Before you head out to theaters to see “Star Trek” this weekend, you may want to catch-up on where the whole phenomenon started–the original pilot for classic “Star Trek,” ‘The Cage.’
“The Cage” is debuting as part of the project to update and remaster all the original episodes of classic “Star Trek.” Fans will have seen some of the footage in the two-part episode, “The Menagerie.”
“The Cage” was the original pilot, rejected by NBC has being “too cerebral” for audiences. Creator Gene Roddenberry later used the footage for the two-part episode, “The Menagerie” during the first season of classic “Trek.”
Dave Rossi, the producer for the “Trek” Remastered project, told Wired.com that audiences — including diehard Trekkers — have come to accept the improved effects and cleaned up shots of the repaired episodes.
“There was some resistance at first,” Rossi said. “But, once fans saw that we were dedicated to respecting the look and the spirit of the original episodes, I think they trusted what we were doing.”
“We were painstaking in our efforts to preserve continuity in every possible way, including the remastering for ‘The Cage.’”
Check your local listing for the premiere day and time of the syndicated episode.
Geek chalenge to anyone who actually has a REAL answer. When was “The Cage” originally aired on brodcast TV. Believe me this is a more difficult question than you think.
And I must say… GAAK! No mention of Robert April?
IIRC, it was released on VHS a couple of times–once with black and white footage to fill in the gaps trimmed during the Menagarie then as a full color version.
It aired on TV as “The Cage” for the first time just before TNG’s second season….
Merlin….The Cage was never aired on network TV. Sometime in the late 80’s it was shown in syndication. Then as far as Robert April goes even Roddenberry didnot consider the animated shows to be cannon. An there would be no mention of him in the Cage as the animated aired after the regular series.
Eh? This was shown in our main cinema, on a digital projector, here in Luxembourg mid-last year (and it was wonderful) – it’s hardly “Remastered in Time for Abrams’ Launch”, just the they kept it back from TV release so they can cash in on the advertising revenue during the transmission.