Archive | September, 2011

Boldly Going: The Man Trap/Charlie X

15 Sep

Originally published January 26, 2010 at TVVerdict.com

When Star Trek’s original pilot “The Cage” was scrapped for being too slow and talky, NBC actually did something unprecedented: they ordered a second pilot of the same show. So, the producers went back to the drawing board and retooled Star Trek, giving the show a slightly different vibe (though not really), several new faces and, best of all, a brand new captain. Star Trek got a second lease on life with that new pilot.

“The Man Trap” is not that episode.

For whatever reason, NBC decided not to air Star Trek’s second pilot as the series’ premiere. Instead, they ran this solid whodunit (the sixth show produced) which dropped us right on board the U.S.S. Enterprise and let us fend for ourselves. Continue reading →

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J.J. Abrams Officially On Board for Star Trek Sequel

15 Sep

Sure, we all thought this was already a forgone conclusion — in fact, I’ll bet there are plenty of people who didn’t realize it wasn’t a done deal — but it’s now official that J.J. Abrams will be returning to direct the sequel to his 2009 Star Trek reboot. Continue reading →

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Star Trek: The Next Generation Finally Hitting Blu-ray

11 Sep

Great news for Next Generation fans! Bad news for Next Generation fans who have already shelled out upwards of $300 on TNG DVDs because we’ve been told for years that the series would never be released on Blu-ray! Star Trek: The Next Generation is coming to Blu-ray. Yay/Boo! Continue reading →

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Boldly Going: “The Cage”

9 Sep

Originally published January 26, 2010 at TVVerdict.com

And so it is that I dive into “The Cage,” the original pilot shot for Star Trek in 1965 but not aired until over 30 years later. What’s most notable about the episode is that it features hardly any of the characters that would eventually make up the crew of the Enterprise — including the Captain himself, James T. Kirk. At the helm of “The Cage” is original captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter), a square-jawed and mostly humorless hero straight out of 1950s sci-fi. The only eventual crew member to show up on “The Cage” is Leonard Nimoy’s Spock, but even he isn’t yet exactly what he would eventually become — he’s less stoic and serious, even delivering his final lines of the show with half a smile. The rest of the crew in the pilot is mostly a generic collection of white faces; I guess the Enterprise hadn’t yet become the melting pot that Star Trek would turn out to be. Continue reading →

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Happy Birthday, Star Trek

8 Sep

Star Trek premiered on NBC 45 years ago today.

Happy Birthday, Star Trek. You are the best.