Apparantly, Gene spent his life loving The Cage since he used "Engage" and "Number One" for The Next Gen.
All of the stuff that wound up cut from the pilot for the two-parter were really kinda corny "50's" space opera stuff, the "cadet ship" line and all. They were well trimmed and when I first saw them in the 80's, I did a lot of cringing. The "time warp" sequence with the REALLY LOUD theme (which was my least favorite version of it - it feels like a game show theme), the over the top "yes, sir, no sir" bit, and later "who would have been Eve" question that was so out of place for a yeoman and on the bridge so a lower ranked subordinate could question it...actually, everything but the most basic stuff with Yeoman Colt was pretty bad and really made it feel like it was shot 10 years earlier than it was. Had this aired as an episode, some of those trims would have hopefully still been made. If they had indeed made a Pike-centered series, this would have been a good later episode. As a pilot, it doesn't give us a good or fair look at Pike on a regular mission. Pike kicks off the episode (and series presumably) being tired of his job and wanting to quit. Had we logged a bunch of adventures with Pike before we got to this point, maybe even made it a second part of a two part story, I think it would have stuck the landing. Pike is unfairly compared to Kirk because of this. A more lighthearted Pike - much like a lighthearted Jeffrey Hunter - could have been charming.