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Star Trek fans’ hopes of seeing a version of Norman Spinrad’s lost Star Trek script, He Walked Among Us, have been dashed, following intervention by CBS.

The story, written to feature a guest starring role by Milton Berle on the original series, was rediscovered late last year, and fan film group Phase II announced they were planning on filming it, with producer James Cawley intending to direct the story himself. However, according to The New York Times, CBS has now sent Cawley an email asking him to cease and desist.

“We fully appreciate and respect the passion and creativity of the Star Trek fan and creative communities,” CBS said in a statement. “This is simply a case of protecting our copyrighted material and the situation has been amicably resolved.” They also requested that Spinrad not sell copies of the script on the internet.

Cawley told the paper,  “I’m not going to do anything that might be questionable. I have such a good relationship with CBS that I can call them anytime and ask, ‘Is this a problem?'”

Spinrad said in a statement, “I and CBS have agreed to resolve our disputes concerning the ownership of the Work; as part of the settlement between the Parties, the Parties have agree that there will be no further comment; and CBS is considering opportunities to offer licensed copies of the Work. Because of the above, I can no longer comment on  the He Walked Among Us screenplay myself. But I can still respond to general questions about screenwriting and si (sic) forth on this page.”

Norman Spinrad wrote The Doomsday Machine, one of the most highly-regarded episodes of the original series. According to his website, the screenplay for He Walked Among Us “was commissioned by Gene Roddenberry as a vehicle for Milton Berle as a serious actor and he also sent me to an overgrown backlot village set he wanted to to try to write into the script too. It was written in 1967 and lost for 45 years.

“This original version was rewritten into an unfunny comedy by the line producer Gene Coon apparently unaware that Uncle Miltie was also a serious dramatic actor and a good one. It t was so bad that I complained to Roddenberry.

“‘This is so lousy, Gene, that you should kill it!’ I told him. ‘You can’t, you shouldn’t, shoot this thing! Read it and weep!’

“Gene did, and he agreed with me. I killed my second Star Trek, which, down through the years has cost me tens of thousands of dollars in lost residuals.”