The Design From The Cage
- Thread starter In_Correct
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I've always preferred the look of "The Cage" over the rest of the series. The only thing I would have changed was to have given Pike two stripes on his sleeves like Kirk had in the second pilot.
I definitely prefer The Cage's look -- pretty much across the board. I don't even have an issue with the goosenecks; simple components are easier to repair in a crisis, and, frankly speaking, having displays that can be adjusted makes a lot of sense from an ergonomic perspective, which probably helps the crew combat fatigue in the short term and repetitive stress injuries in the long term.
The only way the actual series improved upon The Cage would have to be with props and the Enterprise exteriors. The Bussard collectors were a beautiful alteration, and the smaller dish seems more balanced with the design. Hand phasers and communicators are also improved. Pretty much everything else, for me, is a downgrade.
The only way the actual series improved upon The Cage would have to be with props and the Enterprise exteriors. The Bussard collectors were a beautiful alteration, and the smaller dish seems more balanced with the design. Hand phasers and communicators are also improved. Pretty much everything else, for me, is a downgrade.
In fairness the regular episodes were never going to have the budget alloted for the pilot episodes. That could just never happen. The pilots were each easily double to four times the budget of the first season episodes.
There is a fan production that apparently intends to be set in the Pike era but aboard a different ship. And many years ago Marvel Comics had a Trek title called Star Trek: Early Voyages that told stories aboard the Enterprise following the events seen in "The Cage." You can still buy the title as a trade edition from Amazon. I quite liked the first half dozen or so issues best.
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C57D
Guest
And don't forget the backpacks and lack of tricorders!
I always imagined that the landing party was expected to be a lot more "hands-on" than later incarnations. And those backpacks held planetary scientific toolkits etc.
I have written some house rules for the FASA Star Trek RPG, re-setting the game in April and Pike's era. Reducing the tech and increasing the "hands-on" level.
Results in a very Forbidden Planet (an acknowledged influence on GR) like ST!
I always imagined that the landing party was expected to be a lot more "hands-on" than later incarnations. And those backpacks held planetary scientific toolkits etc.
I have written some house rules for the FASA Star Trek RPG, re-setting the game in April and Pike's era. Reducing the tech and increasing the "hands-on" level.
Results in a very Forbidden Planet (an acknowledged influence on GR) like ST!
I found the writing and particulary the art got progressively sloppy towards the end after it started out rather well, in my opinion. But they started to lose me when Yeoman Colt found herself transported to the future.I've been long unhappy with the way "Early Voyages" was abruptly canceled right in the middle of a multi-issue story.
Kor
Though I miss the pointy things on the Cage versions.
I agree.
May I take it one step farther? THIS is what enterprise SHOULD have been like. Not the sloppy design mess it was.
WNMHGB still retained most of the "look and feel" of The Cage, perhaps Gene and co. should have left well enough alone.
IIRC, the landing party jackets in “The Cage” were made of a foam-backed material turned around so that the foam lining was on the outside. That gave the material an interesting, futuristic look, but also made the jackets fragile and easily damaged. I'm sure a more practical fabric could have been found if they'd kept the jackets when the show went to production.
I don't know about "touchy-feely," but to me "away team" always sounded a bit juvenile. It makes me think of high school football.
Yeah, they should have had the decency to at least finish the final story arc.I've been long unhappy with the way "Early Voyages" was abruptly canceled right in the middle of a multi-issue story.
Kor
I think the title was a great idea even if I might quibble with some things. It wet my appetite for more Pike era stories and fueled the idea for a Pike era animated series (which I doubt would ever come to pass). I like how they introduced a few new characters as well as tweaked the familiar characters.
I liked the lucite communicators better than the final TOS ones. The goosenecks look too 1950s but the slideshow-like viewers were a big improvement over the static paintings (I know a few TOS episodes showed visuals in there).
I think had the show kept the drab colors that it would have clashed with the wit and humor of the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic. I mean, come on. Trouble with the Tribbles with The Cage look and feel? It would not have worked. It was fine for Pike and his just-the-facts-mam police-procedural approach but not for the more swashbuckling Kirk.
I think had the show kept the drab colors that it would have clashed with the wit and humor of the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic. I mean, come on. Trouble with the Tribbles with The Cage look and feel? It would not have worked. It was fine for Pike and his just-the-facts-mam police-procedural approach but not for the more swashbuckling Kirk.
I actually love the fact they give us two different views of the same planet. It was years later that I realized that the two facilities are visible in each other's paintings: The night time shot shows a facility up in the mountains that are visible in the background of the daytime shot. You can see the daytime facility from an opposite angle in the distance, down on the valley floor in the night time shot.
I'd have to check to be sure, but Batman also got his nuclear pile in the Batcave from the film budget as well. It would be interesting to see how many of the Enterprise's partial sets would have been extended/completed with a film budget. A port wall in the engine room, perhaps?
I don't think so, as the Batman movie was done between the first and second seasons, and the nuclear pile figured prominently into the second episode.
I actually like that too, so much so that it gave me pause before writing my original comment. But in the end, the bussards just make the nacelle seem interesting and powerful, and add a certain something to the exterior that it lacked before.
I do like the 1701 interior sets production design of "The Cage". Albeit I love TOS phaser, communicator, tricorder not "The Cage" laser and communicator.
I do think that both "The Cage" and TMP look much more futurist than TOS/TAS. The landing party jackets used in "The Cage" and TMP [V'ger walk to Voyager 6] look close in design (not color).
I do think that both "The Cage" and TMP look much more futurist than TOS/TAS. The landing party jackets used in "The Cage" and TMP [V'ger walk to Voyager 6] look close in design (not color).
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I tend to associate the pointy nacelles with the ISS Enterprise from the Mirror Universe. They're more aggressive, so they seem "wrong" to me in the Prime Universe (even though I know they existed there too, of course).
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