Space Voyages

Space Voyages is an American science fiction television series created by Roger Canterbury that follows the adventures of the starship SS Constitution (registry) and its crew. It later acquired the retronym of Space Voyages: The Original Series (TOS) to distinguish the show within the media franchise that it began. It followed the voyages of the crew of a space exploration vessel built by the Association of Worlds. In creating Space Voyages, Canterbury was inspired by C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series of novels, Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels, the 1956 film Forbidden Planet, and television westerns such as Wagon Train. 
The show is set in the Milky Way Galaxy in the 25th century (roughly 500 years after the date of production, circa 2465). The ship and crew are led by Commander Jeffrey R. Drake, First Officer and Chief Scientist Mrok, and Chief Medical Officer Beau Hatfield. The opening narration is said by the Commander in each episode's opening credits stated the series' purpose: "Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the spaceship Constitution. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before." 
The series was produced from September 1965 to June 1967. Space Voyages aired on USBC from September 9, 1965 to June 27, 1967. The Nielsen ratings while on USBC were low, and the network canceled it after two seasons and 55 episodes. Several years later, the series became a hit in broadcast syndication, remaining so throughout the 1970s, achieving cult classic status and a developing influence on popular culture. Space Voyages eventually spawned a media franchise consisting of several television series, feature films, and numerous books, games, and toys, and is now widely considered one of the most popular and influential series of all time.
Star Trek franchise
The Star Trek canon includes the Original Series, 11 spin-off television series, and a film franchise; further adaptations also exist in several media. After the conclusion of the Original Series, the adventures of its characters continued in the 22-episode Star Trek: The Animated Series and six feature films. A television revival beginning in the 1980s saw three sequel series and a prequel: The Next Generation, following the crew of a new starship Enterprise a century after the original series; Deep Space Nine and Voyager, set in the same era as the Next Generation; and Enterprise, set before the original series in the early days of human interstellar travel. The adventures of the Next Generation crew continued in four additional feature films. In 2009, the film franchise underwent a reboot, creating an alternate continuity known as the Kelvin timeline; three films have been set in this continuity. The newest Star Trek television revival, beginning in 2017, includes the series Discovery, Picard, Short Treks, Lower Decks, Prodigy, and Strange New Worlds, streaming exclusively on digital platforms.
Star Trek has been a cult phenomenon for decades. Fans of the franchise are called "Trekkies" or "Trekkers". The franchise spans a wide range of spin-offs including games, figurines, novels, toys, and comics. From 1998 to 2008, there was a Star Trek–themed attraction in Las Vegas. At least two museum exhibits of props travel the world. The constructed language Klingon was created for the franchise. Several Star Trek parodies have been made, and viewers have produced several fan productions.
Star Trek is noted for its cultural influence beyond works of science fiction. The franchise is also notable for its progressive civil-rights stances. The Original Series included one of the first multiracial casts on US television.
Star Trek is...
Star Trek is… was the first draft proposal for Star Trek: The Original Series that Gene Roddenberry created on 11 March 1964 as a television series pitch. After being turned down by executives of other production studios, it was in early April 1964 presented to Desilu executives Oscar Katz and Herb Solow, who picked up the proposition on behalf of their employer. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, pp. 13-23) It ultimately led to the production of the first pilot "The Cage". According to the draft, Star Trek is…
: "A one-hour dramatic television series.
: Action-Adventure-Science Fiction.
: The first such concept with strong
: central lead characters plus other
: continuing regulars."
The draft included the famous faux-Drake equation. It also described "Star Trek" as a " 'Wagon Train' concept," referring to the long-running western television series Wagon Train. This reference was recrafted by a writing pal from Roddenberry's early TV days, Samuel A. Peeples, who saw the draft proposal at a private dinner and coined the immortal phrase "Wagon Train to the Stars." Soon after, Roddenberry began pitching to production studios, and eventually appropriated Peebles' phrase as his own. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, 1st ed, p. 23)
Incidentally, the draft proposal turned out to be both the template as well as the first draft of the internal production document The Star Trek Guide, famed in Star Trek-lore under its denominator "The Writer's Bible". After the second pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was ordered by NBC, Roddenberry set to work compiling a heavily revised and expanded second draft which incorporated all the changes between the first and second pilot. It was the third draft of 17 April 1967, reflecting the changes between the second pilot and the first season of the regular series and compiled with the input of D.C. Fontana, which, unlike the second draft, was the one that was distributed in production circles at the start of second season, and which was the one that became ever known as "The Writer's Bible". (The Making of Star Trek)
== The setting ==
The transportation was the SS Yorktown (later renamed the USS Enterprise). The SS Yorktown was described as a "cruiser class" with a 190,000 ton gross. It had a crew complement of 203, and used space-warp drive ("maximum velocity .73 of one light year per hour"). It had a range of 18 years and was registered as a United Space Ship with Earth. The date was stated to be sometime in the future, possibly between 1995 and 2995. One of the key concepts of the show would be the "parallel worlds" concept. This stated that most of the planets would have a similar physical and social evolution to Earth. This concept was used in The Original Series as Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development. Because of the "parallel worlds" concept, they would be able to use existing studio sets, props, and costumes.
== The characters ==
Many of the characters were used by TOS and "The Cage":
; Robert M. April
: The 34-year-old "skipper" of the SS Yorktown. He was described as "a space-age Captain Horatio Hornblower." He was headstrong and believed in taking risks himself. However, unlike other great explorers he had great compassion for all, alien and Human alike. He evolved into Christopher Pike by the time of the first pilot, "The Cage". James T. Kirk was also described as being a "Hornblower-type" personality. Star Trek: The Animated Series and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds would revisit April as Pike's predecessor in the role of captain of the Enterprise.
; Number One
: The mysterious female executive officer, she was described as a slim, dark "in a Nile Valley way" and of uncertain age. She was expressionless, highly intelligent, and always cool under pressure. When Captain April left the ship, she would serve as "Acting Commander." The role was written by Roddenberry for his mistress, Majel Barrett from the very start. She appeared in the first pilot, but her mannerisms were assumed by Spock in the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". The moniker "Number One" was later used for Commander Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
; José Ortegas
: The South American navigator. He was tall, handsome, about twenty five years old and maturing. Famous for his Latin temperament, he has trouble with the navigation equipment, and believes that life itself is in a conspiracy to make his life difficult. He also tries and mostly fails to keep up the historical repute of Latin men as "lovers." His character was adapted, loosely, into José Tyler in the first pilot. The surname Ortegas would be revisited in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for the character Erica Ortegas, who similarly serves as helmsman on Pike's Enterprise.
; Phillip Boyce
: The 51-year old ship's doctor, "Bones" Boyce is described as the only "realist" aboard the Yorktown. He's known for cynicism and worldliness. He is more annoyed than excited by the crew's adventures. His character was directly adapted into the first pilot, and indirectly adapted into Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy in the series.
; Mr. Spock
: The alien "Mr. Spock" is the Yorktown's first lieutenant. He is the "working-level" commander in charge of overseeing and supervising the crewmen. His appearance is described as potentially frightening, with a heavy-lidded and somewhat "satanic" face, with a reddish hue and pointed ears. He might have been half-Martian. Despite his look, he had a quiet temperament. His only weakness would be his extreme curiosity to all things he considers "alien." His personality was combined with that of Number One in the second pilot and the series.
; Yeoman Colt
: The captain's yeoman, she was a blonde with a very womanly body shape. She wasn't dumb, but she was "disturbingly female" (or, as the Talosian Keeper put it, as possessing "unusually strong female drives"). She appeared in the first pilot, and was adapted into Yeoman Rand for the series.
== Captain's orders ==
Captain Robert M. April was assigned to the SS Yorktown, Cruiser-class, for a five-year mission of galactic exploration and class M investigation. He was to patrol the "ninth quadrant" which began at Alpha Centauri and extended to the "Pinial Galaxy Limit." The reasons for the patrol given were Earth security, scientific investigation, and assistance or aid to Earth colonies.
== Technology ==
Landings could be done using a small "recon rocket vehicle," and the audience would view them through "telescreens." A "telecommunicator" device would be used for communication between alien species and Humans. The cruiser would be armed with laser beams. The crew would be armed with special rifles and pistols that shot simple bullets, explosive projectiles, or hypodermic pellets which stun or tranquilize.
== The episodes ==
Many of the episodes evolved into the episodes used by TOS and later series:
; "The Next Cage"
: Captain April is caged like an animal, and offered a mate. This was adapted into "The Cage".
; "The Day Charlie Became God"
: A normal man accidentally gains infinite powers. It was adapted into "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "Charlie X".
; "President Capone"
: A "parallel world" set on a Chicago where Al Capone won the presidency. This outline was the basis of "A Piece of the Action", and went through several versions (including George Clayton Johnson's treatment, "Chicago II") before the actual episode was developed. [1]
; "To Skin a Tyrannosaurus"
: A modern man is reduced to stone-age level. This concept later appeared in TOS: "All Our Yesterdays", TNG: "Genesis" and ENT: "Extinction".
; "The Women"
: Some "hanky-panky" occurs when escorting a cargo ship of women to a deep space colony. This outline was the basis of "Mudd's Women". Also, vaguely similar to TNG: "The Perfect Mate".
; "The Coming"
: A parable about an alien condemned to crucifixion and his dignity around the subject. The idea of a religion parallel to early Christianity was used in "Bread and Circuses". The plot of TNG: "Transfigurations" is similar.
; "The Perfect World"
: The SS Yorktown lands on a supposed "perfect world," which appears similar to Earth ca. 1964. Only later do they realize that it is ruled by an authoritarian, Big Brother type; vaguely similar to "The Return of the Archons".
; "Mr. Socrates"
: The SS Yorktown discovers a planet which duplicates famous Humans, and then forces them into gladiatorial combat. This concept was used in TOS: "The Savage Curtain".
; "The Stranger"
: A "strange" alien intelligence begins to take over the minds of key crewmembers, in an attempt to fight a rival civilization. While similar to "Day of the Dove", this story much more closely resembles the later TNG and DS9 story concepts for "Conundrum" and "Dramatis Personae".
; "The Man Trap"
: The crew lands on a seemingly harmless planet, and begin to see apparitions. Eventually, they find that their wishes are being fulfilled in deadly ways. Despite the title, this story line had more in common with "Shore Leave" than with the episode of the same name.
; Camelot Revisited
: On Hermes II, a modern society exists, yet they contain many medieval characteristics, such as knighthood; vaguely similar to TNG: "Qpid" and VOY: "Heroes and Demons".
; "100 A.B."
: An exploration of a parallel world a hundred years after an atomic holocaust. The Enterprise visited a post-atomic war civilization in "The Cage". One of the three story drafts written by Roddenberry for the second pilot, "The Omega Glory" was based on 100 A.B., and by the end of the second season of TOS, "The Omega Glory" had been written by Roddenberry into a series episode.
; "Kentucky, Kentucky"
: An Earth colony in the Sirius group is reduced to fighting Viking-like savages in a "frontier" like community. The savage Klingons eventually appeared in "Errand of Mercy", where they invaded a primitive frontier community.
; "Reason"
: The crew visit the Isaac IV group, where they discover a group of sentient robots. Shares similarities with "I, Mudd".
; "Reason II"
: The story of the last Human survivors of the Isaac IV group, trying to take back control over the robots; similar to "I, Mudd".
; "A Matter of Choice"
: A world where the natives have the power to relive any portion of their lives over again. The implications of such a concept are explored, albeit in a radically different way, by TNG: "Tapestry".
; "The Radiant One"
: A love story with a woman from a "Garden of Eden" planet, except, because of her body chemistry, anyone who becomes her lover will die. Similar to "That Which Survives" in plot. Also, thematically similar to "The Way to Eden" in that death awaits those who find the Garden of Eden.
; "The Trader"
: The crew visit the oriental planet Satunii, that is strangely similar to the court of Genghis Khan. Though the plot itself was not used, Genghis Khan did appear in the series, in "The Savage Curtain". The notion of a rogue space traveler setting himself up as a leader over a world's natives appears in "I, Mudd", "Bread and Circuses", "Patterns of Force", and "The Omega Glory"
; "A Question of Cannibalism"
: The crew discovers that the colonists on Regulus are actually herding sentient beings, and face angry settlers when trying to free the "cattle." The idea of colonists accidentally destroying sentient beings is re-used in "The Devil in the Dark" and "Home Soil". Also, the idea of sentient beings used as a commodity by others appears in DS9: "Captive Pursuit". Roddenberry wanted to use this story outline as the basis of the first Star Trek feature film, when he approached Paramount with such an idea as early as 1973. Herb Solow commented, "Gene's story premise would have been rewritten, because it did not foreshadow an enjoyable night at the movies." (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, pp. 420-421)
; "The Mirror"
: The Yorktown discovers a duplicate Yorktown. Now they have to decide whether or not to destroy their counterparts. Somewhat similar to "Mirror, Mirror" and "The Enemy Within". A similar concept was also used in VOY: "Deadlock".
; "Torx"
: A strange alien being "devours" intelligence, and is headed straight for Earth; somewhat similar in concept to "The Changeling" and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
; "The Pet Shop"
: A world similar to St. Louis, 1910, except women are the masters and men are women's pets. The concept was revisited much later in TNG: "Angel One" as well as in Roddenberry's 1974 pilot Planet Earth and a similar idea, regarding Orion slave girls, was established in ENT: "Bound".
; "Kongo"
: A planet where the "Ole Plantation Days" still occur, yet the racial roles are reversed. Worse yet, the crew find themselves stranded on the planet as runaways. This idea was later developed by Barry Trivers as "Portrait in Black and White". Although multiple attempts were made to create the story work, it never got into a suitable form for the screen. According to David Gerrold's book The World of Star Trek, DeForest Kelley in particular hoped to see a story episode where McCoy and Uhura become stranded on such a planet. NBC program manager Stan Robertson dismissed the idea, calling it "far from the accepted Star Trek norm". (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One)
; "The Venus Planet"
: The crew discover a planet of women. The men become increasingly attracted to the women, and almost too late do they realize that there are no more men on the planet. The story bears a striking resemblance to both TAS: "The Lorelei Signal" and VOY: "Favorite Son".
; "Infection"
: A female crew member discovers that she may be pregnant with an alien larva. Likely formed the basis for the Star Trek: Phase II premise "The Child", which was itself then recycled into TNG: "The Child".
== Memorable quotes ==
: Star Trek offers an almost infinite number of exciting science fiction stories.
: Star Trek is a "Wagon Train" concept – built around characters who travel to worlds "similar" to our own, and meet the action-adventure-drama which becomes our stories.
: …far enough into the future for galaxy travel to be thoroughly established (happily eliminating the need to encumber our stories with tiresome scientific explanation).
: The "Parallel Worlds" concept is the key…"
: …something like three million worlds with a chance of intelligent life
: (referencing April) But, unlike most early explorers, he has an almost compulsive compssion [sic] for the plight of others, alien as well as human, must continually fight the temptation to risk many to save one.
: His name is "Mr. Spock". And the first view of him can be almost frightening – a face so heavy-lidded and satanic you might almost expect him to have a forked tail.
: Except for problems in naval parlance, "Colt" would be called a yeowoman; blonde and with a shape even a uniform could not hide.
: (from April's orders) …and the enforcement of appropriate statutes affecting such Federated commerce vessels and traders as you might contact…
: Where required, "alien" variations will be obtained via padding, wigs, and simpler makeup devices.
: Now and then, of course, we may spring a surprise variation, such as a fairly advanced civilization which clings to feudal armor and swords as a way of life.
: Crew uniforms are 'naval' in general appearance, attractively simplified and utilitarian.
Captain Christopher Pike
=== Background information ===
==== Identifying performers ====
Captain Pike was played by Jeffrey Hunter in the original unaired pilot, "The Cage", and in segments of archive footage from that episode which were included in "The Menagerie, Part I" and "The Menagerie, Part II". Actor Sean Kenney portrayed a disfigured Pike in the "The Menagerie" two-parter, because the part of a wheelchair-bound Captain Pike was a bit role in the context of the script and would not justify the expense of hiring back the more popular Jeffrey Hunter for such a small part, especially since he had moved on to other projects. Hunter's stunt double for the role, Robert Herron, made appearances in "The Cage" and "The Menagerie, Part II". In Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Christopher Pike was portrayed by Anson Mount.
==== Name and preliminary depictions ====
Christopher Pike was originally named Robert April, which was then changed to James Winter. (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, pp. 206 & 209) James Blish noted that the scripts for Star Trek's original unaired pilot, "The Cage", were "heavily revised in various handwritings and Pike confusingly appears from time to time as 'Captain Spring' and 'Captain Winter.'" A revised draft of the script for "The Cage", from 20 November 1964, listed him as Captain James Winter. [4] However, that moniker was used only briefly; the name change from James Winter to Christopher Pike was made on 25 November. (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 206)
An ultimately unused concept for the depiction of Captain Pike was suggested to Gene Roddenberry by "The Cage" Director Robert Butler. "I begged him to do […] a captain who had been out there for seven [years] […] but it all fell on deaf ears," Butler recalled. (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 101)
In the aforementioned script, Captain Winter was described thus; "Our first and most important impression is that he would not be completely out of place on the bridge of a naval cruiser in our own day. About thirty-four, he is a complex personality with a sensitivity and warmth which the responsibilities of command often forces him to hide."
Star Trek consultant and historian Larry Nemecek once claimed the character's full name, by the time the part was filmed for "The Cage", was changed to "Christopher R. Pike". Nemecek also suggested a holdover of the middle initial as a possible reason for why a tombstone commemorating Captain Kirk in TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is emblazoned "James R. Kirk", though his middle name was later established as "Tiberius". (Star Trek Monthly issue 98, p. 37) However, no canonical evidence provides Pike's middle initial as "R", or even states he had a middle name.
In reality, LeVar Burton knew, when he auditioned for the role of Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, that the name of the captain from the original Star Trek pilot had been "Christopher Pike". He used that knowledge to "break the ice" with John Pike, the President of Paramount Network Television, during the audition. (Stardate Revisited: The Origin of Star Trek - The Next Generation, Part Two: Launch, TNG Season 1 Blu-ray special features)
The American author Kevin McFadden (b. 1955) took "Christopher Pike" as his pen name.
==== Original casting ====
Trying to find a suitable lead actor for Star Trek was the most difficult factor in casting "The Cage". The role had several requirements. These included physical attractiveness, the ability to project a huge degree of personal warmth to increase the chances of likeability and, thirdly, believability in the part, such as by looking athletic and being convincing in a position of leadership. (Star Trek: The Original Series 365, p. 007; The Making of Star Trek, p. 111) By the time Star Trek started casting for the lead actor, so many other series were in production that there were very few performers available. Those who were could afford to be selective about what part they took. (The Making of Star Trek, p. 111)
Before Gene Roddenberry wrote "The Cage" (but once the captain's name was Christopher Pike), he asked Lloyd Bridges to accept Star Trek's lead role. (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 9; These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, "Chapter Three: Designing Star Trek"; Star Trek Encyclopedia (4th ed., vol. 2, p. 146)) "When I approached him with it," stated Roddenberry, "he said, 'Gene, I like you, I've worked with you before in the past, but I've seen science fiction and I don't want to be within a hundred miles of it…'" (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 9) Not only had Bridges seen science fiction, he had been burned by it. Less than two years had passed since Daily Variety had complained about an episode of The Lloyd Bridges Show wherein he had played an astronaut who landed on an alien planet. Thus, Bridges was not eager to participate in another outer space adventure any time soon. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, "Chapter Three: Designing Star Trek") Concerning the performer's anxious reaction to the prospect of featuring on Star Trek, Roddenberry noted, "I understood what he meant then." (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 9) This was because Roddenberry accepted that science fiction of the time was poor. Hence, he thought the choice Bridges made "wasn't a foolish move on his part." (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, p. 9) Roddenberry attempted to make a persuasive argument that he could do science fiction differently, but was not yet sure himself if he could manage to do so. (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 9) Ultimately, Bridges made it clear that he strongly believed appearing in an outer-space series would obliterate his future credibility.
Following Lloyd Bridges' rejection, Gene Roddenberry spent several weeks in search of a suitable actor to play the part. (Star Trek Memories, paperback ed., p. 41) "I came to realize […] that there just weren't a lot of actors who would do it," he related. "I was talking about what was in many people's eyes a silly show." (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 9) Nonetheless, many actors were considered. Roddenberry noted, "We went through a lot of film in casting the part." (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, p. 9) Several casting consultants submitted lists of names to Roddenberry, which he then analyzed. One such list was comprised of forty names, including the following:
: Nick Adams
: Jack Cassidy
: Mike Connors
: Frank Converse
: Ray Danton
: Howard Duff
: Steve Forrest
: Peter Graves
: Sterling Hayden
: Earl Holliman
: Skip Homeier
: Ed Kemmer
: Robert Loggia
: Jack Lord
: Cameron Mitchell
: Leslie Nielson
: Hugh O'Brien
: Rhodes Reason
: Jason Robards, Jr.
: George Segal
: William Shatner
: Robert Stack
: Warren Stevens
: Guy Stockwell
: Liam Sullivan
: Rod Taylor
: Efram Zimbalist, Jr.
Though not included in the above list, James Coburn was an additional possibility; Majel Barrett strongly suggested him to Gene Roddenberry and a group of other men. Barrett found her suggestion rejected because Coburn – in the opinions of the aforementioned men, including Roddenberry – "wasn't sexy enough," although Roddenberry later revised his judgment. (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 209; The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 9)
After analyzing the lists from his casting consultants, Gene Roddenberry sent a shorter list of names to the television network NBC for their comments. This list included James Coburn, Jeffrey Hunter, Dan O'Herlihy, Patrick O'Neal, and Tom Tryon. The next day, he was notified by Herbert F. Solow, via memo, that the network was "very much against" Jeffrey Hunter and two others on the list. NBC proposed several alternatives, including Patrick McGoohan and Mel Farrar. The memo ended by saying, "There was a strong reaction for both James Coburn and Patrick O'Neal." (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, pp. 209-210)
Gene Roddenberry finally selected Jeffrey Hunter – who had recently portrayed Jesus in King of Kings – to feature as Captain Pike. (Star Trek Memories, paperback ed., p. 41) "Jeff Hunter seemed to be about the closest to what I had in mind for a captain," Roddenberry stated. (Star Trek - Where No One Has Gone Before, p. 9)
At this point, Robert Butler – director of "The Cage" – was unfamiliar with Jeffrey Hunter, who was aged thirty-seven. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, "Chapter Three: Designing Star Trek") Butler remembered, "Jeffrey Hunter had probably been cast beyond my control, which is the way it goes, but I certainly knew of him." (Star Trek Monthly issue 6, p. 53)
Joseph D'Agosta, a casting director who Gene Roddenberry consulted, later explained that the casting of Jeffrey Hunter as Pike was "a network-producer-Desilu decision." (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 211) D'Agosta clarified about the actor, "That was a selection made from the name list given by the network and the studio. I was not even involved in that." (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 213) However, D'Agosta also laid claim to having somehow "dealt" with Hunter from a casting perspective. (Star Trek Memories, paperback ed., p. 58)
Though Jeffrey Hunter had found starring as the title character in the short-lived television series Temple Houston to have been a disastrous experience (one year earlier), he nonetheless accepted the Star Trek role, agreeing to make another TV pilot. The reference book These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One ("Chapter Three: Designing Star Trek") postulates that he did so while possibly motivated by "fearing his initial failure in television had hurt his chances to reclaim big screen status." In a comment Hunter made upon acquiring the Captain Pike role, he joked that any actor able to rule over all of Christianity could easily command a starship crew. After some typical haggling between agents, Hunter was hired. (Star Trek Memories, paperback ed., p. 41) Hunter was contracted to play Pike over the course of sixteen days, receiving US$10,000 in return. (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 211) The captain was the final role in "The Cage" to be cast. (The Making of Star Trek, p. 111)
At about this time, Jeffrey Hunter was highly enthusiastic about Star Trek, particularly about the potential of the series. He talked enthusiastically about the project, after production on "The Cage" ended. In an interview for the Los Angeles Citizen News, he raved, "It's a great format because the writers will have a free hand [regarding the kinds of stories they could tell]." In addition, he told the same publication (on 30 January 1965) that the thing which most intrigued him about the show was the high reliability of its projections as regards the future. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, "Chapter Four: Test Flight & Filming 'The Cage'" and "Chapter Five: Double or Nothing: A Second Pilot")
On 19 March 1965, Gene Roddenberry sent a note to Jeffrey Hunter, inviting him, his wife and a few other people to a Desilu screening of "The Cage". (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, "Chapter Five: Double or Nothing: A Second Pilot"; Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 225) Although NBC had unofficially revealed they planned to give the unprecedented go-ahead for the making of a second pilot (having been dissatisfied with "The Cage"), Hunter's contract required his participation in only one pilot, not two. If the already-produced pilot sold, he would be locked into a five-year contract. If the pilot was not purchased, he was contractually free to pursue other interests. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, "Chapter Five: Double or Nothing: A Second Pilot") Recollected Herb Solow, "We therefore had to devise a plan that would enable us to keep Jeff Hunter in the fold [[…] ] We […] looked forward to running the completed pilot for our star, Jeff Hunter. We hoped it would convince him to do another pilot." (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, paperback ed., p. 63)
The screening, which turned out to be a fateful event, was held on 25 March 1965. (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 225) Remembered Herb Solow, "Gene and I waited in the Desilu projection room for [Jeff Hunter] […] to arrive. He never did." Hunter's wife, Joan 'Dusty' Bartlett, attended the ceremony in his stead. "We traded hellos, and I nodded to Gene," Solow carried on. "He flicked the projection booth intercom switch. 'Let's go.' And so it went. As the end credits rolled, and the lights came up, Jeff Hunter's wife gave us our answer: 'This is not the kind of show Jeff wants to do, and besides, it wouldn't be good for his career. Jeff Hunter is a movie star.' Mrs. Hunter was very polite and very firm. She said her good-byes and left, having surprisingly and swiftly removed our star from our new pilot." (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, paperback ed., p. 63) Having decided she hated the pilot episode, Bartlett didn't want Hunter to remain in the role of Captain Pike. She convinced him that, being a dutiful husband, he didn't want to resume the persona either and that science fiction was beneath him. (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 225; The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 10) In contrast to how Pike firstly contemplates resigning his commission and retiring from Starfleet but later changes his mind, Hunter's change of heart led him to want to quit. (Star Trek: The Original Series 365, p. 007)
In his 1993 autobiography Star Trek Memories (paperback ed., p. 70), William Shatner alleged that Jeffrey Hunter was essentially "fired" from playing the part of Captain Pike. Shatner asserted, "Apparently there were problems with Jeffrey. Not while he was shooting or on the set or anything like that, but afterward. They started when the go-ahead came in for the second pilot, and Hunter's wife, who was an ex-model, suddenly started coming to production meetings. Evidently she hated the first pilot, and as a result she began to frequently storm into Gene's office, loudly making demands like 'from now on, my Jeff must only be shot from certain angles,' and apparently it became 'Jeff wants this' and 'Jeff demands that.' Gene later told me that he'd much rather be dealing with Jeff and his agent, or even Jeff and a gorilla, than Jeff and his wife. He continued that there were so many tantrums, restrictions and ultimatums being laid out on the table that he finally thought, 'Well, I can't possibly do an entire series like this. They'll drive me nuts.'" In Leonard Nimoy's 1995 autobiography I Am Spock (hardback ed., p. 32), Nimoy agreed with Shatner, saying, "Jeff Hunter was let go when his wife began to represent him and made what Gene considered excessive demands."
In reality, Jeffrey Hunter – having decided to give up the character of Pike – made his feelings known to Gene Roddenberry within two weeks of the Desilu screening. On 5 April 1965, Roddenberry responded with a private letter between them in which he stated, "I am told you have decided not to go ahead with Star Trek. This has to be your decision, of course, and I must respect it. You may be certain I hold no grudge or ill feelings and expect to continue to reflect publicly and privately the high regard I learned for you during the production of our pilot." (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, pp. 225-226)
Even though a second Star Trek pilot was commissioned, Jeffrey Hunter was insistent that he not participate in the making of that episode, entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before". "Business affairs negotiated with Jeffrey Hunter," remembered Oscar Katz, "and we all thought it was the usual actor/network situation. They don't want to do it for reason XYZ, and it's a device […] for getting the price up. We kept increasing the price and he kept saying no. One day I said, 'What's up with Jeffrey Hunter?' and I was told he just won't do it at any price. Finally I said, 'Tell Jeffrey Hunter to get lost. Tell him we're going to do the pilot without him.'" (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 14) Shortly thereafter, once the trade papers began reporting about a second Star Trek pilot, Hunter told J.D. Spiro for his Milwaukee Journal report, "I was asked to do it, but, had I accepted, I would have been tied up much longer than I care to be." Hunter's decision to depart was propelled specifically by the fact he wanted to focus on his career in feature films, instead of resuming his participation in television productions. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, "Chapter Five: Double or Nothing: A Second Pilot") In his autobiography, Shatner acknowledged that the "official" story reported over years had been that Hunter turned down the role of Pike and was unable to commit to the series due to a film commitment, despite Shatner disputing this account. (Star Trek Memories, paperback ed., p. 70) Hunter's departure left an opening for the series lead. "I just had to pick someone else," noted Roddenberry. William Shatner was who he picked, Shatner going on to regularly appear as James T. Kirk. (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 11) The replacing of Hunter with Shatner was reported in Daily Variety on 4 May 1965. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, "Chapter Five: Double or Nothing: A Second Pilot")
Desilu and NBC executives had discussed possibly broadcasting "The Cage" as a movie-of-the-week if Star Trek did not proceed as a series. After that pilot episode was rejected, Jeffrey Hunter was approached by Desilu; they requested he rejoin the cast in order to enable the filming of enough additional footage to make the movie option viable. (Star Trek: The Original Series 365, p. 092) The year was 1965 when Gene Roddenberry proposed to film added scenes to lengthen "The Cage" into a feature-length movie. He also planned to try organizing a theatrical release for it. Hunter refused, though, to have any participation in these plans. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, paperback ed., p. 251)
=== Rewriting the part ===
Despite Jeffery Hunter's rejections, the canon portrayal of Christopher Pike was affected when the decision was made for the archive footage from the original pilot to be edited into a two-parter together with contemporary scenes that would form an "envelope" around those depictions of the past. In an early version of the two-parter – which was called "From the First Day to the Last" and was written by John D.F. Black – an official review of Pike's actions on Talos IV took place at Trium Supply Base after Spock asked Kirk to take Pike, who was now in a disabled condition and confined to a wheelchair but was still capable of nodding, back to the planet, to die there. The request was opposed by Commander Jermane, a desk-bound officer who had placed a ban on travel to Talos IV, because he believed the Talosians were a menace, and he wanted to do everything he could to make Pike look bad. Although otherwise residing at the base hospital, Pike attended an initial, morning review session. He was then examined by his doctor at the hospital, who decided the strain was too much for him. After Jermane persuaded the doctor to change his mind, however, Pike was forced to attend another review session that afternoon, an arrangement Doctor McCoy protested against without success.
In the second part of the "From the First Day to the Last" two-parter, Kirk expressed that he was determined to enable Pike to return to the planet but that an imperative question for the review to consider was whether Pike had escaped from Talos IV or solved "the problem of Talosian menace" there. Despite the potential consequence of being hanged, McCoy was ready to take Pike out of the hearing room if he seemed at all to be becoming too ill. As the afternoon session got underway, Pike glared at Commander Jermane, moments before the footage of Pike's previous visit to Talos VI began to be displayed and analyzed by the group. After their review of Pike's past actions and a private (unseen) discussion between Kirk and Jermane, Kirk returned to the hearing room and asked Pike how he was feeling. Pike managed to answer Kirk with a small nod, just as a male nurse arrived to take Pike back to the base hospital.
As it turned out, "Commander Jermane" was actually a Talosian who had taken the place of the real Jermane, who had dreamt of personal glorification and had sought that dream on Talos IV but had died in the instant when the Talosians had given him it. Pike had been restricted from being returned to Talos IV because the Talosian impostor strongly believed that the gift of complete illusion was too powerful for any person to have. When the Talosian admitted defeat to Kirk, however, Pike was permitted to be taken back to Talos IV aboard the Enterprise on the condition that Kirk, even in his personal log, would subsequently maintain a lie that Pike had been murdered by the Talosians. Kirk felt this requirement extremely hard to accept, but the impostor insisted it was necessary in order to keep the planet restricted.
Pike, in his wheelchair, was beamed aboard the Enterprise together with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. At Kirk's suggestion, he was given a tour of the ship by Spock, who, at one point in the tour, mentioned that Pike had made numerous reports and recommendations about enlarging the Jefferies tubes, suggestions that Spock pointed out had evidently been taken notice of. Pike reacted to this discovery with a smile that was almost imperceptible but noticed by Spock. Other areas of the Enterprise which Pike viewed were the recreation room, engineering, and the bridge, the last of which nearly brought a tear to his eye. As Spock said farewell to Pike in the ship's transporter room, Pike tearfully nodded in response to Spock saying he hoped Pike would be successful in finding what he wanted to find on the planet, McCoy also wishing Pike "good luck." He was then transported down to Talos IV along with Kirk alone, although Spock had wanted to accompany them too. Pike's return to Talos IV, by the time it actually happened, felt very important to him. Upon beaming down to the planet, he and Kirk found nobody there, though a Talosian soon arrived and pushed Pike, in his wheelchair, away. The next thing Kirk knew, Pike seemed to be miraculously transformed into his younger, able-bodied form and appeared to walk up a slope with the youthful Vina, pause to turn back and wave, then move on, to which a surprised-looking Kirk waved back but not with vigor. Later, in his captain's log, Kirk mentioned he had "left Captain Christopher Pike in the care of the Talosians per his request." Contacted by "Commander Jermane" from Trium Supply Base, Kirk refused to lie about what had happened to Pike, explaining that his example provided evidence that, despite being potentially dangerous, illusion was not necessarily corruptive nor overly powerful.
While Roddenberry was scripting "The Menagerie, Part I" and "The Menagerie, Part II" in 1966, the production staff had some puzzlement about whether Jeffery Hunter would okay segments of footage from "The Cage" to be reused throughout the forthcoming two-parter. On 14 September 1966, Robert Justman wrote a fairly apprehensive message to Ed Perlstein at Desilu Legal, wherein – among other related points – Justman wondered, "Does Jeff Hunter's original contract allow for this sort of contingency? Perhaps you ought to check it out with his agent." (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One)
Gene Roddenberry had the idea, while the two-parter was in development, of casting another actor in the role of Christopher Pike for the new scenes. That method was to be used in the foreseeable eventuality that Jeffrey Hunter declined to take part in the envelope scenes himself. After Roddenberry turned in his first draft script for part one of the duology (on 21 September 1966), Herb Solow sent the teleplay draft to Grant Schloss and Jerry Stanley at NBC, telling them, "Should Jeff Hunter's wife won't [sic] agree to let him appear in any envelope, Roddenberry has come up with an interesting device to treat Pike [sic] Character (Hunter) as having been injured beyond recognition – this so the actor can play the part." (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One) The dramatic device of disfiguring Pike beyond recognition did allow a replacement actor to appear in the same role, apparently at an older age. (Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook, p. 188)
In the final draft script of "The Menagerie, Part I" (dated 7 October 1966), Pike was described as "A shadow of a man, the marks of Delta ray burns, impossibly thin and sagging, hair dull white, without life, skin pale, almost lifeless. He sits in a complex power wheelchair which operates on brain impulses. The dull eyes, once clear and blue." The script went on to say that, aside from merely a single tear, "the sagging, lifeless muscles are incapable of emotion."
Jeffery Hunter eventually agreed for the necessary archive footage featuring himself as Captain Pike to be reused in the two-parter. He was paid US$5,000 for the reuse of this footage, and his residuals were minimal. (Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, p. 259) On 18 October 1966, Ed Perlstein wrote a memo to Shirley Stahnke at Desilu Business Affairs, announcing the news he had closed a deal to pay Hunter US$5,000. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One) Hunter was unwilling, though, to take part in further filming for the budget-saving remake of "The Cage" into the two-parter. (Star Trek: The Original Series Sketchbook, p. 188) Since he had turned down the prospect of "The Cage" becoming a movie, there was no chance he would cooperate to redo the pilot episode for televised Star Trek. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, paperback ed., p. 251) He was not only unavailable but also unaffordable for what amounted to a minor supporting role. (The Star Trek Compendium, 4th ed., p. 48) Therefore, finding another actor became a necessity to produce the two-parter.
=== Recasting the part ===
Since the story imagined Pike as being confined to a 23rd century wheelchair and so permanently wounded as to be unable to speak, there was considerable latitude in recasting the role. (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 38) On the other hand, the two actors had to look somewhat alike. "Because Jeffrey Hunter wasn't available to play the disabled Capt. Pike, they had to find an actor who had the same facial structure and features," Sean Kenney pointed out. (Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter Three: The Formula")
At first, John D.F. Black – who had recently departed from working on Star Trek from behind the scenes – was asked to represent the disabled Pike. John's wife, Mary Black (who had also been involved in the show from a production perspective), offered, "Dorothy [Fontana] called and said that they had this really fun idea. Because John's eyes matched the eyes of Jeffrey Hunter – and they couldn't find another actor who had the right eyes, and they were so sure John's did – they wanted him to come in and sit in the wheelchair and be Captain Pike, with lots of makeup on." John Black himself stated, "Both of us immediately had the attitude that that wouldn't be very much fun. I didn't hesitate at all in turning it down." The search for a suitable actor resumed. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One)
Sean Kenney was initially invited to try out for the role of Christopher Pike one evening right after making a one-off appearance in the Los Angeles stage show "The Deputy", on its opening night. As he removed his makeup backstage, a woman who turned out to be talent agent Mitzi MacGregor approached him and explained that she wanted him to meet with a man at Paramount called Gene Roddenberry, even though Kenney didn't yet know who he was. (Star Trek Magazine issue 175, p. 74; Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter One: Lift Off!") The agent arranged to schedule an appointment between the two men, on the condition that Kenney – who didn't have an agent at that point – signed with her. (Star Trek Magazine issue 175, p. 74) "My life completely changed that night," admitted Kenney. MacGregor agreed to ensure him a lead role on Star Trek, which was in the very early days of its creation at Paramount. (Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter One: Lift Off!") Kenney eagerly accepted the arrangement proposed by MacGregor. (Star Trek Magazine issue 175, p. 74; Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter One: Lift Off!") A profile picture of the actor was then promptly sent to Paramount. (Star Trek Magazine issue 175, p. 74)
One week after Sean Kenney first met Mitzi MacGregor and the image of him was dispatched, Kenney was interviewed by Joseph D'Agosta. (Star Trek Magazine issue 175, p. 74; Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter Two: Ground Zero") D'Agosta recommended Kenney for the part of former starship captain Christopher Pike to Gene Roddenberry, with whom the actor met during the next week. (Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter Two: Ground Zero") Years later, Kenney noted, "Gene Roddenberry himself interviewed me and OKed my casting in the part." (Starlog #113) The interview between them was in October 1966. "I felt like I was in 'alpha state' when I entered Desilu Studios […] I was ushered into a small interviewing office and waited about ten minutes until Gene's secretary came by and stated, 'Mr. Roddenberry wants to interview you personally. Would you please step into his office?' […] [After doing so] I sat facing his desk and noticed my casting photo was lying there. I waited only a few minutes and when he came in, I stood up and shook his hands." (Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter Two: Ground Zero")
Gene Roddenberry began the discussion by speaking about the concept of Star Trek and the fact he had been searching for a lead actor to portray former starship captain Pike. "As I sat back down," continued Sean Kenney, "Gene got up and walked around me holding my casting photo in his hand." (Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter Two: Ground Zero") Meanwhile, Roddenberry looked at Kenney from every side. The actor, though, was perplexed by this behavior. Roddenberry finally stopped circling Kenney and spoke. (Star Trek Magazine issue 175, p. 74) "Continuing, he said that the lead character, Pike, had been severely injured in a training accident and was unable to speak or move any body parts. Much of this role would come from emoting feeling through my eyes." Roddenberry outlined that the Star Trek creative team would age Kenney to look about eighty years old and that Pike would answer all questions with "yes" or "no" replies using a specially rigged light system. Kenney contemplated the seeming oddness of hiring a young actor to play an old man, a main part without any lines whatsoever. "I'm thinking, why me, why don't they just get an old guy?" the performer related. Roddenberry also voiced some direct questions. For instance, he inquired about whether Kenney would be able to handle intensive makeup for the part. (Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter Two: Ground Zero") Another example was Roddenberry asking the interviewee if he had a problem with being confined within a tight area for long durations, to which Kenney declared he would be honored to play Pike. (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, pp. 38 & 40) He believed the reasoning why Roddenberry "asked so many pointed questions when [Kenney] […] grabbed the role of Captain Pike" was that Roddenberry wanted to ensure the actor could be trusted to know what he was doing and was going to deliver reliable performances as Pike, whatever happened on the set. (Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter Twenty-One: Thespian Style")
According to a statement made by Gene Roddenberry in his interview with Sean Kenney, Jeffrey Hunter was unavailable because he was busy filming a movie in Spain. (Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter Two: Ground Zero") Of course, Kenney owed much to Hunter for his inclusion in the "The Menagerie" two-parter. "I received the part of Captain Pike in the wheelchair because of my strong resemblance to Jeff Hunter," Kenney explained. (Starlog #113) He elaborated that his extreme physical similarity to Hunter was "to the point that nobody else in town resembled him as much as I did, though I was only 24 years old." (Star Trek Magazine issue 175, p. 75) The huge resemblance between the two performers was first noticed by Joseph D'Agosta. (Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts, p. 38) Roddenberry noted aloud the strong degree of likeness between the actors, during Kenney's interview with him. (Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter Two: Ground Zero") Kenney later hypothesized, "Maybe there is some ancestral DNA at play here. Jeff's real name was McKinney and most likely his family was from Ireland like my own." (Captain Pike Found Alive!, "Chapter Ten: Watch Your Back!")
Captain James T. Kirk
==== Casting Kirk ====
Kirk was played by William Shatner.
Don Eitner served as body double for Shatner as the pair of Kirks in "The Enemy Within". Actress Sandra Smith also "played" Captain Kirk in Janice Lester's body in "Turnabout Intruder", while Shatner "played" Lester in Kirk's body.
Following his introduction in the second pilot, the only non-appearance of Kirk was in the animated episode "The Slaver Weapon". Archive footage of Shatner was used in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Trials and Tribble-ations", and archive audio of his voice was used in the Star Trek: Enterprise finale, "These Are the Voyages..." and the Star Trek: Short Treks episode "Ephraim and Dot".
William Shatner was not the first choice to play Kirk. The producers first approached actors Lloyd Bridges and Jack Lord for the role; both turned it down. [5] [6](X) [7](X) Both Bridges and Lord have since passed away.
In order to play Kirk, William Shatner attempted to stay physically fit. "I've tried to stay limber, and I've tried to keep myself in shape," he related. "Not for a little reason. For a great reason, because I'm playing Captain Kirk, and I wanted to be ready for each movie and not act my age." ("Strange New Worlds: The Valley of Fire", Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD/Blu-ray)
==== Naming Kirk ====
The name for Kirk wasn't decided until 1965. In a memo written by Gene Roddenberry to researcher Kellam de Forest on 18 May 1965, sixteen names were under consideration. These names were:
# January
# Flagg
# Drake
# Christopher
# Thorpe
# Richard
# Patrick
# Raintree
# Boone
# Hudson
# Timber
# Hamilton
# Hannibal
# Neville
# Kirk
# North
"James Tiberius Kirk" was the final choice of name chosen to adorn the new TV show's hero.
==== Character development ====
Gene Roddenberry, in his original pitch to television producers, described the character (originally named Robert April, then Christopher Pike) that later came to be known, eventually, as Captain Kirk:The 'skipper', about thirty-four, Academy graduate, rank of Captain... a shorthand sketch of Robert April might be 'A space-age Captain Horatio Hornblower', lean and capable both mentally and physically.
A colorfully complex personality, he is capable of action and decision that can verge on the heroic – and at the same time lives a continual battle with self-doubt and the loneliness of command.
As with similar men in the past (Drake, Cook, Bougainville, and Scott), his primary weakness is a predilection to action over administration, a temptation to take the greatest risks onto himself. But, unlike most early explorers, he has an almost compulsive compassion for the plight of others, alien as well as human, [and] must continually fight the temptation to risk many to save one.NBC's early-1966 sales brochure (reprinted in Inside Star Trek: The Real Story) described Kirk thus:A Space Academy graduate, Captain James Kirk has learned to accept the loneliness of command as he has rapidly climbed the ladder of promotion, although he never will learn to like the loneliness his post brings. Starship command is the most important position a man in the Space Service can hold, since he alone can and must make decisions in his contact with the other worlds that can affect the future course of civilization throughout the Universe. So far, James Kirk has proven himself equal to this awesome responsibility. A strong, capable, highly intelligent man in his mid-thirties, Kirk is a born leader, who has trained himself to walk the tightrope between friendship and authority without losing his sense of humor or compassion for others.William Shatner was to have reprised his role as Captain Kirk on Star Trek: Phase II. The writers/directors guide for that series, written, among others, by Gene Roddenberry and Jon Povill between May and August 1977, described Kirk as follows:A shorthand sketch of Kirk might be 'a space-age Captain Horatio Hornblower,' constantly on trial with himself, a strong, complex personality.
With the Starship out of communication with Earth and Starfleet bases for long periods of time, a Starship captain has unusual broad powers over both the lives and welfare of his crew, as well as over Earth people and activities encountered during these voyages. He also has broad power as an Earth Ambassador may discover. Kirk feels these responsibilities strongly and is fully capable of letting the worry and frustration lead him into error.
He is also capable of fatigue and inclined to push himself beyond Human limits, then condemn himself because he is not superhuman. The crew respects him, some almost to the point of adoration. At the same time, no senior officer aboard is fearful of using his own intelligence in questioning Kirk's orders and can themselves be strongly articulate up to the point where Kirk signifies his decision has been made.
Kirk is a veteran of hundreds of planet landings and space emergencies. He has a broad and highly mature perspective on command, fellow crewmen, and even on alien life customs, however strange or repugnant they seem when reassessed against Earth standards.
On the other hand, don't play Kirk like the captain of an 1812 frigate in which nothing or no one moves without his command. The Enterprise crew is a finely-trained team, well able to anticipate information and action Kirk needs.
Aboard ship, Captain Kirk has only a few opportunities for anything approaching friendship. One exception is with ship's surgeon Dr. McCoy, who has a legitimate professional need to constantly be aware of the state of the Captain's mind and emotions. But on a 'shore leave' away from the confines of self-imposed discipline, Jim Kirk is likely to play pretty hard, almost compulsively so. It is not impossible he will let this drag him at one time or another into an unwise romantic liaison which he will have great difficulty disentangling. He is, in short, a strong man forced by the requirements of his ship and career into the often lonely role of command, even lonelier because Starship command is the most difficult and demanding task of his century.
==== Kirk's demise ====
Regarding the death of Kirk, Ronald D. Moore, co-writer of the script in which Kirk died, wrote:
: "[...] I felt (and still do) that the death of Kirk was an important moment in Trek and that this very Human character should experience the final act in every man's existence, namely death. Kirk had never shied away from promoting and honoring the unique experience of being Human (indeed, that was in many ways the foundation of Gene's entire vision – the celebration of the Human spirit). Therefore, it seemed that by killing him, by letting him really play out the Human experience, he would become something greater than simply another comic-book hero that never dies and is never really mortal as a result. I find vulnerable heroes more compelling than teflon-coated heroes, and to me the death of Kirk made him human, and in the end, more heroic.
: "I am very much against the resurrection of Kirk for that reason – it would rob the character of something very important: his humanity." (AOL chat, 1997)
Years later, Moore added:
: "Killing Kirk was a great concept and had the potential to resonate throughout the Star Trek franchise, but the execution [no pun intended] was flawed and the impact was not what we'd hoped for on any level." [10]
William Shatner personally found portraying the final appearance of Kirk, in Star Trek Generations, was "kind of strange and sad." ("Uniting Two Legends", Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD/Blu-ray)
Star Trek's writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, intended the alternate reality Spock to be given a hologram of Kirk Prime by Spock Prime to convince him of their friendship. His message would have bookended the young Kirk's promotion to captain and explained Spock's offer to become his first officer. However, the filmmakers opted to drop the idea without proposing it to Shatner, as the actor was vocal about having a substantial role in the film and not a cameo. Kirk's lines were as follows:Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you... (stops, grins) I know I know, it's illogical to celebrate something you had nothing to do with, but I haven't had the chance to congratulate you on your appointment to the ambassadorship so I thought I'd seize the occasion... Bravo, Spock – they tell me your first mission may take you away for awhile, so I'll be the first to wish you luck... and to say... I miss you, old friend.
I suppose I'd always imagined us... outgrowing Starfleet together. Watching life swing us into our Emeritus years... I look around at the new cadets now and can't help thinking... has it really been so long? Wasn't it only yesterday we stepped onto the Enterprise as boys? That I had to prove to the crew I deserved command... and their respect?
I know what you'd say – 'It's their turn now, Jim...' And of course you're right... but it got me thinking: Who's to say we can't go one more round? By the last tally, only twenty five percent of the galaxy's been chartered... I'd call that negligent. Criminal even – an invitation. You once said being a starship captain was my first, best destiny... if that's true, then yours is to be by my side. If there's any true logic to the universe... we'll end up on that bridge again someday. Admit it, Spock. For people like us, the journey itself... is home. [11]
=== Ambiguities ===
Accepted canon regarding Kirk's early life before the Enterprise, and gaps between events portrayed in films, are scarce and ambiguous. The following notes attempt to reconcile the "mysteries" of Kirk and canon, but these questions may never be satisfactorily answered.
One of the ambiguities was when Lieutenant Kirk was an instructor at the Academy. According to "Coming of Age", there was an age requirement of 16 years for cadets. Assuming that Gary Mitchell was born in 2242, the earliest that he could have entered the Academy was in 2258. Of course, this raised the probability that the blonde lab technician might be Carol Marcus. Speaking of his time at the Academy as an instructor, he said in a line of dialogue from the script of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" that, "I sort of leaned on cadets I liked."
The producers of Star Trek have stated – including on the audio commentary – that many of the events of the alternate reality could have taken place in the original timeline. Some possible events include:
* a rebellious youth in Iowa
* disciplinary actions for cheating on the Kobayashi Maru
* meeting Spock for the first time because he cheated on his test
Roberto Orci, co-writer of Star Trek, had said that in an early draft of that film, dialogue confirmed that in the prime reality, Kirk was born in Iowa and not aboard the USS Kelvin: "If not for the attack from the Narada, the Kelvin would've reached Earth and Kirk would've been born in Iowa. The attack made Winona Kirk go into labor early." [12] The dialogue in question was likely Prime Spock's line in which he tells the alternate James T. Kirk that he was born on a farm in Iowa, to which Kirk corrected him, stating he (the alternate Kirk) was born on a starship. This line appears in the novelization of the film, which used an early draft of the screenplay as a basis.
In March 1985, when the town was looking for a theme for its annual town festival, Steve Miller, a member of the Riverside City Council who had read The Making of Star Trek – a book that lists Kirk's year of birth as 2228 rather than the more firmly established 2233 – suggested to the council that Riverside should proclaim itself to be the future birthplace of Kirk. Miller's motion passed unanimously. The council later wrote to Roddenberry for his permission to be designated as the official birthplace of Kirk, and with Roddenberry's consent, the town developed a tourist industry around the idea. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home then established on screen that Kirk was from Iowa.
=== Reiteration ===
In 2022, Paul Wesley appeared in the role of James T. Kirk during the first season finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, serving as the captain of the USS Farragut in an alternate timeline. His casting was announced on 15 March 2022. He is set to reprise the role in Season 2 of Strange New Worlds. [13]
=== Apocrypha ===
Outside of filmed canon productions, the character of Kirk had appeared in many novels, comics, games, and collectibles. While Kirk was the hero of nearly every TOS novel, he was notably the star of a series of novels by William Shatner (with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens) which starred Kirk, reborn after his 24th century death when the Borg-Romulan alliance resurrected and brainwashed him, intending to use Kirk to kill Picard.
However, surgery performed by Doctor Julian Bashir, aided by Admiral McCoy, removed the implant controlling Kirk's actions, and the residual 'programming' was removed thanks to a mind meld with Spock. After his condition was stabilized and the Borg-Romulan alliance was destroyed, as well as a fatal blow delivered to the Borg Collective, Kirk went on to form a close, albeit sometimes strained, friendship with Picard, as well as once again encounter the mirror universe as his other self returned to kill him. He even goes on to have a child with Teilani, a genetically-engineered Romulan/Klingon hybrid.
According to Star Trek II: Biographies, Kirk was born on July 28th, 2182 on Farside Base, Luna to parents Eugene Claudius Kirk and Marjorie Wimpole. He had a sister named Michele Suzanne Kirk.
According to several novels (such as Final Frontier and Best Destiny, both by Diane Carey) Kirk's father "George Samuel Kirk, Senior" was a Starfleet commander who was a close friend of Robert April and briefly the Enterprise's executive officer on its first mission. The novel Collision Course by William Shatner gave James Kirk's father's name as "George Joseph Kirk". The name of Kirk's mother was said to be "Winona Kirk". Crisis on Centaurus stated George died on the planet Hellspawn in 2250, but this was overruled canonically in the 2009 film with Spock stating George Kirk saw James taking command of the Enterprise.
The DS9 novel Original Sin features an Akira-class starship named the USS James T. Kirk (NCC-63719) in honor of Kirk. It had an illustrious service history which included exploration and defensive missions.
In the third and fourth issues of the IDW Publishing comic Star Trek: Spock: Reflections, Picard sent a message to Spock after the events of Star Trek Generations explaining how Kirk did not die on the Enterprise-B, but was pulled into the Nexus and how he left it to help Picard defeat Soran from killing 200 million people in order to re-enter the Nexus and in the process, Kirk was killed while saving Picard and millions of others. Since Kirk was already thought dead, and explaining the nature of the Nexus to Starfleet would be difficult, Picard decided to bury Kirk on Veridian III where he gave his life to save millions. Nonetheless, Picard felt Spock should know of Kirk's fate. Eventually, Spock traveled to Veridian III and retrieved Kirk's body where he brought him back home to Earth to be reburied at the Kirk family farm in Iowa. Spock explains to Picard how Kirk did the same for him, at a terrible cost, and says he needed to be equal to Kirk's sacrifice.
In the third issue of the Doctor Who crossover comic Assimilation², Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scott investigate a Federation archaeological team on the planet Aprilia III on Stardate 3368.5, which had lost contact with Starfleet. Upon landing in the shuttlecraft Galileo, they are greeted by project manager Jefferson Whitmore, who assures them that all is well and gives them a tour of the facility, but Kirk finds the staff suspiciously calm. His team later return to the facility after dark where they meet the Fourth Doctor, assuming he's a member of the research team and he helps them break the electronic lock and together, they infiltrated the facility. There, they find the researchers standing catatonically, with small cybernetic devices in their ears. It is discovered they were under the control of the Doctor's enemies, the Cybermen. A battle ensues and Kirk fights the Cyber-Controller, but is proved no match for the cybernetic being. The Doctor then asks Kirk if he has any gold on him as he's had experience with the Cybermen and Kirk hands him his communicator. Kirk distracts the Cyber-Controller while the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to disintegrate the communicator's gold cover into dust and use it to clog up the Controller's respiration and allowing Spock to destroy it with his phaser. After the Cybermen are defeated and the Doctor slips quietly away, Kirk arranges for a permanent garrison of Starfleet Security personnel to protect the researchers against further Cyberman incursions.
The Cage (Star Trek TOS)
=== Reception and aftermath ===
* One of the first occasions on which word of this episode reached the press was following NBC's approval of the pilot script; while Gene Roddenberry and Herb Solow were celebrating the confirmation during lunch with their daily Cobb salad at the Hollywood Brown Derby on Vine Street, Dave Kaufman – a television reporter and columnist for Daily Variety – passed by their table on his way back to his office and Solow notified him of the news. However, the cheerful Kaufman replied, "I knew it before you did." After leaning over to engage Roddenberry in a handshake, Kaufman repeatedly asked who would be producing the pilot, doubting that Desilu was up to the task. Roddenberry and Solow acknowledged Kaufman's remarks and he wished them good luck before exiting. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, pp. 26-27)
* The first view of the completed pilot was at a special screening for the episode's cast and crew. "I remember the screening and the special effects and the makeup were just perfect," remarked J.M. Colt actress Laurel Goodwin, "Everyone was applauding when we saw the transporter effect put together. When you shoot it, of course, they just stop the camera and you walk off. But on film, it was so great." (Star Trek: Communicator issue 119, p. 59)
* NBC rejected the episode, following its production, and declared it was "too cerebral." Robert Butler found he could relate to this statement. "Apparently, the network, at its level, was feeling exactly as I did," he remarked. (Starlog issue 117, p. 55) According to Gene Roddenberry, he had a similar response to the news. "I sort of understood [NBC's verdict]," he said. "I wrote and produced what I thought was a highly imaginative idea, and I realized I had gone too far. I should actually have ended it with a fistfight between the hero and the villain if I wanted it on television […] because that's the way shows were being made at the time. The great mass audience would say, 'Well, if you don't have a fistfight when it's ended, how do we know that's the finish?,' and things like that." (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 10) Besides finding the episode too intellectual, NBC also cited criticisms such as the presence of a female first officer on the bridge and the character of Spock being too alien for audiences of the time. (Star Trek Monthly issue 6, pp. 14, 20, 52; et al.)
* However, the "myth" of the network wanting to eliminate the female first officer was debunked by Herb Solow and Robert Justman in Inside Star Trek: The Real Story. In the book, they state that NBC supported the idea of a strong woman in a leading role, they only rejected Majel Barrett, feeling the actress is not talented enough to pull off such a role, and "carry" a show as co-star. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p. 60)
* NBC was also not satisfied with the majority of the actors. They wrote, "We also think you can do better with the ship's doctor, the yeoman and other members of the crew". Solow decided to hire a full-time casting director for the next pilot, and eventually the series. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, pp. 60-61)
* Another aspect of the pilot which NBC was very worried with, was its "overall eroticism", most notably the "scantily clad green dancing girls with the humps and grinds". This was a major factor for not choosing "Mudd's Women", which dealt with "an intergalactic pimp selling beautiful women hookers throughout the galaxy", to be the second pilot. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, pp. 59-61, 65-66)
* Oscar Katz was pleased with this pilot episode. (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 10) However, Lucille Ball was seemingly uninterested in it. Herb Solow offered, "The day the completed pilot was screened for NBC on the West Coast, I walked into Lucy's dressing room to tell her NBC's reaction. The pilot script was still there, apparently untouched." (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p. 22)
* DeForest Kelley viewed this episode around the same time it was being shown to studio executives. He told Gene Roddenberry, "Well, I don't know what the hell it's all about, but it's either gonna be the biggest hit or the biggest miss God ever made." (Star Trek Monthly issue 18, p. 18)
* Despite the numerous nitpicks they had with this episode, NBC made the extraordinary (and, at the time, rare) move to order a second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". For that subsequent pilot, the briefing room, transporter room and bridge were kept much the same as they are in this historic first attempt (although the bridge doors and other bridge features were painted red, and several smaller modifications were made). However, the only actor to be reused from this episode was Leonard Nimoy. In reference to Number One and Spock, Gene Roddenberry once joked about how he kept the alien character and later married the woman, noting, "I couldn't have legally done it the other way around." (Inside Star Trek [page number? • edit]) Majel Barrett commented, "To be fired from the job and then see it come back 30 years later made me feel kind of good, but at the time I wasn't happy." (Star Trek Monthly issue 27, p. 43)
* After Jeffrey Hunter's wife convinced the actor that science fiction was "beneath him," Gene Roddenberry – planning to cast William Shatner for the second pilot – arranged for himself and Shatner to watch this episode in Los Angeles. (The Star Trek Interview Book, pp. 10 & 16) "When I walked out [of the viewing] I remember thinking it was a very imaginative and vital idea," Shatner recalled. "I thought everybody took themselves a little too seriously." Shatner not only thought that the episode lacked humor but was also of the opinion that its cast had overacted their parts, to the point of being unrealistic. "That was my impression," he admitted, "and we spoke about that." (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 16)
* Fred Freiberger was highly impressed with the episode and, in 1988, he expressed surprise that the outing had been rejected by NBC. "I fell in love with [it] […] To me, 'The Cage' was pure science fiction," he enthused. "That's what the show should have been […] 'The Cage' was what the series was all about. At that time people didn't accept it." (The Star Trek Interview Book, pp. 162-163)
* In her 1994 autobiography Beyond Uhura (pp. 139 & 140), Nichelle Nichols comments on this installment, stating, "Viewing it today […] the show stands as the purest earliest representation of what Gene hoped Star Trek would achieve." She also characterizes the episode as "not only the basic pattern for countless future Star Trek episodes but a blueprint for the future of civilization" and describes the episode's conclusion as "an intelligent, peaceful resolution."
* In 1996, Grace Lee Whitney cited this as one of her favorite TOS episodes (along with "Charlie X", "The Devil in the Dark" and "The City on the Edge of Forever"). (Star Trek Monthly issue 19, p. 32)
* The following year, Majel Barrett similarly named this as one of her two favorite episodes of TOS (the other being "The City on the Edge of Forever") and said that she thought both of them "are more Star Trek than anything else that has been conceived." Of this episode specifically, she enthused, "I thought it was beautiful. People still ask me, 'What is your favorite episode? no question, it would have to be 'The Cage' […] [It] was pure Star Trek." (Star Trek Monthly issue 27, pp. 43 & 44)
* A black-and-white 16mm print of this episode was owned by Gene Roddenberry and was shown by him at speaking engagements and conventions. One of these events was "Tricon" – 1966's World Science Fiction Convention in Cleveland, Ohio – whose attendees included Allan Asherman, a future writer of Star Trek reference works. Due to popular demand, the black-and-white version of this episode was shown after "Where No Man Has Gone Before". (The Star Trek Compendium, 4th ed., pp. 1 & 3) The event was the first convention that Roddenberry took the Star Trek pilots to. (The Star Trek Interview Book, p. 11) Asherman later wrote how he had been impressed by the "serious and imaginative detail" in this episode, a facet he believed it shared with the later pilot. He went on to comment, "In addition there were the laser cannon opticals, the superb Talosian makeups, and another interesting musical score. Its most outstanding characteristics were the intelligence of its story, its polished production values, and the performances of its actors." (The Star Trek Compendium, 4th ed., pp. 1, 3)
* The master color 35mm negative of "The Cage" was cut into the master negative of "The Menagerie" in 1966, and the trims not used were subsequently lost. No color or 35mm print of "The Cage" was known to exist, only the black-and-white print owned by Gene Roddenberry, who continued to exhibit the footage at various Star Trek conventions throughout the 1970s and early 1980s.
* "The Cage" was initially released on home video in late 1986, in celebration of Star Trek's 20th anniversary. The release was a combination of the color footage used in "The Menagerie" and the additional scenes in Roddenberry's black-and-white print. ("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary; et al.)
* In 1987, film archivist Bob Furmanek discovered the missing trims from the color 35mm negative of "The Cage" at a Hollywood film laboratory, and saw that they were returned to Paramount. However, the soundtrack trims were not found. When restoring "The Cage", Paramount used the soundtrack from "The Menagerie" for most scenes, and the soundtrack of Roddenberry's 16mm print (which was of lower audio quality) for the restored trims. [6]
* A full-color version of this installment was aired on 4 October 1988, with a two-hour special called The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation To The Next bookending it. The special was hosted by Patrick Stewart and traced the history of Star Trek from "The Cage" throughout the first season of TNG and the beginnings of production for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The opportunity to broadcast "The Cage" in its original form came when production of Star Trek: The Next Generation was interrupted due to a Writers' Guild strike. The broadcast filled in for two of the four hours missing from TNG's truncated second season.
* The Keeper's voice (Malachi Throne) used in "The Cage" was modified for "The Menagerie", in which Throne guest-starred as Commodore Mendez. ("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary) When the color and black-and-white versions were spliced together in 1986, The Keeper's original voice was heard in the black-and-white footage and the altered voice in the color footage taken from "The Menagerie". This voice discrepancy persists in the "restored" all-color version of "The Cage" in the TOS Season 3 DVD set, even though it would have been entirely possible to substitute the original audio from the 16mm print for the Keeper's lines in footage taken from "The Menagerie". Conversely, the remastered version included on the 3rd season Blu-ray Disc set has the Keeper's dialogue from the black and white footage digitally pitched up to more closely match the altered voice track heard in the color footage.
* This episode's depiction of the Rigel VII fortress is one of the most-recognized and celebrated matte paintings in Star Trek history. The same painting was reused (unaltered) in the third season, as Flint's home in "Requiem for Methuselah". In addition, the large moon in the background of the painting was the inspiration for a song called "Moon over Rigel VII", which Captain Kirk recommends as a campfire song in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. (citation needed • edit)
* Footage of the asteroids from the beginning of this episode was reused later, in "Mudd's Women" and "The Doomsday Machine".
* Throughout most of the first and second seasons, the "singing plant" sound heard on Talos IV became the standard background noise on various planets. Beginning with "Spectre of the Gun", a different, warbly sound was used for a number of the remaining shows. The sound was used as the transporter beam sound effect in the series proper.
* In his introduction for the 1986 VHS release of "The Cage" (which can now be seen on the DVD version in the third season set), Gene Roddenberry noted that he wanted no-one aboard the Enterprise to smoke. This was despite the fact that tobacco advertising was a major revenue source for the television networks in 1964. Even one of Star Trek's sponsors, during its first season, was Viceroy cigarettes. (All tobacco advertising was banned from television and radio on 1 January 1971). Seventeen years later, Patrick Stewart would appear on-screen smoking a cigarette in "The Big Goodbye", although Picard was shown choking on it.
* Herman Zimmerman commented: "From my point of view, Gene Roddenberry created, without being maudlin, an eternal idealization of the future. The characters that he created came out of his imagination pretty much whole cloth. You could compare "The Cage" to Sign of Four, which was written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Sherlock Holmes and Watson and Moriarty and Lestrade and the Baker Street Irregulars have a charm and an identity that are immediately discernible from that very first novel". (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp 5-6)
* Zimmerman found similarities between "The Cage" and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's pilot episode, "Emissary". Zimmerman commented, "'The Cage' was a brilliant piece of science fiction work – especially for when it was done. 'The Emissary' is equally as good." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, pp. 40-41)
* The same was true (if only for one scene) for Michael Piller, who commented, "I haven't seen 'The Cage' in years, but what brings to mind the memory of it is the imagination that takes you out of that locked cage – Gene's imagination. It takes you into green fields and the picnic and Susan Oliver and those wonderful moments. I would be lying if I did not say that image was with me when I wrote "Emissary". I don't remember much about it. I don't remember the story, but I remember that friendly green pasture." (Captains' Logs Supplemental - The Unauthorized Guide to the New Trek Voyages, p. 19)
* In a 1993 interview, Rick Berman revealed, "I've never seen 'The Cage'. I've seen little pieces of it." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 23, No. 6, p. 22)
* When this episode was re-released on VHS in 1996, Star Trek Monthly issue 16, p. 57 rated the episode 3 out of 5 stars (defined as "Warp Speed") and regarded it as a "now classic story."
* Similarly, Cinefantastique scored the episode 3 out of 4 stars in 1996. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 27, No. 11/12, p. 26)
* In their 1998 book Trek Navigator: The Ultimate Guide to the Entire Trek Saga (p. 29), co-writers Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross both individually rate this episode 4 out of 5 stars (defined as "Classic!").
=== Continuity ===
* This episode is difficult to reconcile with canon in many instances. For example, Spock smiles and uses several Human expressions (for example, "buzzing about down there"), which he seldom does in subsequent episodes and films. In the series, he instead has the emotional control and genius level intellect present in the character of Number One here. This change was actually due to the fact that, in contrast to Jeffrey Hunter's portrayal of Captain Pike, Leonard Nimoy found William Shatner as Captain Kirk had his own energy, animation, and exuberance, so Nimoy felt like he was able to be more reserved and internalized in the series than in this pilot. (Mind Meld: Secrets Behind the Voyage of a Lifetime, et al.) Nonetheless, the scene of Spock smiling was included in "The Menagerie", with Kirk later making a brief reference to Spock's emotions, though the moment itself is not commented upon directly.
* More than half a century later, Michael Chabon wrote the Star Trek: Short Treks episode "Q&A" to provide an in-universe explanation for the differences between Spock's behavior and manner in this episode and in the rest of the original series. ("Michael Chabon Explains His New Short Trek's Connections to The Next Generation and Picard" at SyFy Wire) Chabon wrote that "apart from the ears and the gull-wing eyebrows, the Spock who served under Captain Pike was nothing like the Spock who later launched a thousand zines."
: "In the rejected pilot, and in Roddenberry's original conception of the show, Number One was the expressionless, rational, cool-tempered crew member, "almost glacier-like," according to the episode’s teleplay, "in her imperturbability and precision" (glaciers evidently having become more precise by the twenty-third century). Spock, by contrast, was decidedly warmer, his animated face and voice freely expressing such emotions as alarm, concern, relief, and even an almost childlike delight, when, having beamed down to the surface of the planet Talos IV, he encountered that singing flower and broke out, in a way that never got less disturbing, no matter how many times one saw it, in a toothy grin. The pretext for my script, the hole in the quilt, was the lack of any "in-universe" – or "Watsonian," as opposed to "out-of-universe," or "Doylist" – explanation for Spock's transition from expressive, even unreserved, to thoroughly glacial." – Michael Chabon ("The Final Frontier" at The New Yorker
* Pike tells the Talosians that he's from a stellar group "at the other end of this galaxy," which, in modern Star Trek parlance, implies that Talos IV is deep in the Beta, Gamma or Delta Quadrants – anywhere but the Alpha Quadrant which it is established as being in in "If Memory Serves". This does not seem likely, especially because the SS Columbia was lost for only eighteen years and, having traveled at less than light speed, must be relatively close to Earth. In fact, Harvey P. Lynn, who served as Gene Roddenberry's unofficial technical adviser on the pilot, told him that traveling from one end of the galaxy to the other would take an impossibly long time. (The Making of Star Trek, p. 92)
* Tyler implies that faster-than-light (FTL) travel is relatively new. He tells one of the scientists that they can get back to Earth quickly. "The time barrier's been broken! Our new ships can…" Earlier, with an expression used only once in the series, Pike orders FTL speed to Talos IV by saying, "Our time warp, factor 7." Basically, this establishes that warp speed is not only FTL, but also "negates" the time dilation effect about which Einstein theorized in his Special Theory of Relativity. Of course, later Star Trek canon establishes that Zefram Cochrane "discovered" the space warp in the mid-21st century. "The Cage" takes place two centuries later, in 2254.
* Spock's cry of "Switch to rockets, we're blasting out!" is very anachronistic – there are no direct references to rocket engines in the episodes to come.
* Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson make the only contemporary presidential appearances in an original series episode here, as images in the Talosian download of the ship's computer.
* As opposed to the electronic clipboards used in the regular series, Pike uses a very 20th century metal clipboard. A television also appears in his quarters.
* A "captain's hat" can be glimpsed, in passing, on top of that television, although Pike never wears it, and after this pilot, the hat was never seen again, though similar caps later appeared in Star Trek Into Darkness and in Carol Freeman's ready room in Star Trek: Lower Decks.
* Landing party jackets also vanished after "The Cage", but returned in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, also appearing in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Star Trek: Enterprise was the only other television Star Trek that depicted hats and a variety of environment-specific outerwear being regularly issued to crew members.
* Judging by the shape of the wall and the window, Pike's quarters seem to be directly below the bridge; there are no other curved windows on the saucer section of the model.
* The bed in Pike's quarters was far too short for Jeffrey Hunter. His feet are extending well beyond the end of the mattress, as he briefly reclines on it.
* The sign next to the door of the captain's quarters reads simply "Captain." When the series went into production, Captain Kirk's name was put on the nameplate outside his quarters.
* The pants that the crew wear have a very conspicuous pleat down the front and seem to be a shade of dark blue-grey.
* At the end of "The Menagerie, Part II", Kirk sees Pike and Vina – with their illusions of youth and beauty – running off, hand in hand. This is an example of the reused footage from this episode. Here, it is an illusion of Pike who the Talosians have provided for Vina to keep her company. In "The Menagerie, Part II", it is the "real" Pike (or rather the non-physical consciousness of the now-disabled Pike) rejoining Vina to start a new life.
* In one brief part of the first transportation sequence, the transporter chief's assistant is a man wearing glasses, but the scene changes and he appears without them. This is one of only three occasions where Starfleet officers are shown wearing corrective eyeglasses.
* Although Pike cites the crew complement as 203 other lives besides his own, the Enterprise's total crew complement was increased to 428 in "Charlie X", and 430 in later episodes. DIS: "Brother", however, confirms that, at the time of Pike's mission, the ship had 203 crewmembers.
* This episode's depiction of a parkland near Mojave is the only time that 23rd century Earth is ever seen in the entirety of the original Star Trek series. Given that this is merely an illusion created by the Talosians, the first appearance of the real Earth of the 23rd century was in TAS: "One of Our Planets Is Missing", in which scenery from Earth is shown to a cloud creature from the ship's library computer. However, it is not shown in live-action until Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979.
* "The Menagerie, Part II" establishes that, following the events of this episode, the Federation imposed General Order 7 on the Talos system, preventing anyone from ever approaching the planet again, under penalty of death.
=== Apocrypha ===
* Several comics and novels have chronicled continuations of this story:
** Star Trek: Early Voyages #4: "Nor Iron Bars a Cage" (from Colt's point of view)
** Star Trek: Starfleet Academy:
*** #9: "Return to the Forbidden Planet"
*** #10: "Return to the Forbidden Planet, Part 2... A Prelude to War"
** Star Trek Annual (DC volume 2) Annual #2: "The Final Voyage"
** Pocket TOS: Legacy
** Pocket TOS: Burning Dreams
* Roddenberry actually almost uses the term "forbidden planet" (the one forbidden world in all the galaxy) in his teleplay for "The Menagerie", thereby coming close to admitting how much of "The Cage" was actually "stolen" by him from the 1956 movie of that name, including: setting the action in the 23rd Century; the visual design of the starship (the flying saucer design of the C-57D spaceship in the movie becoming the saucer section of the USS Enterprise); the military organisation of the crew; their Navy-style uniforms; setting the action on an alien planet; the planet's name Altair IV, which became Talos IV; the mental powers of the Krell, which became (only slightly altered) the mental powers of the Keeper; and the energy weapons of the Cruiser's crew, which became the Star Trek hand phasers. The 1956 film also uses, as its main cast, the spaceship's captain, first officer and medical officer: the command structure which Roddenberry lifted as the basis for the main cast on Star Trek.
* Additionally, a few novels have theorized as to the cause for the vast differences between Spock's highly emotional behavior in this episode and his reservedness in the regular series of Star Trek. Examples of this include Spock possibly not having complete control of his emotions at that point, as he was still quite young, and that he achieved full control of his emotions by observing Captain Pike. In fact, the novel Burning Dreams establishes that indeed, whether Pike liked it or not, Spock did consider him a mentor and so Pike tried his best to live up to that assignment. Burning Dreams also establishes that Spock yelled early in his career because he was under the mistaken impression that Humans couldn't hear him unless he did. The novel The Fire and the Rose establishes that Spock was simply emulating Human behaviors such as smiles, and that there was truly no emotion behind his own smile. He eventually stopped though when his crewmates came to distrust him, believing him not to be truthful about himself to them.
* Burning Dreams delves much deeper not only into Pike's life before and after Talos, but also Vina's, establishing her to have been a singer and a dancer, who was lovers with the real Theodore Haskins. In fact, before the Enterprise's arrival, she spent much time in illusion, dreaming that Columbia had successfully returned to Earth and she led a dance troupe afterward. The novel also establishes that Vina stood up to the Talosians, demanding that they never refer to her as a 'specimen' again and she was just as important as them, perhaps moreso, because their plans for Pike depended on her. During the Rigel VII illusion, she played the "damsel in distress" role effectively, although she hated female characters that screamed like she had to do.
* A cat version of "The Cage" was featured in Jenny Parks' 2017 book Star Trek Cats.
=== Production timeline ===
* Series proposal, "Star Trek is...": 11 March 1964 – Mentions story idea "The Next Cage"
* Rough draft outline: 25 June 1964 [7]
* Pilot story outline: 29 June 1964 (The Making of Star Trek, p. 47)
* Final draft outline: 8 July 1964 [8]
* Final draft outline: 22 July 1964 [9]
* Teleplay titled "The Cage": 31 August 1964 [10]
* First draft script: 8 September 1964 (The Star Trek Compendium, 4th ed., p. 11)
* Revised draft script: on or shortly before 24 September 1964 (The Making of Star Trek, p. 96)
* Revised teleplay: 6 October 1964 [11]
* Color Makeup Tests at Desilu Culver Stage 15: 17 November 1964 (Call sheet)
* Second Revised Final Draft script, titled "The Menagerie": 20 November 1964 [12]
* Filmed: 27 November 1964 – 18 December 1964 [13]
** Day 1 – 27 November 1964, Friday – Desilu Culver Stage 16: Int. Pike's quarters
** Day 2 – 30 November 1964, Monday – Desilu Culver Stage 16: Int. Briefing room, Corridors
** Day 3 – 1 December 1964, Tuesday – Desilu Culver Stage 16: Int. Transporter room
** Day 4 – 2 December 1964, Wednesday – Desilu Culver Stage 15: Int. Bridge
** Day 5 – 3 December 1964, Thursday – Desilu Culver Stage 15: Int. Bridge
** Day 6 – 4 December 1964, Friday – Desilu Culver Stage 15: Int. Orion courtyard
** Day 7 – 7 December 1964, Monday – Desilu Culver Stage 16: Ext. Talos IV surface
** Day 8 – 8 December 1964, Tuesday – Desilu Culver Stage 16: Ext. Talos IV surface
** Day 9 – 9 December 1964, Wednesday – Desilu Culver Stage 16: Ext. Talos IV surface
** Day 10 – 10 December 1964, Thursday – Desilu Culver Stage 16: Ext. Talos IV surface; Desilu Culver Stage 15: Int. Talosian monitoring area
** Day 11 – 11 December 1964, Friday – Desilu Culver Stage 15: Int. Pike's cell, Talosian menagerie
** Day 12 – 14 December 1964, Monday – 40 Acres "Arab Village" backlot: Ext. Rigel VII fortress
** Day 13 – 15 December 1964, Tuesday – 40 Acres "Arab Village" backlot: Ext. Rigel VII fortress
** Day 14 – 16 December 1964, Wednesday – Desilu Culver Stage 15: Int. Pike's cell
** Day 15 – 17 December 1964, Thursday – Desilu Culver Stage 15: Int. Pike's cell, Hell-Fire illusion
** Day 16 – 18 December 1964, Friday – Desilu Culver Stage 16: Int. Orion cavern, Ext. Mojave parkland
* Score recorded: 22 January 1965 (citation needed • edit)
* Network rejection: February 1965 ("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary)
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