For All Mankind canonized Star Trek: Phase II in its alternate timeline

For All Mankind builds an alternate pop-culture history around its key divergence: the Soviets beat the Americans to the Moon in 1969. In Season 4 a line from Krys Marshall’s Danielle Poole — “I know you hate Star Trek, but you better get used to it because I’m gonna make sure that my grandbaby is a full-blown Trekkie.” — is followed by, “That’s right.

We’re gonna watch all the series. All three of them.” That throwaway moment raised questions about what a different Star Trek lineup might look like in the show’s 2003 setting. Creator Ronald D. Moore confirmed the three shows Danielle names are The Original Series, Star Trek: Phase II and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Moore described Phase II as “the show that never happened in the ’70s,” noting that Gene Roddenberry originally planned a live-action revival in that format. In our timeline the revival took the form of The Animated Series and Paramount later pivoted toward TOS-era films; in For All Mankind, Phase II was actually produced as a live-action series.

all mankind, star trek, phase ii, danielle poole, krys marshall, moore, original series, next generation, soviets, 1969