Origin
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry wanted to include a younger cast member, to appeal to teenage audiences. With a second season of Star Trek to be produced, Roddenberry interviewed Koenig on the recommendation of director Joseph Pevney. After casting Koenig, Roddenberry wrote a letter to Mikhail Zimyanin, editor of Pravda, informing him of the introduction of a Russian character, and an NBC press release announcing the character at the time stated that it was in response to a Pravda article. Koenig always denied the "Russian origin" story and said the character was added in response to the popularity of The Monkees' Davy Jones, and the character's hairstyle and appearance are a direct reference to this. Roddenberry had previously mentioned, in a memo to his casting director, a desire to have someone reminiscent of one of the Beatles or Monkees on the show.
The episode "Amok Time", which was the first episode aired during the second season, was Chekov's first television appearance. ("Catspaw", the first episode shot with the Chekov character, would be aired a month later to roughly coincide with Halloween). Because of budgetary constraints the character did not appear in Star Trek: The Animated Series.
Read more about this topic: Pavel Chekov
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