Newly discovered screen tests and footage for Star Trek Phase 2 sequel

Welcome to the party.

Think I agree with these guys in the comments

I'm dubious about Phase II. On the one hand there's a little part of me that would love more Original Series -- and every indication, from test footage and set photos, is that from the sets to the costumes what we'd have gotten in Phase 2 would have looked less like The Motion Picture and more like a subtle update of the 1960s show. One can imagine whatever episodes of Phase II that got made being close enough in visual style that they'd probably have been added into the 79 episode syndication package as though they were simply a long awaited fourth season....

However, there is a long history of 'After Shows', as distinct from revivals, spin-offs or sequel series. Galactica 1980 was one such show attempting to straddle a line between reviving Battlestar Galactica and presenting a sequel, but to say it wasn't exactly well recieved is an understatement. A small part of me fears that Phase 2, particularly a Phase 2 without Leonard Nimoy at a time when honestly the guy with the pointed ears was one of the things everybody knew about, I know the rest of the cast were present but I wonder if Spock's absence would have been too big a hole to fill for some. The other new characters -- Ilia and Decker -- were also wild cards, especially as one of the stated plans was that with Shatner's hefty salary they might shuffle Decker into the center seat at some stage. Casting would've been critical, and if they bungled that introduction then there's every chance Phase 2 could have been 13 episodes and done. Star Trek would be two-times cancelled, and no-one would try and third. Until maybe the 1990s when we went through that short lived craze of doing movies based on beloved 1960s shows (Brady Bunch, Beverly Hillbillies, Lost In Space, Addams Family etc).

So, maaaybe Phase 2 becoming The Motion Picture is, ultimately, what saved the franchise an embarrassing death.

But there's still a small part of me that would love to crossover to that alternative universe where it was made, and we got more Classic Era television Star Trek....

think you hit the nail on the head! Had they gone through with the TV show, so much would've been hinged on the writing and how they managed the cast (to Shat or not to Shat... and also maybe they'd get lucky with their begging in getting Nimoy back). From what they built and what we can see, it would've been significantly different from TOS, especially if they succumbed to late-70s hairstyles and suddenly it's okay to have a hair helmet or a Farrah Fawcett cut in Starfleet. Syndication wouldn't care, of course.

But considering "The Child" was one of the planned episodes... yeah, I'm thinking less TOS and more Battlestar Gallactica/Space: 1999/etc. etc. "weird hamfisted metaphors for real life done not subtle at all and/or wacky aliens in silver suits." Good stuff and I like it, but TOS could be next level (of course TOS could be what I just said, but it could also be "The City On The Edge Of Forever" or "The Balance Of Terror"). TNG swallowed through its first two seasons (with bright moments of course) in part because the fanbase was there and it had already expanded into a bigger franchise. If that was the only Star Trek and ten years earlier... yeah, it'd be doomed.

The alternate universe 1990s "remake the classic show with our 'evolved' sensibilities" movie would be interesting to see... I'd err toward the "omg serious sci-fi" style ala Lost In Space, which would've been cool to a tiny 1990s me and hilariously bad now. Portmanteau of "Star Trek 2009" and "Star Trek: First Contact," I'd reckon.

It'd be a world far worse for it, I think, as opposed to the careful continuity following for 25 years by a bunch of Star Trek nerds (grant it, not everybody involved in the TNG/DS9/VOY era was)... if only that were still so post-2009.