I was talking with a work associate today. I'll call him Sam. He is about ten years older than me and grew up in Los Angeles, as I did. His dad was a cop who was always coming up with interesting and unusual experiences for Sam, when he was a kid. One day his dad said they were going to see his buddy, Gene. And yes, that is Gene Roddenberry, who had also been an LA cop. They had worked together and were good friends. Roddenberry was working on a pilot for a show... or maybe a movie... about cops, and wanted to show them around. I didn't quite catch the name of the show or movie. I think he said NY something. Sam noticed a bunch of film editing cuts on the floor and asked about them. Roddenberry said that was for something else he was working on, called The Cage. The Cage was the pilot for Star Trek. Can you imagine if he grabbed those clippings! He could have sold each frame. How cool!!!
Some number of years ago I saw an interview with Shatner, in which he talked about his career and Star Trek, as well as his personal life. When Star Trek ended, he was divorced and broke. He ended up living in a trailer home not far from where I was living. It dawned on me that I could have ridden my bicycle to Capt Kirk's house, walked up, and knocked on the door! IF only I had known!!!
