THE CAGE

SHOW DETAILS GALLERY VISITOR COMMENTS SYNOPSIS FEATURED CAST EDITORIAL REVIEW

Full Title	THE CAGE				Season	PILOT
Prod #	01	Aired	Unknown		Stardate	Unknown
DS 93 rating (/5):				Visitor rating:	10.00/10 (2 votes)
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Writer(s):	Gene Roddenberry
Director:	Robert Butler
			$14.95	#1 B&W/Color		$17.99
				2 Versions of "The Cage" plus "Turnabout: Intruder"
			$14.95 $14.95	#1 B&W/Colour #99 Original Full-Colour		$22.94
				2 Versions of "The Cage" plus "Turnabout: Intruder"
			£8.99 £5.99	Available Individually or combined with Episodes #2 & #3
				Region 2 DVD not currently available
*Note* - Amazon Prices are subject to change, and may not always reflect prices listed here.

Synopsis:	In the series first of two pilot episodes, a mission to rescue survivors on planet Talos IV goes awry when Pike is captured by the Talosians, and experiences visions and dreams centred around himself and a woman named Vina.
Themes & Issues:	Breeding Captivity Culture Preservation Dreams vs. Reality Equality Love Punishment & Rewards Race Preservation Real vs. Surreal Responsibility Retirement Slavery Slave Girls Telepathy
Closing Stills:	Not Applicable
Featured Races:	Anthropoid Ape Human Humanoid Bird Orion Rigellian Talosian Vulcan
Equipment/Misc. Objects:	Communicator (translucent base, gold foil grill flip-up antenna) Laser cannon (starship-calibre directed energy weapon, power controlled remotely from ship's bridge) Laser pistol (handgun shaped, directed energy weapon, 2 settings + overload, setting change at head of barrel) Personal viewer (goose-neck shaped; approx 3" diag. viewing area, attached to bridge stations) Transporter (standard mid-23rd century Federation)
Sets/Locations:	Bridge Briefing Room Captain Pike's quarters Enterprise Corridor Exterior Space (with, w/o Enterprise) Exterior Space Talos IV orbit Orion Palace Hall Park-land outside Mojave, California Pike's cage on Talos IV & corridor Rigel VII castle (int/ext) Talos IV surface exterior Talosian control room Transporter Room
Flaws/ Nitpics:	Mis-Spoken Terms Space Vehicle Enterprise instead of StarShip Enterprise Hyperdrive instead of Warp Drive Time Warp instead of just Warp Story Flaws Spock smiling, amused by the "singing" blue leaf plants Spock shouting emphatically in emotionally heightened scenes Makeup/Hairdressing Flaws Pike's stand-in, when he's watching the illusion of himself walk away with Vina, did not have his hair touched up to match Jeffrey Hunter's. Hunter has several gray hairs mixed in with black. His stand-in here had just really dark-brown hair with no gray mixed in. Editing Flaws In restored color version, in one shot as the camera zooms out, you can see the edges of the viewer from when these scenes were displayed in Spock's hearing in "The Menagerie". Release Flaws On the VHS releases, #1 is the Black & White / Colour combo with introduction by Gene Roddenberry and #99 is the Restored All-Colour version. However, on the DVD release, these numbers are reversed.
Cast:	Captain Christopher Pike -  Jeffrey Hunter Vina -  Susan Oliver Commander Spock -  Leonard Nimoy Number One -  Majel Barrett Doctor Phillip Boyce -  John Hoyt Lieutenant Jose Tyler -  Peter Duryea Yeoman Colt -  Laurel Goodwin Anthropoid Ape / Humanoid Bird -  Janos Prohaska (uncr) Earth Trader -  Joseph Mell (uncr) Enterprise Geologist -  Ed Madden (uncr) Chief Petty Officer Garrison -  Adam Roarke (uncr) Doctor Theodore Haskins (1st survivor) -  Jon Lormer (uncr) The Keeper -  Meg Wylie (uncr) The Keeper (voice) -  Malachi Throne (uncr) Transporter Chief Pitcairn -  Clegg Hoyt (uncr) The Kalar, Rigel VII Warrior -  Mike Dugan (uncr) Second Survivor -  Leonard Mude (uncr) Third Survivor -  Anthony Jochim (uncr) Space Officer (Orion) -  Robert Phillips (uncr) First Talosian -  Georgia Schmidt (uncr) First Talosian (voice) -  Robert C. Johnson (uncr) Second Talosian -  Serena Sande (uncr) Second Talosian (voice) -  Tom Curtis (uncr) Pike's stunt double -  Bob Herron (uncr) Stunt double -  Frank da Vinci (uncr)
Editorial:	T HE CAGE, filmed in 1964, was Roddenberry's first Star Trek pilot. The first piece of written material pertaining to the episode is dated 11 March, 1964; a 16-page booklet outling the cast and 25 potential episodes. A first draft script was dated 8 September, 1964; exactly 2 years before the series would first air, and that date would become the show's official anniversary. After searching for a company that would actually produce it, he finally presented it to Lucille Ball's struggling company, Desilu Productions. His next task was to scout out a network to air it. After presenting it to the executives at NBC in February of 1965, he was told that they liked the premise of the series, but found this particular story too slow moving and too cerebral; after he had promised them A Wagon Train to the Stars . But since they liked the premise, they commissioned Roddenberry to do an unprecedented second pilot episode, which would become Where No Man Has Gone Before. Still, after putting so much work into The Cage, Roddenberry didn't want to see the episode go to waste, so he wrote The Menagerie; a story around which he could use footage from The Cage. (Source for background information on "The Cage": The Star Trek Compendium by Allan Asherman)