"The Cage" is the first pilot episode of the American television series Star Trek. It was completed on January 22, 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964). The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler. In February 1965, NBC rejected it, and the network ordered another pilot episode, which became "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Much of the original footage from "The Cage" was later incorporated into the season 1 two-part episode "The Menagerie" (1966); "The Cage" was first released to the public on VHS in 1986, with a special introduction by Gene Roddenberry, as a hybrid of the color footage that was used in "The Menagerie" and black and white footage which was not used in "The Menagerie." It was first broadcast on television in its complete all-color form in 1988. The black and white and all-color versions were also released in various standard-definition media, including LaserDisc, VHS, and DVD formats. The story concerns a starship crew's investigation of a far-off planet, which was the site of a shipwreck eighteen years earlier, and their encounter with telepathic aliens who seek a human male specimen for their menagerie. The pilot introduced Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, the only cast member retained for the series in his original role.
Overview "The Cage" has many of the features of the eventual series, but there are numerous differences. The captain of the starship USS Enterprise is not James T. Kirk, but Christopher Pike. Spock is present, but not as first officer. That role is taken by a character named Number One, played by Majel Barrett. Spock's character differs somewhat from that seen in the rest of Star Trek, displaying 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 also differs from that seen in the series proper, identified as lasers rather than phasers, and different props are used for the communicator and handheld weapons. 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," which led to an order for the series for fall 1966.
Footage repurposed for a series During the first season, the need for new episodes to be delivered to the network to meet airdates became urgent, and a framing story with the series regulars was written around most of the original footage from "The Cage", resulting in the two-part episode "The Menagerie". The process of editing the pilot into "The Menagerie" disassembled the original camera negative of "The Cage", and thus, it was considered partly lost for many years. 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" used 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 to return the footage to Roddenberry's company. According to "The Menagerie", "The Cage" events occurred thirteen years before the first season of Star Trek, in 2254. No stardate was given.
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