Desilu Desilu Productions , also credited as Desilu Studios , was the production company that started the " Star Trek " - franchise with the production of the , initially , un - aired 1965 pilot television episode , and the television series which began airing in September 1966 . History . Desilu Productions was formed in by Lucille Ball and her then - husband , Desi Arnaz . The name , a portmanteau of the couple ' s first names , was originally applied to the Ball - Arnaz ranch . The success of the television show " I Love Lucy " enabled Desilu to grow and expand throughout the 1950s . When RKO Pictures went bankrupt in 1957 , Desilu bought its studios and location facilities . They produced a number of shows , including " The Andy Griffith Show " , and also lent their facilities for various other projects , such as " My Favorite Martian " , " I , Spy " , " My Three Sons " and " The Untouchables " . In 1962 , Desilu signed a six - year agreement with Paramount to a show based on Paramount Pictures properties . After the breakup of the Ball - Arnaz marriage , Desilu remained successful . In , Ball bought out Arnaz and became the first woman ever to run a major Hollywood studio , albeit a reluctant one , as Ball was first and foremost an entertainer , and did not really want to be a business woman . It was shortly after her second marriage to comedian Gary Morton in 1961 , that she gladly left the minutiae of the studio ' s business and financial affairs to her new husband by naming him Co - Chairman of the Board of Directors . Her solo success continued unabated until , when Ball announced she would sell Desilu to Gulf + Western , which was formalized on . Like most Hollywood studios during the 1950s and 1960s , Desilu had a stable of annually - contracted actors and behind - the - scenes production staffers . Such talent moved from production to production as needed on the studio lot in question – though in slow times either employee could be " rented " out by the studio to other studios or production companies – , and were paid a fixed salary , usually determined by the powerful Hollywood labor unions , instead of a per - production fee . This labor system was a left - over stemming from the traditional " " , which was essentially outlawed by the US Supreme Court in 1948 for antitrust violation reasons . However , that entailed an industry reform which could not be achieved overnight ( television studios lagged somewhat behind the motion picture studios ) , and only in the late 1960s was the transformation in labor relationships from tenure to a per production contracted relationship between any studio and such employees completed permanently , meaning both production staffers and performers became independent contractors , free to offer their services to whichever studio required them . A notable " Star Trek " - related example was Majel Barrett , who at first began tenure at Desilu in . On the production side , it was Matt Jefferies , employed by the studio in 1960 ( and one of the staffers who was occasionally rented out ) , who had been the most notable " Star Trek " - related example . ( " " , p . 114 ) The transformation for Desilu was completed after it had become Paramount Television in 1967 . Howver , by , Desilu found itself in dire straits as " The Lucy Show " was the studio ' s only remaining self - made production , even though other shows were still produced on the studio lot as consignments from other production companies , such as the Bing Crosby Productions ' television series " Ben Casey " . Oscar Katz and his assistant Herb Solow ( soon promoted to studio production head in Katz ' stead ) were hired to search for writers with new and interesting concepts and develop them into series ideas , in order to safeguard the future existence of the ailing studio . ( " The Making of Star Trek " , p . 41 ) This the Katz / Solow duo did with much gusto , as evidenced by Katz proudly boasting at his first Desilu shareholders meeting in May 1964 , where he informed the assembly that no less than twenty - two television propositions were under advisement . ( " Los Angeles Times " , 14 May 1964 ) Amongst the ones contracted were two ambitious writer / producers : Gene Roddenberry with " Star Trek " and with " " . Both series went into production for the 1966 - 67 television season . ( " " , 1997 , pp . 5 - 14 ) Desilu had a first - refusal agreement with CBS ( which aired the Desilu produced television productions , including Ball ' s own " The Lucy Show " ) , which is why " Star Trek " was pitched to that network first . However , CBS refused to buy it , opting for ' s more family - oriented series , " Lost in Space " instead . When CBS passed on the show , only then was NBC approached . ( " Inside Star Trek : The Real Story " ) Yet , Katz and Solow were arguably too successful in their assignment , as the studio found itself unexpectedly confronted with the production of three expensive television properties , which aside from " Star Trek " and " Mission Impossible " ( ordered by network CBS ) , also included the western series " The Long Hunt for April Savage " ( ordered by network ABC ) , all of them brought in by Katz and Solow , where there had only been one before , the " The Lucy Show " show . The conservative board of directors ( the longer serving ones fiercely protective of their employer and known as " The Old Guard " or " Lucites " ) feared , not entirely unjustified , that the small studio would financially overstretch itself . Vigorously defended by Solow , and despite the fact that " Star Trek " series was already ordered by NBC , after the second pilot episode , , had been produced , virtually the entire Desilu Board of Directors voted to cancel " Star Trek " in February 1966 nevertheless , board member Bernard Weitzman being the sole exception . Yet , as Chairwoman of the Board , Lucille Ball had the power to override her board , and this she did with a mere nod of her head towards Solow . " " That was all Star Trek needed , " " as author Marc Cushman had succinctly put it , " " A nod of Lucille Ball . " " ( " " , 1st ed , pp . 32 , 94 ) One of the nay - sayers on the board , studio accountant Edwin " Ed " Holly , later conceded , " " If it were not for Lucy , there would be no ' Star Trek ' today . " " Ironically , the fears of the board were somewhat allayed by the subsequent cancellation of " April Savage " ( the pilot episode of which produced by Roddenberry ) by ABC in March 1966 after all . For all intents and purposes , and contrary to widely held beliefs in " Star Trek " - lore , this was factually the very first time that the " Original Series " came exceedingly close to cancellation . Desilu mainly operated on the facilities bought from RKO , which included the main Gower Street studio in Hollywood , next door to Paramount Pictures , where most of the regular " Star Trek " series was filmed ( on Stages 9 and 10 , which became Paramount Stage 31 and Stage 32 after the merge ) . It also consisted of a studio in Culver City , where the two " Star Trek " pilots were filmed , and the 40 Acres backlot – most famous for being " Mayberry " in " The Andy Griffith Show " – which served as a filming location for many episodes . The act of selling Desilu to Gulf + Western on 27 July 1967 , brought the studio under the same parent company as its next - door neighbor – Paramount Pictures . The event was commemorated the next day by a dramatic ceremony in which Ball cut a ribbon of film stock which had replaced a long - standing wall between the two production companies . At the time of the ceremony was being filmed . ( " Desilu : The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz " , p . 297 ) Lucille Ball left the Desilu lot the very same day , directly after the ownership transfer ceremony , never to return . " Star Trek " was a bone of contention in the transition between Desilu and Gulf + Western . Ed Holly once recalled a post - sale conversation he had with Charles Bluhdorn , chairman of Gulf + Western : " Just a week or so after the merger , when Bluhdorn had started seeing the cost figures , he called me in the middle of the night . All I heard was ' What did you sell me ? I ' m going to the poorhouse ! ' I said , ' Charlie , you must be looking at " Star Trek " and " Mission : Impossible " . Those shows are costing almost to the dollar what our projections showed they would cost . You and your people made the judgment that that was all right . " ( " Desilu : The Story of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz " , p . 298 ) For a brief time , Desilu continued to act as its own subdivision of Gulf + Western , but by , Gulf + Western fully merged Desilu with Paramount , being transformed into Paramount Television . This gradual transition resulted in several different forms of copyright for episodes of the second season of " Star Trek " . Hence , the initial episodes of the season bear a Desilu logo and copyright , while episodes of the latter half of the second season bear a Desilu logo but a Paramount copyright . Desi Arnaz . Desi Arnaz was a singer and actor best known for his starring role on " I Love Lucy " . He co - founded Desilu with his wife Lucille Ball . She bought his shares of the company in 1961 , three years before " Star Trek " joined their studio . His son - in - law , Laurence Luckinbill appeared as Sybok in .