A Brief Guide to Star Trek

alternatives to represent the potential of
Star Trek
through the initial pilot storylines requested by NBC in 1964. The first storyline was entitled ‘Landru’s Paradise’ (and would later become the basis for the episode ‘The Return of the Archons’). In the story, Captain Robert April (the name lifted from a character who’d appeared in the final episode of
The Lieutenant
) discovers a seemingly all-American town located on a distant planet. The contented inhabitants are reluctant to question their existence or challenge authority, apparently happy with their lot. Roddenberry’s story outline reveals that this ‘happiness’ is imposed by a group called The Lawgivers, who issue severe punishments for even the mildest infractions of the rules (an idea later explored in more depth in the
Star Trek: The Next Generation
episode ‘Justice’). The climax sees April confront the planet’s ruling computer and proceed (as in several
Star Trek
episodes) to talk it to death, freeing the populace.
    The second proposed storyline was ‘The Women’ (the basis for the later episode ‘Mudd’s Women’). The outline was clear about its inspiration: ‘Duplicating a page from the “Old West”; hankypanky aboard [the
Enterprise
] with a cargo of women destined for a far-off colony.’ Essentially about prostitution, people trafficking and slavery, ‘The Women’ saw a space trader supply plain-looking women to lonely men on far-off mining planets, using a drug to create the illusion that the women are beautiful and happy to cater to the men’s every need without question.
    Finally there was ‘The Cage’, chronicling a battle between illusion and reality. Captured by powerful aliens, April is forced to live through memories and fantasies in the company of another human captive, the beautiful Vina. His captors feed off the emotions generated by his turmoil, and in the end April has to decide between the seductive illusions or harsh reality.
    The three stories were surprisingly revealing and reflected Roddenberry’s attitudes to life, especially as his marriagecrumbled. In dealing with subjects such as God-like beings, judicial authority, and the role of women Roddenberry laid down a marker as to the ambitions of
Star Trek
: his science fiction TV show was going to be ‘about’ something, rather than just entertaining fluff filling the airwaves between advertisements.
    There was no denying that living and working in the Hollywood milieu of 1960s television was having an effect on Roddenberry and his family life. He’d long had a roving eye and not thought twice about cheating on his wife, even during his police days. Now, in a position of relative power in the Los Angeles television business, it was easier than ever for Roddenberry to indulge his passions. His regular extra-marital relationship continued with actress Majel Barrett, but she wasn’t alone. Roddenberry told friends he remained married for the sake of his children, but that did little to curb his wandering ways. One of the reasons for the growing distance between Roddenberry and his wife Eileen may have been the widening of his horizons compared to hers. While he grew and changed, perhaps not always for the better, she remained the policeman’s wife and home-making mother, disapproving of the ‘Hollywood’ lifestyle. That they grew apart is not surprising.
    As the distance between him and his wife grew larger, Roddenberry focused on his work. Although NBC had agreed to fund the writing of a pilot script for
Star Trek
in 1964, it would be a further two years before the regular series would reach American TV screens. The intermediate time was a frustrating one of repeated development and failure for Roddenberry, eventually followed by compromised success.
    According to Desilu executive Herb Solow (in his personal memoir
Inside Star Trek
, co-authored with
Star Trek
producer Robert Justman), NBC continued to harbour doubts about whether Desilu could pull off a show as ambitious and complicated as the
Star Trek
pitch. Of the three storylines submitted, NBC finally chose ‘The Cage’. The plot had been further refined in numerous pitching sessions with the NBC brass, so writing the script itself came fast and easy to Roddenberry. Dated 29 June 1964, his story outline featured a group of sixlimbed, crab-like aliens who capture the
Enterprise
’s Captain April and subject him to a variety of tests. In captivity with him is another apparent human, a