The Cage was a better pilot than WNMHGB

And remember the Delta Vega surface was just Talos 4 and the Enterprise sets were already built. So it would have cost a ton more than it did to make WNMHGB. It's possible the cost would have made NBC think twice just the same. "Hey, that was great, but make us a cheaper one to show you can do it closer to budget. And for the love of God, get rid of the guy with the ears."

Then Gene would have made one with Majel as the lead and a captain with repressed sexual fantasies and that woulda been the end of Star Trek.

 

Well, sorta re the Enterprise.

• New
  • sickbay ward
  • Delta Vega control room
  • Delta Vega cell
• Newish
  • a much longer corridor was built
• Revamp
  • The Enterprise sets that were on stage 16 got consolidated onto 15 and three got used with minor alternations: bridge, briefing room and transporter
• Built from stock from pilot
  • The entrance to the Delta Vega facility was build from a wall from Pike's cabin and arches from the Talosian underground

There was no exterior shooting, which meant no company move to a backlot. That also saved money.

I've begun to suspect that referring to NBC as this monolithic thing is incorrect. I think it was the NBC sales department that was afraid of Spock (hence the airbrushed photos) but the programming people didn't necessarily have the same reservations.