Summary
Modern-dayStar Trekfans will be very familiar with Captain Christopher Pike. The heroic, fatherly, and patient captain of the USS Enterprise made one of the franchise’s all-time great comebacks in the second season ofStar Trek: Discovery.It was enough to earn him the role of flying the flag for the 23rd-century Federation inStar Trek: Strange New Worlds. It’s an impressive run for a character who had a handful of appearances in the franchise a half-century ago and was subsequently overshadowed by his successor James Kirk.
Things could have been very different. In a parallel universe, there was no Captain Kirk, andStar Trek’s original series followed the five-year mission of Captain Christopher Pike instead. Actor Jeffrey Hunter commanded the Enterprise in the pilot episode ofStar Trek. His disappearance and replacement by William Shatner’s Kirk for the series that followed proved pivotal to the franchise’s success and the narrative weight behind Captain Pike’s return in recent years.
Star Trek: The Cage
Main Cast
Jeffrey Hunter, Leonard Nimoy, Majel Barrett, John Hoyt, Susan Oliver, Meg Wyllie
Robert Butler
Release
February 1965 (first screening to NBC), June 05, 2025 (first home media release)
Where To Watch
Stream onParamount+
Star Trekfirst flew with a pilot episode called “The Cage” in 1965. Many elements of the show that millions of fans would fall in love with were there or taking shape already. The USS Enterprise looks very familiar, with its two nacelles and saucer section. On the bridge, in early versions ofOriginal Seriesuniform tops, Mr Spock was present, albeit not quite the logical Vulcan that would become an icon. One significant difference was the man who sat in the captain’s chair: Jeffrey Hunter’s Christopher Pike.
During the episode, Pike leads an away team to the planet Talos IV, a distant planet with an irresistible mystery. A party of scientists that have survived on the planet for 18 years following a crash-landing is soon revealed to be telepathic illusions created by the powerful and cranially-gifted subterranean Talosians. Hoping to reclaim their ravaged planet, the Talosians attempt to trap Pike in their menagerie of slaves using young female survivor Vina. Ultimately, the Talosians learn a lesson in humanity’s hatred of captivity.
Packed with great world-building and solid sci-fi concepts, “The Cage” blended action, exploration, thought-provoking issues, and romance. But it didn’t convince NBC, who thought it was intellect-heavy and action-light. The network didn’t broadcast the pilot but was persuaded to give Gene Roddenberry’s space opera another go and commissioned a second pilot that would emerge as “Where No Man Has Gone Before” in the first series ofStar Trekin 1966. Several changes were made for the new pilot, the most significant being Hunter’s absence as the show’s lead.
Why Did William Shatner Replace Jeffrey Hunter?
The reason for Jeffrey Hunter’s disappearance from the epic space franchise is far more down-to-earth than the Enterprise’s many subsequent adventures.
With dashing celluloid good looks that evengained the approval of Marilyn Monroe, Hunter had progressed to leading man roles throughout the 1950s. After a career lull, Hunter found his greatest fame in classic Westerns, includingThe SearchersandThe Proud Ones(both 1956). AsStar Trekwas envisaged as a “Wagon train to the stars” Hunter’s looks and Western experience seemed a perfect fit, although he was also well known for playing Jesus Christ in 1961’sKing of Kings.
As the Studio contract system disappeared in the 1960s, Hunter took parts in B movies and increased his availability for the TV roles he had taken since the mid-1950s. Following the quick axing ofTemple Houston, a legal drama his company co-produced, Hunter took the role in theStar Trekpilot. Interestingly, Hunter was contracted to continue in the role if his pilot was picked up by NBC, but he wasn’t required to participate in any new pilot.
Given the option, Hunter decided to pass on the second pilot to concentrate on his film career. As recorded inStar Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberryby David Alexander, theStar Trekcreator graciously accepted Hunter’s decision:
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.
Shatner beat the likes of Lloyd Bridges and Jack Lord to take the lead as captain in the second pilot, which was ultimately aired as the third episode of the newly commissioned series. A sign of its second pilot credentials is that Kirk’s name appears on screen as James R. Kirk, which isn’t as catchy as the T that would become the most famous middle initial in sci-fi.
Of course, high-profile casting switches like Hunter to Shatner are nothing without some conflicting opinions. In the “Where No Man Has Gone Before” chapter of his comprehensive franchise memoir,Star Trek Memories, Shatner states that Roddenberry actually fired Hunter because of the behavior of the actor’s wife Dusty Bartlett during contract negotiations:
Gene later told me that he’d much rather be dealing with Jeff and his agent, or even Jeff and a gorilla, than his wife. He continued that there were so many tantrums, restrictions and ultimatums being laid out on the table that he finally thought, ‘Well, I can’t possibly do an entire series like this. They’ll drive me nuts.’
The show’s executive producer Herbert F. Solow, who was present at the negotiations, firmly refuted this account. In his memoirInside Star Trekhe asserted that Bartlett turned down the role on behalf of her husband.
These certainly aren’t the only conflicting opinions on howStar Trekcame to be, but there’s a sad coincidence linking Jeffrey Hunter to the show he so briefly played a part in. After returning from filming in Spain, where an on-set explosion had left him with a severe concussion, the actor died at the age of 42 in Los Angeles in May 1969, just one week before the final episode of theOriginal Seriesaired.
How did Jeffrey Hunter’s departure affect the character of Captain Christopher Pike?
For many years, mostStar Trekfans were blissfully unaware of the contents of “The Cage” in its original form. It was aired in color for the first time in 1988, the year afterStar Trek V: The Final Frontierbrought theOriginal Seriescrew to the big screen for the fifth time. The original pilot has now become a vital part of every fan’s collection, having been released on VHS, LaserDisc, DVD, and streaming.
Hunter’s departure wasn’t the end of Captain Christopher Pike’s story. Effectively a high-concept bottle episode (although it was actually theshow’s first two-parter), “The Menagerie"solved two problems by bringing Pike back. It was light on production as it comprised much of the unbroadcast footage fromThe Cageand allowed the series to catch up with its intensive special effects schedule. Sean Kenney took over the role of Pike, now severely injured and suffering locked-in syndrome after an accident with delta radiation following his promotion to fleet captain. “The Menagerie” came full circle, handing a happy ending on Talos IV to the tragic captain. But Pike would still have to wait 50 years for his greatest hours.
TheStar Trekreboot movies (starting with 2009’sStar Trek) reimagined Christopher Pike as a mentor instrumental to Kirk joining Starfleet. This iteration suffered severe injuries in the first film, although not as significant as in the main timeline, but ultimately died at the hands of Khan Noonien Singh in the sequel.
The second series ofDiscoveryhanded a significant role to the prime timeline Captain Pike, played by Anson Mount, after the stunning cameo of anew-look USS Enterprise NCC 1701at the end of Series 1. It was an unexpected bonus to see Pike at his prime, andStrange New Worldswas soon commissioned as a vehicle for Pike and his crew.
However, tragedy is never far away from this legendary captain of the Enterprise. Pike’s appearance is overshadowed by the canonical events set out by theOriginal Series, which he learned about during the second series ofDiscovery.Strange New Worldscontinues to play with the consequence of Pike’s knowledge of his destiny.
Mount’s Pike is a fascinating characterthanks to the immutable fatehanging over him, as well as a brilliant way for the franchise to modernize its 60s roots and give some much-missed airtime to characters seen in “The Cage.“Star Trekhas longkept Pike’s legacy aliveby referencing the 23rd-century captain. However, Christopher Pike wouldn’t be the tragic captain he is today without NBC’s rejection of the originalStar Trekpilot and Jeffrey Hunter’s departure from the role he originated.
