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

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.


http://trekweb.com/articles/2009/10/18/Preview-of-TOS-Season-3-on-BluRay-The-Alternate-Version-of-Star-Trek-Second-Pilot.shtml