The Cage (Star Trek: The Original Series)

"The Cage"
Star Trek: The Original Series episode
Episode no.	Episode 1
Directed by	Robert Butler
Written by	Gene Roddenberry
Featured music	Alexander Courage (uncredited)
Production code	001 – Restored Version 099 – Original Version
Original air date	February 1965 (1965-02) (First screened to NBC) October 14, 1986 (1986-10-14) (VHS Release) November 27, 1988 (1988-11-27) (TV Premiere - Restored to full color)
Guest appearance(s)
Jeffrey Hunter – Captain Christopher Pike Susan Oliver – Vina Meg Wyllie – The Keeper Majel Barrett – Number One John Hoyt – Dr. Phillip Boyce Peter Duryea – Lieutenant José Tyler Laurel Goodwin – Yeoman J. M. Colt Clegg Hoyt – Transporter Chief Pitcairn Malachi Throne – The Keeper (voice) Michael Dugan – The Kaylar Georgia Schmidt – First Talosian Robert C. Johnson – First Talosian (voice) Serena Sande – Second Talosian Jon Lormer – Dr. Theodore Haskins Adam Roarke – C.P.O. Garrison Leonard Mudie – Second Survivor Anthony Jochim – Third Survivor Ed Madden – Enterprise Geologist Robert Phillips – Space Officer (Orion) Joseph Mell – Earth Trader Janos Prohaska – Anthropoid Ape / Humanoid Bird

"The Cage" is the first pilot episode of Star Trek. It was completed in early 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964), but not broadcast on television in its complete form until late 1988. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler. It was rejected by NBC in February 1965, and 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".

"The Cage" had many of the features of the eventual series, but there were numerous differences. The Captain of the starship USS Enterprise was not James T. Kirk, but Christopher Pike. Spock was present, but not as First Officer. That role was taken by a character known only as Number One, played by Majel Barrett. Spock's character differs somewhat from that seen in the rest of Star Trek; he displays a youthful eagerness that contrasts with the later more reserved and logical Spock. He also delivers the first line in all of Star Trek: "Check the circuit!" followed by, "Can't be the screen then." The weaponry used in the pilot was also different from that seen in the series proper, identified as lasers rather than phasers, and different props were used for the communicator and handheld weapon (which made the change to "phasers" easy to retcon as an upgraded technology).

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 a second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". This was accepted and Star Trek began production.

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