Star Trek: Phase II

Star Trek: Phase II
The Phase II Enterprise
Created by	Gene Roddenberry
Developed by	Paramount Television
Starring	William Shatner DeForest Kelley James Doohan David Gautreaux Nichelle Nichols George Takei Persis Khambatta Walter Koenig Majel Barrett Grace Lee Whitney
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	Pilot, plus 13 episodes (planned)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Robert Goodwin Harold Livingston Story editor: Jon Povill
Running time	50 minutes (planned)
Release
Original network	Paramount Television Service
Original release	May 1978 (planned)
Chronology
Preceded by	The Animated Series
Followed by	The Next Generation

Star Trek: Phase II, also known as Star Trek II, is an unproduced American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as a sequel to Star Trek, which had run from 1966 to 1969. The plans for the series were first developed after the failure to create a feature film based on the earlier series during the 1970s, coupled with the proposal for Paramount Television Service as a fourth television network in the United States. Phase II would have been the lead program for the network, being broadcast at 8pm EST on Saturday nights. Following the announcement that Star Trek was returning as a series on June 17, 1977, Roddenberry began recruiting new crewmembers, including Harold Livingston and Robert Goodwin as executive producers. Other staff returning from The Original Series included William Ware Theiss, while Matt Jefferies was hired as a technical advisor and designed an updated version of the USS Enterprise. The initial order was for a two-hour pilot episode, followed by 13 episodes.

Leonard Nimoy turned down the offer by Roddenberry to return as Spock as a recurring character, which necessitated the creation of a new Vulcan character named Xon. David Gautreaux successfully auditioned for the part, but ultimately never portrayed him in the franchise. There were concerns that William Shatner was too expensive to retain permanently and so the role of Willard Decker was created as an eventual replacement; although auditions were held, no one was cast during the work on Phase II. Persis Khambatta was cast as Ilia, a new character who was not intended as a replacement for a former character; she eventually portrayed the same part in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. With the exception of Nimoy, the other main cast from The Original Series were each signed up to contracts which allowed for them to be paid even if the series was never completed, including Grace Lee Whitney, who was due to return as Janice Rand.

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