The 1970s was a turning point for Star Trek. The unending groundswell of popularity was still growing thanks to episodes in syndication. At one point, the stars seemed to align, and there were talks to re-launch the franchise with a follow-up series. However, the announced Star Trek: Phase II didn’t happen just as it was supposed to get underway.
Gene Roddenberry was on the cusp of bringing his sci-fi world back to life in 1972. He said NBC was looking at using a Star Trek TV movie to launch a new series. Instead, the Emmy-winning Star Trek: The Animated Series was launched in 1973, running two seasons. While a hit with older audiences, it didn’t engage enough younger cartoon viewers as Paramount hoped. But the interest helped Roddenberry get a deal for a proper Star Trek movie in 1975. Months later, Paramount canceled the agreement and hired new writers. However, in 1977, a pop culture explosion knocked new plans for Captain Kirk and crew wildly off course.
Paramount scrapped the Star Trek movie after Star Wars premiered. Paramount wasn't convinced audiences wouldn’t watch two big space movies so close together, and Star Wars got there first. But Paramount still had big things in store for Star Trek – and its creator.
Paramount was dreaming of becoming a network like NBC, ABC and CBS. According to Roddenberry, Paramount planned to use a new Star Trek series as a launchpad for the network. In mid-1977, plans for the new Paramount Television Service, PTS, and Star Trek: Phase II series were announced. This included a two-hour pilot, with a budget of over $3 million. Paramount hoped a Star Trek series would draw in viewers while padding out its broadcast content from its vast catalog of movies never seen on TV.
The pilot and scripts for 13 episodes were written. A new USS Enterprise was designed, sets built, updated costumes made and new crew members hired. Phase II even managed to re-sign all the original actors to reprise their roles, apart from Leonard Nimoy’s Mr. Spock. Roddenberry said he could ditch the mandated, antiquated, sexist attitudes. "We’re not limited to NBC’s rule of one-third females. We can show more women aboard our ship. We can now show them in command situations." Roddenberry also planned to showcase more daily life for the new Enterprise crew, including 23rd-century Earth. But just as the series' production was about to hit warp speed, it all came apart.
Paramount decided against Phase II's costly upstart network, concerned it wouldn't get the return on its investment. Instead of canceling all its Star Trek plans, the studio put Phase II's work elsewhere. In 1978, Paramount revealed Phase II would be rolled into 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture, a movie built from Phase II’s original two-hour pilot.
Oscar-winning director Robert Wise agreed to make the film but only if he could use Spock. It forced Paramount and Roddenberry to settle their ongoing rights dispute with Nimoy to secure his involvement. Despite huge budget overruns and problems with the script, The Motion Picture was a big hit. Phase II may have never come to fruition, but the franchise's big-screen fate was secured thanks to the series' efforts.