Captain Pike Described A Similar But Different Direction For Star Trek
As any good Star Trek fan knows, the original captain before James T. Kirk was Captain Christopher Pike. He starred in the failed pilot “The Cage,” which was salvaged for the two-part episode “The Menagerie.” But at the time, it seemed as though actor Jeffrey Hunter would be sticking with the series. And while his vision of what Star Trek would be was somewhat close to what it ultimately turned out to be, there was a key difference about what the show was actually about.
Apparently actor Hunter overestimated things based on the focus of “The Cage,” because he thought that Star Trek was about “man’s relationship to woman.” Considering how much the pilot was about Pike’s needs as a man, it’s understandable, but the actual series would be much less about the relationship between the sexes. Now, Kirk definitely got with plenty of alien women, and Uhura was a notable crew member, but Star Trek was much more about the various adventures and social commentary, as well as forward-looking predictions about humanity and its place in the galaxy.
The full text is below, so you can compare with what you know Star Trek to be.
“We run into pre-historic worlds, contemporary societies and civilizations far more developed than our own. It’s a great format because writers have a free hand – they can have us land on a monster infested planet, or deal in human relations involving the large number of people who live in this gigantic ship….
“The things that intrigues me the most is that it is actually based on the Rand Corporation’s projection of things to come. Except for the fictional characters, it will be like getting a look into the future and some of the predictions will surely come true in our lifetime.
“With all the weird surroundings of outer space, the basic underlying theme of the show is a philosophical approach to man’s relationship to woman. There are both sexes in the crew and, in fact, the first officer is a woman.”
Source: io9