Special Anniversary Event Also Includes Star Trek’ Official Premiere Episode ‘The Man Trap’ Saturday, September 10 Beginning 9pm/ET
09/06/16 – Chicago, IL – MeTV, America’s #1 all classic TV network, boldly takes viewers back in time with a special three-hour network event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the premiere of Star Trek: The Original Series. On Saturday, September 10 at 9:00pm/ET, MeTV presents the official series premiere episode of Star Trek: The Original Series titled “The Man Trap,” followed at 10:00pm/ET with the very rarely seen original pilot episode tiled “The Cage.” Visit www.metv.com to find out where to watch.
As part of this Star Trek’s 50th anniversary salute, MeTV’s cult-favorite movie host Svengoolie will bring his unique sense of humor and commentary to the presentation of this very rarely seen piece of Star Trek lore, along with his insights as a Star Trek fan and aficionado. Both of these legendary Star Trek series will be featured as part of MeTV’s popular “Sci Fi Saturday Night” programming block.
“MeTV is proud to present these two seminal Sci Fi events; the pilot and first episode of one of the most beloved programs ever to beam into our homes. We celebrate Star Trek as it lives long and prospers on MeTV,” said Neal Sabin, Vice-Chairman of Weigel Broadcasting Co.
Star Trek: The Original Series made its broadcast debut 50 years ago on September 8, 1966, premiering with “The Man Trap.” With this premiere, Star Trek promised to take viewers on a five-year mission where no one had gone before. However, that mission almost ended before it began, as the network rejected the original pilot episode, believing it was “too slow” with “not enough action.” Titled “The Cage,” that first pilot episode would be locked away and not broadcast in its completed form until 22 years later. Fast forward to 2016, MeTV will broadcast these two milestones beginning at 9:00pm/ET on Saturday, September 10, 2016.
The early story of the Star Trek debut is fascinating to fans of classic television and Sci Fi. Beginning in 1966, the Trek journey began with a pilot episode titled “The Cage.” While this episode featured familiar elements, it was otherwise quite different from the Star Trek series audiences would soon discover. This first pilot-to-series version takes place 13 years prior to James T. Kirk taking command of the U.S.S. Enterprise. It had a different Captain, Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter), and with the exception of R. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) it had an entirely different crew and a very different feel. The network rejected this original version, and the episode did not air on television in its completed form until 1988. But the Star Trek concept and universe lived on. A second pilot was ordered and from there the studio went on to produce new episodes, including what would be the premiere episode “The Man Trap” (1966), starring the beloved Star Trek crew led by Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner).
About Svengoolie: Svengoolie has been the premiere horror show icon of Chicago, since multiple Emmy Award winner Rich Koz became the hand-picked successor to the original Svengoolie back in the late 70s. Since then, generations of viewers have become fans of the monstrous mirth and movies that this video vampire dispenses every week over the airwaves on MeTV. Svengoolie comes out of his coffin every Saturday night at 10:00 pm/ET on MeTV to bring fans classic Universal horror films, many of which have not been seen on broadcast television in years.
About Weigel Broadcasting Co.: Weigel Broadcasting Co. is a Chicago based business, family owned since 1965. Weigel and its affiliated companies own and operate network and independent television stations in Chicago, Milwaukee and South Bend, Indiana. In addition, Weigel is the leader in the multicast television network space with “MeTV,” Memorable Entertainment Television being the number one rated and distributed network in the space, as well as the “Movies!” Network in cooperation with the Fox Television Stations, “H&I” Heroes & Icons, and “DECADES” Network in partnership with the CBS Television Station Group.
