Mister Spock and Captain Kirk in the second pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
Previously on The Written Trek …
“The Cage” was shown to Desilu executives, to network suits, to test audiences. The mythology we're told today is that NBC rejected the pilot because it was “too cerebral,” but that's not true. Both David Alexander's authorized biography and the Solow & Justman book confirm that NBC liked the pilot. The problem was that NBC needed to sell ad time; the network executives thought “The Cage” was fine for a regular weekly episode, but not as a sample for potential sponsors. The pilot did serve to demonstrate that Desilu, primarily known for half-hour sitcoms, could produce a high-quality effects-driven one-hour drama; perhaps as good as ABC's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea produced by Irwin Allen at 20th Century Fox.
The “too cerebral” excuse was a cover, according to Alexander, for NBC to save face while a second pilot was produced. According to Solow & Justman, “NBC was very concerned with the 'eroticism' of the pilot and what it foreshadowed for the ensuing series.” The network was also concerned that Spock's satanic appearance might offend Bible Belt advertisers.
But the studio and the network concurred that Star Trek had potential, so their executives agreed to fund a second pilot.
Commissioning a second pilot was quite unusual for its time. In retrospect, both Desilu and NBC really must have wanted Star Trek to succeed.
NBC seemed sold on the show. The second pilot's purpose was to sell the show to potential sponsors. With sponsors aboard, Gene Roddenberry would have more freedom to explore the story ideas he had in mind.
The second pilot also had to demonstrate to Desilu that Roddenberry could keep costs under control. No one had attempted a weekly one-hour TV show with the scale and vision he intended. The ABC TV series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was in its first season; Voyage was state-of-the-art for the network television of its day, but it had the advantage of sunken costs charged to its predecessor feature film. Many of its visual effects, such as the SSRN Seaview diving beneath an iceberg, had been created on a 1961 film budget and then recycled into the TV show. Everything for “The Cage” had to be built, sewn, glued, fabricated, imagined. According to Desilu executive Herb Solow, the first pilot was budgeted at $451,503 but ended up costing $615,751.
Just as Voyage had sunk its startup costs in its movie predecessor, Star Trek would recycle most of the first pilot's sets, props, and costumes. Voyage already had its Seaview. Star Trek already had its Enterprise.
This second season episode of “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” which aired on ABC in January 1966, recycled both the plot and the effects from its predecessor feature film. Waste not. Video source: Harriman Nelson YouTube channel.
Some props and costumes from Voyage found their way to Lost in Space, another Irwin Allen production on the 20th Century Fox lot. CBS passed on Star Trek in favor of Lost in Space. The Lost in Space pilot, which never aired, was in production around the same time as the second Star Trek pilot.
Desilu had proven to NBC that the studio could produce a high-quality one-hour program. In retrospect, that was the problem. NBC wanted Desilu to prove they could do it, and had chosen “The Cage” as a stress test of the studio's talents. NBC now realized that, instead, they should have chosen a pilot script that could sell the show to sponsors.
NBC and Desilu agreed to commission three more scripts. Desilu would select the scripts, and NBC would pay for them. The network and the studio would jointly agree on which script to produce. The second pilot would be budgeted at $215,644, far less than the first, because it was expected that Roddenberry would recycle the sets, costumes, and visual effects from “The Cage.”* Roddenberry wouldn't have the time to write all three scripts, so he would write one while the remaining two would be assigned to other writers. He also had to set aside production of the pilot for another series, called Police Story, that he hoped to produce for NBC.
The three scripts were:
- “The Omega Glory” — A demonstration of the “parallel worlds” concept Roddenberry had described in his original March 1964 sixteen-page outline. Roddenberry himself would write this script. It would later be produced as a second-season episode. The essential premise was that the Enterprise discovered an Earth-like world whose two warring sides had devolved from the Cold War of the 1960s. This was considered the weakest of the three, and was set aside.
- “Mudd's Women” — Roddenberry's March 1964 outline had a one-paragraph pitch for an episode titled, “The Women” — “hanky-panky aboard with a cargo of women destined for a far-off colony.” The premise was farmed out to Stephen Kandel, a prolific television writer who at the time had to his credits fourteen episodes of Sea Hunt and four episodes of a syndicated Ziv-United Artists crime adventure series called Everglades! Roddenberry and Kandel modified the original idea to add a swashbuckling guest character who was peddling the women. Kandel became ill while writing the script; that plus the ribald premise were considered a bit too much for a pilot intended to persuade sponsors.
- “Where No Man Has Gone Before” — The premise emerged from conversations between Roddenberry and his writer friend Sam Peeples, who had helped Gene with his early research for “The Cage.” The episode would be much more action-adventure than its predecessor, with a minimal science fiction overtone. NBC audience research had concluded that female viewers were not serious fans of fantasy or science fiction. This story's muted SF appealed to NBC more than the other two. The initial script was written by Peeples, but Roddenberry rewrote it to his preferences; a June 10, 1965 Herb Solow memo stated, “I have made NBC aware of the fact that you will be polishing the script yourself and alter the story so as to get us down on the planet surface earlier.”
NBC picked the Sam Peeples script.
Two months earlier, Peeples had written a ten-page memo with his thoughts about “The Cage” and what fixes might be needed for the second pilot. His first paragraph stated, “The mission or purpose of the ship is not defined in the pilot film. Planetary exploration team? Also galactic defense and colony protection?” This eventually would lead to the Star Trek opening narrative, which would incorporate the title of this episode.
Not all of Peeples' suggestions were adopted. Sam had sensed that Majel Barrett's Number One character would be unpopular with the network. That wasn't Majel's fault; the character was ahead of her time. Gene's affair with Majel was well known by his superiors at Desilu, a fact they shared with NBC. Number One's personality traits would be absorbed by Mister Spock. But Peeples did offer a suggestion that may have led to Majel's gig as the voice of the ship computer. He proposed that Number One be the ship computer! Number One would be an artificial intelligence in love with Captain Pike! This might explain why the computer in the series had a female voice, although it didn't have the stereotypical traits proposed by Peeples.
The AI romance with Captain Pike, or any other captain, was not to be. NBC was okay with Jeffrey Hunter returning, and Roddenberry wanted him back, but Hunter's wife disapproved of the first pilot so Hunter bowed out. (Hunter's contract required him to to do a pilot and the series. It didn't require him to do two pilots.) As we all know, William Shatner accepted the role, renamed James Tiberius Kirk.
The network remained nervous about the “satanic” Spock character. Roddenberry was adamant that Spock was necessary as a contrast with the rest of the crew. He told Stephen Whitfield in 1968, “I felt we couldn't do a space show without at least one person on board who constantly reminded you that you are out in space and in a world of the future.”
In his autobiography I Am Spock, Leonard Nimoy noted that Spock was the only character to survive from the first pilot. In “The Cage,” Nimoy had little direction for the character, other than he was a bridge officer who had learned English as a second language. In this second pilot, the Spock we came to know wasn't quite there just yet. Spock smirks, still bellows orders like a British first officer, and shows some emotion. But Spock also has some aspects of his trademark personality traits, as we'll discuss later. Nimoy received co-star credit, second billing behind the lead.
NBC sent Roddenberry a memo dated August 17, 1965 stating, “we are not only anxious but determined that members of minority groups be treated in a manner consistent with their role in society. While this applies to all racial minorities, obviously the principal reference is to the casting and depiction of Negroes.” In the first pilot, the cast had been nearly all white, except for an Asian assistant transporter operator who had no lines. Roddenberry now had license from the network to depict a crew more diverse than just a non-descript pointy-eared alien.
Lloyd Haynes played communications officer Alden. As would his successor Uhura, Alden could staff the command console (and repair it).
Lloyd Haynes was cast to play communications officer Alden. He became the first African-American cast in a Star Trek speaking role. Other African-Americans were cast as background extras. George Takei was cast as Sulu, who at this point was a physicist and head of the ship's astrosciences department. He would later helm the Enterprise while also having an interest in botany. James Doohan, a Canadian by birth (like Shatner), was cast as Engineering Officer Scott who, coincidentally, had a Scottish accent. Some sterotypes remained; Andrea Dromm, cast as Yeoman Smith was (like Yeoman Colt in “The Cage”) a glorified secretary. Star Trek was on its way to a more diverse and equitable future, but that was easier said than done.
Three characters met their demise. Gary Lockwood, Roddenberry's star in The Lieutenant, played Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell, who was the helmsman. Sally Kellerman played Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, a psychiatrist with a high ESP rating. In her time, ESP is a proven fact. (That certainly dates this episode!) Paul Carr played Lieutenant Lee Kelso, apparently the navigator.
Roddenberry wanted DeForest Kelley for the role of ship's doctor, but for one reason or another was unavailable for both pilots. Veteran character actor Paul Fix was hired to play Dr. Mark Piper.
As was “The Cage,” “Where No Man Has Gone Before” would be adapted as a first season episode. The version that aired was not quite the version that was filmed in 1965.
The original opening and title credits for the second Star Trek pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Video source: Tales From SYL Ranch DARKROOM YouTube channel.
The original version was finally seen by the public in 2009, when it was included in a remastered Blu-Ray release of the original series. This version had a different opening, which you can watch above. This is what the network saw, not what we saw — until 2009.
In this version, the episode opens with a still shot of a spiral galaxy and a voiceover captain's log:
Enterprise log, Captain James Kirk commanding. We are leaving that vast cloud of stars and planets which we call our galaxy. Behind us — Earth, Mars, Venus, even our Sun are specks of dust. The question — what is out there in the black void beyond?
Until now, our mission has been that of space law regulation, contact with Earth colonies, and investigation of alien life. But now, a new task. A probe, out to where no man has gone before …”
This opening fulfills Sam Peeples' recommendation that the ship's mission be defined in the pilot. “The Cage” didn't have a captain's log. An early concept was to add the logs as a retrospective. In his book Inside Star Trek co-authored with Bob Justman, Herb Solow cited Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift as the inspiration for the captain's log. Lemuel Gulliver told of his travels as a retrospective.
I accepted what Swift wrote because he treated it as something that had already happened. Swift was merely telling me what had gone on, setting up and highlighting the adventure for me.
Solow recommended the same approach to Roddenberry. “The captain is setting up and recounting the particular adventure … using a flashback to move the action from the past to the present.” From this idea would emerge, “Captain's Log, Stardate …” “Where No Man Has Gone Before” is the first episode to use this writing device. In some early first season episodes, Kirk's log would be spoken as a retrospective, reporting what has already happened.
The opening scene introduces us to Kirk and Spock, as they play 3D chess. Kirk is pretty much the character we would come to know. Spock is still a work-in-progress, with much more upswept eyebrows, and a slightly different tint to his skin color. But this scene, the first scene, establishes right away the relationship between the two. Initiative versus logic. Spock thinks he'll have Kirk checkmated after the next move. Kirk surprises him with an “illogical” move. When Kirk suggests that he is irritated, Spock replies, “The fact one of my ancestors married a human female …” This is the first hint we have that Spock is of mixed ancestry. We already know more about him than we did in the first pilot.
Also note that only Spock has pointed sideburns. The other male characters didn't adapt the pointed sideburns until the series.
The crew uniforms remain the same three colors as in the first pilot — gold, blue, and tan. No redshirts. (Crew members die anyway …) Engineer Scott wears a tan shirt.
Female crew members also wear slacks (as they did in “The Cage”), but the script still reeks of sexism. Remembering NBC's rejection of a female first officer, the women in this pilot typically are in subordinate and somewhat nurturing roles. Gary Mitchell incessantly harasses and almost gropes several female crew members. During one tense moment on the bridge, he takes the hand of Yeoman Smith. A later version of the writers guide (April 1967) would call this out as “unbelievable.”
The bridge in “The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” In the latter, the bridge trim has been painted red and the set lighting appears brighter.
We join our characters in the turbolift, which opens to the bridge. (“The Cage” script referred to this as the “turbo-elevator.”) In this second pilot, the bridge is far more colorful than in the first. In general, the turbolift door, the rails, and the trim are now red. (We have to help NBC sell color TVs, remember?) The floor now has carpet.
In our blog article about “The Cage,” we mused about why both pilots used mental powers as a MacGuffin to advance the plot. In “The Cage,” the Talosians have the ability to create illusions. In “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” crew members with advanced "Esper Ratings" develop the powers to read minds, perform telekinesis, quickly absorb knowledge, even shoot lightning out of their hands. Although demonstrating such powers may require special effects, they're cheaper than, say, a starship locked in battle with a fleet of hostile battle cruisers.
The second pilot continues a favorite Roddenberry plot device, carried over from The Lieutenant. Scripts typically have a scene where the lead character captain has a moment of introspection and doubt. In “The Cage,” Captain Pike confided in the ship's doctor. In this episode, Kirk debates his dilemma with Spock, who calls him “Jim” in a private moment; their familiarity is established. After Mitchell kills Kelso and escapes, Kirk tells Dr. Piper, “My fault Mitchell got as far as he did.” Kirk sets off to confront Mitchell himself, not the most logical thing to do, but the first of many times we'll see Kirk take personal responsibility for the consequences of his actions — as often did Second Lieutenant William Tiberius Rice, Gary Lockwood's character in The Lieutenant.
Some random notes about lingo … In the first transporter scene, Scotty says, “Materializer ready, sir.” The script for “The Cage” specifically referred to the Transporter Room and an unnamed Transporter Chief. Why does Scotty call it the “materializer”? Who knows. (Kirk later refers to the Transporter Room.) The term “neutralize” is also used several times, such as “neutralize warp” and “neutralize controls.” The transporter is activated with the command, “Energize!” Maybe “-ize” sounded technical or spacey to a 1960s screenwriter. Sickbay is called the Dispensary, a term that lasts for the first few episodes of Season One. (Kirk also uses the term Sickbay.) “Dilithium” has yet to enter the Star Trek lexicon; in this episode, it's called just lithium. Perhaps lithium was chosen as a fuel because it can be used as a fuel in nuclear reactions. A tombstone is marked, “James R. Kirk” instead of “T.” for Tiberius. My guess is that the inconsistency in terminology was due to Roddenberry doing a rewrite of Peeples under time pressure, while also trying to get Police Story off the ground. This was, after all, only a pilot. Who knew if it would ever air.
But it would.
In February 1966, NBC notified Desilu that the network would buy the show. Roddenberry had about six months to start producing weekly episodes. “Where No Man Has Gone Before” would air as the third episode, on September 22, 1966, with a few editing changes. It bought the production team some time. Waste not.
* “Where No Man Has Gone Before” was budgeted at $215,644. It came in at $354,974.
Sources:
David Alexander, Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry (New York: ROC Books, 1994)
Franz Joseph, Star Fleet Technical Manual (New York: Ballantine Books, 1975)
Leonard Nimoy, I Am Spock (New York: Hyperion, 1995)
Herbert F. Solow and Robert H. Justman, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (New York: Pocket Books, 1996)
Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry, The Making of Star Trek (New York: Ballantine Books, 1968, Sixth Printing, July 1970)
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