Walter Koenig reveals he almost became a writer on Star Trek: The Next Generation until he realized "It was never going to happen." Koenig portrayed the iconic Pavel Chekov in Star Trek: The Original Series and in seven Star Trek movies. Koenig is also a talented writer who has penned episodes of television series like Land of the Lost and the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode, "The Infinite Vulcan."
While reviewing Star Trek: The Original Series' season 2's classic episode, "The Trouble With Tribbles" on The 7th Rule podcast, Walter Koenig told hosts Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk about issues he once had with the episode's writer, David Gerrold. After becoming friends with Gerrold, Koenig wrote for David's show, Land of the Lost, before Walter was invited to pitch stories for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Unfortunately, Koenig's bid to write for TNG got as far as Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Read Walter's quote and watch the video below:
He and Dorothy [Fontana] tried to get me on as a writer on Next Generation. So I pitched some stories to them, and they loved them. They loved the stories. No matter the friendship that’s involved, you say, well, they’re friends, so they liked them, it’s their ass on the line if the story isn’t good [and] they’ve supported the writer.
My sense was they really liked the stories, they thought they were worth doing. I bring this all up because the other producer, who I didn’t know… He also very much liked them. I pitched two or three stories. He said, “We’re going to do one of the three, for sure.” And so I went home saying, ‘That’s great.’ And then I get a call: “Gene [Roddenberry] wants to meet with you.” I said, “Okay.”
So I went back to the studio. Gene was very pleasant. We walked the lot. We sat down in the cafeteria, and I pitched the stories again. I finished one, then he went for his drink that he had. He sat a moment, then he said… “How do we get [Data] to the planet?” There’s a million ways you can get him to the planet… And then he asked me to tell the second story. And by now, I knew it was never going to happen. It just wasn’t going to happen. So that was the end of that. But both Dorothy and David Gerrold, and this other producer, were very, very generous in their approbation.
Why Walter Koenig Didn't Become A Star Trek: The Next Generation Writer
Being An Icon Of Star Trek: The Original Series Might Have Worked Against Koenig
Walter Koenig's bid to join Star Trek: The Next Generation's writers' room must have come around 1987, perhaps during production of season 1, which was after Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home in 1986. It's possible that Koenig being part of Star Trek: The Original Series worked against him. At the time, Gene Roddenberry wanted TNG to establish its own identity and didn't want references to 1960s Star Trek. Perhaps Walter Koenig was too closely tied to Star Trek: The Original Series, no matter how good his TNG episode ideas were.
Star Trek: The Next Generation season 1 had an infamously tumultuous writer's room, with multiple scribes joining and leaving the fledgling series. As Ryan T. Husk noted on The 7th Rule, Walter Koenig might have dodged a bullet by not joining TNG's troubled writers' room in season 1. TNG gradually righted the ship, first with Maurice Hurley becoming showrunner in season 2 before bringing in Michael Piller, who led TNG starting in season 3 to eventually become one of the greatest science fiction series of all time.
Our Take On Walter Koenig Not Becoming A Star Trek: The Next Generation Writer
What Were Walter's TNG Story Ideas?
Considering how appealing the idea of Leonard Nimoy directing Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and how well that worked out for Nimoy and for Star Trek, it's disappointing that Star Trek: The Next Generation didn't tap into the idea of Walter Koenig writing for TNG. Koenig has long been a treasure and resource that Star Trek has not fully utilized, either as an actor as Chekov, or, we learned on The 7th Rule, as a writer.
Walter Koenig's final appearance as Commander Chekov was in Star Trek Generations, the first movie starring the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
I'd love to know what Walter Koenig's Star Trek: The Next Generation pitch ideas were. One seemed to involve Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) on a planet. Koenig seemed to be caught in the behind-the-scenes politics of TNG, and it's a shame his attempt to contribute stories about the USS Enterprise-D came to nothing. Meanwhile, Walter Koenig provides his memories and insights about Star Trek: The Original Series on The 7th Rule, and it's regrettable that he couldn't creatively be a part of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
