The Real Reason Leonard Nimoy Didn't Want To Produce Star Trek: The Next Generation

When the people at Paramount decided that they were going to create another "Star Trek" show in the wake of the original series, they wanted to bring in some of the people who helped make the first show into a massive part of pop culture. They didn't want them on screen, necessarily, as the new show would be "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and they wanted to feature the next generation of Starfleet officers. But they did want some of the old team behind-the-scenes. One of the first people they asked aboard was Leonard Nimoy, who played Commander Spock on "Star Trek: The Original Series," as well as directing "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." (He also produced "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.") 

While Nimoy makes a lot of sense as a possible producer for "Star Trek: The Next Generation," he passed on the opportunity. Ultimately, the only work he did on the series was a guest appearance in the season 5 two-parter "Unification." Nimoy later passed on appearing in the 1994 film "Star Trek Generations" as well. But why didn't he want to be involved with the next phase of the franchise he helped build? 

In the book "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years" by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, Nimoy explained that he didn't want to be a part of "The Next Generation" because there was just too much work and too much at stake: 

"I was among the first people Paramount approached to produce the show, but I didn't want to do it. But not because I didn't think it was a good idea or anything like that. I just didn't want to be doing that for the next two or three years of my life. I did have mixed feelings about the series. Of course, anything was possible. It was a tough challenge. There were going to be constant comparisons. "

Nimoy had already spent a big chunk of his life dedicated to "Star Trek," so it's hard to blame him for wanting to do something different once his time with the original series was finally starting to come to a close. Not only that, but "The Next Generation" had a steep uphill climb because the show had to not only win over fans of the original "Star Trek," but try to make new ones as well. If "Next Gen" had been a carbon-copy of "The Original Series," it would never have worked, so maybe it was for the best that he decided to let someone else take control of things — someone with a new vision. 

Nimoy was instrumental in making "Star Trek" into the pop culture juggernaut it is today, and even helped change the course of the franchise forever with one improvised word in "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." But when it came to "The Next Generation," he chose to let a new team of actors, writers, and producers shape the next phase of the franchise. If it were up to franchise creator Gene Roddenberry, however, there might never have been a "Next Generation" at all.

While Nimoy was hesitant about the idea of a continuing "Star Trek" series, Roddenberry was vehemently against it. In fact, he only even agreed to work on the series in a fit of rage when Paramount hired someone else to take over and he felt they were ruining his original vision. Roddenberry would have trouble with pretty much every continuation of his original series, but thankfully plenty of other creatives have been willing to explore the incredible universe of Starfleet.