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TOS Season 3 on Blu-Ray Preview : The Alternate Version of Star Trek Second Pilot

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By GustavoLeao / 15:38, 18 October 2009 / General Star Trek

With the upcoming release of a restored version of the alternate, longer cut of TOS second pilot on the Star Trek Season 3 Blu-Ray box set, TrekWeb takes a time to explore the history of this never-before-seen version of "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

44 years ago, on July 1965, producer Gene Roddenberry filmed his second Star Trek pilot, entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before" at Desilu Studios. After the network rejected his first Trek pilot, called "The Cage" and starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike, Roddenberry, with the help of writer Samuel A. Peeples delivered a more action-oriented story in the second pilot, which introduced Canadian-born actor William Shatner in the role of Captain James T. Kirk. NBC liked, and in January 1966, Roddenberry was notified of the network acceptance of the pilot.


According to author Allan Asherman in his The Star Trek Compendium resource book, there are actually two different versions of "Where No Man Has Gone Before", only one of which has been televised and it is available on VHS and DVD. The unaired, extended version is the one that Gene Roddenberry submitted to NBC and will be included on the Blu-Ray set.


This longer version of the second pilot began with a view of our galaxy, accompanied by William Shatner's voiceover introducing the starship mission, a narration not indicated as a Captain's Log entry, but as an Enterprise's Log (see screencaps and link to YouTube below).

The first interior scene was the chess game between Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy). But when Kirk remarked how terrible it was that Spock had "bad blood" (human blood) in his veins, in the extended version the captain added "But you may learn to enjoy it some day".


When the disaster recorder materialized and began to flash off and on in the transporter room, the scene "froze" and, and over the picture the words STAR TREK appeared in pink letters trimmed in silver-blue. In the same block-lettering style, the words "Tonight's Episode: 'Where No Man Has Gone Before'" materialized as the opening theme was heard. This original theme music by Alexander Courage was not the same used in "The Cage" and during the series three seasons.

The original opening credits were very short and were followed by a commercial break. The next lost scene consists of footage of the ship corridors in Red Alert, and introduced the rest of the main characters, including Lt. Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood), Doctor Mark Piper (Paul Fix) and Physicist Sulu (George Takei).

This version of the second Trek pilot was divided into four acts, with a prologue and a epilogue, unlike the first pilot and the series' episodes. The end credit were backed again by the alternate music theme, that was never heard again in Star Trek. A fast-moving, almost cheerful eletronic melody, it accompanied the end credits that listed only the main actors.

Again we remind you that this extended version of "Where No Man Has Gone Before" never aired on TV, and it is not available on VHS or DVD, but a restored version will be included in Paramount's TOS Season 3 Blu-Ray Box Set.

Watch this "lost" footage of the second pilot at YouTube.



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Restored = Remastered? | Report this post to moderator
By: sb2004 (Odo's file, contact) @ 06:40:40 on Oct 19, 2009

So by restored, do they mean they've redone the special effects for the high-def crowd, or is this actually going to be preserved as the historical document it is?

If it is being included completely unaltered then that even further puts paid to the whole "we can't release to Blu-Ray without it" rationale given for TOS Remastered in the first place, even moreso than the release of the unaltered televised episodes.

Al


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  • RE: Restored = Remastered? | Report this post to moderator
    By: GustavoLeao (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 07:00:30 on Oct 19, 2009

    In the press release, Paramount only mention the "Restored, Unaired Alternate Pilot Episode".

    No word, as far as I know, if it is going to be a Remastered version of the episode or not. I really dont know.

    Gustavo

    --------

    TrekWeb.com Supervising Editor

    gl2000@uol.com.br


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*Officially* unavailable on VHS | Report this post to moderator
By: M'wazi (Odo's file, contact) @ 21:29:03 on Oct 18, 2009

I still have a bootleg copy of this version of WNMHGB on VHS that I purchased at a convention 20 years ago.

--------

"Random chance seems to have operated in our favor" -- Spock
"In plain, non-Vulcan English, we've
been lucky" -- McCoy
"I believe I said that, Doctor" -- Spock
(The Doomsday Machine, S2E06)


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  • Yep, I have this unofficial VHS too | Report this post to moderator
    By: GustavoLeao (Odo's file, contact, web site) @ 21:43:18 on Oct 18, 2009

    It was a gift from TrekWeb reviewer Bill Williams 10 years ago and I still have this old VHS.

    Where do you think those screencaps images came from ?

    Gustavo

    --------

    TrekWeb.com Supervising Editor

    gl2000@uol.com.br


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    • RE: Yep, I have this unofficial VHS too | Report this post to moderator
      By: M'wazi (Odo's file, contact) @ 15:30:56 on Oct 19, 2009

      Okay. So, "never before seen" is simply referring to the fact that it's the 'restored' version of this rather than to the existence of the episode entirely?

      --------

      "Random chance seems to have operated in our favor" -- Spock
      "In plain, non-Vulcan English, we've
      been lucky" -- McCoy
      "I believe I said that, Doctor" -- Spock
      (The Doomsday Machine, S2E06)


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Deleted Scenes | Report this post to moderator
By: Scotty's little pal (Odo's file, contact) @ 17:42:17 on Oct 18, 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xe5SUxq25I

Here they are,

--------

"I do not have a receipt, I won it as a door prize at the "Star Trek" convention, although I find their choice of prize highly illogical as the average Trekker has no use for a medium-sized belt."


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