Defending Enterprise at TCA

[CelleDuSoleil]

TREK TROUBLE: The crew of UPN's Enterprise were put on the defensive Tuesday at the Television Critics Assoc. press tour in Hollywood. At issue: Last season's dramatic ratings slide. "I don't think, creatively, we were doing anything wrong," huffed exec producer Brannon Braga. "It can be debated from many different angles whether there are problems with the show." That said, co-exec producer Rick Berman conceded that he and Braga decided to "ramp up the show" this season "to try to lure back some of our viewers." Asked whether Enterprise's struggles and the box office failure of Nemesis are proof that the franchise is on the decline, Berman said, "I don't think the franchise is in trouble." For more Star Trek scoop from TCA — including the latest on a new feature film — click here for my minute-by-minute recap.

source at TVGUIDE news

I think I can guess Berman and Braga's shared mantra: Deny-y-eeya-eeya-eeeeee deny-y-eeeya-eeeya-eeeeeeee ...

 

[Sinclair]

I honestly tried to get into Enterprise. I watched the entire first season and lost interest not even halfway through this past season. For me anyway a lot of the stories were dull and seemed rehashed from previous Trek series'. The whole future temporal cold war thing was a big turnoff for me from the beginning. I appreciated the concept of having a prequel series show, but I never really thought it would work as there's already too much history in the Trek universe to deal with, and B&B seem to be throwing continuity and such to the side.

I like most of the cast members and think they do a good job in their roles, but they can't be blamed for the bad plots and storylines. I haven't watched an episode since probably December or January and have bypassed watching it whenever I've flipped channels. Maybe some day my interest in Star Trek will return but just not yet.

 

[hypatia]

Old Mighty summed it up pretty well for me. Something to the effect of "she admits to missing most of the season and all she thinks to ask is 'is the dog still there?' "



Ah, I shouldn't be laughing. Our last, best hope for sci-fi and it's really uninspiring.

 

[Lyta]

Yes, it really is sad when the dog is the best part of the show.

 

[Glacophane]

The most exciting and interesting thing about Enterprise was all the hype that led up to the beginning of the show. I was soo excited and pumped to love this show..what could be better than a prequel of sorts...the beginnings of human space travel. I wanted so much to love Enterprise but after sitting through the first season I just couldn't. I think the problem is that now the audience is too wise. I mean there was (is I guess) Farscape and Babylon 5, both great and terrific shows full of flawed characters and terrific stories. Instead of "pumping up" the show with action, maybe they should abandon the old model of character development (none) and write more intereseting stories.

 

[PsionTen]

This series is jumping all over the place. The foundation of the federation, the temporal cold war, the romulan war, the xindi... they don't know what they want. Instead of doing something truly novel, like hiring better writers and mapping out some sort of arc, they're in full panic mode grasping at straws. They think the answer to their problems is to create yet another hostile alien (only this one, unlike the bumpy-headed variety, comes in five different flavors!) that isn't well thought out.

In this case, it's about an enemy that discovers the Federation is going to destroy them in 500 years, so instead of waiting and developing a neutron bomb to take all of us out (or, God forbid, opening a dialogue and starting negotiations) they send out a probe to kill a few million of us, providing all the hatred, motivation and desire to kill them... thereby fulfilling their own destiny.

 

[Mr. Morden]

Hey, I must admit it ain't no B5 (but what is?) but I'm enjoying Enterprise. I really don't like the current media trend (notably TV Guide) to trash anything Star Trek (reference their recent articles about Enteprise, Nemesis vs. Two Towers and now the cover of this week's issue screams "Forget Trek! Stargate SG-1 is Sci-Fi's newest hit!" - I mean, journalism anyone? There are Star Trek fans out there. And don't get me started on Bonnie "god, I suck" Hammer's remarks regarding Trek in the Stargate article..)

But I digress...

So, my question is, where did you hear about the 5 different flavors if Xinti? Also, where did you hear about the 500 years from now we'll wipe them out so pre-emptive strike thing? I watch the show frequently (admitedly, not every week) and I don't remember any of this. Also, I'm one of those "remember every detail" kind of Trek fans so I usually do. Uh..remember that is.

My main problem with the temporal cold war storyline is that it has the potential to A: be a huge crutch if we screw up (the reset button scenario) and B: let Berman and Braga finally rewrite Star Trek history to eliminat Kirk and basically all of Rodenberry's early - truly out there Sci-Fi stuff (not just boobs and bombs, but really exploring the human condition and such. They've always seemed to be annoyed by that aspect of Trek fandom and history, so why not use this temporal cold war to just re-start Star Trek history, eh?)

 

[PsionTen]

So, my question is, where did you hear about the 5 different flavors if Xinti? Also, where did you hear about the 500 years from now we'll wipe them out so pre-emptive strike thing? I watch the show frequently (admitedly, not every week) and I don't remember any of this. Also, I'm one of those "remember every detail" kind of Trek fans so I usually do. Uh..remember that is.

I thought everyone knew that stuff. It's all over the place... trektoday.com, trekweb.com, aintitcoolnews.com ... etc. There's an article over at tvguide.com that goes into the new season and the five varieties of Xindi -- acquatic, sloth, humanoid, insectoid (the other I can't remember)

They've always seemed to be annoyed by that aspect of Trek fandom and history, so why not use this temporal cold war to just re-start Star Trek history, eh?)

I think that was the original plan, until the ratings drop scared them into creating this Xindi thing.

 

[Glacophane]

Just in case I'll give a spoiler warning for the below information. Not really much but there are probably a few people who haven't seen or heard anything. Just tryin to be respectful..

where did you hear about the 500 years from now we'll wipe them out so pre-emptive strike thing

This is from TV Guide about the season 2 finale The Expanse:

In the case of Enterprise, in the May 21 season finale, "The Expanse", the mysterious Xindi send a probe to Earth that devastates everything between Florida and Venezuela. The Xindi have obtained information that Earth will destroy their home world centuries in the future, and have decided to strike first.

my question is, where did you hear about the 5 different flavors if Xinti

This is from Sci Fi Wire:

Brannon Braga, executive producer of UPN's Enterprise, told SCI FI Wire that that viewers can expect to see five species of the Xindi, the new alien threat facing Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula) and his crew, in the show's upcoming third season. "Our five Xindi species are a Xindi humanoid; a Xindi reptilian; the Xindi sloth, which is evolved from a furry, arboreal creature, an arboreal primate; the Xindi insectoid; and the Xindi aquatics," Braga said in an interview.

 

[LondosHair]

What I like about Enterprise:

*NO PRIME DIRECTIVE!!* So glad to see them exploring human/alien relations without fear of breaking the "cardinal law" of the future Starfleet.
Linda Park (Hoshi) - hominahominahomina
Archer when he's angry and/or driven to action
The character of Trip - no-nonsense, get-the-job-done kinda guy, somebody you'd wanna go to a party with.
Phlox - the dude cracks me up.. but has also proven to be a very strong character.
Limited transporter use!!
Limited technobabble!!
Decent stories, when they aren't rehashing a TOS or TNG subject.

What I DON'T like about Enterprise:

Jolene Blalock as T'Pol - I could buy it if she spoke more like a Vulcan. She sounds like a human teenager when she speaks. "Standeen" instead of "standing." "Tah" instead of "to." And for the love of God, start wearing Vulcan-looking clothing. Not some pseudo-Seven of Nine catsuit week in and week out. If the 13 year old boys don't like it, big deal. Mind you, the right clothing on her looks fantastic, but the same outfit every week is boring.

Speaking of Vulcans, I don't like how they're portrayed as intolerant, sometimes even *emotional* beings. Sure, Humans try their patience, but these are VULCANS. They can handle it without getting miffed.

The design of the Enterprise. Sure, I know set design & such has gotten better since the 60's, but this ship hardly looks like a step between the Phoenix & cargo carriers of the period to the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701). And it's heavily borrowed from the Akira-class design used in TNG movies.

Too many self-contained episodes, not enough "bigger picture." They have started acknowledging this as of the end of Season Two, and I like it. I want a story, not an hour-long adventure with a quick 5-7 minute wrap-up that leaves me saying "huh, so that happened."

 

[Mindwalker]

my hopes were revived a bit and I am waiting on the new season I thin kit could be promiseing as long as the storyline is good.

 

[tygirwulf]

The more I read about this show, the better I feel about not watching it.

 

[CelleDuSoleil]

Amen to that. Enterprise = dead horse. If it were anything other than Trek it would have been rightfully cancelled by now.

 

[Mike G]

*NO PRIME DIRECTIVE!!* So glad to see them exploring human/alien relations without fear of breaking the "cardinal law" of the future Starfleet.

I agree, and I think it will be interesting to see *why* the prime directive will be created. (We already saw a little).

The character of Trip - no-nonsense, get-the-job-done kinda guy, somebody you'd wanna go to a party with.

Phlox - the dude cracks me up.. but has also proven to be a very strong character.

I agree on Phlox, but I think that Trip has been massively over used. He's a good character and a fine actor, but I think that Malcom needs to step up and take center stage. (like that double cliché? ) He was awesome in "Minefield"

Too many self-contained episodes, not enough "bigger picture." They have started acknowledging this as of the end of Season Two, and I like it. I want a story, not an hour-long adventure with a quick 5-7 minute wrap-up that leaves me saying "huh, so that happened."

Exactly. I read something onSection31.com that sumed it up perfectly:

I think Enterprise has reached "make or break" time. They have been developing potential for great episodes for two years now, and they are at that time when they can go down one of two paths. Either they follow in the footsteps of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and give us high-quality science fiction / drama while exploring the greater questions of life and existence, or they follow Star Trek: Voyager, and give us week after week of mediocrity, never realizing their full potential. Season three is important for this series, because it will determine which path the show takes.