"Star Trek" The Menagerie: Part I (1966)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Marc Daniels

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (creator)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

17 November 1966 (Season 1, Episode 11)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

While visiting a Starbase 11, the Enterprise is hijacked by Mr. Spock leaving Captain Kirk but abducting...

Plot Keywords:

Federation | Space | Starship | Computer | Vulcan

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
Jeffrey Hunter	...	Captain Christopher Pike (archive footage)
Susan Oliver	...	Vina (archive footage)
Malachi Throne	...	Commodore Jose Mendez
Majel Barrett	...	Number One (archive footage) (as M. Leigh Hudec)
Peter Duryea	...	Lt. José Tyler (archive footage)
John Hoyt	...	Dr. Boyce (archive footage)
Adam Roarke	...	C.P.O. Garrison (archive footage)
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
James Doohan	...	Scott
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Sean Kenney	...	Injured Pike
Hagan Beggs	...	Lt. Hansen
Julie Parrish	...	Miss Piper

Runtime:

50 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Trivia:

The events of "The Cage" occured 13 years before "The Menagerie".

Goofs:

Continuity: Immediately after Captain Pike is abducted by the Talosians, remaining crew members fire at what they believe at the time is the door to the elevator which appeared to be the form of transport used to take the Captain. They fire three phaser barrages at the "door," and in all three cases the exact same thing happens: particles of the portal are blasted out, and the entryway is damaged but in perfectly identical fashion.

Quotes:

Captain Christopher Pike: What the devil are you putting in there, ice?
Dr. Boyce: Who wants a warm martini?
Captain Christopher Pike: What makes you think I need one?
Dr. Boyce: Sometimes... a man will tell his bartender things he'll never tell his doctor.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Star Trek: New Voyages: In Harms Way (#1.1)" (2004)

Talosian Tricks

In the old commercial for blank audio cassettes, the tag line was "is it real or is it Memorex?" The same might be said for the events in this episode - a compilation and remix of "The Cage," the first pilot of Star Trek. Mr. Spock has cleverly commandeered the ship to take it to the forbidden planet Talos IV in order to allow Capt. Christopher Pike, his first captain who has been burned and paralyzed, to return there. Why the finagling? Because to have any contact at all with Talos IV invites a death sentence. Why this is so is never explained - that bothered me tremendously - but, if nothing else, it adds to the story. After he has gotten the ship to travel to Talos IV, Mr. Spock turns himself in to Dr. McCoy (the senior-most officer present; Capt. Kirk was off the ship) for arrest and says, "The charge is mutiny, Dr.; I never received orders to take over the ship." What follows is a court martial in which - thanks to the Talosians - we learn why it was so important (besides the obvious paralysis) for Capt. Pike to get to Talos IV even at risk of Mr. Spock's death. The illusions the Talosians create, the background music and the entire storyline are fantastic. And Meg Wyllie as The Keeper (the head Talosian) is wonderful. Call me sexist but it never occurred to me to have a woman in that role but she was perfect! The Talosians, having given up almost all physical activity and becoming almost completely reliant upon the power of illusion, are also unisex; you can't really tell if they're male or female and it really doesn't matter. This episode, more than almost any other in the series, makes me hope and pray there are other worlds out there and that there are civilizations that are so far advanced! What a neat thing if this were so! This is one of my favorite episodes and, no matter how many times I've seen it (I even have it on video), it never fails to fascinate me. Meg Wyllie LOOKS like an alien and I do NOT mean that unkindly.