"Star Trek" The Cage (1966)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Robert Butler

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (creator)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

September 1966 (Season 1, Episode 0)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Capt. Pike is held prisoner and tested by aliens who have the power to project incredibly lifelike illusions.

Plot Keywords:

Illusion | Spacecraft | Pilot Episode Has Different Cast | Hell | Teleportation

Cast

Jeffrey Hunter	...	Captain Christopher Pike
Susan Oliver	...	Vina
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
Majel Barrett	...	Number One
John Hoyt	...	Dr. Phillip Boyce
Peter Duryea	...	Lieutenant Jose Tyler
Laurel Goodwin	...	Yeoman J.M. Colt

Runtime:

64 min | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Trivia:

During pre-production make-up tests, the Orion Slave Girl footage (with Majel Barrett acting as a stand-in for the not-yet-cast Susan Oliver) kept returning from processing with the character's green skin changed to Caucasian. Initially believing that the green makeup was somehow failing to show up on film, the producers learned that the developers at the processing lab hand-corrected the color, believing it to be a processing error.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Pike retreats up the stairs from the warrior on "Rigel VII", you can see the blade of his spear bend as it pushes against the warrior's chest.

Quotes:

Captain Christopher Pike: If you were in here... wouldn't you test the strength of these walls too? There's a way out of any cage, and I'll find it.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Star Trek: The Menagerie: Part II (#1.12)" (1966)

Cerebral Confusion At NBC and Everywhere Else

I went to a Trekie revival in the late 1970's hosted by Gene Roddenberry, in person, the series creator. When I first saw this listed here, I was confused by the September, 1966 air date. This episode never aired on NBC or any network originally. If it has been shown intact, it has only happened in later years.

At this revival, Gene showed only the black and white version of this as at that point, the color one had been lost and all he had was the black and white. It was shown on a large arena screen and was on film. He talked about the fact it had never aired and that NBC had decided against running this series based on The Cage.

Gene used The Menagerie two parter as a way to air the pilot later. When the series began, it did not air first. He said that his purpose for the series went totally over the NBC execs heads. That is no surprise as NBC often was the second place network and sometimes fell to number three of three during the late 1960's.

Gene Roddenberry originally pitched this series to NBC as Wagon Train to The Stars, based on his experience writing westerns like Have Gun, Will Travel.Often success would come to NBC by accident. The accident here is that they gave Roddenberry a second chance to start this show.

That is what happened with Star Trek. Star Trek established the teenage generation following for NBC at the perfect time here as NBC would accidentally follow it up with other series this demographic liked. In no small part Rowan & Martins Laugh-In, an experiment in modern comedy-variety series succeeded because frustrated Trekies were looking for more network fare that was not conventional.

Star Trek's fresh, bold, where no man has gone before theme became a credo at NBC as they went very far out later to keep this audience for many years. The Cage is the ultimate place for all this to begin.