Editing Star Trek: Phase II (section)

===Crew and production design===
The expectation was that the two-hour pilot film would be broadcast in February 1978, with weekly episodes following, broadcast in an 8 pm [[Eastern Time Zone|EST]] [[timeslot]] on Saturday nights.{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=22}}{{sfn |Shatner|Kreski |1993 |p=44}} [[Gary Nardino]], who was placed in charge of the new network, said that "''Star Trek'' was absolutely the lead horse of the new network. Because the advertisers recognized the strength of ''Star Trek'' in the syndicated market."{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=23}} Prior to commencing production on the new series, Roddenberry took a two-week vacation in order to rid himself of negative feelings about the way that production on the feature film had gone. He described his concerns saying that he did not want to "drag a corpse of anger, defeats and double-crossing behind me" onto the new show.<ref name=starlog12/> [[R. W. Goodwin|Robert Goodwin]] was placed in charge of developing the feature films that would follow each week's episode of ''Star Trek'', and the movie-length pilot as well. Roddenberry wanted to meet him, and despite Goodwin's lack of ''Star Trek'' background, he was convinced to be a producer on the series instead.{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=25}} Roddenberry described him as the "producer producer", in that Goodwin would deal with all the technical aspects of the production. For the screenwriting aspect of the production, [[Harold Livingston]] was recruited, who recalled that the technical/screenwriting split of the executive producer role was innovative for the time. Like Goodwin, Livingston had not previously worked on ''Star Trek'', but had worked on ''[[Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series)|Mission: Impossible]]'', a different [[Desilu Productions]] television series.{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=26}}

Roddenberry was given complete creative control over the new television project by Paramount, which had promised him that it would be able to make the project a "first-class effort" with the budget to suit.<ref name=starlog12/> [[Matt Jefferies]], who had worked on ''The Original Series'', was recruited as a technical advisor. He had designed the original USS ''Enterprise'' alongside [[Pato Guzman]], but was unwilling to give up a position on the television series ''[[Little House on the Prairie (TV series)|Little House on the Prairie]]'' for a 13-episode order on a new ''Star Trek'' series. Roddenberry was adamant that Jefferies was the right person to update the ''Enterprise'', and agreed a position that the designer could advise the new show, but would have to choose between it and his main duties on ''Little House on the Prairie'' if the ''Star Trek'' work started to interfere. This occurred quite quickly, after Jefferies conducted design work on the new version of the ''Enterprise'' at a hotel in [[Tucson, Arizona]], while on a location shoot for ''Little House on the Prairie'', and could not attend meetings with Roddenberry and the producers in Los Angeles. He recommended [[Joseph R. Jennings]] as the main art director on the series; Jennings had worked for Jefferies during the [[Star Trek: The Original Series season 2|second]] and [[Star Trek: The Original Series season 3|third]] seasons of ''The Original Series''.{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=26}} Jefferies' re-design of the ''Enterprise'' was based on the principle that the technology was updated over time, but the general silhouette remained the same. He highlighted that the engines would specifically be designed to be replaced, so the external design of them was completely changed. Brick Price Movie Miniatures was hired to produce the physical models of the vessel in two sizes, an {{convert|18|in|cm|adj=on}} version for long shots, and a larger {{convert|5|ft|m|adj=on|abbr=}} model built by Don Loos cast in moulds of [[fiberglass]].{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=27}} Other models were built specifically for the pilot film included an open frame orbital drydock, tetrahedron shaped models for a space office complex and space taxi, and the golden head and neck of the impossibly long "Vejur" space entity.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Reeves-Stevens, Judith.|title=Star Trek, phase II : the lost series|date=1997|publisher=Pocket Books|others=Reeves-Stevens, Garfield, 1953-|isbn=0-671-56839-6|location=New York|oclc=36358128}}</ref>

Only a few former ''Star Trek'' crew members were recruited. Costume designer [[William Ware Theiss]] began working on new designs for the Starfleet uniforms, some based on his creations for ''The Original Series'', others being a radical departure. Michael Minor—who had created set decorations and props for ''The Original Series''<nowiki/>' third season—was brought in as a production illustrator, working with Lee Cole in the Art Department under Jennings.

Other creations that were updated included the [[phaser (Star Trek)|phaser]], which were built to the same design as in the previous series, but were built out of [[aluminium]] instead of the fiberglass resin props used before. The battery packs were detachable, and contained actual batteries that activated strobe lighting on the main body of the prop.{{sfn|Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens|1997|p=29}} Technical advisers were recruited, such as [[Marvin Minsky]], of [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], and his wife Gloria Rudisch.{{sfn|Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens|1997|p=36}}

Set production was underway by the start of August, with stage 8 on the Paramount lot designated as the "planet set", while stage 9 was where the ''Enterprise'' sets were located. By August 9, the foundations of the bridge set was built, with a plaster mould used to produce fiberglass "skins" for the various prop consoles and walls.{{sfn|Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens|1997|p=37}}

By August 16, Livingston had held pitch meetings with more than 30 writers who were interested in scripting episodes of ''Phase II''.{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=39}} Some of these, such as [[Theodore Sturgeon]], [[David Gerrold]] and [[Norman Spinrad]],{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=39}}{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=46}} had previously written episodes of ''The Original Series''. Also pitching to write an episode was ''Star Trek'' actor [[Walter Koenig]].{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=39}} In order to have the scripts delivered in an efficient manner, Roddenberry decided that he wanted all the scripts for the first batch of episodes completed prior to filming began on the pilot. He was confident that because of ''The Original Series'', that the writers would not have difficulty in writing new scenes with already established characters.{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=44}} However, Livingston and the writers did not know how the new characters would relate to the original ones.{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=45}} Despite this, Roddenberry claimed at the time that the relationships between the characters would take time to be built over the course of several episodes, and that fan reaction to certain characters and events would define how frequently they would appear.<ref name="starlog12" />

By September, it had become apparent that they needed to hire a [[story editor]]. Roddenberry's assistant, [[Jon Povill]], had already been conducting these duties on a script entitled "[[The Child (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|The Child]]", and so Livingston suggested that Povill should be recruited in that role permanently. Roddenberry disagreed, but Livingston threatened to quit unless Povill was hired. Povill was subsequently recruited as story editor, but Livingston said that this action was the one that caused a breakdown in the relationship between Roddenberry and himself.{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=45}}

The two-hour pilot film was to be based on a story outline Roddenberry had written for the aborted series follow-up to his 1973 [[Genesis II (film)|''Genesis II'']] TV movie. That story, titled "Robot's Return" featured a gigantic alien craft coming to Earth searching for its origin. [[Alan Dean Foster]], who had previously adapted episodes of ''[[Star Trek: The Animated Series]]'' in a series of short stories published in the ''Star Trek Log''s series of books,{{sfn |Reeves-Stevens|Reeves-Stevens |1997 |p=31}} was hired to adapt this story idea for ''Star Trek'' and in the process introduce the newly redesigned and refitted ''USS Enterprise'' and its crew, both old and new, as they confront a gigantic, aggressive, seemingly omnipotent alien intruder bound for Earth. With a looming production deadline and unable to find a suitable experienced TV writer to develop this story into a teleplay, Harold Livingston took on the writing job himself.