Star Trek pilot episode "The Cage" remastered on TV this weekend!

[BrainGlutton]

Another thing just occurred to me: If you can’t see out of the dome, what’s the point of placing the bridge at the top of the saucer section? It would be better protected in the middle.

Obvious answer: Roddenberry was a Navy man and the top of the ship is where a bridge belongs.

[carnivorousplant]

They fought the Doomsday machine from another command position with the Constellation. I recall a mention of a “battle bridge” in TNG or DS9.

[Pushkin]

@Sir Rhosis

And I agree with you, really. I’m one of the ones who prefers “The Cage” over WNMHGB

You say that like we’re in a minority! I prefer it too and your comment above about “cerebral = boring” makes sense. A friend of mine who regularly disparaged Trek actually approved of it as interesting too.

[DCTrekkie]

@carnivorousplant

They fought the Doomsday machine from another command position with the Constellation. I recall a mention of a “battle bridge” in TNG or DS9.

Yep, the Enterprise D had a Battle bridge at the top of the Stardrive section (basically everything except the saucer. Normally that would be well protected in the middle of the saucer section, but when the ship separated it ended up on top of the stardrive section, barely any more protected than the main bridge. The original Enterprise IIRC had a Auxiliary Control room, which was also basically a second bridge. In non-canon stuff, the main reason for the exposed bridges is that they are interchangeable modules. When there’s a refit you can just pop the old bridge off and install a new one without having to go right to the center of the ship.

[Walloon]

@kunilou

As for the inevitable “why did Shatner replace Hunter” question, there are three possible answers - take your pick.

a) After the first pilot was rejected, Hunter decided he’d focus on movies.
b) Hunter would have taken the role, but he was shooting a movie and was unavailable for the second pilot
c) For whatever reason (money/clash of egos/trouble on the set) Roddenberry or Desilu or NBC didn’t want Hunter back. Since most of the cast was being replaced anyway, replacing the Captain was no big deal.

Correct answer is “a”. Hunter had a six-month exclusive contract option for the role; he was obligated to continue with the series if NBC picked it up, but he was not obligated to film a second pilot, which was what NBC unexpectedly asked for in the spring of 1965. Hunter, on his wife’s advice, decided to concentrate on films instead of television (he had just starred on NBC’s Temple Houston in 1963-64). NBC and Desilu thought he was just bluffing for a higher salary, but after several offers and his rejections, it became clear he really didn’t want the series. Roddenberry wrote to Hunter 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.

Two weeks after the option expired on June 1, 1965, Hunter formally gave his letter requesting separation from the project.

[Walloon]

@cochrane

Interestingly, when “The Cage” was respliced into “The Menagerie,” the original color negative was destroyed and considered lost. Roddenberry’s black and white reference copy of the episode was thought to be the only intact print to exist. The color scenes used in “The Menagerie” were intercut with scenes from the black and white reel for early home video release. In 1987, a film archivist found an unmarked reel in a Hollywood laboratory which contained the unused scenes trimmed in making “The Menagerie.”

Well, obviously, the original color negative was not destroyed.

[Sir_Rhosis]

[nitpick]Actually Roddenberry was an Army Air Corps man.[/nitpick]

Sir Rhosis, noted geek