If Hunter had decided to continue on, do you think Trek would've taken off the way it did?
Would the series have worked with Hunter?
- Thread starter Commander Kielbasa
- Start date
My own opinion is no. While The Cage is a fascinating story and visually beautiful, I feel the episode as a whole owes too much to Forbidden Planet and that the more serious nature of The Cage (and thus possibly the direction of the series as a whole) might not have resounded so much in the campy mid 1960s. Also, again, while it's a fascinating pilot, it's missing the chemistry of Kirk-Spock-Bones. It's very far ahead of its time - in some ways more than the Kirk version we got - but in some ways very 1950s (like I said, the Forbidden Planet influence is very easy to detect). But I can't see Hunter engaging in camp easily or behaving in a campy way, and a lot of that was a selling point for kids and teens and helped the series to compete with the 60s Batman. I feel that Shatner had more natural range, at least for this role; Hunter comes off a bit more wooden and more of your standard adventure leading man where Kirk was unusual, theatrical and brought something new to the table; The Spock-Pike bond might have lacked the chemistry of the Kirk-Spock bond due to the difference in acting styles.
Also, it helped that Shatner was (IMO) more handsome and of a more dashing appearance than Hunter, who kind of came off, to use that time's vernacular, as a bit of a gloomy gus. He would've worked later on as a leading man in a campy sci-fi series, but not in the go-go mid 60s.
Also, it helped that Shatner was (IMO) more handsome and of a more dashing appearance than Hunter, who kind of came off, to use that time's vernacular, as a bit of a gloomy gus. He would've worked later on as a leading man in a campy sci-fi series, but not in the go-go mid 60s.
100% in agreement ^
Hunter would have made a great "grumpy admiral" guest star in TOS, but he didn't seem to have Shatner's charisma or sense of humor, and the series would have suffered for it.
Hunter would have made a great "grumpy admiral" guest star in TOS, but he didn't seem to have Shatner's charisma or sense of humor, and the series would have suffered for it.
If you'd had Hunter as Captain we'd probably not have gotten the Spock we know and love. Nimoy said Hunter was a very internalized actor like himself, and it was Shatner's more expressive performance that allowed him to make Spock a more internalized character as a contrast.
I've always thought so. Hunter's pilot may have suffered from a dark, downbeat script, the 1950s-futurism influence, whatever, but all of that would be set aside for the series, and Hunter would still be no Shatner. Shatner in his mid-30s was like the ideal man, the man I wished I could be when I grew up. Hunter was never going to fill that bill.
It's the opposite for me, always found Jeffrey Hunter to be the more handsome and striking of the two.
I don't know if Trek would be exactly what it is today but I without the campy elements it may have been a little more serious during TOS, though that's not to say that they wouldn't have a few more fun and lightsome scripts in the mix as well which an actor would be expected to meet the requirements of. "The Cage" was a serious episode so there's no way to tell what might've happened to Pike had the show gone ahead with its original format, he may have been tweaked and adjusted to loosen him up a little more. Had he carried on with Trek then he may not have died in 1969.
Hunter would've fit in a square-cut Irwin Allen or Glen A. Larson cast lead actor way. But the only laughs in Star Trek probably would've been unintentional. If anything Shatner's acting style draws attention away from any other shortcomings. Whereas Hunter being serious the whole time, well, you can't knock that he's doing his best... and so the occasionally dodgy alien or set dressing would've come under fire more... With Shatner you get the feeling, yes he's seeing exactly what we're seeing. Hunter would've been acting harder to something made better in his head.
If that makes sense!
- Thinking further about this: DeForest Kelley's role in the success of Star Trek is always rather undervalued in a discussion of a Pike versus Kirk led show. Had McCoy been part of the crew instead of the more elderly Boyce or Piper, the chemistry would've been more familiar. Albeit with a triad of two straight laced men and another working twice as hard to pierce both their pomposity.
If that makes sense!
- Thinking further about this: DeForest Kelley's role in the success of Star Trek is always rather undervalued in a discussion of a Pike versus Kirk led show. Had McCoy been part of the crew instead of the more elderly Boyce or Piper, the chemistry would've been more familiar. Albeit with a triad of two straight laced men and another working twice as hard to pierce both their pomposity.
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A Captain Pike series with Hunter as the lead probably would've been similar to how Patrick Stewart held the reigns on Star Trek: The Next Generation. An actor who would've carried the series on his own along with his trusty doctor. I doubt Majel would've made the cut; she's not interesting in the role and I think a better actress could've replaced her.
Yes, Spock would've been different but the pilot showed the potential for growth in other ways, lets not forget Roddenberry felt an alien on board was essential, I doubt there wouldn't be any development for Spock. I'm wondering would James Doohan and DeKelley's roles would've been altered? Maybe not as their iconic roles but a different character... maybe DeKelley being cast as an Engineer or Doohan is a Pilot of the Enterprise.
It's not Kirk, Spock and McCoy, but I liked the pilot and I saw the potential
M
marlboro
Guest
"The Cage" is probably my favorite episode of the series. I don't think the show would have been any worse by keeping Hunter over Shatner and may have been better. I have no idea what Hunter was like offscreen, but Shatner seems to have a lot of feuds with other cast members - maybe some of that could have been avoided with a different actor.
p.s. I have only seen Jeffrey Hunter in a handful of things over the years, but of those, the best was probably a semi-obscure movie called Brainstorm (1965). It's worth a watch.
p.s. I have only seen Jeffrey Hunter in a handful of things over the years, but of those, the best was probably a semi-obscure movie called Brainstorm (1965). It's worth a watch.
I like Hunter just fine and he seems like a really good guy. But I think he was a bit too stolid to lead a Trek series. It's no coincidence that things took off once Shatner came on.
Agreed. I don't think the show would have been bad. I think it would have been very well regarded as a bold attempt at "serious" sci-fi, but it would have lacked the warmth and charm that helped it squeeze out two more seasons.
I mean, it would have probably felt like Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Series (as The Cage is very cereberal and has even less humor than TMP).
The only wildcard is how many romances Hunter would have been thrust into (no pun intended). It's possible had they played up the romantic quotient that it could have struck a cord beyond geeks into a female demographic.
Hunter played Jesus in King of Kings, so acting in the role of a Starship captain wouldn't be a miracle. 
I'm not sure that Stewart could have carried TNG without Data or at least Worf hijinks.
Hunter is good-looking but like Jack Lord I think he would have been way too serious to be the lead in TOS. TOs would have turned out differently.
I just can't see Hunter in the "Man Trap" hassling McCoy. I think they would have to have scripted it differently for the different actor.
Hard to say. In Hunter's defense, "The Cage" presents Pike as burnt-out and on the verge of quitting right from the star, before he gets his mojo at the end. If Hunter comes off as glum and stolid . . . well, Pike is written as depressed and world-weary in the script. Hard to say whether both Hunter and Pike would have lightened up once they got past "The Cage."
M
marlboro
Guest
I can see this working really well in some episodes. Where No Man Has Gone Before, Balance of Terror, Obsession, A Private Little War etc.
By the way, I'm reading one of your TOS novels, No Time Like the Past, right now. I'm enjoying it, so far. Captain Kirk's Rules of Acquisition #147: Never french kiss an Orion woman with a pierced tongue.
It surprises me how rarely this seems to be taken into account. It's a bit like how many Stargate fans seem to consider the two Jack O'Neil(l)s to be irreconcilably different without considering that Kurt Russell was playing the guy at his most depressed and suicidal, while Richard Dean Anderson was playing him in his right mind.
I can see the show going for one or two seasons with Hunter, as I'm not sure it would have picked up the following it did, so possibly no Trimbles or letter-writing campaign, and no revival.
I doubt there would have been a second season if Hunter had returned to the role and baddies like The Romulans and The Klingons would either never have appeared or would have been one hit wonders! No film series starting in 79 for a 29 episode series from 1966 methinks!
JB
JB
Supposedly Hunter's wife expressed the sentiment that acting on a regular television series was beneath the status of a motion picture star.
And, per Justman and Solow (if I recall), the production was happy to move on from Hunter because his wife was such a nuisance. She wanted to be rid of Star Trek, and Star Trek wanted to be rid of her.
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