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Theunicornhunter

The original pilot on SciFi this morning

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Did anyone else see this. The Scifi channel ran the original pilot. I thought it was odd because the intro was different then I realized I was watching the first pilot - which I had never seen before.

 

It was different - not a just a different captain but

 

Click for Spoiler:

many of the characters had a choppier feel about them - and Spock seemed much less rigid. The greatest though was Majel Barrett (with dark hair) as Number One - it's really a shame she didn't get to follow through with that character. The captain even made some comment about women shouldn't be on the bridge and she gave him a look. And he mumbled something about her being different and she gave him another look. There was an enthusiastic young officer who seemed to have a much higher energy level than Sulu or Chekov. But it was the original pilot and the execs didn't like it - that's why they did Where no man has gone before.

 

 

Anyway I was thrilled to get to see the entire episode.

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Yes I've seen that episode once before about 6 months ago I'd say. At least I think I know which one your talking about. It was a very intersting show to watch, and it was very good!

Click for Spoiler:

Did one of the officers become "god like" and try to kill the captain and crew?

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CB, I think that is the second pilot "Were no man has gone before"..The first pilot is with Captain Pike..And TUH I wish that I caught it..I have never seen it before..Must have been very interesting..

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Yes I've seen that episode once before about 6 months ago I'd say.  At least I think I know which one your talking about.  It was a very intersting show to watch, and it was very good!

Click for Spoiler:

Did one of the officers become "god like" and try to kill the captain and crew?

 

Captain Bolivar I think you're talking about the second pilot - the one that had Kirk as Captain. Are you talking about the one where yhere was an anomaly that caused two members of the crew to gain superhuman powers and one of them tried to kill the crew. Kirk was going to leave him on an abandoned planet.

 

The one I saw had Captain Pike - parts of it were used in the TOS two parter the cage.

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Hmm, your right the second pilot is "where no man has gone before" and I, sadly, have only seen it once after seeing every other episode many times.

 

The real pilot was "the cage" if I'm not mistaken. That is the one in while Captain Pike and his crew are lured to Talos IV by a race capable of creating powerful illusions.

 

Episode 016 is called "The Menagerie" Parts 1 and 2 and it is basically the pilot episode with added footage. But of course, I'm guessing that the menagerie didn't include all of the footage from "The Cage" but I'm sure it contained most of it. Is that what you saw Unicorn Hunter?

 

Oops, it seems that while I wrote this you already replyed again Unicorn...

Edited by Captain Bolivar

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The Menagerie brought back Hunter as a very injured pike and used bits of the Cage as flashback scenes. to explain why they where doing what they where doing.

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Yes, the Cage was the original pilot and The Menagerie used parts of the Cage but not all and added the TOS characters. Again I am glad I got to see it but I suspect it will show up again in the Scifi line-up

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Just a little trivia...

 

"The Cage" was the original pilot, rejected by NBC becuase it was too cerebral.

 

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the second pilot, set years later with all new character, except for Mr. Spock. This time, NBC excepted the pilot, but for some dumb reason, aired it as the 3rd or so episode. B)

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I saw it many years ago, it is a great story that echos Star Trek's source material (Forbidden Planet) to a greater extent in terms of plotting and characterisation.

 

I would also be interested to hear everyone's views on Where No Man Has Gone Before, which is my favourite Trek episode from all the series.

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The scifi channel in my area didn't play The Cage today but fortunately I've seen it played before and what a rocking good version it is, I believe it is the most complete version available.

 

I'm sure it has more footage than even the official video tape available for purchase! One of these days I hope to have a tape ready for recording when it airs but that's difficult since it's airing is never advertised. (that I've seen)

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I saw it many years ago, it is a great story that echos Star Trek's source material (Forbidden Planet) to a greater extent in terms of plotting and characterisation.

 

I would also be interested to hear everyone's views on Where No Man Has Gone Before, which is my favourite Trek episode from all the series.

Well, it has been a while since I've seen it. I remember the highlights but not all the details.

 

One quesiton I had:

Click for Spoiler:

Why does superior intellecut or mental power always make a person evil. There are people now that have superior skills to others - some use their skill to abuse and take advantage of others but some treat all people kindly - ie they remember their basic principles. That was my question - why did the increased mental ability make Gary? evil?

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Just a little trivia...

 

"The Cage" was the original pilot, rejected by NBC becuase it was too cerebral.

 

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the second pilot, set years later with all new character, except for Mr. Spock.  This time, NBC excepted the pilot, but for some dumb reason, aired it as the 3rd or so episode. B)

Antoher bit of trivier in WNMHGB

Click for Spoiler:

when Mitchell Raises Kirks Grave Kirks Middles initial is R not T

 

and allso Mitchell was played by Gary Lockwood who allso played Frank Poole in 2001 a space odyssey

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That was my question - why did the increased mental ability make Gary? evil?

My view is that Gary had become so evolved that he no longer saw the other humans as his equals, in effect the rest of the crew appeared to him like insects or single cell organisms appear to us.

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That was my question - why did the increased mental ability make Gary? evil?

My view is that Gary had become so evolved that he no longer saw the other humans as his equals, in effect the rest of the crew appeared to him like insects or single cell organisms appear to us.

But that doesn't seem very evolved to me - physically perhaps but not morally - not all humans believe they have a right to squash lower life forms just because they can. So I still describe him as evil.

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That was my question - why did the increased mental ability make Gary? evil?

My view is that Gary had become so evolved that he no longer saw the other humans as his equals, in effect the rest of the crew appeared to him like insects or single cell organisms appear to us.

But that doesn't seem very evolved to me - physically perhaps but not morally - not all humans believe they have a right to squash lower life forms just because they can. So I still describe him as evil.

You've hit the nail on the head. The issue that the episode looked at was the ability to evolve morally juxtaposed with physical evolution/power. This can be a parable on atomic weapons, genetic advancements, other technological advancements...

 

There are many ways you can look at this episode, which is why I love it. You could argue that Gary views the crew as insects or a virus, his actions could be compared to when we call in the exterminators to get cockroaches out of a house or when we take a medicine to kill a germ.

 

The story is also a parable about attaining power in a short space of time which can lead to inflated egos and has even played a part in the creation of dictators.

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I saw it many years ago, it is a great story that echos Star Trek's source material (Forbidden Planet) to a greater extent in terms of plotting and characterisation.

 

I would also be interested to hear everyone's views on Where No Man Has Gone Before, which is my favourite Trek episode from all the series.

Well, it has been a while since I've seen it. I remember the highlights but not all the details.

 

One quesiton I had:

Click for Spoiler:

Why does superior intellecut or mental power always make a person evil. There are people now that have superior skills to others - some use their skill to abuse and take advantage of others but some treat all people kindly - ie they remember their basic principles. That was my question - why did the increased mental ability make Gary? evil?

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely." I think that's what happened. B)

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Did anyone else see this.  The Scifi channel ran the original pilot.  I thought it was odd because the intro was different then I realized I was watching the first pilot - which I had never seen before.

 

It was different - not a just a different captain but

 

Click for Spoiler:

many of the characters had a choppier feel about them - and Spock seemed much less rigid.  The greatest though was Majel Barrett (with dark hair) as Number One - it's really a shame she didn't get to follow through with that character.  The captain even made some comment about women shouldn't be on the bridge and she gave him a look.  And he mumbled something about her being different and she gave him another look.  There was an enthusiastic young officer who seemed to have a much higher energy level than Sulu or Chekov.  But it was the original pilot and the execs didn't like it - that's why they did Where no man has gone before.

 

 

 

 

Anyway I was thrilled to get to see the entire episode.

Anyway, back to The Cage ...

 

The Cage is an awsome episode (in my top ten), and I hope the next trek series (if there is one) is based on it. The crew was different (except Nimoy and Barrett), and the Enterprise was slightly more primative, but, it had that same TOS feel to it ... great sci-fi storytelling.

 

I love Majel, but to be brutally honest, I don't think she was strong enough an actress to pull that character off in the long run. But she did good work in The Cage. And Nimoy hadn't yet even begun to define Spock's character, that happened around the time of The Corbomite Maneuver.

 

Yes, it's different, but not all that different. I can watch it along with the rest of TOS and it doesn't feel out of place at all.

 

BTW, if you watched the SciFi channel's sunday morning airing then you didn't see anywhere near the entire episode ... I'm starting a new thread about this, untill then B)

Edited by Big_Steve

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I saw it many years ago, it is a great story that echos Star Trek's source material (Forbidden Planet) to a greater extent in terms of plotting and characterisation.

Forbidden Planet certainly influenced Roddenberry, but I don't think I would go as far as to call it the source material. The relationship of the big three ... Kirk, Spock, McCoy, was most definitely based on the male leads of that film.

 

What Forbidden Planet and Star Trek have in common is great sci-fi writing, something sorely lacking in modern treks.

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