Star Trek: The Original Series had Leonard Nimoy not intervened. TOS was canceled in 1969 after three seasons, but the show became a pop culture sensation over the next few years in syndication. While it wasn't yet feasible to bring the show back in live action, NBC decided to produce an animated revival in 1973.
Star Trek: The Animated Series picked up where TOS left off, chronicling the latter stages of the Enterprise's five-year mission undertaken by Captain James T. Kirk. Many of TOS's writers returned to pen episodes of The Animated Series, and series creator Gene Roddenberry hoped the show would be a springboard for a full on live action revival. Despite the lofty intentions by the network and producers, the show almost made a fatal mistake with its voice cast.
Leonard Nimoy Made Star Trek's 1970s Animated Series Better
In the earliest stages of pre-production on The Animated Series, it was planned to only bring back a fraction of the TOS cast, with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and James Doohan set to return. ing players George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, and Walter Koenig were not originally planned to return. This infuriated Nimoy, who not only wanted to bring his friends back into the fold, but also noted the show was limited in its diversity by omitting Sulu and Uhura, flying in the face of Roddenberry's vision of a more diverse future.
Nimoy refused to take part in the series if the ing cast wasn't brought back on. Acknowledging they couldn't credibly make the show without Nimoy, the producers agreed, and Takei and Nichols were brought back as Sulu and Uhura. Walter Koenig's Chekov would not return, however, as the show's voice cast budget was already one of the largest in television history up to that point - though Koenig would write an episode of the series.
Is Star Trek: TAS Canon? (It's Complicated)
The Animated Series' place in Star Trek canon has shifted several times over the years. The original intent was for the show to be a direct continuation of TOS, fully part of canon. But once Star Trek was thriving again in the '80s, Roddenberry claimed TAS was no longer part of Star Trek canon, and that he'd soured on it over the years since it didn't directly reignite the live action franchise.
Despite Roddenberry's declaration, plenty of Star Trek episodes made subtle references to TAS in the '90s. More overt references followed in the modern Star Trek shows; Robert April was first mentioned as the Enterprise's original captain in TAS, which has been confirmed both subtly in Star Trek: Discovery and much more overtly in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Notably, Star Trek: Lower Decks has made a habit of referencing TAS about as often as any other Star Trek series. Star Trek: The Animated Series has a complicated legacy, but it's more than worthy of being part of the Star Trek story.