According to Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman’s “Star Trek” oral history “The 50-Year Mission: The First 25 Years,” the network was getting inundated with fan mail, much of which centered on the logic-bound Spock. Nimoy’s agent knew this, and requested a raise. Per “Star Trek” historian Marc Cushman:
“His agent said, ‘He’s only getting twelve hundred and fifty dollars a week and he needs a raise,’ but Desilu is losing money on the show and the board of directors was thinking of canceling it even if NBC wanted to continue because it was bankrupting the studio. So they said, ‘We can’t give you a raise,’ and they replied, ‘He’s not reporting to work.'”
When producer Gene L. Coon returned from vacation, series creator Gene Roddenberry informed him that they were bringing in a new Vulcan, who, according to Montaigne, essentially had a background identical to Spock. The filming of the second season was about to start when NBC came to their senses and realized it would be foolish to alienate their hardcore audience. Cushman categorized the network’s response thusly: “You are not doing the show without that guy. Pay him whatever you need to pay him to keep him on the show.”
Montaigne was hardly heartbroken. As he told Gross and Altman:
“I was working so much at the time that it didn’t really matter to me. The idea of joining the show was interesting. They made a very attractive deal. Not as much as Leonard was getting, but it was steady work and I wouldn’t have to go out and audition for roles. I’m one of those actors where I had three shots at series, but none of them worked out, for better or for worse. So I was not very upset or anything.”
Also, his “Star Trek” time would come.