What do you consider the first Star Trek episode?

"The Man Trap" first aired on September 8, 1966, and would become the first voyage of the Enterprise to broadcast on television.

Yet, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," the series pilot that eventually aired two weeks later on September 22, was technically filmed first. In fact, "The Corbomite Maneuver," which was the tenth episode of season one, was actually the first non-pilot episode of Star Trek produced. But! There was another pilot, "The Cage," produced before the "Where No Man Has Gone Before" pilot. That was filmed in 1965 and rejected by the network, though eventually it was reworked into the two-parter "The Menagerie" (November 17 and 24, 1966) — and finally aired in 1988.

Superfans are sticklers for details. There are arguments to be made for all of these episodes, and we haven't even begun to unravel the knotty process of logging stardates.

Trekkies who are faithful to narrative chronology might raise their hands (in a Vulcan salute, naturally) and vote for "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Or perhaps even "The Cage." On the other hand, television purists honor the experience of how the original series was presented. Then again, if you're British, this could be moot, as the BBC began broadcasting Star Trek in 1969 with "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

This is merely one tiny particle of what makes Star Trek fandom so fun. So, what do you consider to be the first episode of Star Trek?



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5 Comments

Hogansucks1 39 months ago
Gene and the writers minds were brilliant !! 😊 🖖
owls82 44 months ago
Where No Man Had Gone Before. I know The Man Trap was first, but it seems awkward to not air the second pilot first just to establish all characters before going into the next episode.
BobZayas 48 months ago
As a teenager at the time, I remember watching the first episode that ever aired. I did not care for The Man Trap at all for I found the male and female main characters in the story to be quite unattractive. As a result, I didn't watch Star Trek again until it was already in syndication (my loss). But I feel that the unfortunate choice of airing The Man Trap first cost Star Trek many viewers throughout its original run for I was one of them.
DaleWarshaw 48 months ago
I prefer to think of "The Corbomite Maneuver" as the first (post-pilot) episode, because it was intended to be the episode to introduce us to Starfleet, its mission, and to our characters. It also sets up what the show is going to be about. Since you asked.
Hogansucks1 DaleWarshaw 39 months ago
‘Quite’ 😊
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