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The Cage (TOS episode)
Encyclopedia
"The Cage" is the first pilot episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series
science fiction series. It was completed in early 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964), but not broadcast on television in its complete form until the autumn of 1988
. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry
and directed by Robert Butler
. It was rejected by NBC
in February 1965, the network ordered another pilot episode, which became "Where No Man Has Gone Before
". Much original footage from "The Cage" was later incorporated into the first season two-parter, "The Menagerie".
USS Enterprise
was not James T. Kirk
, but Christopher Pike
. Spock
was present, but not as First Officer. That role was taken by a character known only as Number One
, played by Majel Barrett
. Spock's character differs somewhat from that seen in the rest of Star Trek: he displays a youthful eagerness that contrasts with the later more reserved and logical Spock. He also delivers the first line in all of Star Trek: "Check the circuit!"
NBC
reportedly called the pilot "too cerebral", "too intellectual", and "too slow" with "not enough action". Rather than rejecting the series outright though, the network commissioned — in an unusual and, at the time, unprecedented move — a second pilot. Because of what became an urgent need for a 16th episode to be delivered to the network to meet the original series commitment, most of the footage was used within the frame devised for the later two-part Star Trek: The Original Series
episode "The Menagerie" (leaving the pilot itself to revert to its earlier name of "The Cage"), preserving the series continuity. The episode "The Cage" is sometimes listed as episode 80 when shown. On the VHS home video releases, it was credited as episode 1.
The process of editing the pilot into "The Menagerie" disassembled the original camera negative of "The Cage", and thus, for many years it was considered partly lost
. Roddenberry's black-and-white 16mm print made for reference purposes was the only existing print of the show, and was frequently shown at conventions. Early video releases of "The Cage" utilized Roddenberry's 16mm print, intercut with the color scenes from "The Cage" that were used in "The Menagerie". It was only in 1987 that a film archivist found an unmarked (mute) 35mm reel in a Hollywood film laboratory with the negative trims of the unused scenes. Upon realizing what he had found, he arranged for the return of the footage to Roddenberry's company. In some fan circles, this is disputed and alleged (incorrectly) that the black-and-white 16mm footage was simply colorized.
"The Cage" was aired for the first time in its entirety and in full color in late November 1988 as part of The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next, a two-hour retrospective special hosted by Patrick Stewart
. It contained interviews with Gene Roddenberry
, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman
, Mel Harris, cast members from Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation
, clips from both series and the Star Trek films I through IV with a small preview of Star Trek V
. It was later rebroadcast on UPN
in 1996 with a behind the scenes look at Star Trek: First Contact
.
According to "The Menagerie", the events of "The Cage" take place thirteen years before the first season of Star Trek. No stardate
was given.
The USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain Christopher Pike
, receives a radio distress call from the fourth planet in the Talos star group. A landing party is assembled and beamed down to investigate. Tracking the distress signal to its source, the landing party discovers a camp of survivors from a scientific expedition that has been missing for 18 years. Among the survivors is a beautiful young woman named Vina.
Captivated by her beauty, Pike is caught off guard and is captured by the Talosians, a race of humanoids with bulbous heads who live beneath the planet's surface. It is revealed that the distress call, and the crash survivors, except for Vina, are just illusions created by the Talosians to lure the Enterprise to the planet. While imprisoned, Pike uncovers the Talosians' plans to repopulate their ravaged planet using himself and Vina as breeding stock for a race of slaves.
The Talosians try to use their power of illusion to interest Pike in Vina, and present her in various guises and settings, first as a Rigellian princess, a loving compassionate farm girl, then a seductive, green-skinned Orion. Pike resists all forms, so the Talosians lure Pike's first officer and yeoman — both women — down from the Enterprise to offer further temptation. By then, however, Pike discovers that his primitive human emotions can neutralize the Talosians' ability to read his mind, and he manages to escape to the surface of the planet along with his landing party.
The Talosians confront Pike and his companions before they can beam up. The captain tries to negotiate, but the first officer sets her weapon on a buildup to overload. Pike and Vina move closer to her, agreeing with her preference for death rather than captivity. After all, if the Talosians have even one human being, they might try again. This demonstration of fatal resolve confirms what the Talosians have been gleaning from the records they've downloaded from the Enterprise's computers: that the human race is far too violent for their needs.
Despite having their last hope be proven unsuitable, the Talosians are not vengeful. They let the humans go. The first officer and yeoman beam up immediately, but Pike remains behind with Vina, urging her to leave with him. Vina explains that she can't leave. An expedition had indeed crash landed on Talos IV; Vina was the sole survivor, but was badly injured. The Talosians were able to save her, but as they had no understanding of human aesthetics at the time, she was left horribly disfigured. With the aid of the Talosians' illusions, she is able to appear beautiful and in good health, as much to herself as to any others.
Realizing that the continued Talosian illusion of health and beauty is necessary for Vina, Pike is ready to return to the Enterprise. In an act of goodwill, the aliens show him that Vina sees an image of Pike next to her, and they walk up to the entrance that takes them into the Talosian habitat. Pike then beams up after the Keeper's closing words: "She has an illusion and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant."
Changes include:
According to The Menagerie, Starfleet
placed the planet under strict quarantine as a result of the Enterprises first encounter with Talos IV, the violation of which was the only crime that still carried the death penalty. Not only that, but when Spock violates the ban, Kirk (as his commanding officer) also becomes eligible to be executed. It is never clearly explained why such a harsh sentence was warranted, although the Keeper tells Pike that if humans and Talosians were to maintain contact, "Your race would eventually discover our power of illusion and destroy itself, too." At the end of The Menagerie, Starfleet allows an exemption for Kirk and Spock, but it has yet to be established in Star Trek canon whether the death penalty for breaking the Talos IV quarantine was ever repealed.
' studio in Culver City, California
, from November 27 to mid-December 1964. Post-production work (pick-up shots, editing, scoring, special photographic and sound effects) continued to January 18, 1965.
Jeffrey Hunter
had a six-month exclusive option for the role of Captain Pike. Although he was required to continue if the series was picked up by the network, he was not required to film the second pilot that NBC requested. Deciding to concentrate on motion pictures instead, he declined the role. Gene Roddenberry wrote to him on April 5, 1965:
Roddenberry then asked if Hunter would be willing to film additional scenes to allow the rejected pilot episode to be released as a theatrical feature instead (as was the pilot for Hunter's recent NBC series Temple Houston
). Hunter declined.
Two weeks after the option expired on June 1, 1965, Hunter formally gave his letter requesting separation from the project. He died in 1969. Roddenberry later suggested that it was he — unhappy with interference by Hunter's then-wife Dusty Bartlett — who decided not to rehire Hunter. However, executive producer Herbert F. Solow
, who was present when Dusty, acting as manager, refused the role on behalf of her husband, later said in his memoir, Inside Star Trek, that it was the other way around.
All of the Talosians were portrayed by women, with their telepathic voices recorded by male actors. This was done to give the impression that the Talosians had focused their efforts on mental development to the detriment of their physical strength and size, and also to give that much more of an alien feel to the Talosians. However, the deep voice of Malachi Throne
as the Keeper in The Cage was redubbed with a higher-pitched voice for The Menagerie, as Throne also portrayed Commodore Mendez in the latter. A sample of Throne's voice as The Keeper can still be found in the preview trailer for The Menagerie, pt 2.
The phaser cannon prop appears only in this episode.
Gene Roddenberry paid a lot of attention to what The Outer Limits team was doing at the time, and he was often present in their studios. He hired several Outer Limits alumni, among them Robert Justman and Wah Chang
for the production of Star Trek.
One of the creatures in the cages was reused from the episode "The Duplicate Man" of the TV series The Outer Limits
, where it was called a megasoid.
The prop head from The Outer Limits
episode "Fun and Games" was used to make a Talosian appear as a vicious creature.
The process used to make pointed ears for David McCallum
in "The Sixth Finger" was reused in Star Trek as well. The "ion storm" seen in "The Mutant" (a projector beam shining through a container containing glitter in liquid suspension) became the transporter effect.
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
science fiction series. It was completed in early 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964), but not broadcast on television in its complete form until the autumn of 1988
1988 in television
The year 1988 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1988.For the American TV schedule, see: 1988-89 United States network television schedule.-Events:-Debuts:...
. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
and directed by Robert Butler
Robert Butler (director)
Robert Butler is an American film director. He helped launch actor Kurt Russell's career through four Walt Disney movies , but his strongest and most fondly remembered contributions have been to the small screen.-Biography:Butler began his career as a stage manager and an assistant,...
. It was rejected by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in February 1965, the network ordered another pilot episode, which became "Where No Man Has Gone Before
Where No Man Has Gone Before
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the second pilot episode of the television series Star Trek: The Original Series. It was produced in 1965 after the first pilot, "The Cage", had been rejected by NBC. The episode was eventually broadcast third in sequence on September 22, 1966, and was re-aired on...
". Much original footage from "The Cage" was later incorporated into the first season two-parter, "The Menagerie".
Primary cast
- Jeffrey HunterJeffrey HunterJeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
: Captain Christopher PikeChristopher Pike (Star Trek)Christopher Pike is a character in the Star Trek franchise. He was portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter in the original Star Trek pilot episode, "The Cage", as captain of the USS Enterprise. The pilot was rejected, and the character was dropped during development of the second pilot when Hunter decided that... - Susan OliverSusan OliverSusan Oliver was an American actress, television director and aviator.-Early life and family:Susan Oliver was born Charlotte Gercke, the daughter of journalist George Gercke and astrology practitioner Ruth Hale Oliver, in New York City in 1932. Her parents divorced when she was still a child...
: Vina - Leonard NimoyLeonard NimoyLeonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....
: Mr. SpockSpockSpock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek... - Majel BarrettMajel BarrettMajel Barrett-Roddenberry was an American actress and producer. She is perhaps best known for her role as Nurse Christine Chapel in the original Star Trek series, Lwaxana Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and for being the voice of most onboard computer interfaces throughout the series...
: Number OneNumber One (Star Trek)Number One, in "The Cage", the original pilot episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek, was the un-named intellectual, problem-solving second-in-command serving under Captain Christopher Pike. She performs the same role for Pike "as Spock later does for Kirk"... - John HoytJohn HoytJohn Hoyt was an American film, stage, and television actor.-Early life:Hoyt was born John McArthur Hoysradt. Before becoming an actor with Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre, the Yale University graduate worked as a history instructor, acting teacher and even a nightclub comedian...
: Dr. Phillip Boyce - Peter DuryeaPeter DuryeaPeter Duryea is an American actor. He is best known for appearing in the original pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series "The Cage" portions of which were reused in "The Menagerie," as Lieutenant Jose Tyler...
: Lieutenant José Tyler - Laurel GoodwinLaurel GoodwinLaurel Goodwin is a former American actress.A child model, Goodwin made her screen debut as the love interest of Elvis Presley in the 1962 film, Girls! Girls! Girls!. Between then and 1969, she appeared in three more films and as a guest actor on several television series, including the role of...
: Yeoman J. M. Colt
Overview
"The Cage" had many of the features of the eventual series, but there were numerous differences. The Captain of the starshipStarship
A starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
USS Enterprise
Starship Enterprise
The Enterprise or USS Enterprise is the name of several fictional starships, some of which are the focal point for various television series and films in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. It is considered a name of legacy in the fleet...
was not James T. Kirk
James T. Kirk
James Tiberius "Jim" Kirk is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. Kirk was first played by William Shatner as the principal lead character in the original Star Trek series. Shatner voiced Kirk in the animated Star Trek series and appeared in the first seven Star Trek movies...
, but Christopher Pike
Christopher Pike (Star Trek)
Christopher Pike is a character in the Star Trek franchise. He was portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter in the original Star Trek pilot episode, "The Cage", as captain of the USS Enterprise. The pilot was rejected, and the character was dropped during development of the second pilot when Hunter decided that...
. Spock
Spock
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by Leonard Nimoy in the original Star Trek series, Spock also appears in the animated Star Trek series, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, seven of the Star Trek feature films, and numerous Star Trek...
was present, but not as First Officer. That role was taken by a character known only as Number One
Number One (Star Trek)
Number One, in "The Cage", the original pilot episode of the science fiction television series Star Trek, was the un-named intellectual, problem-solving second-in-command serving under Captain Christopher Pike. She performs the same role for Pike "as Spock later does for Kirk"...
, played by Majel Barrett
Majel Barrett
Majel Barrett-Roddenberry was an American actress and producer. She is perhaps best known for her role as Nurse Christine Chapel in the original Star Trek series, Lwaxana Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and for being the voice of most onboard computer interfaces throughout the series...
. Spock's character differs somewhat from that seen in the rest of Star Trek: he displays a youthful eagerness that contrasts with the later more reserved and logical Spock. He also delivers the first line in all of Star Trek: "Check the circuit!"
NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
reportedly called the pilot "too cerebral", "too intellectual", and "too slow" with "not enough action". Rather than rejecting the series outright though, the network commissioned — in an unusual and, at the time, unprecedented move — a second pilot. Because of what became an urgent need for a 16th episode to be delivered to the network to meet the original series commitment, most of the footage was used within the frame devised for the later two-part Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek: The Original Series
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
episode "The Menagerie" (leaving the pilot itself to revert to its earlier name of "The Cage"), preserving the series continuity. The episode "The Cage" is sometimes listed as episode 80 when shown. On the VHS home video releases, it was credited as episode 1.
The process of editing the pilot into "The Menagerie" disassembled the original camera negative of "The Cage", and thus, for many years it was considered partly lost
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
. Roddenberry's black-and-white 16mm print made for reference purposes was the only existing print of the show, and was frequently shown at conventions. Early video releases of "The Cage" utilized Roddenberry's 16mm print, intercut with the color scenes from "The Cage" that were used in "The Menagerie". It was only in 1987 that a film archivist found an unmarked (mute) 35mm reel in a Hollywood film laboratory with the negative trims of the unused scenes. Upon realizing what he had found, he arranged for the return of the footage to Roddenberry's company. In some fan circles, this is disputed and alleged (incorrectly) that the black-and-white 16mm footage was simply colorized.
"The Cage" was aired for the first time in its entirety and in full color in late November 1988 as part of The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next, a two-hour retrospective special hosted by Patrick Stewart
Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
. It contained interviews with Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman
Rick Berman
Richard Keith “Rick” Berman is an American television producer. He is most famous for his work as the executive producer of several of the Star Trek series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager; and, several of the Star Trek theatrical productions, and...
, Mel Harris, cast members from Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, clips from both series and the Star Trek films I through IV with a small preview of Star Trek V
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a 1989 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the fifth feature in the franchise and the penultimate to star the cast of the original Star Trek science fiction television series...
. It was later rebroadcast on UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
in 1996 with a behind the scenes look at Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...
.
According to "The Menagerie", the events of "The Cage" take place thirteen years before the first season of Star Trek. No stardate
Stardate
A stardate is a date in the fictional system of time measurement developed for Star Trek, commonly heard at the beginning of a voiceover log entry such as "Captain's log, stardate 41153.7...
was given.
Plot summary
Christopher Pike (Star Trek)
Christopher Pike is a character in the Star Trek franchise. He was portrayed by Jeffrey Hunter in the original Star Trek pilot episode, "The Cage", as captain of the USS Enterprise. The pilot was rejected, and the character was dropped during development of the second pilot when Hunter decided that...
, receives a radio distress call from the fourth planet in the Talos star group. A landing party is assembled and beamed down to investigate. Tracking the distress signal to its source, the landing party discovers a camp of survivors from a scientific expedition that has been missing for 18 years. Among the survivors is a beautiful young woman named Vina.
Captivated by her beauty, Pike is caught off guard and is captured by the Talosians, a race of humanoids with bulbous heads who live beneath the planet's surface. It is revealed that the distress call, and the crash survivors, except for Vina, are just illusions created by the Talosians to lure the Enterprise to the planet. While imprisoned, Pike uncovers the Talosians' plans to repopulate their ravaged planet using himself and Vina as breeding stock for a race of slaves.
The Talosians try to use their power of illusion to interest Pike in Vina, and present her in various guises and settings, first as a Rigellian princess, a loving compassionate farm girl, then a seductive, green-skinned Orion. Pike resists all forms, so the Talosians lure Pike's first officer and yeoman — both women — down from the Enterprise to offer further temptation. By then, however, Pike discovers that his primitive human emotions can neutralize the Talosians' ability to read his mind, and he manages to escape to the surface of the planet along with his landing party.
The Talosians confront Pike and his companions before they can beam up. The captain tries to negotiate, but the first officer sets her weapon on a buildup to overload. Pike and Vina move closer to her, agreeing with her preference for death rather than captivity. After all, if the Talosians have even one human being, they might try again. This demonstration of fatal resolve confirms what the Talosians have been gleaning from the records they've downloaded from the Enterprise's computers: that the human race is far too violent for their needs.
Despite having their last hope be proven unsuitable, the Talosians are not vengeful. They let the humans go. The first officer and yeoman beam up immediately, but Pike remains behind with Vina, urging her to leave with him. Vina explains that she can't leave. An expedition had indeed crash landed on Talos IV; Vina was the sole survivor, but was badly injured. The Talosians were able to save her, but as they had no understanding of human aesthetics at the time, she was left horribly disfigured. With the aid of the Talosians' illusions, she is able to appear beautiful and in good health, as much to herself as to any others.
Realizing that the continued Talosian illusion of health and beauty is necessary for Vina, Pike is ready to return to the Enterprise. In an act of goodwill, the aliens show him that Vina sees an image of Pike next to her, and they walk up to the entrance that takes them into the Talosian habitat. Pike then beams up after the Keeper's closing words: "She has an illusion and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant."
40th Anniversary remastering
Although not aired in this form as part of the original series (1966–69), this episode was remastered in 2006 and had been scheduled to air April 26, 2008, as part of the remastered Original Series. It was to be preceded a week earlier by the remastered "Mudd's Women" and was to be followed a week later by the remastered "Assignment: Earth". However, at the last minute the episode was pulled and was first broadcast the weekend of May 2, 2009, as part of the promotions leading to the release of the new Star Trek film the following weekend. It is included as part of the Third Season Remastered DVD set.Changes include:
- New CGI exterior shots of the pilot version of the USS Enterprise.
- New version of the shot that zooms in from the outside of the ship, in through the dome to the interior of the bridge. The entire bridge and all characters were recreated in CGI and blended in with the live action shots which begin with Spock's first line of dialogue.
- A moving starfield is visible from the window in Captain Pike's quarters.
- New computer images during the scene in which the Talosians scan the Enterprises memory banks. Included were images of events that hadn't occurred yet when the pilot was filmed (1964) such as the Apollo 11Apollo 11In early 1969, Bill Anders accepted a job with the National Space Council effective in August 1969 and announced his retirement as an astronaut. At that point Ken Mattingly was moved from the support crew into parallel training with Anders as backup Command Module Pilot in case Apollo 11 was...
moon landing. - Reformatted main and end title credits to conform to the rest of the series.
- In the syndication version scenes with Spock showing emotion were left out (Spock smiling when first seeing the Talosian flowers and showing panic when the Yeoman and Number One beamed off the ship without the men).
The Menagerie
Of the 63-minute pilot, some 52 minutes were used in the two-part Menagerie episode, although the final surface scene was altered slightly and used as the Talosians' final message to Captain Kirk. Pike, now able to enjoy the illusion of being healthy and independently-mobile again, accompanies Vina up to the entrance to the Talosian habitat. What had been the Keeper's final words to Pike become the final words to Kirk, slightly altered: "Captain Pike has an illusion, and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant." The voiceover, however, is placed over the threatening scene earlier when the Keeper communicates, with a smug nod, "We may soon begin the experiment."According to The Menagerie, Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
placed the planet under strict quarantine as a result of the Enterprises first encounter with Talos IV, the violation of which was the only crime that still carried the death penalty. Not only that, but when Spock violates the ban, Kirk (as his commanding officer) also becomes eligible to be executed. It is never clearly explained why such a harsh sentence was warranted, although the Keeper tells Pike that if humans and Talosians were to maintain contact, "Your race would eventually discover our power of illusion and destroy itself, too." At the end of The Menagerie, Starfleet allows an exemption for Kirk and Spock, but it has yet to be established in Star Trek canon whether the death penalty for breaking the Talos IV quarantine was ever repealed.
Production
"The Cage" was filmed at Desilu ProductionsDesilu Productions
Desilu Productions was a Los Angeles, California-based company jointly owned by actors Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, who were married to each other from 1940 to 1960....
' studio in Culver City, California
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
, from November 27 to mid-December 1964. Post-production work (pick-up shots, editing, scoring, special photographic and sound effects) continued to January 18, 1965.
Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter
Jeffrey Hunter was an American film and television actor. His most famous roles are as Jesus in the film King of Kings, as Martin Pawley in The Searchers, and as Capt...
had a six-month exclusive option for the role of Captain Pike. Although he was required to continue if the series was picked up by the network, he was not required to film the second pilot that NBC requested. Deciding to concentrate on motion pictures instead, he declined the role. Gene Roddenberry wrote to him on April 5, 1965:
I am told you have decided not to go ahead with Star Trek. This has to be your own 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.
Roddenberry then asked if Hunter would be willing to film additional scenes to allow the rejected pilot episode to be released as a theatrical feature instead (as was the pilot for Hunter's recent NBC series Temple Houston
Temple Houston (TV series)
Temple Houston is a 1963–64 NBC television series which has been called "the first attempt . . . to produce an hour-long Western series with the main character being an attorney in the formal sense." It was the only show Jack Webb sold to a network during his ten months as the head of production at...
). Hunter declined.
Two weeks after the option expired on June 1, 1965, Hunter formally gave his letter requesting separation from the project. He died in 1969. Roddenberry later suggested that it was he — unhappy with interference by Hunter's then-wife Dusty Bartlett — who decided not to rehire Hunter. However, executive producer Herbert F. Solow
Herbert F. Solow
Herbert F. Solow worked in Hollywood as a producer, director, studio executive, talent agent, and writer.-Biography:After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1953 Solow was hired by the William Morris Agency in New York City to work in the mailroom. In 1954 he was promoted to talent agent...
, who was present when Dusty, acting as manager, refused the role on behalf of her husband, later said in his memoir, Inside Star Trek, that it was the other way around.
All of the Talosians were portrayed by women, with their telepathic voices recorded by male actors. This was done to give the impression that the Talosians had focused their efforts on mental development to the detriment of their physical strength and size, and also to give that much more of an alien feel to the Talosians. However, the deep voice of Malachi Throne
Malachi Throne
Malachi Throne is an American actor, most noted for his roles on Star Trek and It Takes a Thief.Throne was born in New York City...
as the Keeper in The Cage was redubbed with a higher-pitched voice for The Menagerie, as Throne also portrayed Commodore Mendez in the latter. A sample of Throne's voice as The Keeper can still be found in the preview trailer for The Menagerie, pt 2.
The phaser cannon prop appears only in this episode.
Gene Roddenberry paid a lot of attention to what The Outer Limits team was doing at the time, and he was often present in their studios. He hired several Outer Limits alumni, among them Robert Justman and Wah Chang
Wah Chang
Wah Ming Chang was a Chinese American designer, sculptor, and artist. He is known primarily for his sculpture and the props he designed for Star Trek , including the tricorder, and communicator...
for the production of Star Trek.
One of the creatures in the cages was reused from the episode "The Duplicate Man" of the TV series The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
, where it was called a megasoid.
The prop head from The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits (1963 TV series)
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. The series is similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone, but with a greater emphasis on science fiction, rather than fantasy stories...
episode "Fun and Games" was used to make a Talosian appear as a vicious creature.
The process used to make pointed ears for David McCallum
David McCallum
David Keith McCallum, Jr. is a Scottish actor and musician. He is best known for his roles as Illya Kuryakin, a Russian-born secret agent, in the 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., as interdimensional operative Steel in Sapphire & Steel, and Dr...
in "The Sixth Finger" was reused in Star Trek as well. The "ion storm" seen in "The Mutant" (a projector beam shining through a container containing glitter in liquid suspension) became the transporter effect.