Star Trek: The Animated Series were added to the cast—claiming that Sulu and Uhura were of importance as they were proof of the ethnic diversity of the 23rd century and should not be recast. Nimoy also took this stand as a matter of principle, as he knew of the financial troubles many of his "Star Trek" co-stars were facing after cancellation of the series. Koenig was not forgotten, and later wrote an episode for the series, becoming the first "Star Trek" actor to write a "Star Trek" story. Koenig wrote "The Infinite Vulcan", which had plot elements from the original "Star Trek" episode "Space Seed"
Star Trek: The Original Series Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), the first African-American woman to hold such an important role in an American television series; the captain's yeoman, Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney), who departed midway through the first season; and Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett), head nurse and assistant to McCoy. Walter Koenig joined the cast as Ensign Pavel Chekov in the series' second season. In February 1966, "Star Trek" was nearly cancelled by Desilu Productions, before airing the first episode. Desilu had gone from making just one half-hour show ("The Lucy Show"), to deficit financing a portion of two expensive hour-long shows, "" and "Star