Star Trek | Secrets Of The Lost 1970s TV Series

In the mid-1970s, plans moved forward to make a second Star Trek live-action continuation of Star Trek: The Original Series. The all-new series titled Phase II was set to air in 1978 with the launch of a new Paramount Television Service (PTS). The series was set to reunite the original cast members and was on target to begin in February 78’. Abruptly, Paramount abandoned plans for the new network, and the series was shelved. Eventually, a bold move behind the scenes turned the series into a feature film and Star Trek The Motion Picture was born.

_{Photo Courtesy of Paramount}

Academy Award-winning director Robert Wise, who had previously directed West Side Story and The Sound of Music, was brought on board to direct, with all the main cast members from the original television series returning.

The premiere for Star Trek TMP was held at the MacArthur Theater in Washington, DC, on the evening of December 6th, 1979, and launched the franchise on the big screen.

Although much information about the unproduced 1970s television series
Star Trek Phase II has been known for decades, new details and media continue to emerge. Recently, a new short documentary series produced by The Roddenberry Archive and OTOY, Lost Voyages: Phase II and the Rebirth of Star Trek, has revealed secrets that have gone unknown for nearly 60 years.

The documentary series, directed by Roger Lay, Jr. and written by Michael and Denise Okuda, uses new 3D technology to visualize what the canceled series might have looked like. Lost Voyages features all-new interviews with Casey Bernay, Daren Dochterman, Walter Koenig, Jon Povill, Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens, and George Takei.

PHASE II

“Lost Voyages: Phase II and the Rebirth of Star Trek” explores the bumpy road between the cancellation of the original Star Trek in 1969, and its remarkable rebirth ten years later on the silver screen. “Lost Voyages” focuses on Star Trek: Phase II, Gene Roddenberry’s proposed 1970s revival of Star Trek, and of the powerful forces leading to its demise, even as they brought Star Trek: The Motion Picture to the screen. Through interviews with associate producer Jon Povill and authors Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, “Lost Voyages” also delves into The God Thing and Planet of the Titans, two little-known proposed Star Trek movies whose development were part of the often-painful road to Star Trek’s rebirth. “Lost Voyages” also features beautiful digital visualizations, created by the talented artists of the Roddenberry Archive and OTOY, of the starship Enterprise and the command bridge as they had been redesigned and built – but never completed – for the proposed Star Trek spinoff.

Check out the short film documentary below:

There’s even more behind the scenes secrets of Phase II here. Check it out!

“It isn’t all over; everything has not been invented; the human adventure is just beginning.” Gene Roddenberry

_Paramount

Chad Stevens is a freelance writer who has contributed to StarWarsNewsNet.com, MovieNewsNet.com, Outerplaces.com, Nerdist, and more. Follow me on X @RealChadStevens to talk Star Wars, Star Trek, Apple Computers, politics and more.