There are several milestones in the history of Star Trek that can be celebrated — most prominently the first airdate of September 8, 1966, for which the 40th anniversary will be in two years — but right now there is another significant anniversary to recognize. It was four decades ago that the first film rolled through cameras to realize the vision of television producer Gene Roddenberry for a show called Star Trek.

That pilot episode, Production No. 1, was called "The Cage," (*see note below) starring Jeffrey Hunter as "Christopher Pike," captain of the Starship Enterprise, with Majel Barrett as his second-in-command, "Number One," and Susan Oliver as his mysterious love interest "Vina." It was ground-breaking science fiction for television, but it was a huge risk and a struggle to get off the ground.

Update (for clarification): There are discrepancies among different sources as to the exact dates production took place on "The Cage." The popular book "The Making of Star Trek" by Stephen E. Whitfield cites the commencement date as December 12, 1964 (which was a Saturday, bringing into question its accuracy), with 12 days of shooting.

However, according to the book "Inside Star Trek: The Real Story" — co-written by Herbert F. Solow, executive in charge of production, and Robert H. Justman, associate producer and later co-producer of the show — principal photography began the day after Thanksgiving. To excerpt the book:

"In setting a shooting date, Justman had convinced everyone it was safer to begin production on a Friday, rather than a Monday, so that the cast and crew, unused to that great unknown, science fiction, could get their feet wet for a day and then collapse over the weekend. Principal photography would begin on Friday, November 27, 1964, and was scheduled to finish eleven working days later, on Friday, December 11, 1964."

There is no indication in the book that the schedule was delayed. Another book, "Star Trek: Aliens & Artifacts" by Michael Westmore, Alan Sims, Bradley M. Look and William J. Birnes, also cites November 27, 1964, as the beginning of production.

A reader has brought to our attention outtake footage, featuring Hunter, shown in an E! Entertainment documentary where the clapboard is clearly dated 12-18-64. There is no way to tell if this footage is from principal photography or post-production pick-ups.

Regardless, we can at least say confidently that "The Cage" was produced during the holiday season of 1964, and we are in the midst of its 40th anniversary. (If you have any definitive information — documents, photos — that can help clear this up, please write us at editor@startrek.com!)

It was backed by Desilu Productions, the powerful Hollywood force built by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and it was shot at Desilu's Culver City studio, the facility once owned by David O. Selznick and used to shoot "Gone With the Wind" 25 years earlier. (After the show was picked up, it moved to Desilu's Hollywood location, which eventually was absorbed into Paramount Pictures along with Star Trek itself.)

Because of the unprecedented ambition of the production, it was fraught with complications and setbacks. But the pilot was completed and delivered to NBC, and the rest is well-documented history: Citing a host of reasons including "too cerebral" and "too little action" (i.e. fistfights), the network rejected the first pilot and ordered a second. That second production was "Where No Man Has Gone Before," starring William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, filmed July 19-28, 1965.

"The Cage" will be included in the Star Trek Season 3 DVD box set, available on December 14. Disc 7 of the set includes two versions of the episode — the "original version" we've seen previously with black-and-white footage from Roddenberry's work print combined with color footage from "The Menagerie"; plus a "restored," full-color version which includes footage long believed to have been destroyed, "presented the way it was shot and meant to be seen," according to the liner notes.

*The name of the episode actually went back and forth between "The Cage" and Roddenberry's preferred title, "The Menagerie." But the first was settled on, and the latter was used later when the pilot footage was repurposed into a first-season two-parter.