Star Trek

I think that TOS would have continued to grow and improve with each season just as the other shows did.

FYI - Sulu's first name is Hikaru.

The regular universe in TOS was already pretty damn strange! What more do you want? They had Greek gods, gangsters, giant space amoebae, floating cities, tribbles, that planet where everything was moving faster, the people who wanted Spock's brain, body-swapping machines, Nazis, gladiators, the Gamesters of Triskelion...the list could go on and on. TAS was pretty weird as well. They didn't need another "stranger" universe, unless they wanted to make the audience's heads explode.

I dont count most of what you list as particularly `strange' - it certainly wasnt really ground-breaking, SF-wise. Instead most of the plots relied on tried and tested SF themes that were old-hat by the 40s! I still love TOS, but am not blind to its faults.

Yes, we know that NOW but it hadnt been revealed back then, and wasnt for a good number of years.

Well, hell, not everyone watched TOS (which, of course, is the main problem in the first place), so that really doesn't strike me as much of an excuse for anything.

TAS was on NBC, just like TOS, Saturday mornings, not too early, not too late, if memory serves, and even managed to not get pre-empted very much, so what's the frelling excuse for not being able to see it?

As a side note, a fourth season very nearly happened for real.  CBS was interested in picking up the show, provided Leonard Nimoy was still available for Spock.  Unfortunately, he'd already bolted for Mission: Impossible and the deal died.  I'd like to think CBS would've treated the show better, and maybe convinced Paramount to do likewise, but we'll never know...

I wish the 4th season  had an ongoing story arc, something with the Romulans or the Klingons and some old foe returning (like Rojan). And more character development for the big 3 Kirk, Spock, McCoy and for the supporting cast Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Nurse Chapel, Kyle and Janice Rand to return.

I can dream...

The show was cancelled because it was give the "death spot" on Friday nights.  The company simply wanted it gone.  And it might be interesting to note that Star Trek wasn't renewed because the CEO's wife wanted another show to continue.  *shakes head* Sad that he wouldn't make his own decision, right?

His wife was a Klingon!

Did you know that they were going to do an episode introducing McCoy daughter Joanna. It is unfortunate that they didn't. Since, it was mentioned in the new movie that McCoy was divorced.  Hence, in the original series, he always sported that pinky ring. And I have the Gold Key comic, but there it states that McCoy's daughter's name was Barbara I believe....It is too bad they didn't finish their five year mission...

Another story there were planning to do I believe was a story that is being filmed for the Star Trek Phase II web series...It is called Mind Sifter. I would have loved it, if that had been allowed to do that story. It is in Star Trek New Voyages Series...book number two I believe....

 Shirley Maiewski who has passed away I believe is the author.

Here is the summary....Shatner would have been perfect in this....

Summary

In the story Kirk is tortured (offscreen, the story starts in the aftermath) by Klingons to get information about time travel and then stranded on 1950s Earth, where he ends up mostly amnesiac and unresponsive in a mental hospital, with some brutal orderlies and a caring nurse who falls in love with him. Eventually he gets rescued by McCoy, Chekov and Spock.

Here is the image for the episode they are filming...

The poetry nut I am...I wrote a poem.

Alone in the past.

Not knowing who you are?

Fragments of memory.

Dreams that invade your sleep.

A ship that sails through the night.

A man who stands by your side.

Never shall he stop to find you.

And bring you home.

So you see Spock is Captain, now...since they can't find Jim....the only problem with the story was the fact that the Enterprise continued its mission for a year before finding Jim....a bit too long of a gap...I think...so it didn't work...but..I am excited to see how it will turn out on the web series..

The script featuring McCoy's daughter, orginally titled "Joanna", eventually mutated into "The Way To Eden", with Joanna McCoy turning into Irina Galiluin.

D.C. Fontana removed her name from the script, going with her pseudonym, "Michael Richards" (no connection with Kramer from "Seinfeld"; she coined the name by combining the names of her two brothers, Michael and Richard).

Wow, really. Didn't know that...Thanks for letting me know. Did you know that the actress who played Chekov's love interest, played in the web series Star Trek Phase II...The title was To Serve all my days...I think..

here is the link to the episode..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rBV4k5F5BU

I think the 4th season of TOS would have been good. I know some of the episodes of the animated series were originally meant to be 4th season (and even later 3rd seaon) TOS episodes. It's the same with that Star Trek Phase 2. There were also a few others, never filmed. And, if I'm not mistaken, even some TNG early episodes were originally meant to be 4th season TOS ones. There e.g. probably wouldn't have been an animated series.