Star Trek's Original Pilot Episode : The Cage
Series Review
When Star Trek was aired in the ‘60s it was very well received, but after the first season NBC decided to cancel the series due to low ratings. A successful fan campaign rescued the show and started an adventure that covered almost 60 years.
What most of the current fans of the Star Trek franchise do not know is the original pilot episode for the series. William Shatner, who moved to fame with his portrayal of the flamboyant Captain Kirk in the series, does not take part in this original pilot, since it involved a captain named Christopher Pike (portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter). After NBC officials did not like the original pilot since it was found to be too intellectual, they still had some confidence on the concept and asked for a second pilot episode (Where No Man Has Gone Before) which was successful. The original pilot was not shown for 20 years and it was aired as a gap-filler during a writers’ strike during the production of the next series in the franchise (Star Trek: The Next Generation).
All actors taking part in this pilot episode - except for Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock) have been replaced afterwards. Majel Roddenberry, who is the wife of the show’s creator Gene, portrayed the captain’s Number One, and stayed in the series as Nurse Chapel is another exception (She would dub the voice of the computer, then would play Lwaxana Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation).
In this episode, Starship Enterprise gets a distress call from a planet. When the crew reach the planet, they notice that the creatures on the planet have created a fictional world based on people’s imagination. They are trying to find a mate for the only human they are holding, using these dreams. While Captain Pike is imprisoned and goes under many experiments, his crew tries to rescue him.
After the series started, this pilot episode was extended to a two-episode story (The Menagerie) using new shots. They used the shots from the original pilot but they found a new actor to play the part of Captain Pike in his almost vegetative state later in the story.
It’s noticeable that the special effects are quite weak in this episode, due to the small budget allocated (although it is not logical to expect a lot of great special effects in this series shot in the ‘60s, the pilot episode is even weaker). Mr. Spock has pointed ears, but he is not mentioned to be a Vulcan. He is not completely logical yet. This property was given to Majel Roddenberry who played Number One. Warp effects are quite laughable. With all these shortcomings, the pilot episode is worth watching even only for the historical significance in the launch of the series - albeit not successful.
By the way, since Captain Pike is a very much liked character, he has been used in the 2nd season of Star Trek: Discovery and then was given a series of his own with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
