[RARE] Star Trek "The Menagerie" TV Special hosted by Leonard Nimoy [VHS]

[@saml760]

In early 1988, someone was cleaning out an old vault at Paramount and one of the things they found was a complete, uncut, pristine 35mm print of THE CAGE and was where the full color edition came from.

[@Sinrev]

Does anyone else miss the warm, analog feel from this time? I would have been around 4 years old when this was created, so to me it looks and sounds just like childhood. I would step into this world just like through the Guardian of Forever, and I doubt very much that I'd ever come back.

[@ajclements4627]

I think a lot of us would agree with you..

[@kwt7667g]

A different time for sure. I was about 10.

[@user-jt5vm3mi1w]

No

[@stewiedarkinvisibleid]

As a 62 year old, I too miss the time of free television. Unlike today, of streaming services and paying up the ying yang for what we used to get for free.

[@trhansen3244]

I prefer today where if I want anything I can just go into the store and take it. As long as it's less than a thousand dollars.

[@keithnaylor1981]

I would say STAR TREK is the greatest TV series ever made.

[@mrScififan2]

Ditto!

[@silentotto5099]

I read your comment, thought about it for a bit... I think you're right. I can't think of another TV series which has had the depth of cultural impact than Star Trek has had. Other shows were insanely popular in their time, way more popular than Star Trek ever was. But, once they went off the air, they soon faded into memory and were rarely talked about or referenced. But, not Star Trek. I'm just over sixty, so I've been along for the whole ride. There has never been a time when Star Trek hasn't take up a significant portion of the media sphere. It's never been massive, but it's been incredibly enduring. What other show has been like that? None spring to mind. Certainly, not that are as alive in the zeitgeist as Star Trek is.

[@Robert08010]

@@silentotto5099I would place The Waltons in that same category, and it too faded before it even went off the air. It hasn't had quite the reach that ST has but who doesn't know "Goodnight John Boy", etc.

[@SpaceLord2025]

@@silentotto5099 not to mention all the tech that has come from it!!!

[@E-BikingAdventures]

Wrong. Gilligans Island is.

[@MrGchiasson]

The first time I saw this "menagerie" was at a Star Trek convention I attended...I think it was 1976. It got a standing ovation.

[@timrose9826]

I miss the Trek conventions

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

Didn't Gene himself present a 16mm Print of it to the fans? This must have been SOOOOO amazing to attend back then. I'm so incredibly happy for everyone who had a chance to see that :D

[@samuelmorado70]

I wanted to cry at end when he says " Live long and prosper". My favorite character. The best there was and ever will be. Fortunately the movies came out not long after this.

[@E-BikingAdventures]

You should try dating a girl. ASAP!

[@princeeverlove]

This is Marvelous!...Oh the feelings of Retro Nostalgia...being 13 watching Trek after school and Summer...

[@garygaither8263]

🤗

[@marinakaye8284]

Yes, comforting! lol

[@princeeverlove]

@@marinakaye8284 👨🏻‍🚀🚀

[@miguelvelez7221]

This is gold. 😂 I was born a year later but mom was a teenager when Trek was originally on and in syndication the show was a constant presence in the house. Shout out to all my late Gen X family. We're the last Gen to have memories of black and white TV and to have possibly never even come into contact with a computer until our early teens, if that. Not saying any of that makes us "better" but I think we have a particular POV that hinges the culture of the USA from the post WWII culture and the post 9/11 culture.

[@travisjohnson622]

Plenty of poor millenials didnt come into contact with computers until their teens. Poor teens even attended poor schools that lacked the funding to have them. No, you werent the last generation to a experience a grow up free of this stuff.

[@erzahler1930]

Oh yes, I love the analog feel. I have the complete Original Series collection on DVD, pre-"remastering." While the remastered versions were done well, they nevertheless destroyed the ambiance from the original episodes as they were filmed. The special effects may look very dated today, but they were state-of-the-art back in the 1960s. So I will hold on to my non-remastered collection. I forgot to add that I also have the original animated series on DVD, all 22 half-hour episodes. This collection is also non-remastered. By the way, Rob, thank you for posting this rare piece of Star Trek history. 👍

[@LLandP]

I have the first two seasons and a few of the third that I purchased on VHS back in 1980-1982. Back then, I paid $15 for each tape.

[@ajclements4627]

OP, the remastered episodes on dvd also have the original episodes as aired as well.

[@NoahSpurrier]

Yeah, the remastered versions destroy the original special effects artists’ work with CGI. That always bugged me.

[@Robert08010]

"destroyed the ambience"? You have to be kidding!! The HD refresh was absolutely necessary and didn't destroy anything. Remember these were shot on film. By digitizing the camera negatives, they we able to remove the degradation done to them by standard def composite NTSC TV. The HD refresh preserved them. while simultaneously replacing the really bad visual effects - which were virtual trash. As the production went forward with deadlines looming closer and closer, they often resorted to using reprints of reprints of reprints for the exterior ship shots. Last week the ship was in color. This week the ship is in black and white. And don't get me started about how many times they re-used that very same planet footage. And what about the FACT that the guys creating the space effects (albeit cutting edge for TV of the day) didn't know anything about space and so made massive mistakes like watching lost of other stars go by on the way from the earth to the sun. The effects footage is full of glaring mistakes like that. No, the effects footage was trash and needed a dumpster badly.

[@wallstreetwindow]

@@Robert08010 CGI has destroyed Star Trek. Watch the news shows, it is nothing but endless CGI images and you have actors pretending to be William Shatner, Nimoy and the others but now in the guise of superheros. It's just a superhero CGI show now.

[@darkguardian1314]

I was around at that time and never seen or even knew of the added commentary by late Leonard Nimoy. It was the same year that he wrote the book "I'm Not Spock". It was at this time, William Shatner started to get work again after Star Trek and living in a camper van. I guess WUAB 43 Cleveland didn't pick up the extra content. Star Trek was very popular on indie stations on the UHF band. This predates "In Search Of" series by two years and the public debut of the Space Shuttle Enterprise. At the time, the last manned NASA mission was being done with Russia. This is rare. It's ashame there were lost negatives during editing. I'm guessing the original editor was kicking himself for not saving any of the footage. Don't laugh the effects were state of the art at the time with Nimoy being on the bridge. Very well done. Thanks!

[@Mrshoujo]

WUAB 43! NE Ohio Representing!

[@Robert08010]

I could be wrong but I got the distinct impression this was done straight to tape for that station. My point is there wouldn't be a negative, just a tape.

[@robinj.9329]

It was delightful to see and remember L.N. as he was back then. I push the thought that; "He's gone" right out of my head. In truth, as long as there are folks to see and enjoy the great body of work he (and all the rest!) left behind, he will NEVER DIE ! Live Long and Prosper my friends!

[@RandomDudeFromSomewhere]

Thanks for posting this! I saw this back in '83 or '84 on Channel 17 in Philadelphia. I was over my grandparents house, sitting in a recliner, watching this and just loving it. But I didn't see the whole thing and didn't catch any of these bumpers with Nimoy, so this is a blast to find. For all I knew at the time, the local station had just decided to stitch both halves of "The Menagerie" together. I didn't know it was a legit, Paramount syndication release.

[@jtkirkfan2002]

“The Menagerie” - An episode of “Star Trek” where they sit around and watch an episode of “Star Trek”. Amazing now hearing him say that there was no color print of “The Cage” left. Paramount would edit scenes from a black and white print with shots from “The Menagerie” for a home video release, but it would not be until 1988 that a full color print would be found.

[@Fool3SufferingFools]

They didn’t even find a full color print. What they found were most of the “trims” that were made from the color print during the making of The Menagerie, and they edited those back in. A few bits are still missing from today’s color edits.

[@trekkiejunk]

@@Fool3SufferingFools -- But 'The Cage' is still watched today, entirely in color, and beautiful HD resolution. They must have found a full print somewhere.

[@rustyshackleford1114]

First time I saw "The Cage" was when that special aired and was hosted by Patrick Stewart.

[@jtkirkfan2002]

@@Fool3SufferingFools It was Patrick Stewart who said a full color copy had been found in the 1988 special they made during the writer’s strike before the second season of TNG. I noticed some color differences between scenes from “The Menagerie” and the others they restored. I wondered then if they might have just colorized the black and white scenes. The colors all match now thanks to the restoration.

[@E-BikingAdventures]

Who's Patrick Stewart?

[@2095yourstruly]

What a find! Thank you to whoever recorded and preserved this historic treasure of entertainment.

[@mikekannely2286]

Great video! I loved the Star Trek content, but also the "weather voice" ending. That voice always comforted me somehow when I was kid...

[@zekeigtos7240]

There was a special presentation of this also around 1986. I will never forget it because my father had rerouted the stereo system to our living room so we could watch it like a movie. My narcissistic mother, since the evening wasn't about her, completely lost it, ripped the wires out of the wall yelling and screaming telling us all to get out of her house. To be fair she had a bad week and was pent up anyway but that's why I will never forget the specific presentation of The Menagerie.

[@aiqueen50]

Wow. That's absolutely amazing! I'm more excited at having seen this than I am about ST Discovery coming back in a few weeks. THANKS FOR SHARING :-)

[@Osprey850]

Nice replication of the reflection coming off of the TV. I almost want to move my head to change the viewing angle or close my drapes because it looks so realistic.

[@deanhirasawa1414]

Thanks for posting... so great to see this! The Menagerie and The Cage are two my favorite Trek stories. 60 years after they made the original pilot, The Cage, we finally get to see the Enterprise commanded by Captain Christoper Pike in Strange New Worlds. So cool!

[@SeanFlaherty]

"By Grabthar's Hammer... What a Savings..."

[@DawnDavidson]

RIP Alan Rickman and Leonard Nimoy. Two great actors, much missed. “By Grabthar’s Hammer … You shall be avenged!” (And I’ll always maintain that Galaxy Quest was one of the truest Star Trek movies ever. 😅 As someone who was a teen in the 1970’s, that convention was scarily accurate!)

[@oaw972]

😂

[@Edgeofnight80s]

WOW! THank you for putting this up! I Do remember watching this late 75 or January 76 on KTLA 5 in Los Angeles which was Gene Autry's other Golden West station. In fact the announcer that introduces Leonard in this special is Larry Van Nuys an LA broadcasting legend who was also the station announcer for KTLA at this time. I still have the original TV guide advertising this special that I saved. This also marked the return of Star Trek to LA TV after it had been absent for nearly a year and a half in reruns here. KTLA held the rights till 1982 .It was then that Paramount pulled all the Trek's from local TV to completely remaster each episodes. Which they completed doing in 1984.

[@drewnogy]

I remember seeing this sometime in 1977 on KTLA, not '75 or '76.

[@rustyshackleford1114]

I was born in March, 1976. Seems like yesterday.

[@Edgeofnight80s]

@@drewnogy I’m sorry to correct you but It’s possible that you may have seen a repeat of the presentation in 1977 but the original airing was January 10, 1976 on KTLA 5, I have the TV Guide in my scrapbook. There was a full page advertisement from KTLA hosted by Leonard Nimoy during their movie for a Sunday evening at 6 PM. . And the KTLA airing is even referenced in the book “Star Trek letters” written by Susan Sackett. KTLA wrote a letter to Gene Roddenberry Letting him know that the special broke all ratings records for them that night in 1976.

[@MarcusBP]

KTLA! That and KNXT in Los Angeles were the two stations broadcast on Guam cable TV with a six-week delay in the 70's. I lived there (non-military), and it often felt like I knew everything about Los Angeles...especially Cal Worthington, and his dog Spot! But those stations were important for me as a teenager, seeing what was going on in the US; outside of Guam.

[@drewnogy]

@@Edgeofnight80s Thanks.

[@seereadnhear]

This is an era long missed. Thank you for posting this!!

[@Anth230]

Long missed? "Eras" don't ever come back. They are also very short lived.... I miss last week... 😂

[@andrewhelm2813]

Thanks for digging up this rare footage of historical significance. 🙏 I've often wished that they would have released a feature length version of The Menagerie on Blu-ray with a ton of special features - it remains to this day one of my favourite Star Trek adventures - second only to Star Trek TNG's "The Best of Both Worlds" (which *did* get a Blu-ray presentation)

[@mego73]

The first home video release of a handful of Star Trek episodes, included the Menagerie and they choose to stitch it together, like this, fading out before the "to be continued" and skipping the recap.

[@ratfinkie62]

TOS is never second to TNG, it’s too good.

[@BrandonStaggs-v1x]

Wonderful, Rob. Thank you. Spock was my favorite character on TV in the 1980s. This video touches nostalgia nerves unlike any other.

[@tortysoft]

As a UK viewer, I would have had a very hard time coping with all the advert and other breaks! The BBC put everything out in one lump - far better. :-) I love the fact that this presentation has been saved and restored as it is a record of lfe in the 70s that would otherwise be lost. I too recorded many things back then and am slowly getting them digitsed for show via Kaleidoscope in the UK.

[@KRAFTWERK2K6]

yeah the german ZDF was public TV too and din't put ads into the presentations either :) BUT... sadly the ZDF bought the edited & shortened Syndicated TV masters for when they got the copies for the german dubbing and broadcast and they also only bought half of the 79 episodes but they could chose freely which ones they wanted. They treated it more like a show for kids though.

[@MarkMcCluney]

I found it interesting that Gene Autrey was the owner of KAUT. This explains, to some extent, why it was an old cowboy actor who owned the local television station that Mary Tyler Moore worked for in her show. I always thought it was an odd choice and that it must mean something to someone. Thanks for this very interesting presentation.

[@DawnDavidson]

Good point! I didn’t know that either. It does make a lot of sense. :)

[@FrancisFeytout]

Awesome, thank you for this piece of History !

[@lpdog82]

Desilu studios and star trek sure was a special time, 1960s tv shows were the geatest🙂

[@honkeykong9563]

Long Live and Prosper Leonard Nimoy's memory. He Was Star Trek more than any other cast member, as he always served the fans and the franchise of course. He directed 2 out of the 4 Greatest Star TreK movies ever.

[@swamihuman9395]

- AWESOME!

[@ajclements4627]

Thank you so much for doing this!

[@christianinkster1729]

Interesting to hear Nimoy's comment about how the colour footage of the entire "The Cage" pilot was lost due to it being cut and glued into "The Menagerie" episode as about a decade or so later, a colour negative of "The Cage" was discovered in Paramount's archives as well as an original tape copy of Alexander Courage's music soundtrack.

[@scottmark5345]

OMG that was awesome - Hello from Australia 🙂

[@mybeatlesstuff5300]

Great find! Been on the lookout for a similiar special wiyj Space Seed hosted by William Shatner.

[@trevorbrown6654]

I don't know about the negative of The Cage but the color footage removed from the film print when it was edited into The Menagerie was discovered in a film vault in 1987 and that footage was reinstated soon after.

[@justrosy5]

Stunning! Thank you for showing us all this fantastic footage! I wish it were re-edited back into The Menagerie for streaming! That's where it belongs ❤ 🖖

[@charlieilardi481]

I do remember that this was part of a short-lived package of 2-hour-formatted Star Treks. The advantage was, the one hour shows were so popular, the local stations were cutting up the shows to add commercials (I could write an article about how badly these shows were edited-important scenes weren't seen for years!); in the 2-hour format, more of the show could be seen. I can't remember any of the other pairs. Watching this on WPIX ch.11 in New York, we didn't get the Nimoy intros, at least that I remember.

[@erzahler1930]

Leonard Nimoy also narrated some portions of what was supposedly Kirk's and Spock's ship logs. These were edited together, narrated by Nimoy, with some eerie outer space-sounding music. The project was called, "Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space." I have been looking for an original vinyl LP of this for years. I understand the LPs are rather rare, and most collectors are reluctant to give them up. I did have a remastered version on CD once. However, the "remastering" was horrible! It sounded as if someone recorded the LP onto a cassette using a very cheap electret microphone, then transferred it (how?) to CD. The sound was very "tinny." Needless to say, it ended up in File 13.

[@marcberezin1949]

The good thing about the 2 hour "Menagerie" broadcasts were that the scenes weren't cut (the end credits for Part 1 and teaser for Part 2 were instead).

[@Mrshoujo]

Female Star Trek Fans were dating station engineers responsible for editing the films they broadcast to get the trimmed clips & trade / sell them at conventions. Everyone wondered where they came from since Paramount / Desilu wasn't doing it.

[@charlieilardi481]

@@Mrshoujo oh, myyyy!

[@timrose9826]

I forgot about this… saw this as a kid… thanks for the memories

[@chrisddawson]

Thank you for that great trip back in time.

[@rikp]

I remember The Menagerie playing playing in a weekend movie spot on our local "Goldenwest Broadcasters" station channel 5 in Los Angeles soon after Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released and advertised as "The first Star Trek movie." I thought they compiled it themselves. They also showed four Laverne & Shirley episodes as a "Laverne & Shirley Movie" around that time which I'd assumed they'd also done themselves, but seeing that ST and L&S were both Paramount shows maybe it was another example of Paramount padding out their movie package. I didn't watch that broadcast so I don't remember if the Leonard Nimoy segments were included (it was Los Angeles, I would have assumed they just hired him on their own anyway). Incidentally, seeing that Space: 1999 always made an attempt to be at least a bit ethereal (and for the 1970s that could get pretty strange/wonderful) it's kind of sad that whoever compiled that S:1999 movie picked the bland title "Alien Attack."

[@ThereseBohn]

I love this so much! Thank you! xoxo LLAP!

[@RandallJacques]

Many of those NWS voices reading the forecasts were meteorology students from the OU campus in Norman, OK.

[@garygaither8263]

Thank you! That brought back memories of growing up in 70s excitement and adventure. Will always love Star Trek

[@Mr.Huck64]

In the late '70s, WGN from Chicago broadcasted 2 episodes of "Star Trek" every Sunday afternoon. However, I think they just broadcast Parts I and II of "The Menagerie" on one of those afternoons. But that's when I was able to view just about every episode and learned about the ST realm. I've collected books and videos about the 'Trekdom' since.

[@mikemiller659]

The first of the two episodes played last night on me tv

[@1983butler]

This is awesome. Brings back a lot of memories and I would have for certain watched this airing in 1983.

[@asmpparker]

This was a huge shot of Star Trek nostalgia for me too. I would certainly also like to go back to the days of watching these episodes when they were brand new to me as a little kid in the 70s.

[@literacylabyrinth4018]

Thanks for sharing this treasure

[@spockboy]

Awesome. Thanks for posting.

[@morlockmeat]

Man, I sure wish you could show this in full. It would be like a special event all over again.

[@dau1enti]

This explains it! I never understood what that episode/s were about. Great stuff

[@giri.goyo_yt]

Incredible Thank you for sharing!

[@lynnpoint6395]

This is interesting on so many levels but it brings to mind a time when the Star Trek actors were all pretty strapped for cash. William Shatner, for example, has written about living in a pickup camper in the early 1970s, and this poverty is one of the reasons most of the cast could be reassembled to participate in a Saturday morning cartoon version of Star Trek in 1973 and 1974. I'm not surprised if it is also how a local Oklahoma TV station got Leonard Nimoy to narrate this "movie" during a period of time when he was at odds with Paramount over residuals and going through his "I'm Not Spock" phase.

[@ebinrock]

It wasn't necessarily produced by the Oklahoma station, just carried by it. The syndication arm of Paramount or whoever could have produced it nationally, to be picked up by local stations, along with the show/movie itself.

[@lynnpoint6395]

@@ebinrockYeah, that would explain a lot, and confirmation would be if anyone can post examples or recollections of it being broadcast in other markets around the country on similar local station venues.

[@michelleann1910]

​@lynnpoint6395 Someone already posted that they remember seeing this "movie" version on a California TV Station.

[@michelleann1910]

​@ebinrock Yes, it was Paramount, because they bought Desilu (and all its properties, including star Trek) in 1967.

[@MarcusBP]

I sold televisions at Montgomery Ward in Oklahoma City back in 1983. KAUT-43 had a weak signal, and was at that time difficult to tune in to on the UHF dial. I'm very confident they didn't have the staff necessary to edit a show, and could barely do a very basic news report for 30 minutes. The rest was just syndicated programs and local commercials. Oh...and a short talk show that often interviewed Gene Autry LOL.

[@davidbrooks187]

Greatest TV series ever. Best wishes to you Rob from the UK 🇬🇧 👑

[@moviesgalore9947]

The Man from UNCLE was the first show that edited two episodes together then released that two hour combo as a theatrical movie overseas in foreign countries and then after that the two-hour "movies" aired on TV on the same channels that carried Man from Uncle episodes.

[@ratfinkie62]

Two years after TOS went Into syndication, and made me a lifelong fan.

[@glenesis]

Great find! I was 10 when this first aired in 1975. I'd seen all of first-run Trek and watched reruns twice every day on Channel 11 WPIX out of NYC. I'd read and re-read a thick book called "The Making of Star Trek" that my library owned, and a compilation book of fan letters called "The Best of Trek", and I absorbed anything I found in magazines too. The Cage was mythical, allegedly destroyed, with hacked together versions shown in great reverence only at Star Trek Conventions that I was too young to attend. This movie was a very big deal for Star Trek fans everywhere. It was hyped up as being an airing of "The Cage", and when this finally aired, I was ultimately disappointed because it was obviously just the two parts of "The Menagerie" stitched together. We wanted the real deal! Looking at this KZbin video I have a much greater appreciation of this special presentation. Thank you very much for posting! It's amazing! I'd love to see the old commercial spots at some point if you guys are up to posting them. We eat that stuff up on KZbin. Have a great day! - Glenn in New York, USA

[@miryamjrs]

Gracias por compartir y por preservar el video en formato VHS en buenas condiciones.

[@jasonbeard4713]

How fantastic!! Thank you.

[@128Kgames]

Very cool, I enjoyed watching the restored "The Cage" on LaserDisc back in the day.

[@JohnGojcaj]

@Robohara when i was in-between 6 and 10 i went to the dentist in the Bronx NY. I was put on a reclyong chair with a built in tv monitor where a video on what to expect with laughing gas was played featuring Dr.Spock. i cant find this anywhere.

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

I’d like to see the whole thing (obviously without the episode itself which I understand why you can’t upload), including local ads, and not with any filters that make it look like it’s on an old CRT display. Any chance of an extended/raw footage cut?

[@lawrencemanning]

For context, this was 2 years after The Animated Series was on, and 4 years before The Motion Picture premiered. Really, really cool. Would be great to see this full frame, even if the quality is very bad.

[@seanryan3020]

Where does Nimoy's "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" fit into this? 😂

[@ebinrock]

Check out Nimoy's bell bottoms! Groovy!

[@donaldwycoff4154]

Enjoyed the video. Many thanks! For the nostalgia fans, could you put up a version that includes the commercials that were removed?

[@just_kos99]

I heard about this back in the day when I was a teen-aged trekkie (didn't know what a trekker was yet, back then) living on the Mississippi gulf coast. Never got to see it, but when I heard they'd pieced it together into a real movie I was so shocked and jealous I couldn't see it!

[@vincentk3502]

I use to watch this as a kid with my dad. Was his favorite TV show. 5 year mission as a kid seems like an eternity, now that I am 50+ 5 years seem like an extended weekend.

[@gregvincent5821]

WOW… it looks like they cut out the end of pt. 1, where Kirk wanders around the now-empty screening room with a headache -while that beautiful French-horn Trek theme plays. Kinda miss that; it’s one of my favorite Trek moments.

[@0PsychosisMedia0]

Awsome lost media find! Love that Space 1999 and Star Trek trailers were showing. All that was missing was Battlestar Glaticia.

[@iandeeley9033]

I liked the brief promo for the SPACE: 1999 TV film! (Since I'm also a HUGE fan of the works of Gerry Anderson!)

[@christianmerciari6174]

Amazing stuff... truly. Can the whole thing be put up please? I would love to see it in its entirety.

[@jaybee9269]

I’m dying of nostalgia here…

[@michelleann1910]

The ironic thing is that The Menagerie itself was originally ONE episode, filmed as the first pilot for the series, The Cage. It was EXPANDED into the two episodes of The Menagerie as a way to monetize the never-before-broadcast pilot film and, at the same time, produce two episodes of Star Trek for the price of one (filming the new scenes for the expansion into two episodes). So we have one episode that was expanded into two, then cut down again to produce one short (~80 minutes) "movie."

[@ScottTSnell]

Thanks for posting this. I'm almost certain that no "Star Trek" episodes aired in syndication until after the final NBC rerun ("Requiem for Methuselah," 1969-09-02). Certainly in the Washington, DC area that was true. Channel 5 (WTTG) started airing reruns on 1969-09-15 at 4 PM. "Tomorrow is Yesterday" was the first episode they aired.

[@luminiferous1960]

According to Memory Alpha, "the show was already sold in syndication for the first time while the third season was still being aired on NBC...Herb Solow has identified Kaiser Broadcasting, operating a small chain of local television stations along the West and East Coast, as the first-time buyer, which immediately started to broadcast Star Trek on a daily basis directly after the last episode had aired on NBC...Apparently, Solow proceeded from the most common understanding of syndication when he made the observation in his book, namely after-the-fact broadcast rights sales (meaning, after the original broadcaster had completed the initial run on television and also referred to as "second-run syndication"), but had overlooked the fact that the series had already been sold to two foreign broadcasters previously; Canadian broadcaster CTV started to air the Original Series on 6 September 1966 (in effect beating NBC to the punch by two days and therefore constituting the actual world premiere of Star Trek), whereas Japanese broadcaster Nippon Television Network Corporation started to air the series on 27 April 1969, over a month before the series ended its original NBC run on 3 June. For all intents and purposes, these constituted the actual first two airings in ("International") syndication - as well as the only known instances of the Original Series being aired beyond NBC while it was still in production."

[@ScottTSnell]

@@luminiferous1960 So, to summarize, the text displayed at about the 0:45 mark in this video ("Those 79 episodes had been in near-constant reruns in syndication since 1969, while the third season was still in production.") is incorrect. Something we know for sure: the third season was not in production in 1969 after filming completed on January 9. Probably better to write: "Those 79 episodes had been in near-constant reruns in syndication since 1969, after the final NBC telecast."

[@luminiferous1960]

@@ScottTSnell Your statement is correct if you do not count the Japanese syndication: "Japanese broadcaster Nippon Television Network Corporation started to air the series on 27 April 1969, over a month before the series ended its original NBC run on 3 June." To include the Japanese syndication, I would revise your statement to say "Those 79 episodes had been in near-constant reruns in syndication since 27 April of 1969.' According to Wikipedia: "Paramount Television produced the show from January 1968 to June 1969. Star Trek aired on NBC from September 8, 1966, to June 3, 1969." Note that there is more involved in production than just filming, so the statement at the 0:45 mark is technically correct when including the Japanese syndication. Since the Canadian syndicated broadcaster CTV aired initial episodes before NBC, those initial broadcasts were technically not reruns. However, if the Canadian broadcasts included showing reruns during part of the season and in the summer, then technically episodes of Star Trek TOS reruns may have aired in syndication in Canada as early as 1966.

[@Lupton2000]

Around January 1975, when this was recorded, NBC announced the cancellation of the animated Star Trek.

[@patrickwilson1459]

I like to think of The Menagerie as just one episode.

[@Musicradio77Network]

0:06 is the opening to “Movie For A Sunday Evening”, it used the same intro used for KTLA-TV (channel 5) in Los Angeles, and the music was completely different, but they should’ve used “Manhattan Skyline” by David Shire from the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack.

[@greeremalachi926]

I grew up in the New York City tristate area and Star Trek was on at 11pm on WPIX channel 11. Watch WPIX news from 10 to 11p and then get Trek from 11 to12p; good stuff.

[@theashpilez]

I read that the first filming of this episode was initiated the day i was born. Nearly to the hour. I remember in my childhood about trekkie conventions, even my parents went to them. I built the models as a kid and still have in the box 1960's originals. I mailed some built decaled and clearcoated to a childrenz hospital last year. May they have the glimmer of hope i once had that something is right " out there" .

[@wallychambe1587]

One of my over the air channels shows the original Star Trek, I am amazed at the Picture Quality on a 2024 TV, It must have been shot on excellent movie film!😲😲

[@billymule961]

I was 19 years old when this came out. I moved to Massachusetts and was working at a Holiday Inn. I was delivering room service and as I knocked on the door a woman called out "Leonard!" When Mr. Spock answered the door I recognized him immediately. When I later got a call to carry out their luggage, my friends in the kitchen insisted I wear a set of ears made out of tin foil. I absolutely refused, but in hindsight maybe I should have.

[@garybryant9097]

I remember seeing this on Los Angeles station KTLA, which is a sister station of KAUT.

[@ddewittfulton]

I remember "Golden West" being associated with KTLA, Channel 5 in Los Angeles, and I never really understood what that was all about, but now the Gene Autry connection makes a lot of sense since seeing this!

[@anthonygray333]

This is awesome. I’ve never seen it before.

[@ScottHotWheels]

This is fascinating.

[@crumdoggy]

A negative of the cage, the original pilot, was actually found and can be seen on paramount+. You can also watch the two parts of the menagerie.

[@steelblade1]

I saw this as a child in NM on early cable, the channel was KTTV 11 from Los Angeles.

[@bugmancx]

Fascinating!

[@johcafra]

The success of The Original Series in Stateside syndication was nothing short of astonishing. I highly recommend Marc Cushman's trilogy of non-fiction studies of the "tweener Treks," focusing on what transpired between TOS and TNG and the pre-emption of Phase II by TMP. (Cushman needed an editor but can be forgiven for his research.) Note the treatment of Space: 1999 at 5:21.

[@ChuckingDice]

Wow! Good find!

[@mattalbrecht7471]

Love the weather service forecast

[@pannakinder7624]

Thank you.

[@derekthomasanderson9761]

I watched this with my dad in 82 or 83 in Connecticut.

[@number1nanaof2]

Loved Star Trek the series and the following movies. My favorite of the movies was The Voyage Home. I am very disappointed that they didn't actually show The Menagerie. 😢

[@telewikiona]

I watched a remastered version of The Doomsday Machine a few days before watching this video. Seeing the pre-remastered version here brings back memories of when I first saw it as a kid and felt both frightened and intrigued by it.

[@brettwalters-n4u]

...and in 2024 Star Trek is still trekking.

[@mego73]

I'd love to see those ads.

[@b0tterman]

He's rockin that dope velour leisure shoot.

[@macsnafu]

I've always loved The Menagerie, but I never knew that they had cobbled the two-parter into a TV movie. If it was shown in the Tulsa area where I was, I must have missed it.

[@indranidasgupta8982]

Ahh Trek nostalgia… ❤🖖🏼🥰

[@ianmc87]

Nice! Never seen this before.