This year, the Star Trek franchise turns sixty years old. The iconic sci-fi series aired its first episode on September 8, 1966, on NBC. But also turning sixty this year is Hollywood’s Writers Guild Foundation. So it’s time for a joint birthday celebration, out in the Final Frontier. According to a report in Deadline, the organization is hosting a live reading of “The Man Trap,” Star Trek’s very first aired episode, with the cast of the HBO Max hit series The Pitt. Cue all of your “Damn it Jim, I’m a doctor!” memes now. The event is set for August 30 at 7 p.m. at the Lodge Room in Highland Park, California.
The Pitt cast participating includes Noah Wyle as Captain James T. Kirk himself, because of course. Katherine LaNasa, Fiona Dourif, Taylor Dearden, Shabana Azeez, and Ayesha Harris each play a role too. Each of them will portray a member of the Starship Enterprise crew. However, at least one of them is playing the alien salt monster from that episode, which should be especially fun. The WGF will take the Star Trek script from the shelves of its Shavelson-Webb Library and have it performed as part of its “Retro Reads” strand. The WGF library is home to more than 50,000 scripts, which are open to everyone. Interestingly enough, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry served on the WGF board in those early years.
Proceeds from this special event will support the foundation and its public programs. These include the library, Writers Access programs, Veterans Writing Project, and public education events. Given that this is one of the goofier episodes of the show, with a giant alien creature that sucks the salt out of living beings, expect a very campy performance from everyone. You can purchase tickets and view the livestream by clicking here.