How do you think Trek would have been affected it instead of The Motion Picture Roddenberry and everyone else Involved in Trek had been able to make Phase II as a second Star Trek series.
How would Trek as a whole have been affected if Phase II had been made
- Thread starter Hartzilla2007
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Re: How would Trek as a whole have been affected if Phase II had been
well, depending on its popularity, Trek's original crew may never have made it onto the big screen (esp. without Spock, it'd have less silver screen appeal). As i understand it, the movies were the moneymakers, so there would've been fewer spinoff series later i surmise
well, depending on its popularity, Trek's original crew may never have made it onto the big screen (esp. without Spock, it'd have less silver screen appeal). As i understand it, the movies were the moneymakers, so there would've been fewer spinoff series later i surmise
Re: How would Trek as a whole have been affected if Phase II had been
Agree w/ Davidant32. I'm not sure television had yet learned its lesson about what is and isn't quality SF -- I have a fond place in my heart for the original Battlestar, which aired at the time, but I'd hardly call it great science fiction -- so I think the viewing audience was distrustful. I'm not convinced a new Star Trek would have drawn enough of an audience week after week. It needed theatrical success to prove that it had staying power -- and even then it was another eight years and four films before Trek finally returned to the small screen. As fun as it is to think about Phase II, I don't think it would have led to the many iterations of Trek we've seen since 1979.
Agree w/ Davidant32. I'm not sure television had yet learned its lesson about what is and isn't quality SF -- I have a fond place in my heart for the original Battlestar, which aired at the time, but I'd hardly call it great science fiction -- so I think the viewing audience was distrustful. I'm not convinced a new Star Trek would have drawn enough of an audience week after week. It needed theatrical success to prove that it had staying power -- and even then it was another eight years and four films before Trek finally returned to the small screen. As fun as it is to think about Phase II, I don't think it would have led to the many iterations of Trek we've seen since 1979.
Re: How would Trek as a whole have been affected if Phase II had been
There was a plan to write James T. Kirk out of the show because of William Shatner's high salary requirements. So it might have been the adventures of Captain Will Decker. I don't know who they had in mind to play Decker at the time because this was prior to Stephen Collins. Would the actor chosen have enough charisma to allow the show to continue?
Leonard Nimoy didn't want to participate because of his dispute with Paramount. So probably no appearance of the Spock character. Would viewers have liked David Gautreaux as Xon?
Many of the ideas of Phase II were later used to create Star Trek: The Next Generation. So the show may have looked differently or never been green lit at all.
I have the feeling that Star Trek: Phase II would not have run very long without the participation of Shatner and Nimoy and that we would talk about two live action series and not five live action series.
There was a plan to write James T. Kirk out of the show because of William Shatner's high salary requirements. So it might have been the adventures of Captain Will Decker. I don't know who they had in mind to play Decker at the time because this was prior to Stephen Collins. Would the actor chosen have enough charisma to allow the show to continue?
Leonard Nimoy didn't want to participate because of his dispute with Paramount. So probably no appearance of the Spock character. Would viewers have liked David Gautreaux as Xon?
Many of the ideas of Phase II were later used to create Star Trek: The Next Generation. So the show may have looked differently or never been green lit at all.
I have the feeling that Star Trek: Phase II would not have run very long without the participation of Shatner and Nimoy and that we would talk about two live action series and not five live action series.
L
Lord Garth
Guest
Re: How would Trek as a whole have been affected if Phase II had been
If we had Phase 2, there wouldn't have been a movie series. There would also be more Star Trek than just the same three seasons over and over and over again. Therefore, no TNG. In turn, no DS9, VOY, or ENT.
Phase 2's rival series would've been Battlestar Galactica. Phase 2 wouldn't be cancelled because, like Voyager, it would've been carrying a network. Maybe Galactica might've lasted longer as a response to Phase 2 but it still might've been cancelled early because of how expensive it was.
If BSG is anything to go by, then Phase 2 might've also been considered very expensive and it might've only lasted just long enough to be 100 episodes. Star Trek would've ended sometime in the early-'80s by which time there would've been other series already developed and established that could carry the network.
Then, sometime in the '90s, Star Trek would've been remade into a movie. Maybe around the same time as Lost In Space. We still would've gotten the same type of movie JJ Abrams is making, it just would've happened 10 years earlier.
In the 21st Century, Star Trek would've been revived again except this time as a series on the Sci-Fi Channel. I'm pretty sure this will end up happening eventually anyway. TPTB aren't likely to do syndication again, and probably not CW or CBS, so Sci-Fi seems like the most likely next step.
If we had Phase 2, there wouldn't have been a movie series. There would also be more Star Trek than just the same three seasons over and over and over again. Therefore, no TNG. In turn, no DS9, VOY, or ENT.
Phase 2's rival series would've been Battlestar Galactica. Phase 2 wouldn't be cancelled because, like Voyager, it would've been carrying a network. Maybe Galactica might've lasted longer as a response to Phase 2 but it still might've been cancelled early because of how expensive it was.
If BSG is anything to go by, then Phase 2 might've also been considered very expensive and it might've only lasted just long enough to be 100 episodes. Star Trek would've ended sometime in the early-'80s by which time there would've been other series already developed and established that could carry the network.
Then, sometime in the '90s, Star Trek would've been remade into a movie. Maybe around the same time as Lost In Space. We still would've gotten the same type of movie JJ Abrams is making, it just would've happened 10 years earlier.
In the 21st Century, Star Trek would've been revived again except this time as a series on the Sci-Fi Channel. I'm pretty sure this will end up happening eventually anyway. TPTB aren't likely to do syndication again, and probably not CW or CBS, so Sci-Fi seems like the most likely next step.
Re: How would Trek as a whole have been affected if Phase II had been
Had "Phase II" debuted, odds are we would have been tortured with a disco version of Sandy Courage's score!
Remember this would have been 1978, the height of the disco craze. To get a perverse idea what it minded sounded like, here are the opening credits to the short lived NBC series "Quark" (no relation to the barkeep Ferengi).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeF098PsHMs
(I will admit I liked Quark's use of NASA animations for the opening visuals.)
Sincerely,
Bill
Had "Phase II" debuted, odds are we would have been tortured with a disco version of Sandy Courage's score!
Remember this would have been 1978, the height of the disco craze. To get a perverse idea what it minded sounded like, here are the opening credits to the short lived NBC series "Quark" (no relation to the barkeep Ferengi).http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeF098PsHMs
(I will admit I liked Quark's use of NASA animations for the opening visuals.)
Sincerely,
Bill
Re: How would Trek as a whole have been affected if Phase II had been
I think the real effect of a Phase II series would have been unfortunately to make it seem more impossible that there could be a Different Cast, even a Different Ship, as the focus for more than the setting up of the crisis this episode. Just making The Next Generation required overcoming a lot of skepticism; how bad would it be with three seasons of the first show, two of the cartoon, and then (let's say) two more seasons of Phase II?
But if you want a really good what-if, what if Assignment: Earth had been picked up? Even if it only lasted for a year or two, it would be this present, unavoidable, canon-enshrined lump of a wholly different genre that fandom would have grown around and would have embraced because how much other Trek was there to work from in the first twenty years of the fandom?
Well, I preferred Ferrante and Teicher's take on it, but there's some decent enough disco covers of the Star Trek theme out there; one that comes up on a none too difficult search is from Galactic Force Band at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDCAJhLqiXsHad "Phase II" debuted, odds are we would have been tortured with a disco version of Sandy Courage's score!
I think the real effect of a Phase II series would have been unfortunately to make it seem more impossible that there could be a Different Cast, even a Different Ship, as the focus for more than the setting up of the crisis this episode. Just making The Next Generation required overcoming a lot of skepticism; how bad would it be with three seasons of the first show, two of the cartoon, and then (let's say) two more seasons of Phase II?
But if you want a really good what-if, what if Assignment: Earth had been picked up? Even if it only lasted for a year or two, it would be this present, unavoidable, canon-enshrined lump of a wholly different genre that fandom would have grown around and would have embraced because how much other Trek was there to work from in the first twenty years of the fandom?
