In 1964 pop culture would change forever. The Beatles led the British invasion of America, James Bond became a global phenomenon in Goldfinger, and Gene Roddenberry began to formulate the idea for a new television series that wouldn’t be beamed into the airwaves until two years later. That idea was Star Trek.
Roddenberry Before Star Trek
Gene Roddenberry began to write scripts for television at the dawn of that medium’s existence. Before that, he was a combat pilot in World War II, as well as a commercial pilot, and a police officer. Over the years, Roddenberry wrote for many series. These included Have Gun – Will Travel, The West Point Story, and Highway Patrol. He also wrote pilot episodes for shows that were not picked up for a series order, such as Hawaii Passage and 333 Montgomery.
The first series Roddenberry created that got picked up was The Lieutenant. The show aired on Saturday Nights on NBC, starting in September of 1963. It was produced in concert with the Pentagon, which allowed the show to film at an actual Marine base. Roddenberry would often frequently argue with the Department of Defense about controversial storylines that he wanted to pursue. The series was eventually canceled by NBC after just one season.
Star Trek: Before the Pilot
It was around this time that Roddenberry dusted off his unsold pilot for Hawaii Passage and combined it with elements from the movie Master of the World (1961). The premise was about a multi-racial crew that had adventures as they explored the world in an airship. He switched the location to outer space, and Star Trek was born.
The sixteen-page treatment for Star Trek was completed by Roddenberry on March 11, 1964. He had made three copies and registered them with the Writer’s Guild of America. With the treatment complete, Roddenberry began to pitch the series around Hollywood. The initial concept was about a crew aboard the spacecraft S.S. Yorktown, exploring the Milky Way.
The first place that Roddenberry headed to was MGM. They decided to pass on the series. Next, he pitched it to Desilu Productions. Founded and co-owned by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, they liked Roddenberry and proceeded to hire him to develop a pilot. It was for a police drama called Police Story, which all of the networks had passed on.
Roddenberry eventually took his idea for a Star Trek series to the head of programming at Desilu, Oscar Katz. He also showed it to Herbert F. Solow, director of production for the studio. They both liked it and wanted to move forward with the project.
Lucille Ball
After the Desilu Production team voted not to proceed, they pitched it directly to Lucille Ball. After hearing the title, she assumed it was about movie stars traveling in support of the USO. Ball gave the go-ahead to move forward. CBS had a first-look deal with Desilu but passed because it was too similar to Lost in Space. That series was already in development at the studio.
Next, they headed over to NBC and emphasized the science fiction aspects instead of comparing it to popular Westerns such as Wagon Train and Gunsmoke. Roddenberry even used the phrase “wagon train to the stars” in his pitch. The executives liked the idea and ordered a pilot to be produced.
Solow worked with Grant Tinker, head of NBC’s West Coast programming department, to go through the few stories they had fleshed out into scripts. Tinker chose “The Menagerie” for the pilot episode, renamed “The Cage.” Originally written in March 1964, it evolved over months, with Solow’s main contribution being the invention of the Stardate concept.
The First Pilot
The casting of the crew of the named “USS Enterprise” first began with Jeffrey Hunter, a successful actor who had previously appeared in The Searchers (1956) with John Wayne, as well as in King of Kings (1961), where he portrayed Jesus Christ. Hunter was cast as “Captain Christopher Pike.”
The first officer, known only as “Number One,” was played by Majel Hudec, the mistress of Gene Roddenberry. Hudec recommended Leonard Nimoy, with whom Roddenberry and Hudec had worked on The Lieutenant, for the role of science officer “Spock.”
Filming began at Desilu Studios in Culver City on November 27, 1964, and was completed on December 11. Post-production work (pick-up shots, editing, scoring, special photographic and sound effects) on the pilot episode was eventually completed on January 18, 1965.
Production costs were shared by NBC and Desilu, with NBC footing most of the bill. The episode was directed by Robert Butler, who had worked on several series including The Rifleman and The Lieutenant. The costumes were designed by Bill Theiss (Spartacus) and the sets by Matt Jeffries (The Untouchables). Disney Animation sculptor Wah Chang (Pinocchio) was in charge of the design, as well as the creation of the props that were used.
Troubles
The pilot was shown to NBC executives soon after it was completed and they were displeased with the results. What they expected was a rollicking action-packed adventure, but what they got contained almost no action and was deemed “too cerebral” for mainstream television audiences.
The suits at NBC were also upset that Roddenberry had cast his mistress as the second lead in the series and insisted that she be replaced by a man. NBC also didn’t care much for the Spock character. The only thing they did seem to like, was Hunter’s portrayal of Captain Pike.
NBC was going to pass on the series but Ball used her clout to arrange for a second pilot to be made. Her motivation was that Desilu hadn’t sold a series from a pilot in several years, with their only on-air program being The Lucy Show. Desilu needed a win. A condition that NBC made with a new pilot was that either Spock or Number One had to go.
Second Pilot
The character and casting changes began in earnest. Number One was eliminated and Spock became the first officer, having his personality shift to the more cool demeanor of “The Cage’s” Number One. However, Roddenberry kept Huec on the show. She changed her last name to Barrett, threw on a blonde wig, and now played a character called “Nurse Chapel.” Barrett would later reflect:
“(Roddenberry) kept the Vulcan and married the woman, ’cause he didn’t think Leonard (Nimoy) would have it the other way around.”
Surprisingly, Hunter, who was under contract if the pilot he already shot was picked up by NBC, was under no such contractual obligation to film a second pilot. He left to pursue other opportunities, but there was speculation that he didn’t like working with Hudec, and would rather move on than be subjected to her presence any longer. Roddenberry wrote to Hunter in a letter dated 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.”
Roddenberry eventually came up with two stories. Both of these would be filmed, eventually, as episodes of the series, namely “Mudd’s Women” and “The Omega Glory.” Another writer, Samuel L. Peeples, came up with the episode that was chosen by director James Goldstone, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
It was Peeples who came up with the title of the episode, which became an iconic phrase that was uttered in the show’s opening credits. Peeples and Roddenberry would write several drafts of the script, with the final draft being the version that would be filmed and aired.
William Shatner
Casting for the second pilot for Star Trek began in June of 1965. The name of the Captain was subsequently changed from “Pike” to “Kirk” and Lloyd Bridges and Jack Lord were both considered for the lead, along with Shakespearean-trained Canadian actor William Shatner, who would eventually win the part of Kirk.
Other mainstays of the retooled series that appeared in the episode were George Takei as “Mr. Sulu” and James Doohan as “Montgomery Scott,” who was cast as a favor to Goldstone (who was Doohan’s close friend). Neither Lieutenant Uhura nor Dr. McCoy were yet cast, as neither appeared in this episode.
Goldstone also used his significant pull to hire Ernest Haller for cinematography duties for the second pilot. Haller, some twenty-five years earlier, had won the Academy Award for Best Color Cinematography on the movie Gone with the Wind (1939).
With small alterations, the costumes from the first pilot were used in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. Additionally, most of the Star Trek sets were also reused from “The Cage.” The “Sickbay” was the only major set constructed for the episode.
Production and Aftermath
The episode was also shot at Desilu in Culver City and took nine days to film in July 1965. During filming, there was an unknown wasp nest in the rafters. The inhabitants of the nest attacked the cast and crew, stinging several, including Shatner. This incident took place on a Friday, July 23rd, which gave the cast the weekend to recover from the swelling.
Due to other obligations in Roddenberry’s schedule, including a pilot for Police Story, the post-production on the second Star Trek pilot wasn’t completed until January 1966. NBC chose to move forward the following month, ordering sixteen additional episodes of the newly minted science-fiction series.
Star Trek premiered on NBC on Thursday, September 8, 1966, and ran for three seasons. The failed pilot “The Cage” was repurposed as a flashback in the Season One episode “The Menagerie.” This had Captain Pike disfigured and unable to speak because Jeffrey Hunter refused to reprise the role, and another actor needed to be cast. Nearly sixty years later the direct and indirect influence of Gene Roddenberry, Lucille Ball, and countless others on Star Trek have shaped science fiction in movies and television immeasurably.
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