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124-421: " The Cage " is the first pilot episode of the American television series Star Trek . It was completed on January 22, 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964). The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler . It was rejected by NBC in February 1965, and the network ordered another pilot episode, which became " Where No Man Has Gone Before ". Much of the original footage from "The Cage"

248-422: A series of the same name . The 100 episode " Anaconda " also served as an unsuccessful backdoor pilot for a prequel series. A put pilot is a pilot that the network has agreed to broadcast either as a special or series; if it does not, it will have to pay substantial monetary penalties to the studio. This usually guarantees that the pilot will be picked up by the network. An unsold pilot or "busted pilot"

372-450: A television film to recoup some of its costs even if the network chooses to not order the show. Sometimes, a made-for-TV-movie is filmed as a pilot, but because of actors not being available, the series intro is reshot for the first aired episode. The original Cagney & Lacey movie co-starred Loretta Swit (of M*A*S*H fame) as Chris Cagney, but when she could not get out of her contract, they reshot it with Meg Foster , who after

496-469: A test market approach for its new reality talent competition format The Big Deal , producing a season of the series for Irish broadcaster Virgin Media One with the intent to use it as a pitch for Fox and other broadcasters. In a 10/90 production model, a network broadcasts ten episodes of a new television program without ordering a pilot first. If the episodes achieve a predetermined ratings level,

620-498: A "special" or "movie". It is thus often unclear to initial viewers of backdoor pilots that they are seeing a pilot of any kind, unless they have been privy to knowledgeable media coverage of the piece. Not all backdoor pilots lead to a series. The Star Trek episode " Assignment: Earth " was a backdoor pilot for a spin-off of the same name, featuring a human named Gary Seven (played by Robert Lansing ), taken from Earth's far past and raised by aliens to be sent to watch over Earth in

744-603: A Collector's Edition of "The Cage" with a runtime of 64 minutes featuring all-color footage, minus the Roddenberry introduction and closing, was released on LaserDisc in the US. "The Cage" was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC2 on 19 August 1992. On 19 August 1996, "The Cage" was broadcast on BBC2 on the first day of a season of programmes on the 30th anniversary of Star Trek. Two VHS versions were released in

868-487: A backdoor pilot that focused on the decision Blair Warner ( Lisa Whelchel ) made in using her trust fund to purchase the financially troubled Eastland Academy. Blair became headmistress and opened enrollment to male students for the first time in Eastland history. Up-and-coming actors Juliette Lewis , Mayim Bialik , Seth Green , and Meredith Scott Lynn were featured as some of Eastland's new students. NBC did not pick up

992-402: A better feel for how a typical episode would appear (since a premise pilot may have to deviate from a typical episode in order to properly introduce characters). Remington Steele used both a proof of concept and a premise pilot. Proofs of concept were particularly common for game shows ; in such cases, the pilot may be entirely or partially scripted (and thus, due to regulations passed after

1116-607: A college student who winds up working at the campus radio station, with David Garrison set to reprise his role as Steve Rhoades. The other was Enemies , which was intended as an antithesis to Friends in the same way the flagship Married... with Children was for The Cosby Show . The pilot featured a guest appearance by Alan Thicke . In June 2010, Lifetime pursued a spinoff procedural drama of Army Wives featuring Brigid Brannagh 's character, police officer Pamela Moran. The fourth-season episode "Murder in Charleston"

1240-429: A fall or "mid-season" winter debut), and at the upfront presentation, the shows are shown to potential advertisers and the networks sell the majority of the advertising for their new pilots. The survival odds for these new series are low, as typically only one or two of them survive for more than one season. A premise pilot introduces the characters and their world to the viewer; it is structured so that it can be run as

1364-662: A few occasions, pilots have been released as a theatrical films prior to the debuts of their respective series. Examples include Battlestar Galactica , whose pilot was theatrically released during the summer of 1978, prior to its broadcast as the opening episodes of the TV series that fall, and 1979's Buck Rogers in the 25th Century , released in early 1979, with the series launching in the fall. In both cases there are substantial differences between theatrical and televised version: both BSG and Buck Rogers' theatrical pilots had recurring characters (Baltar and Tiger Man, respectively) killed off,

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1488-753: A film laboratory in Los Angeles. He arranged to return the footage to Gene Roddenberry , thus making it possible to complete a full-color version. The restored color version was broadcast in October 1988, which was the first television airing of "The Cage". It was broadcast as part of a television special hosted by Patrick Stewart called The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next . It contained interviews with Gene Roddenberry , Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman , Mel Harris, cast members from Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation , clips from both series and

1612-399: A little over a quarter of all pilots made for American television proceed to the series stage. Each summer, the major American broadcast television networks – including ABC , CBS , NBC , Fox , PBS , Univision , and Telemundo – receive about 500 brief elevator pitches each for new shows from writers and producers. That fall, each network requests scripts for about 70 pitches and,

1736-441: A lot of attention to what The Outer Limits team was doing at the time, and he was often present in their studios. He hired several Outer Limits alumni, among them Robert Justman and Wah Chang , for the production of Star Trek . One of the creatures in the cages was reused from the episode " The Duplicate Man " of The Outer Limits , where it was called a megasoid. The prop head from The Outer Limits episode " Fun and Games "

1860-435: A much darker shade of green. Once again, when the results were received, she didn't appear green at all. They tried a third time and the same result was received. Roddenberry phoned the development lab out of frustration, only to hear their surprise that the character was supposed to be green. They had presumed that the cinematographer had set up the camera incorrectly and had spent a great deal of time correcting Barrett back to

1984-570: A new species called the Osaarians. During Manny Coto 's tenure as show runner in the fourth season , the Orions were re-introduced on screen for the first time since The Original Series in the episode " Borderland " in 2004, which was the first time that an Orion male had appeared on-screen in live action. Bobbi Sue Luther was cast as the main Orion slave girl in the episode, and she researched

2108-422: A normal color. A number of actresses were considered for the part, including Yvette Mimieux , Yvonne Craig , Barbara Eden and Anne Francis . Roddenberry's first choice was Susan Oliver , whose talent agency said she was an excellent dancer. She was convinced to take the role by Oscar Katz, an executive at Desilu Productions . He didn't attend the set in an effort to avoid Oliver, since he had undersold

2232-433: A pilot (although an increasing number of such series have their first episodes titled "Pilot" ). On some occasions, pilots that were not ordered to series may also be broadcast as a standalone television film or special. A " backdoor pilot " is an episode of an existing series that heavily features supporting characters or guest stars in previously unseen roles. Its purpose is to introduce the characters to an audience before

2356-507: A private collector who has kept them in secure storage ever since the acquisition. It is understood the film has not been run in a projector since around 1972 and it is also believed that this is the only surviving complete original 16mm print of "The Cage". In 1996, in a review of the episode in The Times , Elizabeth Cowley said it was "unintentionally hilarious", but Star Trek fans would enjoy watching it. In 2010, SciFiNow ranked this

2480-524: A rescue, only to be captured along with Pike's yeoman and imprisoned in his cell to tempt him further. By then Pike has discovered that primitive human emotions can block the Talosians' mind-reading, and he and the others escape to the surface, taking the Talosian Keeper with them. The Keeper points out that Pike hasn't escaped the planet, and speaks openly of the Talosians' plans for him. Pike

2604-473: A scene in which they kiss. She was disappointed not to be returning to the role for the following film, Star Trek Into Darkness . Scenes were also shot for Star Trek featuring Diora Baird as a second Orion woman, but these were cut and later included as a deleted scene on the home media releases. Roberto Orci , one of the writers of the reboot films, suggested in an interview with UGO Networks that these Orion women had been released from slavery through

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2728-511: A series of illusions first to present her as a healthy human, but in order to begin an attraction, first as a princess from the Middle Ages , then as an Orion slave girl, and finally as a personification of Pike's wife. These events are reviewed during a court martial against Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) by Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ) in "The Menagerie". In " Journey to Babel ",

2852-630: A six-month exclusive option for the role of Captain Pike. Although he was required to continue if the series was picked up by the network in that time, he was not required to film the second pilot that NBC requested. Deciding to concentrate on motion pictures instead, he declined the role. Gene Roddenberry wrote to him on April 5, 1965: I am told you have decided not to go ahead with Star Trek . This has to be your own decision, of course, and I must respect it. You may be certain I hold no grudge or ill feelings and expect to continue to reflect publicly and privately

2976-465: A sizable body of unsold pilots that had never aired. By 1954, the American television industry had begun to consider the idea of packaging these unsold pilots in anthology series and airing them during the summer, providing television networks with a way of both providing fresh programming during the summer rerun season and recouping at least some of the expense of producing them. On June 8, 1956,

3100-458: A starship crew's investigation of a far-off planet which was the site of a shipwreck eighteen years earlier and their encounter with telepathic aliens who seek a human male specimen for their menagerie. The pilot introduced Mr. Spock , played by Leonard Nimoy , who was the only cast member to be retained for the series in his original role. "The Cage" has many of the features of the eventual series, but there are numerous differences. The captain of

3224-537: A traditional pilot on NBC and would be revived by that network as Saved by the Bell ) and the Canadian drama Hillside (which would move to Nickelodeon , Disney Channel's primary rival, and air as Fifteen ). A successful pilot is often used as the series premiere , the first aired episode of a new show, or it may be aired as a later episode or never aired at all. For the Canadian supernatural drama Lost Girl ,

3348-535: A two-part story, shown as The Menagerie . This turned out to be an auspicious decision, because of various challenges which bogged down series production during the first season. The second pilot was also shown during that first season, as the third episode. The only major character to appear in both pilots was Spock . On other occasions, the pilot is never broadcast on television at all. Viewers of Temple Houston , for example, would likely have considered "The Twisted Rope" its pilot because "The Man from Galveston"

3472-462: A wealthy widow and friend of Charlie Townsend's who ran a detective agency she inherited from her late husband. The agency was staffed by three handsome male detectives: Cotton Harper ( Stephen Shortridge ), Bob Sorensen ( Bob Seagren ), and Matt Parrish (Bruce Bauer). The three took direction from Toni and solved crimes in a manner similar to the Angels. The show was not picked up as a regular series for

3596-401: Is a produced episode that is never broadcast or made into a television series. Variety estimates that only a little over a quarter of all pilots made for American television proceed to the series stage. Instead of a single pilot episode, an alternative is a test run , a small number of episodes that air as a short-run series with the potential to go into full production if successful. This

3720-455: Is gauged on its potential to advance from one pilot to a full-fledged series. Using this feedback, and factoring in the current status and future potential of their existing series, each network chooses about four to eight pilots for series status. The new series are then presented at the networks' annual upfronts in May, where they are added to network schedules for the following season (either for

3844-558: Is located in the Orionis system, in the Orion sector of the Alpha Quadrant. It is an M class world of hills, grassland and rocky coastlines. Orion society is a carefully balanced contradiction. While the nobility and ruling elements are entrenched in criminal activity, the planet itself seems mostly free of rampant crime thanks to the strict laws preventing inter-house conflict. There is a degree of respect and maintained civility on

The Cage (Star Trek: The Original Series) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3968-576: Is particularly common among shows that are intended to be stripped (airing five days a week). Talk shows occasionally use test runs. Metromedia and its successor Fox Corporation were particularly associated with using test runs for talk shows, with examples including The Wendy Williams Show , The Huckabee Show (a spin-off of Huckabee that aired for six weeks in summer 2010), the final version of The Jerry Lewis Show , and The Kilborn File , an unsuccessful comeback vehicle for Craig Kilborn . In 2021, Fox Alternative Entertainment utilized

4092-616: Is willing to stay with Vina in exchange for the others' freedom, but Number One sets her weapon to overload, threatening to kill them all. Pike stands with her, as does Vina, to forestall a future attempt. This confirms what the Talosians have learned from the Enterprise's computers: humans hate captivity too much to be useful. Now free to leave, Number One and the yeoman beam up immediately, but Pike remains behind with Vina, urging her to leave with him. Vina explains that she cannot leave. An expedition had indeed crash-landed on Talos IV; Vina

4216-631: The Enterprise (NX-01) under Captain Jonathan Archer ( Scott Bakula ) travelled to an area of space known as the borderland, located between Klingon and Orion space. There they are attacked by two Orion ships, and several crew members are abducted. They track them down to an Orion slave market with the assistance of Arik Soong ( Brent Spiner ), and rescue them. In "Bound", the crew are contacted by an Orion vessel captained by Harrad-Sar ( William Lucking ), who offers to open relations between

4340-556: The New York Times reported that the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) would begin airing a package of unsold pilots that summer under the title G.E. Summer Originals , adding that "the problem of what to do with 'pilot' or sample films of projected television series that previously have failed to sell has been solved." G.E. Summer Originals premiered on the evening of July 3, 1956, at exactly

4464-493: The Star Trek: Discovery episode " If Memory Serves " saw Pike and Spock (now portrayed by Anson Mount and Ethan Peck , respectively) return to Talos IV; the recap at the beginning of the episode used scenes from "The Cage". CBS All Access officially ordered Star Trek: Strange New Worlds to series in May 2020 featuring the characters of Captain Pike, Number One, and Spock. At 55 years between The Cage and

4588-550: The Star Trek: Enterprise episode " Borderland ", which also featured female Orions. Orion women have also been seen in the films Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness , The animated series Star Trek: Lower Decks depicted Orions' as a matriarchal society, and features D'Vana Tendi , an Orion as a main character. Females of the species have become known as Orion slave girls , who have become popular among fans as cosplay . The Orions' homeworld, Orion,

4712-436: The 1950s quiz show scandals , illegal to broadcast in many jurisdictions) and use fake contestants and "returning champions" to demonstrate those concepts. The adventure series Lassie had both a premise pilot, "The Inheritance", designed specifically to air as the series' first episode, showing how Lassie's series owner, Jeff Miller, came to acquire her; and a proof of concept pilot, "The Well", showcased situations typical to

4836-663: The Arrowverse , a shared universe of interconnected DC Comics superhero TV series. The " Heroes Join Forces " crossover was a two-part backdoor pilot for another spinoff series set in the Arrowverse called Legends of Tomorrow , featuring a team of heroes and villains originally introduced in Arrow and The Flas h. The penultimate episode of Arrow , " Green Arrow & The Canaries " served as an unsuccessful backdoor pilot for

4960-542: The Narada travel back in time seeking revenge after the destruction of their homeworld. While James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is attending Starfleet Academy , he is romantically involved with an Orion woman named Gaila (Rachel Nichols) who is the roommate of Nyota Uhura ( Zoe Saldana ). In the sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness , an Orion is seen in a crowd shot of San Francisco. Star Trek: Lower Decks , an animated series first aired in 2020, features an Orion main character for

5084-536: The Star Trek films I through IV with a small preview of Star Trek V . It was later rebroadcast on UPN in 1996 with a behind the scenes look at Star Trek: First Contact . "The Cage" was released on LaserDisc in the United States; this version mixed B&W and color footage as well as 9 minutes of introduction and closing with Roddenberry, bringing the total runtime to 73 minutes. On October 10, 1990

The Cage (Star Trek: The Original Series) - Misplaced Pages Continue

5208-532: The USS Enterprise arrives at Elba II, a planet containing an underground mental asylum, they find Garth of Izar ( Steve Ihnat ) impersonating the Governor of the institution. He attempts to use an Orion woman, Marta (Yvonne Craig), to influence the Enterprise crew. When this fails, he exiles her to the planet's inhospitable surface, killing her. This episode was the first occasion in the franchise that

5332-526: The anthology series . They have variously been used as a place to show work still being actively considered for pickup, and as a venue for completed work already rejected by the network. With the decline of anthology series, backdoor pilots have increasingly been seen as episodes of existing series, one-off television films , and miniseries . As backdoor pilots have either failed to sell or are awaiting audience reception from its one-time broadcast, networks will not advertise them as pilots, only promoting them as

5456-405: The starship USS Enterprise is not James T. Kirk , but Christopher Pike . Spock is present, but not as first officer. That role is taken by a character known only as Number One , played by Majel Barrett . Spock's character differs somewhat from that seen in the rest of Star Trek displaying a youthful eagerness that contrasts with the later more reserved and logical Spock. He also delivers

5580-550: The 1960s; while the series was not picked up, its characters have appeared in numerous non-canon Trek productions set in the 20th century. The third season two-part episode "Terra Firma" of Star Trek: Discovery is generally regarded as a backdoor pilot for a series featuring the character Philippa Georgiou. The final two episodes of the CBS sitcom Green Acres (1965–71) were both backdoor pilots. With CBS being pressured by advertisers to develop more urban-themed shows (ultimately at

5704-425: The 1990s, but then the practice of broadcasting them ended almost entirely. Orion (Star Trek) The Orions are a fictional extraterrestrial humanoid species in the American science fiction franchise Star Trek , making their first appearance in the initial pilot for Star Trek: The Original Series , " The Cage ". Susan Oliver portrayed the first Orion seen on screen, when her human character Vina

5828-481: The 2014–2015 season due to dismal overall reception by viewers. The Gossip Girl episode " Valley Girls " was supposed to be a backdoor pilot for a prequel spin-off series starring Brittany Snow as a young Lily van der Woodsen , however the show was not picked up. " The Farm " was an episode of NBC 's The Office that was supposed to act as a backdoor pilot for a spin-off series starring Rainn Wilson and focusing on his character, Dwight Schrute . Upon review,

5952-540: The BSG pilot was extended for television, and the televised version of the Buck Rogers pilot utilized a different opening credits sequence and featured a newly added epilogue scene intended to lead into the weekly series. By the mid-1950s, the practice of television executives of ordering dozens of pilots for proposed television series each year — far more than their networks could possibly broadcast as series — had created

6076-516: The Bane ", the first episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures , is not a pilot because the BBC had committed to the first season before seeing any filmed content – yet it is routinely referred to as a pilot. The straight-to-series model is usually used when established talent is attached to a series, or it is based on an established property or franchise. Amazing Stories (1985) is credited as being one of

6200-400: The Next, a two-hour retrospective special hosted by Patrick Stewart . Although most of this episode was edited into the original series episode "The Menagerie" (aired November 1966), no stand-alone version of "The Cage" pilot was available until a 1986 VHS release. Gene Roddenberry had in his possession a black-white film workprint version on 16 mm film , while the original 35 mm print

6324-469: The Orion Syndicate and Starfleet. To celebrate the new venture, Archer is presented with three Orion women Navaar (Cyia Batten), D'Nesh (Crystal Allen) and Maras (Menina Fortunato). The pheromones of the women begin to affect the crew with the exception of Subcommander T'Pol ( Jolene Blalock ) and Commander Charles "Trip" Tucker III ( Connor Trinneer ), who successfully work together to prevent

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6448-505: The Orion character should be painted green, with the script stating that the character should be "Wild! Green skin, glistening as if oiled". Roddenberry had convinced the NBC executives to shoot in color to reduce scenery costs and so that the green skin of the character could be seen on screen. The costume for Vina was designed by William Ware Theiss , with Roddenberry pushing for it to be skimpier. Fred Phillips conducted makeup tests before

6572-583: The Orions attempt to disrupt a Federation conference by inserting an agent disguised as the leader of the Andorian delegation, Thelev ( William O'Connell ). The agent kills the leader of the Tellarite delegation, Gav (John Wheeler), implicating Ambassador Sarek ( Mark Lenard ). After the Orion injures Captain Kirk, his ruse is discovered and a pursuing Orion vessel is destroyed. In " Whom Gods Destroy ", when

6696-487: The Orions from stealing the ship. During a conversation between Archer and Harrad-Sar, the Orion admits that it is the three women who are in charge, and he is their slave. The Talosians seek to stimulate an attraction between Captain Christopher Pike ( Jeffrey Hunter ) and Vina (Susan Oliver) in "The Cage". She was a woman who survived the crash of a spacecraft on Talos IV, and the Talosians had been projecting

6820-467: The Prime Universe. Fans of Star Trek embraced the Orions, specifically the image of the Orion slave girl, making it a popular choice for cosplay at science fiction conventions . This includes an Orion themed dance troupe called "Orion's Envy". Several fan-based Star Trek web series have been created since the end of Enterprise , including Star Trek Continues which follows on from

6944-544: The Recentering of Star Trek ", described the appearance of the Orions in the fourth season of Enterprise as an attempt by Coto to bring viewers back to the series. However, he described the Orion women themselves as providing "softcore porn" to the viewer. Regarding those same appearances, David Greven wrote in his book Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek , that the attraction of the men on the Enterprise demonstrated

7068-414: The Talosians' plans to reclaim their ravaged planet, using him and Vina as breeding stock for a race of slaves. The Talosians use their powers to tempt Pike into mating with Vina; first they present her as a Rigellian princess, then as a farm girl from Earth, and finally as a seductive, green-skinned Orion dancing girl, and Pike begins to weaken. Number One, the Enterprise ' s first officer, attempts

7192-454: The United Kingdom with one being the restored color version. "The Cage" was released on PAL -format LaserDisc in the United Kingdom as part of The Pilots collection, in April 1996. This included the color version of "The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "Encounter at Farpoint", "Emissary", and "Caretaker" with a total runtime of 379 minutes. Both versions of "The Cage" were included on

7316-480: The actresses to be ready for filming. Following the end of Enterprise , a reboot saw the franchise return to the era of The Original Series with the 2009 Star Trek remake. Rachel Nichols was cast as an Orion named Gaila, who was involved in a relationship with James T. Kirk ( Chris Pine ). Her hair and makeup process took up to six hours each day, and found that it would stain Pine's face green after they filmed

7440-508: The all-color version as “episode 1” and the hybrid as “episode 99”. These reversed designations have been followed on future DVD, blu-ray and streaming presentations as well. Gene Roddenberry in fact had another personal 16mm copy of "The Cage" which he gave to a friend and advisor in California shortly following production and accompanied by another 16mm reel labelled "Star Trek Out Takes". All three film reels were subsequently acquired by

7564-430: The announcement of Strange New Worlds , co-showrunner and executive producer Henry Alonso Myers calls this the longest pilot to series pick up in television history. Pilot episode A successful pilot may be used as the series premiere , the first aired episode of a new show, but sometimes a series' pilot may be aired as a later episode or never aired at all. Some series are commissioned straight-to-series without

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7688-584: The appearance of a true Orion was shown. The Orion Syndicate is mentioned in Deep Space Nine as a criminal organisation , such as in " Honor Among Thieves " in which Chief Miles O'Brien ( Colm Meaney ) is placed undercover within the Syndicate by Starfleet Intelligence. In the 2009 Star Trek remake, an alternative universe is created after the Romulan Nero ( Eric Bana ) and his ship

7812-422: The basis of The Paul Lynde Show . The original Star Trek TV series had two pilots, neither of which became the premiere episode when the series was picked up. The first, titled The Cage , didn't sell, but Desilu head Lucille Ball convinced NBC executives to allow shooting of a second pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before , which was accepted by the network. The Cage was edited and expanded into

7936-529: The characters for what would become the NCIS spin-off series NCIS: Los Angeles , and the NCIS season 11 two-part episode " Crescent City " introduced the characters for what would become NCIS: New Orleans . NCIS: Los Angeles itself also included a backdoor pilot for a potential further spin-off – NCIS: Red – but the series was not picked up. Similarly, the backdoor pilot for the television sitcom Empty Nest

8060-429: The creators decide on whether or not they intend to pursue a spin-off series with those characters. Television networks use pilots to determine whether an entertaining concept can be successfully realized and whether the expense of additional episodes is justified. A pilot is best thought of as a prototype of the show that is to follow, because elements often change from pilot to series. Variety estimates that only

8184-405: The difficulty of the makeup in the role. To prepare for the Orion scenes, Oliver took a week's worth of choreography instruction, later stating in an interview with Starlog magazine that she was not a skilled dancer. The shoot with Oliver in green paint took place on December 4, 1965, with the actress stating in a later interview that "Even before the dance began and I was standing demurely to

8308-528: The events of The Original Series . The second episode, " Lolani ", focused on the events following the murder of three Tellarite crewmembers of a cargo vessel and the discovery that an Orion slave girl survived the incident. Lou Ferrigno , famous for his role as the Hulk in the 1978 The Incredible Hulk television series, appeared as a similarly green male Orion. Justin Everett, in his essay "Fan Culture and

8432-418: The expense of the network's rural-themed programs ), Green Acres creator Jay Sommers was given an opportunity to develop two series ideas, both of which were rejected. ABC attempted to create a spin-off of Charlie's Angels in 1980 called Toni's Boys . The backdoor pilot that aired near the end of season four was simply titled "Toni's Boys" and guest starred Barbara Stanwyck as Antonia "Toni" Blake,

8556-673: The first appearances of characters and situations later employed by a series – even if the work was not initially intended as a pilot for the series. A good example of this is "Love and the Television Set" (later retitled "Love and the Happy Days" for syndication), an episode of Love, American Style that featured a version of the Cunningham family. It was in fact a failed pilot for the proposed 1972 series New Family in Town , but

8680-417: The first episode of the series if substantial changes are not made between the pilot and greenlighting . In the event the changes being made are so substantial that they would cause confusion to viewers, the pilot (or portions of it) is often re-shot, recast, or rewritten to fit the rest of the series. The pilot for Gilligan's Island , for instance, showed the castaways when they had just become stranded on

8804-429: The first line in all of Star Trek : "Check the circuit!" followed by, "Can't be the screen then." The weaponry used in the pilot also differs from that seen in the series proper, identified as lasers rather than phasers, and different props are used for the communicator and handheld weapons. NBC reportedly called the pilot "too cerebral", "too intellectual", and "too slow" with "not enough action". Rather than rejecting

8928-412: The first season was replaced with Sharon Gless ; therefore, the original movie is not considered part of the television series, and is not included in the series collections on DVD. In some cases, this does not hamper broadcast, such as Jackie Cooper playing the role of Walter Carlson in the TV movie pilot of the 1975 series The Invisible Man , but being replaced by Craig Stevens for the remainder of

9052-425: The first series commissioned without a pilot. The model has seen a rise since Netflix popularized it. A number of unsold pilots have been reworked into theatrically-released feature films, including Lum and Abner Abroad (1956), which wove together three pilot episodes for a 1956 series that would have starred the comedy duo of Lum and Abner ; Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966); and Mulholland Drive (2001), which

9176-498: The first time, D'Vana Tendi , a science officer voiced by Noël Wells . Star Trek: Discovery includes Orions in seasons 3 and 4, which are set in the 32nd century. Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard shows Orions on the planet of M'talas Prime as well as Orion Starfleet officers on the crew of the Titan-A. The sciences officer and operations officer on the Titan-A are the first live-action Orion Starfleet officers depicted in

9300-444: The following January, orders about 20 pilot episodes. Actors come to Los Angeles from within the area or elsewhere in the United States and around the world to audition for them. By spring, actors are cast and production crews assembled to produce the pilots. Casting is a lengthy and very competitive process. For the 1994 pilot of Friends , casting director Ellie Kanner reviewed more than 1,000 actors' head shots for each of

9424-505: The following season. The series finale of One Day at a Time in May 1984 served as a backdoor pilot to a spin-off featuring Pat Harrington Jr. 's character Dwayne Schneider in a new setting, but CBS ultimately passed on the potential series. Similarly, the 1988 two-part series finale of The Facts of Life ("The Beginning of the End" and "The Beginning of the Beginning") also served as

9548-471: The high regard I learned for you during the production of our pilot. Two weeks after the option expired on June 1, 1965, Hunter formally gave his letter requesting separation from the project. He died on May 27, 1969, one week before the original series ended its run. Roddenberry later suggested that he was the one who—unhappy with interference by Hunter's then-wife Dusty Bartlett—had decided not to rehire Hunter; however, executive producer Herbert F. Solow , who

9672-400: The history of the race on the internet prior to her performance as she was not familiar with the series before. Four hours of make-up work was required for Luther to be ready, and she described the costume as slightly skimpier than she was used to as a lingerie and bikini model. Isopropyl alcohol was used to remove the majority of the green makeup, but Luther said that it took several days for

9796-543: The intention of following them up with a full 104-episode order if successful; both series failed to reach the threshold Allen sought, though they remained in limited production (three to four new episodes a year, mixed in with the first season) for a few years afterward. An earlier variant was the 13-episode pilot run; in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Disney Channel notably gave a 13-episode pilot order to two series it never picked up, but would go on to longer runs on other networks: Good Morning, Miss Bliss (which also had

9920-399: The island. However, three roles were recast before going to series, with the characters either modified or completely altered to the point where the pilot could no longer be used as a regular episode. As a result, CBS aired Gilligan's second produced episode, which opened with the same scene of the characters just stranded on the island (showing only those not re-cast), first; the story from

10044-416: The means of an underground railroad . The official Star Trek website describes the Orion species as being organised into a "loose nation or empire", also described as the Orion Syndicate. They are known for their criminal activities, such as piracy, illegal mining and black market exploitation. The first appearance of them in the Star Trek chronology was in the Enterprise episode "Borderland", when

10168-502: The network orders 90 more to bring the total to 100 episodes , immediately enough to rerun the show in syndication . Series that used the 10/90 model include Tyler Perry 's House of Payne , Meet the Browns , For Better or Worse , Debmar-Mercury 's Anger Management , and Are We There Yet? . Byron Allen 's sitcoms followed a similar model, with Mr. Box Office and The First Family airing 26-episode first seasons with

10292-473: The networks work on the same shared schedule, directors, actors and others must choose the best pilot to work for with the hopes that the network will choose it. If it is not chosen, they have wasted their time and money and may have missed out on better career opportunities. Once they have been produced, the pilots are presented to studio and network executives, and in some cases to test audiences; at this point, each pilot receives various degrees of feedback and

10416-534: The new series. The Dukes of Hazzard aired two episodes, named "Jude Emery" and "Mason Dixon's Girls", which served as a backdoor pilot complete with the Dukes cast interacting with the new characters. Ultimately, CBS passed on the two series in favor of a series starring Hazzard County deputy Enos Strate . A pair of Married... with Children episodes aired as backdoor pilots that would not be picked up. The first, Radio Free Trumaine , featured Keri Russell as

10540-751: The original Golden Girls episode. A 1972 episode of All In The Family , Maude , centered on the Bunkers visiting their cousin Maude Findlay at Maude's house in Tuckahoe. Norman Lear was so impressed he wanted to make Maude as a separate show. Maude would debut 5 months after the episode aired, in September of 1972. A 2011 episode of the TV Land original sitcom Hot in Cleveland focused on

10664-475: The original series Season 3 DVD box set, along with the introduction by Roddenberry. The B&W/color version of "The Cage" was originally listed as episode 1 on VHS covers upon its initial home video release. When the all-color version was found and released later, it was given the designation “episode 99”. When released on the DVD format in 2001, the designations were reversed as the DVD cover for Volume 40 describes

10788-631: The parent series who are to be given their own show. For example, to introduce A Different World , built around The Cosby Show character Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet ), the Cosby Show episode " Hillman " was devoted to the Huxtable family visiting Denise during her freshman year at Hillman College though no characters from the upcoming series were introduced. A 2018 episode of ABC's 1980s-set sitcom The Goldbergs , titled "1990-Something", heavily featured teachers who were recurring characters on

10912-430: The pilot from that point onward was largely reworked into a flashback episode which aired later (with several key scenes re-shot). Even Gilligan's theme song, which was originally done as a calypso number, was rewritten and recomposed to be completely different. Another example is Star Trek , where footage from the unaired original pilot, " The Cage ", was incorporated into the two-part episode, " The Menagerie ", with

11036-449: The pilot into "The Menagerie" disassembled the original camera negative of "The Cage", and thus, for many years it was considered partly lost . Roddenberry's black-and-white 16mm print made for reference purposes was the only existing print of the show, and was frequently shown at conventions. Early video releases of "The Cage" used Roddenberry's 16mm print, intercut with the color scenes from "The Cage" that were used in "The Menagerie". It

11160-456: The pilot that sold the series to Showcase , " Vexed ", was used as the eighth episode of the first series. In the case of Firefly , the original pilot ("Serenity") which was intended to serve as the series premiere was rejected by the network, and a new first episode, "Train Job", was shot specifically for broadcast. Sometimes, too, viewers will assign the word "pilot" to a work that represented

11284-528: The planet that encourages outsiders to visit and trade in safety despite it being the seat of an interstellar criminal organization. The first mention of the Orion was in Gene Roddenberry 's first draft script for the initial pilot for Star Trek: The Original Series , " The Cage ". At that stage, there was no further description given, except that they were to be alien in appearance. By the time that casting had been sought, it had been decided that

11408-567: The project to series. In 2013, The CW announced there was a spin-off of their genre hit Supernatural in the works. The 20th episode of season nine titled "Bloodlines", served as a back-door pilot, revealed in January 2014 to have been titled Supernatural: Bloodlines . The series was set to explore the "clashing hunter and monster cultures in Chicago". The show was not picked up by the CW for

11532-422: The rest to come off. Professional wrestler Big Show was one of several actors portraying male Orions in "Borderland". A further Orion-centric episode was shown later in the fourth season. Entitled " Bound ", there were three Orion slave girls central to the plot played by Cyia Batten , Crystal Allen and Menina Fortunato. In this case, the makeup was applied via spraying, but still took around four hours for

11656-519: The same time as another anthology series of unsold pilots, Sneak Preview on NBC , and these thus became the first two series of unsold pilots to air in the United States . A number of summer anthology series consisting entirely or partly of unsold pilots were broadcast in the United States between 1956 and 1989. These series were: By the mid-1980s, the rise of cable television outlets had led to an increase of original programming during

11780-474: The series and served as the backdoor pilot to Schooled , which debuted in early 2019. In other cases, an episode of the parent show may focus on one or more guest characters who have not previously appeared in the show. For example, the JAG season eight episodes "Ice Queen" and "Meltdown" introduced the characters for what would become NCIS , while the NCIS season six two-part episode " Legend " introduced

11904-458: The series outright, though, the network commissioned a second pilot, " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", which led to an order for the series for fall 1966. During the first season, the need for new episodes to be delivered to the network to meet airdates became urgent, and a framing story with the series regulars was written around most of the original footage from "The Cage" resulting in the two-part episode " The Menagerie ". The process of editing

12028-434: The series, which aired well on into the first season of the series. A backdoor pilot is a film or miniseries that serves as a proof of concept for a full series, but may be broadcast on its own even if the full series is not picked up. The term may also be used for an episode of an existing television show that serves to introduce a spin-off . Such backdoor pilots commonly focus on an existing character or characters from

12152-414: The series; the pilot is still considered part of the series and released to DVD as such. Likewise, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story had an almost entirely different cast from the series it was intended to pilot ( The Waltons ), but both have been rerun for many years. A proof of concept pilot usually takes place chronologically further into a series run than a premise pilot, to give network executives

12276-463: The shooting began on the episode. As an actress had not yet been cast in the role of Vina, Majel Barrett instead stepped in. Several different shades of green greasepaint were applied to her, with different camera exposures and lighting settings tested. Those test shots were sent to be developed, and received back the following day. To the surprise of the production team, Barrett appeared normal flesh colored in all footage. They tried again, applying

12400-477: The side, this feeling was in the air. Gene had touched on something dark in man's unconscious; one could imagine doing something with a green mate that he would never dare someone of his own color." Phillips required an assistant to keep reapplying the green Max Factor greasepaint between shots, as due to Oliver's perspiration due to the heat from the studio lights and the dancing, it would become blotchy in patches and dry out in others. Portions of Oliver's dancing

12524-427: The six main roles. She summoned 75 actors for each role to audition, and she then chose some to audition again for the show's creators. Of this group, the creators chose some to audition again for Warner Bros. Television executives, who chose the final group of a few actors to audition for NBC executives; as they decide whether to purchase a pilot, network executives generally have ultimate authority over casting. Since

12648-490: The spin-off was not picked up by NBC and the original version was never aired; instead it was reworked with additional material shot later, as the original version contained "certain aspects that were appropriate for a pilot of a new show". The Arrow episode "The Scientist " served as a backdoor pilot for the spinoff series The Flash , introducing Barry Allen as a CSI searching for super-powered people in an attempt to find his mother's murderer. This episode also created

12772-400: The story justification that it depicts events that happened several years earlier. Conversely, the second pilot for Star Trek , " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", aired as the third episode of the show's first season, even though it included some casting and costuming differences that set it apart from the preceding episodes. If a network orders a two-hour pilot, it will usually broadcast it as

12896-467: The summer months and ABC, CBS, and NBC began to experience a decline in summer viewership; the launch of Fox as a fourth major network in 1987 only exacerbated the problem for the former "Big Three" networks. Although CBS viewed CBS Summer Playouse — broadcast during the summers of 1987, 1988, and 1989 — as original programming that addressed this issue, it was the last anthology series of unsold pilots. Unsold pilots aired as one-offs occasionally during

13020-441: The survivors is a beautiful young woman named Vina. Captivated by her beauty, Pike is caught off guard and falls into a trap set by the native Talosians, a race of humanoids with bulbous heads who live beneath the planet's surface. It is revealed that both the distress call and the crash survivors (except for Vina) are telepathic illusions created by the Talosians to lure the Enterprise to the planet. While imprisoned, Pike uncovers

13144-417: The third best episode of the original series. In 2016, SyFy ranked "The Cage" as the fifth best out of six Star Trek TV show pilots, with Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ' s " Emissary " in first place. In 2017, Inverse recommended "The Cage" as "essential watching" for Star Trek: Discovery . In 2023, Den of Geek ranked "The Cage" as the best pilot episode for any series in the franchise. In 2019,

13268-459: The wedding of the character Elka (played by Betty White ). Boyce Ballentine ( Cedric the Entertainer ), an R&B singer-turned-preacher, was introduced as the pastor for the wedding, with the intention of Boyce eventually having his own series on the network. That came to fruition in 2012, when TV Land introduced The Soul Man . A historically important venue for backdoor pilots has been

13392-546: Was an episode of The Golden Girls , which relegated that show's regular stars to supporting characters in an episode devoted to new characters who were introduced as their neighbors. Feedback on the episode resulted in Empty Nest being extensively reworked before its debut; while the concept and the "living next to the Golden Girls" setting was retained, the series ended up featuring different characters from those in

13516-498: Was composed of an unsold pilot episode appended with an ending shot specifically for the film. The 1966 film release, Tarzan and the Trappers was edited from the unbroadcast pilot of a proposed 1958 Tarzan series. In addition, a number of unsuccessful pilot episodes have been released as direct-to-video films, including Belle's Magical World (1998), Cruel Intentions 2 (2001) and Atlantis: Milo's Return (2003). On

13640-409: Was cut as it was deemed as too sexy, along with a scene where she is whipped. The episode was subsequently rejected by NBC as a pilot, but the footage was later used in the two-part episode " The Menagerie ". Unlike the other actors from "The Cage", Oliver's contract did not contain a clause to cover re-use of the footage, and so was not paid any additional fees. The first appearance of a male Orion

13764-498: Was done to give the impression that the Talosians had focused their efforts on mental development to the detriment of their physical strength and size, while also making them suitably alien to viewers. However, the deep voice of Malachi Throne as the Keeper in "The Cage" was electronically processed to sound higher-pitched for "The Menagerie", as Throne also portrayed Commodore Mendez in the latter. The Keeper's voice from "The Menagerie"

13888-463: Was given. The U.S.S. Enterprise , under the command of Captain Christopher Pike , receives a distress call from the fourth planet in the Talos star group. A landing party is assembled with Pike in command and beams down to investigate. Tracking the distress signal to its source, the landing party discovers a camp of survivors from a scientific expedition that has been missing for eighteen years. Amongst

14012-464: Was intended to serve as a backdoor pilot for the proposed spin-off. The episode sees Moran teaming up with an Atlanta-based detective on a murder that is related to a case she has been working on for the past three years. At the end of the episode, the detective encourages Moran to take a detective's exam, and to look for her if she is in Atlanta. In September 2010, however, Lifetime declined to pick up

14136-482: Was kept for both the remastered and new "original" versions of "The Cage" which would be released later. Throne's unaltered voice work as The Keeper only survives as a brief sample that can be heard in the preview trailer for "The Menagerie" (Part II). "The Cage" was first released on VHS in 1986, with a special introduction by Roddenberry, and was aired for the first time in its entirety, and in full color, in late 1988 as part of The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to

14260-586: Was later incorporated into the season 1 two-part episode " The Menagerie " (1966); however, "The Cage" was first released to the public on VHS in 1986, with a special introduction by Gene Roddenberry, as a hybrid of the color footage that was used in "The Menagerie" and black and white footage which was not used in "The Menagerie". It was not broadcast on television in its complete all-color form until 1988. The black and white version and all-color version were also released in various standard-definition media including LaserDisc, VHS, and DVD formats. The story concerns

14384-449: Was literally cut up in editing for "The Menagerie"; this left Roddenberry's copy as the only known surviving version when the VHS version was made. Thus, the original VHS release has a mix of full-color from existing footage with black-and-white from the 16 mm copy. In 1987, the excised film sections were discovered by archivist Bob Furmanek in an abandoned and unlabeled film canister at

14508-401: Was only in 1987 that a film archivist found an unmarked (mute) 35mm reel in a Hollywood film laboratory with the negative trims of the unused scenes. Upon realizing what he had found, he arranged for the return of the footage to Roddenberry's company. According to "The Menagerie", the events of "The Cage" take place thirteen years before the first season of Star Trek , in 2254 . No stardate

14632-418: Was only publicly exhibited in cinemas four months later. Even then, "The Man from Galveston" had an almost entirely different cast, and its main character was renamed to avoid confusion with the then-ongoing series. Some television series are commissioned "straight-to-series" where a network orders a season without viewing any produced episodes, hence no episode is considered a pilot. For instance, " Invasion of

14756-536: Was present when Bartlett, acting as manager, refused the role on behalf of her husband, later said in his memoir, Inside Star Trek , that it was the other way around. "The Cage" was filmed at Desilu Productions ' studio (now known as Culver Studios ) in Culver City, California , from November 27 to mid-December 1964. Post-production work ( pick-up shots , editing, scoring, special photographic and sound effects) continued to January 18, 1965. Gene Roddenberry paid

14880-468: Was recycled as a successful pilot for 1974's Happy Days . So firmly embedded is the notion of it as a Happy Days pilot, that even series actress Erin Moran (who did not appear in the episode) viewed it as such, as well as its creator, Garry Marshall , since Happy Days itself did not have a separate pilot of its own. In a similar situation, the 1962 pilot Howie was resurrected 13 years later to form

15004-571: Was shown in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode " The Pirates of Orion ". An organized crime ring known as the Orion Syndicate was mentioned in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but no actual Orions were seen, only members of other species. Writer Mike Sussman sought to introduce the Orions into Star Trek: Enterprise with the episode " Anomaly ", but during rewrites this was changed into

15128-525: Was the sole survivor but was badly injured. The Talosians healed her, but due to their unfamiliarity with human anatomy, she was left permanently disfigured. Only with the help of the Talosians and their illusions is she able to maintain her beauty and health. Pike accepts this and agrees to leave her with the Talosians, who create an illusion of Pike as a companion for her. The Keeper sends Pike off with these words: "She has an illusion, and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant." Jeffrey Hunter had

15252-436: Was transformed into one, although it was Majel Barrett who underwent the original makeup test. The footage was subsequently used in the two-part episode " The Menagerie ". Yvonne Craig , who was considered for the role of Vina, later played an Orion in " Whom Gods Destroy ". Male Orions made their first appearance in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode " The Pirates of Orion " but did not appear in live action until

15376-463: Was used to make a Talosian appear as a vicious creature. The process used to make pointed ears for David McCallum in " The Sixth Finger " was reused in Star Trek as well. The "ion storm" seen in " The Mutant " (a projector beam shining through a container holding glitter in liquid suspension) became the transporter effect. The Talosians were designed with an androgynous look and were portrayed by females with male actors providing dubbing audio. This

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