After its first attempt at a television network failed, Paramount gave up on television. This decision further weakened the company, causing it to be taken over by the multinational conglomerate Gulf+Western. Sensing that television needed to be given a bigger profile within the company, Gulf+Western purchased Desilu Television from Lucille Ball and grafted it onto Paramount as “Paramount Television”. This busted down both symbolic and literal walls for the company; it forever married television with one of Hollywood’s oldest theatrical studios and brought Desilu Studios, which was next door to Paramount, behind its famed studio gates.
This began an unprecedented run of success. Building on Desilu’s titles and its wunderkind producer Garry Marshall, Paramount Television generated millions of dollars in revenue. It didn’t take long for company executives to wonder about how much more money the television operations would generate if it were Paramount- and not ABC, CBS or NBC- that owned the network its hit shows aired on. While Paramount couldn’t pull its programming off of the regular networks due to contractual obligations, it decided it could build a new network around one of the properties it purchased from Lucille Ball- Star Trek.
Originally produced by Desilu Productions for NBC, Star Trek was originally seen as being a failure. It only got a second season because Lucille Ball had gone to bat for it and a third season because its small but vocal group of fans did. It would get no reprieve or a fourth season, but by the mid-1970’s it had become a juggernaut in syndication, becoming one of Paramount’s strongest performers. Its ratings and profits rivaled Paramount’s newer hits, long after most shows from its time period would have already dropped out of syndication. The success of Star Wars only made Star Trek an even stronger franchise. Since NBC’s option on the show had long since expired, a new show could anchor a new Paramount Network. Star Trek: Phase II, a new sequel series, was announced alongside PTS: The new Paramount Television Service Network.
After a splashy announcement and a series commitment for Star Trek: Phase II, upper management at Gulf+Western soured on the idea, feeling that the network would lose too much money in its first year and would take too long to become profitable. The network was scrapped before it even launched and Star Trek: Phase II was up cycled into an actual feature film- Star Trek The Motion Picture.
