Has The Cage ever been shown on TV?
- Thread starter Extrocomp
- Start date
Only while the rest of the shot is still CG. He's there in the 1964 original, entering the turbolift. It's after the transition from CG to live footage that the new "control panels" are visible on the wall of the turbolift. They've been added to the live-action.
I think it holds together pretty well on its own outside "The Menagerie", given the nature of sci-fi TV back then. Majel Barrett needed a little more directing, though. I couldn't stand it when she shouts up at the sky to shut down the phaser cannon, as if they could hear her voice without the communicator. And "Can you give us any more?" was strangely delivered. Anyway, I'm very glad they made the effort to ressurect the episode and provide it in both color and B&W versions. 
This remastered shot is nothing short of amazing, especially when you know how limited the source material was!
No, I'm asking for a picture of the 1986 VHS of The Cage. I want to confirm its existence. Does it have a UPC code?
I have it. I'm not in a position to scan the box, but I can give you some details.
There is no UPC code, but there is a product code: 60040-01.
Run time is 73 minutes, and it is dated 1986. There is also the label "With Special Remarks by Gene Roddenberry."
The front cover is an illustration, with the Orion palace in the background, drawings of Captain Pike and Spock, with smaller figures in the foreground consisting of Vena as the Orion slave girl, the Keeper, Vena as herself, and a smaller drawing of Pike in his away mission jacket. And finally at the bottom, a drawing of the Enterprise. On the back is a color photo of Vena and Pike when they're watching the "Viking" creature, and below that a black and white photo of Mr. Spock.
It looks like this Laser disc copy, but in VHS box form.
For about two years straight, Sci-Fi seemed to have the rights to the show in any format. TOS was unwatchable unless you got the Sci-Fi Channel or owned tapes of the series.
Dusty Ayres
Commodore
It was shown on CTV in 1965 in Canada.
^
Really? Desilu let the original print/edit of the pilot air somewhere?
Really? Desilu let the original print/edit of the pilot air somewhere?
Has anyone ever seen "Planet Of Danger," the TOS cut-and-paste movie?
^
HEARD of it. Never, ever seen the thing though.
Is there a YouTube link? Did someone ever post it online?
HEARD of it. Never, ever seen the thing though.
Is there a YouTube link? Did someone ever post it online?
Not that I can find.
I bought the original TOS release DVDs (two episodes to a disc) and the one with "Turnabout Intruder" includes not only the color trim version of "The Cage", but the b&w/color version (though no Roddenberry intro like my old VHS tape has).
That's odd - I have that DVD as well, and it does have the Roddenberry intro and outro. I forget what feature you choose on the DVD, but mine has it.
...also, I do remember the full color one being shown on TV, around the time the DS9 "Trials and Tribbleations" episode was shown, IIRC.
I own it, somewhere. The color footage weas taken directly from "The Menagerie." The black and white footage is noticeably poorer in quality, so that when it switches from color to B&W, the audio suddenly turns to sh*t. Also humorous is how the Talosian leader's voice suddently changes with the color change.
I dunno, there wasn't much to the intro. I usually fast forwarded past it, especially the part where he wipes his runny nose with his hand.Oddly enough, I just discovered I actually have a digitized copy of the mixed b&w/color version WITH the Roddenberry intro and outro which I probably downloaded from Usenet several years back. It was cool to rewatch the GR stuff again.
I still own a secondhand video-store copy of the VHS "Cage" from twenty years ago. The audio during the color-to-B&W shift is horrendous. And the picture quality goes into the toilet as well. But for 1986/87 when this edit was pieced together for home video and without all the current methods of cleaning up and digitally remastering/fixing images and sound it was a pretty good job.
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