About Capt. Pike, I think we did in fact get to see what a series with him as captain would be like, and it was called Enterprise. Archer's crisis of conscience about being captain is mirrored by that of Capt. Pike. I think the similarity would have ended up with a captain who just wasn't very likable and thus not compelling to watch, which was Archer in Enterprise for me.
Which is an interesting realization for me, because I used to think that Archer was Star Trek's failed attempt to copy Malcolm Reynolds' bad attitude (which is also something that was changed from actual to official pilot, BTW) and Enterprise was a failed copy of Firefly in general because it couldn't match the good writing and compelling stories.
The final season of Enterprise finally started to have the feel of something I was excited to see, and had a lot of joy in itself as part of a mythology to be explored with gusto and abandon. Then again, the first season of every version of Trek was a poor representation of what they later became, it seems like, over time.
interesting comparisons, especially because, let's face it, Malcolm Reynolds would not have been the same without Kirk in the first place. But I think the main difference between Kirk and Pike is that Pike is clearly at the end of his starship career. Unlike Kirk, he would take an admiralty in a heartbeat.
I actually think "The Menagerie" improved on "The Cage" because the ending was much more poignant. The original ending of "The Cage" (the girl going off with the counterfeit Pike) was more than a little creepy.
The conversion of Linda Hamilton's totally Kick Ass Sarah to the dreaded Helicopter Mom played by Lena Heady. Just a perfect case study of how women were viewed in the late 80's versus now.
Straczynski and TNT began butting heads from the get-go, each blaming the other for the problems. While the 'bridge' between the series (A Call To Arms) was left intact, the original pilot was shown as the *11th* episode. The *8th* episode was eventually shown as the pilot. As a result, there was a discontinuity with the uniforms and the characters.
That the series was canceled even before it aired, and JMS nearly had a public anger meltdown via Usenet...both dramas were as entertaining as the show.
@MISS MERCY STREET: I was just thinking of this. I enjoyed what we got of Crusade but felt that the network's interference screwed up what could have been a pretty solid few seasons of Sci Fi TV.
For "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles", Dean Winters was a definite upgrade over Tim Guinee, but I like the original pilot's ending better. I don't think its the tougher Sarah holding the gun, but rather the original Terminator score being included in the closing credits.
@LittleDragon: When they re-edited the Cage into the Menagerie, I think they turned Pike into this weird tragic figure. I sometimes think a film featuring Pike's crew would be really interesting. It's too bad the powers that be at Paramount think the fans only want Kirk and Company.
The strange warp effect--nobody can talk? WTF? the ship gets transparent? WTF?--would have gotten tiresome. I'm glad they ditched that when they re-did the Star Trek pilot.
I actually just watched True Blood's original pilot yesterday and I have to say that the original actress that played Tara was absolutely horrible. It is no surprise that she got fired. The only other interesting thing about it was the fact that there was another character helping Sookie tighten the chains around that guy's neck.
****SPOILER ALERT****
I'm fairly sure it was supposed to be Claudine, Sookie's fairy godmother. Bill actually sees the woman as she runs off.
It is possible I having false memories, but didn't the B-9 robot from LOST IN SPACE come in a crate (which we saw in the pilot and once again in a flashback) labelled "G.U.N.T.E.R." which he himself in one episode (possibly the last one) said stood for "General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Robot"?
@Alexis Brown: She was replaced pretty early on in the series, so you're forgiven for that. I didn't either until I found the entire series on YouTube. Holy crap, right?
@Alexis Brown: She also played a role as a girl kidnapped by someone and whatever happened to her also happened to another woman in the X-files. Lucy Liu and Jack Black also had roles in some episodes.
08/29/09
Which is an interesting realization for me, because I used to think that Archer was Star Trek's failed attempt to copy Malcolm Reynolds' bad attitude (which is also something that was changed from actual to official pilot, BTW) and Enterprise was a failed copy of Firefly in general because it couldn't match the good writing and compelling stories.
The final season of Enterprise finally started to have the feel of something I was excited to see, and had a lot of joy in itself as part of a mythology to be explored with gusto and abandon. Then again, the first season of every version of Trek was a poor representation of what they later became, it seems like, over time.
But, I've wandered off-topic ...
09/02/09
interesting comparisons, especially because, let's face it, Malcolm Reynolds would not have been the same without Kirk in the first place. But I think the main difference between Kirk and Pike is that Pike is clearly at the end of his starship career. Unlike Kirk, he would take an admiralty in a heartbeat.
I actually think "The Menagerie" improved on "The Cage" because the ending was much more poignant. The original ending of "The Cage" (the girl going off with the counterfeit Pike) was more than a little creepy.
08/29/09
I also miss shoulder pads....
08/28/09
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08/29/09
08/28/09
Straczynski and TNT began butting heads from the get-go, each blaming the other for the problems. While the 'bridge' between the series (A Call To Arms) was left intact, the original pilot was shown as the *11th* episode. The *8th* episode was eventually shown as the pilot. As a result, there was a discontinuity with the uniforms and the characters.
That the series was canceled even before it aired, and JMS nearly had a public anger meltdown via Usenet...both dramas were as entertaining as the show.
08/29/09
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09/02/09
IDW recently collected a series of Marvel comics that had the adventures of the Pike crew. It didn't look too bad.
However, you must admit that the Spock in the pilot is at best a proto-Spock, and that Nimoy improved the character over time.
08/28/09
08/28/09
****SPOILER ALERT****
I'm fairly sure it was supposed to be Claudine, Sookie's fairy godmother. Bill actually sees the woman as she runs off.
08/28/09
08/28/09
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08/28/09
I'm glad they went with Kirk for Star Trek though. Pike never could have carried the series.
08/27/09
08/28/09