The Cage (Star Trek: The Original Series) - Overview

Overview

"The Cage" had many of the features of the eventual series, but there were numerous differences. The Captain of the starship USS Enterprise was not James T. Kirk, but Christopher Pike. Spock was present, but not as First Officer. That role was taken by a character known only as Number One, played by Majel Barrett. Spock's character differs somewhat from that seen in the rest of Star Trek: he displays a youthful eagerness that contrasts with the later more reserved and logical Spock. He also delivers the first line in all of Star Trek: "Check the circuit!"

NBC reportedly called the pilot "too cerebral", "too intellectual", and "too slow" with "not enough action". Rather than rejecting the series outright though, the network commissioned — in an unusual and, at the time, unprecedented move — a second pilot. Because of what became an urgent need for a 16th episode to be delivered to the network to meet the original series commitment, most of the footage was used within the frame devised for the later two-part Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Menagerie" (leaving the pilot itself to revert to its earlier name of "The Cage"), preserving the series continuity. The episode "The Cage" is sometimes listed as episode 80 when shown. On the VHS home video releases, it was credited as episode 1.

The process of editing the pilot into "The Menagerie" disassembled the original camera negative of "The Cage", and thus, for many years it was considered partly lost. Roddenberry's black-and-white 16mm print made for reference purposes was the only existing print of the show, and was frequently shown at conventions. Early video releases of "The Cage" utilized Roddenberry's 16mm print, intercut with the color scenes from "The Cage" that were used in "The Menagerie". It was only in 1987 that a film archivist found an unmarked (mute) 35mm reel in a Hollywood film laboratory with the negative trims of the unused scenes. Upon realizing what he had found, he arranged for the return of the footage to Roddenberry's company. In some fan circles, this is disputed and alleged (incorrectly) that the black-and-white 16mm footage was simply colorized.

"The Cage" was aired for the first time in its entirety and in full color in late November 1988 as part of The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next, a two-hour retrospective special hosted by Patrick Stewart. It contained interviews with Gene Roddenberry, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman, Mel Harris, cast members from Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation, clips from both series and the Star Trek films I through IV with a small preview of Star Trek V. It was later rebroadcast on UPN in 1996 with a behind the scenes look at Star Trek: First Contact.

According to "The Menagerie", the events of "The Cage" take place thirteen years before the first season of Star Trek. No stardate was given.