Noticeably different from what would now be recognized as oldschool star trek, the cage was rejected by tv networks and roddenberry was sent away to try again. Tos for the first time, so im excited to rewatch the original cast movies. The title of this episode the first installment of star trek ever produced was. The episode was not aired on tv until 1988, when it was used as a filler episode for star trek. The cage memory beta, noncanon star trek wiki fandom. Cbs has chosen the weekend before the release of the new star trek movie to put out the remastered version of the original star trek pilot the cage check local listings. Analyzis of the different versions of the cage the original. Mccoy and the uss enterprise crew seek out new civilizations in this seminal scifi series. Pike and watch as they put him through false imagined adventures. Once star trek was in full swing, roddenberry wanted to present the cage during the series run but couldnt conceive of a convincing story in which to integrate the pilot. The cage provides examples of the following tropes.
The cage is the first pilot episode of the star trek. The cage has more cohesiveness, and is a superb, standalone piece of science fiction. Back in 1965, a tv pilot was made for a new scifi series about a starship full of explorers called star trek. The podcast is continuing its examination of star trek. After developing the concept for star trek in the 1960s, gene roddenberry wrote the cage as the pilot episode for his brand new undertaking. The enterprise is lured to a planet by a repeating distress call. Before i do that though, i thought it would be a good idea to watch the original pilot in its full form, having only seen the version that was later edited in part into the season 1 episode, the menagerie. Star trek season 1 episode 1 star trek the cage star trek the original series. The next generation due to a writers strike serendipity writes the plot. The next generation and get the latest breaking news, exclusive videos and pictures, episode recaps and much more at tvguide. The original series the cage tv episode 1966 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. The cage page rare behind the scenes assets from star trek s first pilot this webpage is dedicated to the cage, star trek s first pilot.
In 2010, scifinow ranked this the third best episode of the original series. Feb 10, 2020 now for a limited time only, you can buy star trek. Susan oliver played the shipwrecked girl and the green orion slave girl in captain pikes fantasy thoughts, in the original pilot movie for the. A bold dip into original series canon goes a long way toward justifying bringing spock and pike into the discovery fold. Heres what you need to know about star trek pilot the. It treats the the cage as its own episode of tos, listing it independently of the menagerie and giving a separate plot summary for the version of events from the cage. Enterprise, kirks predecessor captain christopher pike tries to rescue an earth crew that disappeared eighteen years earlier. The entire regular star trek cast except for leonard nimoy and, though in a very different role, majel barrett. This is the first television series in the star trek franchise, and comprises 79 regular episodes over the series three seasons, along with the series original pilot episode, the cage. Now that the full episode is available, we can all enjoy it. In 2016, syfy ranked the cage as the fifth best out of six star trek tv show pilots, with star trek. It was completed in early 1965 with a date of 1964, but not broadcast on television in its complete form until late 1988.
The original script called for the aliens to be crablike arthropods. Mar 31, 2011 the cage is a unique entry in the star trek mythos, for what mightve been as much as what would survive and evolve not only with the original series but its spinoffs, as well. The entire regular star trek cast except for leonard nimoy and. The episodes are listed in order by original air date, which match the episode order in each seasons original, remastered, and bluray dvd box sets. The cage written by gene roddenberry directed by robert butler season 0, episode 1 unaired pilot production episode 614901 original air date. The episode was written by gene roddenberry and directed by robert butler. The episode was written by series creator gene roddenberry and directed by robert butler. Review the enterprise, under the command of captain christopher pike, responds to a distress call from talos iv, and captain pike gets captured by a race of telepathic beings this episode is the original pilot of tos.
Heres what you need to know about star trek pilot the cage. Pike and the crew find the aged survivors of a crashed spaceship. The original series, with an introduction and conclusion by creator gene roddemberry. Short, fan made edit of star trek the cage youtube. Star trek chasing after star wars by navelgazing at its past is one thing ive had concerns over pretty much since discovery was first revealed as a prequel, but finefinethe previously. Discovery, made some of the most consequential emotional changes to the star trek timeline since the next generation revised tasha yars death. A shapeshifting, saltcraving creature terrorizes the crew of enterprise air date. Captain pike of the enterprise is kidnapped by aliens who have mastered. This episode was the one that was created to show how the product was, but it seems that the company didnt liked it dont be surprised, superman was rejected at the beginning too and the episode was never. The cage is a unique entry in the star trek mythos, for what mightve been as much as what would survive and evolve not only with the original series but its spinoffs, as well. Enterprise, captain christopher pike and his starship crew receive a distress signal from the planet talos iv and beam down to investigate. With jeffrey hunter, susan oliver, leonard nimoy, majel barrett. Kirk, the crew of the starship enterprise delves deep into the far reaches of space to explore new worlds and civilizations.
The opening credits to the star trek pilot the cage. Now for a limited time only, you can buy star trek. She thought both episodes are more star trek than anything else that has been conceived and pure star trek. The cage, with a teleplay written by gene roddenberry, was ahead of its time. Compare with the original cgi version of this episode to learn more. The cage was also the last of the digitally remastered tos episodes to air, debuting the week before star trek 2009 opened in theaters. However, its also a noncanonical imaginary elseworld story in trek terms.
This episode never aired, but some scenes were used in the twopart original. Eventually, the pilots name was changed back to the cage after the original series incorporated footage from this pilot into an episode and named that the menagerie. Dec 18, 2016 svengoolie star trek the cage 91016 mratoz. The overall feel of the production, with its focus on space exploration, is reminiscent of star trek. If this is too pricey for your collection but you like nicely crafted star trek things, take a look at the star trek hip flask and klingon korkscrew. After being filmed by desilu studios, the episode was rejected by the nbc television network, remaining unaired until a film print of the episode was found and specially aired in syndication on the week of 4 october 1988, during a gap.
However, the crash and the survivors turn out to be illusions created by an advanced race of beings, with mysterious motives. Cage has been swapped into superman, indiana jones, jame bond, and many other films, and now into star trek. The menagerie resuled from salvage and costcutting. Its certainly more devoted to a pure sciencefiction highconcept than most episodes of classic star trek, and christopher pike seems like a closer relative to picard or even sisko than to the cowboy ways of captain james t. It turned out to be a memorable and nowclassic show, but it was really. Aug 29, 2016 the cage, was the original pilot episode for all of star trek and contained a certain elements that nbc thought were too much for viewers of the time. As pointed out by leonard nimoy, this week marks the 50th. May 01, 20 in a way, the cage actually feels more like an episode of star trek. The cage page rare behind the scenes assets from star treks first pilot this webpage is dedicated tothe cage, star treks first pilot. The cage, was the original pilot episode for all of star trek and contained a certain elements that nbc thought were too much for viewers of the.
Since the budget would not allow this, they were made into humanoids with bulging brains, beginning a star trek tradition. See more ideas about star trek, trek and star trek original. The color clippings were found in a film lab, and were used to restore the full color version of the episode. Heres what you need to know about star trek pilot the cage the. Dec 24, 2019 the cage, with a teleplay written by gene roddenberry, was ahead of its time. However, when the twopart episode the menagerie, part i and the menagerie, part ii which reused almost all the footage from this episode went into production, the title of this installment. Star trek the cage visual effects comparison redux. In tos history, captain pike was the captain of the enterprise prior to captain kirk as we learn in the first seasons twopart episode the menagerie. Join the conversation and connect with cbs s star trek. The title of this episode the first installment of star trek ever produced was changed in production from the cage to the menagerie. The visionary returned with where no man has gone before and the rest is science fiction. In a way, the cage actually feels more like an episode of star trek. For your perusal are recently restored clips, artwork, rare documents and deleted scenes. The iconic original gene roddenberry series that inspired a generation earned emmy nominations.
It was called the cage and its star was captain christopher pike, played by jeffrey. However, it immeasurably enhanced the trek universe by extending the history of the federation and the enterprise not to mention spock well into the futures past. Jul 01, 2010 the opening credits to the star trek pilot the cage. The official star trek web site, contains an official episode list for the original series. May 02, 2012 the cage has more cohesiveness, and is a superb, standalone piece of science fiction. Starring jeffrey hunter, majel barrett and leonard nimoy. How star trek wouldve been different with the cages. The episode is on disc 7 of the star trek season 3 dvd box set.
He soon came up with the idea of a framing story which saw spock on trial for his life in abducting his former captain, christopher pike, and transporting him to talos iv. The cage is the pilot episode of the legendary series, so this is a great offer for longtime fans and new viewers alike. The cage ist ein usamerikanischer sciencefiction fernsehfilm aus dem jahr 1965. If youve caught the latest episode of star trek discovery season 2. Plus, you can also watch the entire series for free if you have prime. Pike is held prisoner and tested by aliens who have the power to project incredibly lifelike illusions. Star trek season 1 episode 1 star trek the cage youtube.
Ai puts nic cage into star trek and writes tng episode. Those first three names, after all, were the crew from the cage, the original, unaired pilot for gene roddenberrys star trek. Celebrate star treks 50 th anniversary by revisiting where it all started, in this oneofakind storytelling style. The cage pilot movie download download star trek the original series. Photoartist john byrne puts his skills to use in a unique way in this extra extralength tale, reinterpreting and adapting the original star trek episode the cage to comicbook form. It treats the the cage as its own episode of tos, listing it independently of the menagerie and giving a separate plot summary for the version of events from the cage tos 001 season 1, episode 0. She tells the talosian magistrate that it is wrong to create a whole race of. In 1997, majel barrett named the cage as her favorite episode of tos, along with the city on the edge of forever. Mccoy and the rest of the enterprise crew embark on a fiveyear mission of space exploration. When the menagerie was first broadcast in 1966, it occupied half of the four star trek slots for the month of november. Mar 04, 2015 the cage written by gene roddenberry directed by robert butler season 0, episode 1 unaired pilot production episode 614901 original air date. In 2017, inverse recommended the cage as essential watching for star trek.
Having finished tng, we are moving on to cover a small selection of original series episodes. Spock risking his career to care for his injured and elderly former captain, was the original series first and only twopart episode. Analyzis of the different versions of the cage the. The original series, view video clips and full episodes on. So without further ado, here are the two different drafts for the original pilot episode of star trek. The cage in particular, there are no qualifying statements to indicate that the. Captain pike of the enterprise is kidnapped by aliens who have mastered illusion.