", the working title of the proposed TV series sequel to TOS.
"Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" had Genesis scientist, Jedda, mentioned in the script has being Deltan. But it was decided not to make John Vargas shave his head since being Deltan didn't turn out to be a crucial factor in the story. Jedda and his female Deltan mate are featured in the novelization. In 2141, the "ECS Horizon" encountered a group of Deltans. Travis Mayweather, who was fifteen at the time, later described them as very attractive and very open. On the advice and invitation of his father, he dealt with the feelings they engendered in him by performing exhausting workouts in the gym, a method he returned to (and recommended to Lt. Malcolm Reed) aboard the "Enterprise" in 2154. (ENT: "Bound").
It was actually given the title Star Trek II but since we now have a Star Trek II movie, it was retroactively called Star Trek Phase II. If you look at the show bible and scripts they are marked with a Star Trek II logo.
"Gene also wanted to show 23rd century Earth for the first time, something that was never shown on the original series." This is incorrect. 23rd century Earth was shown in the original _Star Trek_ pilot "The Cage" -- which was later broadcast as the 2-part episode "The Menagerie".
You have to remember that The Cage never aired until the mid 80s, and none of the Earth shots made it into The Menagerie - none of the 2-parter was set on Earth. So, at that time, the statement was accurate.
Omg The Child being an idea from the 70s makes SO MUCH more sense!!! All the rapey episodes probably stemmed from those scripts. Those stories always seemed so incongruous with the 80s.
I think the STTNG episode The Child is symbolic of what happened to ST Phase II. Data’s child died because it was not ready to cope with its new environment but what was created was somehow salvaged or passed along in some manner in Data.
Wrong episode. You’re talking about “The Offspring” season 4 episode. “The Child” is when Troi basically got raped in her sleep by an alien and had a child.
As a proud Star Trek TOS purist I don't think much was missed in no Phase 2 movie or series. TOS was IMO the story line, casting and acting as it's best. It was also a product of the 1960's- as was Lost in Space. As the 60's left us so did the dynamics that produced a short list of series that identify with that decade. Start Trek TOS is IMO a stand alone classic series that really needs nothing further. People will be watching it in 100 years, long after the movies or any followup series is long forgotten.
Not quite. "Star Trek Continues" is actually a different group. James Cawley's "Star Trek: Phase II" was previously known as "Star Trek: New Voyages". After a few episodes, they reverted to their "New Voyages" title.
* and where better. Fixed that for you. TOS is good but TNG and DS9 on average I think not only had better production values but coupled that with some top shelf writing.
Sorry to disagree, but the character of Data had much more to do with the title character of Roddenberry’s TV movie and failed to launch series The Questor Tapes.
Conversely, Questor owes something of his character to Spock (D.C. Fontana even gave him the Vulcan neck-pinch). But yes, Data - and some quirks of the portrayal like the little bird-like head movements - owes much to Questor.
A few FYIs. 1:30 The Jun 30, 1975 script was NOT given the title "The God Thing". We have it here and the title is simply "Star Trek II". The "God Thing" title appears to have been applied retroactively, and was supposed to be the title of the novel Roddenberry was supposed to pen based on the script. What are you basing this "this script was never submitted" statement on? 2:21 The Allen Scott project was not actually titled "Planet of the Titans". The treatment was titled STAR TREK and the film was going to be called STAR TREK-The Motion Picture. After Allen & Scott departed, Kaufman tried to write his own version of the material, and finished one treatment around April 1977, but Katzenberg reportedly called him on May 8 to say the film was dead. 2:56 the 1977 announced Star Trek "Phase" II show was only called that for a hot second and the "Phase" was almost immediately dropped. All the production documents call the show "Star Trek II". 8:16 Collins was NOT bast as Decker for the TV show. Wise cast him for the movie...the only major role he did.
Considering the few scripts for it they thought were the best and worth salvaging to be used for TNG turned out to be some of the worst TNG episodes in the show's entire run, maybe it is for the best it was never made.
