More specifically, it was the Enterprise Trekkies had seen in "The Cage," the original "Star Trek" pilot episode starring ...

Star Trek debuted on NBC on September 8, 1966. Roddenberry’s insecurities ... The bible for the series and the concept for its feature-length pilot episode were finalized on July 15, 1977.

Christopher Pike is an iconic character in the Star Trek universe and was first introduced as the captain of the starship USS Enterprise back in the original 1966 pilot episode, "The Cage ...