The Next Generation Role That Wasn’t Pavel Chekov

While “Star Trek: The Next Generation” is set 100 years after “Star Trek: The Original Series,” some “TOS” cast members appeared on the show. In the pilot, “Encounter at Farpoint,” a 137-year-old Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) visits the Enterprise-D and gives Data (Brent Spiner) some sound advice: “You treat her like a lady, she’ll always bring you home.”

Later, in the Season 3 episode “Sarek,” Mark Lenard guest-starred as the eponymous Vulcan ambassador, also known for being Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy) father. Spock himself then appeared in the Season 5 two-parter “Reunification,” where it’s revealed he’s moved to Romulus to try and bring the Vulcans and Romulans together again as one. After that, the former Enterprise Chief Engineer Scotty (James Doohan) appeared in the “Next Generation” Season 6 Episode “Relics,” having spent several decades trapped in a Dyson sphere. Finally, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) teamed up with Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) in the 1994 spin-off film “Star Trek Generations.”

That lineup leaves out George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), and Walter Koenig (Chekov), who died this past October right before Stewart did. The closest Koenig came to appearing on “The Next Generation” was in “Star Trek: Generations.” In a scene set in 2294, Captain Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov attend the maiden voyage of the Enterprise-B. But Koenig had a pitch to appear on “Next Generation,” which he shared in the October 1989 issue of “Starlog” magazine:

“I don’t want to do a walk-on. I have an idea for an opening moment. Somebody has just come aboard the ship. They’re talking about him in general. He turns around and it’s (my) face. They say, ‘Well, Commander Chekov.’ ‘No,’ I say, ‘Lt. Commander Chekov, Pavel Chekov’s son.‘ It’s a great opening.”

“Star Trek” is no stranger at all to reusing the same actors to play different roles, including across series. Majel Barrett (wife of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry), who played Nurse Chapel on the original series, also had a recurring part on “Next Generation” as Ambassador Lwaxana Troi, mother of Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis).

It’s worth noting that Walter Koenig specifically wanted a part worth playing — “Not a walk-on” as he put it. Joining “Star Trek” in Season 2, Chekov was invariably the most overlooked member of the cast. One of his biggest parts in the “Trek” movies was in “Wrath of Khan,” and that whole role is built on a continuity error: Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) and Chekov know each other even though Koenig wasn’t part of the “Star Trek” cast during Khan’s first appearance, “Space Seed.” Koenig later claimed he caught the error but, tellingly, stayed silent to protect his screentime.

Koenig often said he preferred his role on “Babylon 5,” a different sci-fi series where he played the sinister psychic Alfred Bester, over playing Chekov because Bester was a much more substantive role. Note that “Starlog” interview was in 1989, years before “Babylon 5,” so it’s no surprise he was hungry for meaty roles.

“Star Trek: Picard” Season 3 eventually used Koenig’s idea to give him a voiceover cameo as Anton Chekov, son of Pavel and the Federation’s president. (“Anton” doubles as a homage to the late Anton Yelchin, who played Chekov in the 2009 “Star Trek” film and its sequels.) Sadly, though, that sort of Easter Egg cameo is exactly the kind of appearance Koenig had said he didn’t want to settle for back in 1989.