61 Years Ago, Star Trek's Greatest Failure Changed the Franchise Forever

Before Captain Kirk ever sat in the Enterprise’s center seat, Gene Roddenberry tried to launch his strange new science-fiction series with “The Cage,” a pilot starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike.

Among the network’s concerns was that the episode was “too cerebral,” which is a pretty funny criticism considering Star Trek would eventually build an entire franchise around making people think.

In Gaming, Terry Terrones puts this story at the center of the day: Before Captain Kirk ever sat in the Enterprise’s center seat, Gene Roddenberry tried to launch his strange new science-fiction series with “The Cage,” a pilot starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike. FlexChar is surfacing it because it is driving searches and conversation right now.