Birds and pests affected both Star Trek: The Original Series pilots

Star Trek: The Original Series got off to a struggling start and not because of the network or producers. 

Star Trek: The Original Series has the distinction of having two pilots as the network didn’t care for the original, “The Cage,” which starred Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike. So they gave creator Gene Roddenberry another shot at capturing their attention, and “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” starring William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk was filmed. But, according to Gizmodo, neither pilot was without its issues when it came to filming.

There were pigeons nesting in the rafters of the studio when “The Cage” was filming, and each time Hunter spoke, the birds would coo loudly, making it virtually impossible to hear Hunter’s voice. The crew’s attempts to shoo the pigeons out of the studio just resulted in the birds flying into the lights and equipment. Finally, someone had the idea to use breadcrumbs, and the pigeons were coaxed out of the studio.

Then came the second problem for Star Trek: The Original Series

This is one that’s going to make you rewatch “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” During filming, a wasps’ nest was inadvertently disturbed, and the wasps were not happy. They showed their ire by flying down and stinging Shatner on his eyelid and other places. So if you look closely, you’ll be able to see his eye has a huge, puffy sting visible during some of the scenes of that episode.

The pigeons were merely a nuisance for Hunter and the crew, but I can’t imagine Shatner was too happy about being stung numerous times. Whether the studio managed to get rid of the wasps or Shatner just suffered through until filming was complete isn’t known.  Fortunately, neither of these incidences were seen as curses, although they might have felt like it at the time!