5 Star Trek TV shows that never saw the light of day

The Star Trek franchise will turn 60 years old in 2026, taking fans to worlds "where no one has gone before". However, not all of the projects in this franchise made it to the small screen. Despite starting on the small screen, some projects also made it to the big screen, resulting in the cancellation of a few TV projects.

But despite their cancellation, Trekkies are known for theorizing what the cancelled shows would've looked like even decades after scrapping. So, here are the 5 TV shows from the franchise that never happened:

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5 Star Trek TV shows that never happened:

Here are some of the scrapped shows Trekkies would find fascinating:

• Star Trek: Phase II

Officially announced in 1977, Phase II was supposed to continue The Original Series (TOS). Most of the cast and crew of the series, including Gene Roddenberry, were going to return for the series. But there was one notable exception to this cast: Leonard Nimoy's Spock was not going to return, for which the writers came up with a new Vulcan character named Xon (David Gautreaux).

However, Paramount decided later that the planned pilot for Phase II should be reworked into the plot of The Motion Picture (1979). Two more scripts for Phase II were also written, but later repurposed for The Next Generation. We finally learned more about Phase II in the August 2025 documentary, Lost Voyages: Phase II and the Rebirth of Star Trek.

"‘Lost Voyages: Phase II and the Rebirth of Star Trek’ chronicles the behind-the-scenes series of events when Gene Roddenberry attempted to create a sequel series to Star Trek. Scripts were written, sets were built, actors were cast, but it was all set aside when a feature film Star Trek: The Motion Picture was greenlit instead. This 30 minute documentary includes stunning CG recreations of sets and special effects models based on designs from the series concept artists and features interviews with crew from the show and esteemed Star Trek historians."

• Assignment: Earth

The season 2 finale of TOS introduced fans to a new character, Robert Lansing's Gary Seven, a 24th-century alien. He is sent back in time to protect Earth's history. The season 2 finale was initially planned to serve as a backdoor pilot for a spin-off called Assignment: Earth, led by Gary Seven and his human assistant Roberta Lincoln.

• Hopeship

Roddenberry, along with Darlene Hartman (writer), planned for another spin-off, Hopeship, during TOS Season 2. If Hopeship had made it to the screen, the series would have been a medical drama, separating itself from other projects in the franchise. Roddenberry intended Booker Bradshaw's Dr M'Benga as one of Hopeship's regular cast members.

• The Worf Chronicles

Michael Dorn played Worf in both Deep Space Nine and The Next Generation, suggested a spin-off for the fan-favourite Klingon almost a decade ago. He did so in a 2012 interview:

"I think he's a character that hasn't been fully developed and hasn't been fully realised. Once I started thinking about it, it became obvious to me that I wanted to at least put it out there, which I have, and the response has been pretty amazing. We've been contacted by different individuals – I can't say who and all that – about wanting to come on board."

However, Dorn cited the announcement of Discovery in 2015 as the indication that The Worf Chronicles was not moving forward.

• The Original Series reboot

Trekkies almost got a reboot of The Original Series in the early aughts, as suggested by Babylon 5 creator J Michael Straczynski. In 2004, the influential comic book writer suggested a reboot that had a plot similar to the 2009 movie. However, Straczynski revealed that Paramount wasn't interested in his suggestions.

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Which of these ideas are you disappointed that we are not getting? That being said, you can watch almost all entries in the Trek franchise on Paramount+.