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Television Media

Star Trek: Enterprise in Danger of Being Cancelled 1080

Posted by CmdrTaco from the maybe-if-it-was-better dept.
jkcity writes "According to Cinscape.com The Star Trek Enterprise set is awash with rumour that it will not be renewed for a 4th season, It was previous told it was safe by UPN but so was Enteprise's lead-out show Jake 2.0 which was just Cancelled. Star Trek: Enterprise has also been reduced to 24 episodes this season by UPN, things don't look good for the Star Trek Television Franchise and after the flop of Star Trek: Nemesis it could be many years before we ever see any new Star Trek outside of books."
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Star Trek: Enterprise in Danger of Being Cancelled More

Star Trek: Enterprise in Danger of Being Cancelled

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  • shame (Score:5, Funny)

    by JohnFluxx ( 413620 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:09AM (#8030734)
    Shame, enterprise was the only good one.

    Still, too many of them are too 'lets break all the rules, oh and against all the odds it all works out'.

    and wtf kind of captain keeps risking his ship and thousands of crew to save one or two people?
    plain stupid

    • Re:shame (Score:5, Insightful)

      by yobbo ( 324595 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:40AM (#8030962)
      The good one?

      I've seen guest characters on TNG get more character development in a single episode than Mayweather, Hoshi and Malcom have in 3 seasons.

      • Re:shame (Score:5, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @10:36AM (#8031497)
        than Mayweather, Hoshi and Malcom

        Who?

        Star trek, always has, and always will be about saving former or future porn stars, who may or may not be painted greem, and possibly wearing silver gogo outfits, from either guys wearing fu-man-chu's, what you see when you look in a kaleidoscope, a burlap sack, or nazis. There is a very good reason for this. Nerds, like all guys like stuff blowing up and girls in tight or non-existant clothes. But they also like space. And everyone hates Nazis and people with bumpy foreheads.

        I also like snappy banter, pop culture references, girls with guns, and body paint, which is why I prefer Farscape. (Which is essentially Buck Rogers re-imagined with a wink and a nod to go with the camp.) "Cocksure American saves universe by swaggering while exotic foreign babes salivate" fits in nicely with my world view.

        • Star Trek: TNG (Score:5, Insightful)

          by bonch ( 38532 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @01:50PM (#8033663)
          Have you even seen an episode of Star Trek: TNG from its heyday?

          TNG was about making statements on humanity and exploring social issues, using the backdrop of a sci-fi space drama.

          They keep showing the episode on Spike TV where the young recruit goes on the undercover mission with the terrorist organization, grows fond of them, and eventually defects. The last shot of the episode is Picard sitting in his room in defeat, lost in thought, wondering if he pushed her too hard...

          That was good writing.

    • Re:shame (Score:5, Insightful)

      by xirtam_work ( 560625 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:55AM (#8031106)
      I agree it's a shame.

      It was the nearest series to ourselves in terms of time, culture and technology.

      The think the way they designed the ship with all those flat screens and the jumpsuit uniforms gave it a more contemporary look. I don't want to get started about how it doesn't fit in with the 1960's show, but it definately seemed to gel with TNG, DS9 and Voyager I thought personally.

      I do hope they give it more of a chance, Hopefully this will happen sa they have more invested in this franchise than other series that are being cancelled, along with a much larger fan base that has acculated over the years. If they are thinking of cancelling it they'll also give them another series to wrap things up properly. I don't see Paramount doing a 'Crusade' to Enterpise and just stopping it in the middle of nowhere.

      As for plans for any future Star Trek I think we're going to have to push future into the future rather than coming back in time, otherwise we do end up with all sorts of continuity problems.

    • Re:shame (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Random BedHead Ed ( 602081 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @10:58AM (#8031741) Homepage Journal
      I agree. The show has its flaws, but I think it's the best of the Star Trek series. and that's saying a lot, because THG and DS9 were both very strong shows.

      Something about this series had me interested right from episode 1, and I can't say that about the others. With every Star Trek series there has been a period of growing pains. Spock smiling, Data using contrations, Riker without a beard, etc. But Enterprise had their characters and concepts nailed as soon as it started. I hope this can be saved. I'll miss this show.

      • Re:shame (Score:4, Funny)

        by geekoid ( 135745 ) <dadinportlandNO@SPAMyahoo.com> on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @03:25PM (#8034664) Homepage Journal
        oh yeah a real tribute to the Star trek Universe.
        Espcially the episode where the Vulcan gets mad at the capt. because he said some disparaging remarks to save her life.

        The few times I have seen the show, and the sme thought goes through my mind:
        "God, I miss shatners acting."
        and that ain't because Shatner was brillant.

        maybe I'm just tired of 'Happy, Happy' sci-fi..

    • Support enterprise (Score:3, Informative)

      by Golthar ( 162696 )
      Please go here and read.
      We should all send a card to them to let the producers know we care about the show and want them to continue

      http://www.enterpriseproject.org/
    • Enterprise is the first Trek series since the original that I have liked. I know it might be heresy, but I hated the others (TNG, etc.), which I thought too campy and silly.

      I do thik the writing is inconsistent, and plotlines die off like neadertals (so, are Trip and T'Pol gonna make it or what? Whatever happened to the Space Delta Force guys?) But overall, I like the cast and their mission.

      One major problem is that it competes directly with two hit shows - That 70's Show and Smallville. A move to anoth

  • Good (Score:4, Insightful)

    by BenBenBen ( 249969 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:10AM (#8030739)
    Without attracting a troll modifier, I'm glad. The genre is now sufficiently well-established that there are other franchises (Farscape spin-off anyone?) who could do more interesting things with the Network's money.

    It's sad letting our favourite things end, but moving on is cool too.

    • Re:Good (Score:4, Insightful)

      by nahdude812 ( 88157 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:33AM (#8030906) Homepage
      I second the "Good" for another reason: the quality of writing in Star Trek: Enterprise was worse than the original series. Frankly, Enterprise sucks. They need to get it off the air before it permanantly taints the incredible work done in TNG, DS9, and Voyager.

      • Re:Good (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Tassach ( 137772 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @10:15AM (#8031300)
        Frankly I thought Voyager sucked too. I think some of the best episodes came out when DS9 and TNG were on the air together. DS9 also did really well when it had to compete against Babelon 5. Voyager and Enterprise suffer(ed) from both complacancy and a lack of competition. There's definately a market for "space opera", but what the idiots in hollywood tend to forget is that the demographic which watches sci fi tends to be smarter and more critical than the general populous. Good stories and interesting characters are far more important than skin and special effects when it comes to keeping geeks interested.

        • Re:Good (Score:3, Informative)

          by bluethundr ( 562578 ) *
          DS9 also did really well when it had to compete against Babylon 5.

          Urban legend has it that J. Michael Straczynski went to Paramount trying to sell his idea for this innovate new space opera [warnerbros.com] whose central focus was life aboard a space station. The way I've heard it told, the studio brass sat there nodding silently and appreciatively during the pitch session but ultimately said "Thanks, but No Thanks".

          Then, mysteriously, a new show appeared [startrek.com] featuring Star Trek themes and ...whaddya know! many space

    • Re:Good (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Sergeant Beavis ( 558225 )
      You're right. Star Trek as we know and loved it died when Gene did IMO. Let the franchise rest in books and comic for a decade or so, then they can revisit it.

      I would much rather see Farscape or more of the Battlestar Galactica genre. How about SciFi based on today? Getting to the Moon and Mars. Perhaps that could help increase public interest in such projects in real life.

    • Re:Good (Score:3, Insightful)

      by FreezerJam ( 138643 )
      I guess I knew it was over when an episode started with Trip's funeral -- and I already knew he wouldb't be dead. Which he wasn't.

      For comparison - if this were a Joss Whedon show, Trip might actually be dead and gone ... but we wouldn't be expecting it, and there almost certainly wouldn't be a opening flash-forward telegraphing it.

      My other big clue is that the other half of the household can no longer stand to be in the same room as the show...

  • Are you really surprised? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Matey-O ( 518004 ) * <michaeljohnmiller@mSPAMsSPAMnSPAM.com> on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:10AM (#8030740) Homepage Journal
    Could it be that such innovative plot twists as alien 768 is an alien because it's got REALLY funny headbumps isn't enough to entertain the audience anymore?

    I loved TNG, liked DS9, and my attention started to waver half way through Voyager...that said, I'm impressed that they could keep it going for another series and a half. I gave them much more of my time than I would have given ANY other medoicre show. Looks like I'm not the only one that managed to stop watching this year. (Funny, I didn't miss it, either.)

    I turned Enterprise on last week while channel surfing to find it was the exact same formula that's been used every week for the last _five_ years. (0:06 mystery, 0:23 find out mystery is horrible threat, 0:42 make threat seem impossible to overcome, 0:58 solve problem with seconds to spare, 0:59 have credits roll over zany laughing cast.)

    • Re:Are you really surprised? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by millahtime ( 710421 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:17AM (#8030775) Homepage Journal
      To be honest I am not suprised one bit. I watched every episode of TNG. But from there the series weren't as good. Each one is a little worse than the one before it. They ahve lost the magic and the method that made it great.

      The magic that captured us was that TNG wasn't about space or the technology but about the people. Enterprise always seemed like it didn't make the grade there. It isn't a drama the way it needs to be for success.
    • They say that as if it's a bad thing.

      I've watched a lot of dire sci-fi (War Of The Worlds springs to mind) in my time but ST:E really scrapes the bottom of the barrel. The characters are a joke (there's not a single one that I can empathise with or admire), and the storylines are almost entirely incompatible with the rest of the Star Trek universe (Klingons that look like TNG/DS9/Voyager rather than TOS, etc).

      Frankly, I'm amazed it lasted this long. Personally, I think the decision to cast Scott Bakula as
      • (All the previous Star Trek shows featured actors who were virtual unknowns at the time of being cast, and perhaps the shhows were that much better because of it.)

        Kate Mulgrew and Patrick Stewart were virtual unknowns at time of casting? Not that I liked Voyager mind you (did love TNG -- it's still my all time favorite TV show) but I'd hardly call either of those actors (not to mention Brent Spiner or Avery Brooks) "virtual unknowns".

  • Phew! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:10AM (#8030747)
    it could be many years before we ever see any new Star Trek outside of books.

    Crossing my fingers....

  • UPN go ahead and cancel Star Trek (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:11AM (#8030748)
    and we will sick the borg on you and turn you into a FOX look alike.

  • Maybe it's time? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Pedrito ( 94783 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:16AM (#8030771)
    Maybe it's time for the franchise to take a rest. I was a fan of the original series. Then with TNG came out, after the first season, I started to get interested (I think the actors didn't really find their characters until mid-second series).

    I know a lot of people enjoyed DS9, though I didn't really care for it that much. I personally enjoyed a number of episodes of Voyager.

    But maybe it's time to let things rest for a while. Maybe come back to it in 5 or 10 years with some fresh ideas and in the meantime, let people build up their appetite for it again as well. I think they've just really gotten to the point where their grasping for new story ideas and nothing is really drawing people in to the series. Maybe it's just me. I watched a few episodes of Enterprise. It's not bad, but it's not that great either.

    People have high expectations of the Star Trek franchise, and if they're not going to be able to meet those expectations, they ought to let it rest until they can. But that's just my opinion.

  • Why a weekly series? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Danathar ( 267989 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:17AM (#8030779) Journal
    It just occurred to me to ask the question of why Enterprise needs to be on every week for each new season? Why not go with a mini-series every year. The hype increases, there is more latitude to do something different and there is less danger of worrying about ratings.

    Just a thought....

  • Jake 2.0 (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dpoulson ( 132871 ) <daz@@@22balmoralroad...net> on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:17AM (#8030784) Homepage Journal
    Jake 2.0 hasn't even started over in the UK yet, and its already cancelled! Another good buy by Sky!

    Enterprise is a good series, much grittier than TNG, on a par with DS9. Pity to see it go.

  • Jake 2.0 (Score:5, Funny)

    by Mr_Silver ( 213637 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:18AM (#8030786)
    It was previous told it was safe by UPN but so was Enteprise's lead-out show Jake 2.0 which was just Cancelled.

    Whoopses. Sky over here in the UK is heavily plugging Jake 2.0 which is due to start in February.

    Nothing like starting to watch a series which has already been canned!

    • Re:Jake 2.0 (Score:5, Interesting)

      by doc_traig ( 453913 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @10:07AM (#8031221) Homepage Journal

      Nothing like starting to watch a series which has already been canned!

      Isn't that what happened with Iron Chef over here in the U.S? It got a nice following over on Food Network but it had already ended over in Japan. From what I understand, the network that it ran on over in Japan has a history of cancelling shows while they're hot.

      • Re:Jake 2.0 (Score:3, Informative)

        by cgenman ( 325138 )
        The network that it ran on over in Japan has a history of cancelling shows while they're hot.

        Actually, many shows in japan are canceled while they are hot. Evangelion, anyone? They achieve a pinnacle of success, and everyone moves on to create something else great. Franchises generally aren't milked until they bleed like Star Trek has been.

      • Re:Jake 2.0 (Score:4, Informative)

        by Politburo ( 640618 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @01:11PM (#8033236)
        Iron chef was in something like its 8th season when it was cancelled. It really had had its run. And, as another poster noted, Japanese production companies are not like American production companies. They tend to go out while the show is big, instead of making you cringe when you hear the cast of friends has signed on for their 26th season at 30 million an epsiode.

    • Re:Jake 2.0 (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Oddly_Drac ( 625066 )
      "Whoopses. Sky over here in the UK is heavily plugging Jake 2.0 which is due to start in February.

      Nothing like starting to watch a series which has already been canned!"

      You mean like John Doe and Firefly?

      We really have to find out who these executives are and point out that if you want something to get big, and I mean really big, you have to give the fanbase the opportunity to get interested, which means at least 1.5 seasons because they make such a hash of character development over the season long
  • Good!

    Not to knock the entirety of Star Trek, but the recent "Franchises" (do you want fries with that?) have been crap. I could barely watch Star Trek: A Three Hour Tour, and Star Trek: Boobies and Scott Bakula was not even worth the John Tesh opening theme. I'm not saying the age old "Ever since Gene died...blah blah blah", but the corporates at Paramont really have taken over and pissed on the whole deal.

    There are better sci-fi shows out there: Bablylon 5, Farscape, Stargate SG-1, to name a few. Some are in threat of being cancelled or already in limbo. Support THOSE! Try to revive the GOOD series!

    Let Star Trek die the death it has been begging for since ST:DS9 ended. Don't let it drag on. (Flame on!)

    • Re:Am I the only one that says.... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by stungod ( 137601 ) <scott@noSpaM.globalspynetwork.com> on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @01:00PM (#8033091) Journal
      I must admit that part of me agrees with you. The reason I watch(ed) all of the various ST series is because I was raised on the the first one. because of that one, I was also raised on Space:1999, Quark (I know, it's a guilty pleasure), Buck Rogers (original and the 70's version), and who knows what else that's been produced over my 35 years. I'm a fan of the genre, and will watch scifi on TV whenever something new comes out. I'm still pissed that Farscape got cancelled, and miss B5 very much.

      Having said that, I totally agree that B&B have turned the Star Trek world to shit. There's no imagination anymore. There's no innovation, and no risk-taking. There's also nothing even remotely mentally stimulating about what has been produced since DS9 ended. I can't watch any ST episode with a holodeck, because they're all uniformly bad. I have never seen why more than one trip to 20th Century Earth or another planet suspiciously similar was necessary.

      Here's my greatest wish for Star Trek: Make a new series set in the same time as the previous 3. Now that a really rich universe has been created with lots of different species and locations, rules, technology, and other such factors there's a real strong environment for creating something interesting. There's a tremendous amount of familiarity with all of this in the viewer population.

      Now, instead of a serialized show with the same characters in it every week, make it more of an anthology. Different characters and different stories every week. One week, maybe the story revolves around a Ferengi merchant ship and some issue they face. The next week, parents deal with the fact that their child is (or is not) joining Star Fleet. Another could be comical - Klingons trying to spy on the Federation or someting like that.

      The fans would get the "in" jokes, already know the political environment, and understand the different cultures of the species from the show. There's this huge universe to draw upon, and so much of it hasn't been explored...like anything NOT having to do with Star Fleet.

      So, who would write the shows? Fans. You and me. Anybody could submit 1 (one) story per season. The best ones would get produced. You'd have good writing, fresh ideas every week, and a show that I believe people would look forward to every week. If you get a bad one, it's no big deal because it's not like you're going to have to put up with the same crappy acting or writing the next time. If somebody does exceptionally well, they could come back and do another one the next season. We would end up with some favorite recurring characters...maybe you would see a popular, flamboyant character (Harry Mudd, anyone?) in some small role occasionally to lend a sense of continuity.

      Maybe I'm just insane. I just think that there's so much here to draw from that it really takes tremendous effort to make something as bad as Enterprise or Voyager. Like I said, I'll still watch them because it's hard-coded into my behavior. But that doesn't mean that they can't be better.

  • Can't say I'll miss it... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by feidaykin ( 158035 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:19AM (#8030794) Journal
    It started off with a huge strike against it. They refused to call it Star Trek: Enterprise. It was simply Enterprise. I guess the "Star Trek" name is too tarnished? Or is it, perhaps, that they wanted to market to a new fanbase, assuming that the die-hard trekkies will watch anyway. I think it was an attempt to distance themselves from Trek.

    Well, it worked. It also helps that the show is nothing at all like Star Trek. Basic premise of every episode: Let's take a good idea from TOS or TNG, update it with a new cast and new effects, and completely ruing the meaning!

    A recent episode had what seemed like interstellar terrorists on it. The theme was a sort-of "with us or against us" thing, as if the episode had come straight out of a propaganda machine. I don't need my Star Trek telling me what to think. I want my Star Trek making me think. That's what Trek was always best at: making people think about things. What if? Why? The settings was incidental. The effects were irrelevant. The story was what mattered. Enterprise ditched that and focused on everything else. The result?

    Star Trek Lite: It tastes bland and isn't very filling, but people accept it anyway.

    The sad thing is the cast works. I think Backula does a great job, and I loved his role in Quantum Leap. Phlox is pretty entertaining. But these few perks just can't make up for the general disarray of the series.

    And don't even get me STARTED on Star Trek timeline continuity. If Trek continuity were a person, it would be time for it to seek rape consoling! The Borg episode... the Romulans? What the hell? Have the writers ever even watched any of the previous Treks?

    Sorry Enterprise, but I can't say I will miss you.

    • Actually Star Trek has always been a mirror of our own lives... The original series was locked in a battle with the Klingons (=Communists), in TNG we'd made friends with them (We're friends with the russians now!) but we had other enemies (=The middle east).

      In Enterprise everyone is seemingly at peace then a large terrorist act devastates earth.... See the parallels?

      • I think the trick with TOS, TNG, and DS9 was that they were only drawing on events to make parallels rather than clubbing us over the head with them.

        Enterprise did one thing even worse, the "technology'll get us out of this jam" routine. I mean, c'mon, they were able to defeat the bloody Borg (the doc even purged what were now strangely slow moving nano probes out of his system). Need to sneak into a place? Fortunately someone left their cloaking pod and we'll just borrow that (and oh yeah, an overload

      • Re:Can't say I'll miss it... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by willtsmith ( 466546 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @11:47AM (#8032295) Journal
        The species that I have loved the most is the Ferengi. The overtones were very clear. These were a race of value-less corporate executives. They valued nothing over their own self enrichment.

        Our current collective struggle is against the Ferengi. They are threatening to eliminate the power of the nation states and replace them with international corporate governance. People will be less valuable then equipment to them. Feudalism would once again fall upon the Earth.

    • Re:Can't say I'll miss it... (Score:5, Informative)

      by 10Ghz ( 453478 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @10:08AM (#8031228)
      And don't even get me STARTED on Star Trek timeline continuity.


      I remember hearing that historical events were changed in Star Trek: First Contact in such way that the events in Enterprise are not events that took place in TNG's past. That is, TNG and Enterprise are in two different timelines. That is a convenient way to not be restrained by TNG's past events. They can now do pretty much whatever they want to with the series.
    • It was last year (was that season 1) where they met a guy on a desert world who gave them hospitality, and they befriended. They enjoyed hanging with him and his clan. They were contacted by the world government that called the group terrorists...

      The desert "terrorists" who were portrayed in a positive light wore the headgarb associated with Arabs (which really is generic desert gear, but we see it on Middle Eastern Arabs all the time), and the representative from the world government was a Jewish guy wi

    • Re:Can't say I'll miss it... (Score:4, Funny)

      by Savatte ( 111615 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @10:32AM (#8031466) Homepage Journal
      I want my Star Trek making me think. That's what Trek was always best at: making people think about things. What if? Why?

      Yeah, like what if this hot green alien had huge boobies, and why then would it matter if she was green?

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:19AM (#8030797)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Why am I not surprised? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by vudufixit ( 581911 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:19AM (#8030801)
    With each new iteration, Star Trek distorts and dilutes its own mythos. I thought this would be an interesting take on Starfleet's early history, with raw, unpolished versions, or complete absence of, the day to day technologies that the TOS and later crews used and of course modified at the eleventh hour to avert a crisis. The writers wasted no time updating/uprating Enterprises' systems and accoutrements ("phase pistols" anyone?) so now the ship is nearly indistinguishable from its descendants. The exploration oriented format is too similar to the preceding shows. The TOS crew have earned a Campbell-esque place in our pantheon of modern day mythic heroes. Picard may ascend to that pinnacle. Janeway and Cisko never will. Neither will Jonathan Archer. Star Trek is in a decadent stage. A long hiatus with no series and no movies would serve everyone best, giving both the general public and hardcore fans some time to build up some real desire. Hire completlely new writers and give them years, if need be, to come up with a really fresh take. Some ideas for a next Trek: How about a show with a built-in limited lifespan, starting right at the post-Shuttle era, and ending with Archer's Enterprise? Each season would be a complete epoch, showing the development of the technology, and the adaptation of people to long-term life in space. Another idea: breakdown of the Federation. It collapses sometime after Picard's retirement, and a starship crew makes the rounds restoring order to worlds and rebuilding alliances. Once again, a series that's planned out ahead of time to run for a certain number of seasons. See, the open-ended nature of each Star Trek series is the problem. I hope the next writers come up with something great, but most importantly, KEEP FOCUSED!

    • Re:Why am I not surprised? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by xigxag ( 167441 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:39AM (#8030954)
      Another idea: breakdown of the Federation. It collapses sometime after Picard's retirement, and a starship crew makes the rounds restoring order to worlds and rebuilding alliances.

      I believe Roddenberry already came up with a similar premise. Now known as "Andromeda."

  • Shame really (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Illserve ( 56215 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:20AM (#8030803)
    That repetitive drivel like Enterprise gets to last this long while the ream gems (FireFly, Farscape) pass away tragically.

    Those shows had more originality, creativity and quality writing than the Star Trek franchise can hope to match. Not to say that Star Trek wasn't good and original in its day, but that day has passed.

    I recently showed Firefly to a housemate for the first time, he was hooked after the pilot. After each episode (we just finished the last one), he sits in stunned amazement, quietly saying "why was this cancelled?". It's sad really.

  • Well, now we finally know... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Doktor Memory ( 237313 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:20AM (#8030805) Journal
    ...just how much a (post-original) Trek show has to suck before they'll pull the plug.

    Now that this has been empirically verified, let's never conduct this experiment again please.

  • Should we blame Berman, as always? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LookSharp ( 3864 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:21AM (#8030810)
    Disclaimer: This is not a troll nor flamebait, but a talking point.

    Much of the discussion about "how much Trek sucks" usually ends up blaming Rick Berman. How much of this is his fault here? I have no judgement, but I'm tossing this out for discussion's sake.

    I think my personal opinion is thus: Create work that is quality, and I will consume it.

    I thought that's how the system was supposed to work... but yet, somehow, shows like UPN's planned "reality" show chronicling the wacky misadventures of Amish teens have more marketability than (insert your genre of interest here).

  • Fire the Producers Instead (Score:3, Insightful)

    by tommertron ( 640180 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:21AM (#8030812) Homepage Journal
    I know it's a big-time nerd-refrain, but Brannon and Braga have got to go. They've been running the franchise for almost ten years now, and guess what? DS9, Voyager, even the last season of TNG kind of sucked under them.

    I think they keep trying to draw audiences by injecting episodes with BIG ACTION and SEXY SITUATIONS... well, that's not what made TNG good. TNG was good because of interesting ideas that were expanded on, often very subtly, sometimes without any threat to human life.

    And every episode seems to follow a plot that's been done, what, like three, four times on previous Trek shows? My advice to save Enterprise is to fire Brannon and Braga, and hire only writer s that have never worked on any of the shows before. Keep around a 'bible' expert for continuity, but look for talented writers and producers. This is what will save the show.

    • Re:Fire the Producers Instead (Score:5, Informative)

      by TheRealFixer ( 552803 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:29AM (#8030876)
      I have to disagree about DS9. The first few seasons, yes, it was very weak. But, Berman and crew went to go concentrate on Voyager and pretty much abandoned DS9 around the 4th season, and let them do whatever they wanted. From that point on, the show went to new hights. Some fantastic writing, a serial storyline, and some great acting took DS9 to places that Trek hadn't been before. I'd say that the last 3 seasons of DS9 were some of the best sci-fi on TV, except no one was watching anymore.

  • good riddance (Score:4, Interesting)

    by UnderAttack ( 311872 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:21AM (#8030813) Homepage
    Its sad to see the "Star Trek Franchise" fail so misserably. But after Nemesis and Enterprise, it seems like they finally killed it for good.

    The entire idea of a pre-quel sounded hokie from the start. But well, I did try to like it :-/

    I still think Deep Space 9 was the best series. It could have used one or two more seasons.

  • Closure (Score:3, Insightful)

    by vpscolo ( 737900 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:21AM (#8030816) Homepage
    Well if they are going to cancel it please make sure we get some closure as there is nothing worse than just leave something hanging. At least let Enterprise go out on a high if not up to the standard of DS9/TNG.

    Rus

  • Well, yeah... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by superdan2k ( 135614 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:23AM (#8030826) Homepage Journal
    I'm sorry, but so what? Star Trek jumped the shark [jumptheshark.com] as soon as they threw that half-baked Battlestar Galactica rip-off, Voyager, on the air. (Don't agree? Borg = Cyclons, Voyager = Galactica, far from home and lost.) Berman and Braga fucked up what could potentially be a great series by trying to do the same stupid Time War shit they did with Voyager, etc.

    In the end, as much as I find the characters interesting, I just can't bring myself to care too much about the premature end of this five-year mission. You can't keep a show running, much less grabbing public interest, based on potential. This show had it, but it failed to deliver on it.

  • FLOP?!? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by zerocool^ ( 112121 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:24AM (#8030831) Homepage Journal
    The "Flop of Nemesis"???

    *smacks forhead*

    How about this: Don't release movie number 10 in a series of niche movies a weekend before one of the most anticipated movies of all time, which had been promoted for several years, comes out.

    I didn't have a problem with nemesis. I actually liked it. Did I go see it in a theatre? No, i saved my $15 for Lord of the Rings. Duh.

    ~Will

    • Re:FLOP?!? (Score:5, Funny)

      by feidaykin ( 158035 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:52AM (#8031066) Journal
      Acutally, we know that Nemesis tanked because our own Wil [slashdot.org] Wheaton [wilwheaton.net] had his scene cut.

      And we all know what Enterprise really needed was an annoying genius kid that plays with nanites and goes to booty town with Ashley Judd, making the thousands of teenage geeks watching even more annoyed with him, the lucky bastard...

  • It is official; UPN confirms: Enterprise is dying (Score:3, Funny)

    by z-axis ( 195410 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:26AM (#8030844)
    One more crippling bombshell hit the already discouraged and defeated Star Trek franchise when UPN confirmed that Enterprise has dropped yet again after Voyager showed to be a miserable failure as well. Coming on the heels of a recent Gallop survey which plainly states that Rick Berman has lost the peoples confidence in his ability to innovate and make progress, this news serves to reinforce what we've known all along. The Star Trek franchise is collapsing in complete disarray, as fittingly exemplified by failing dead last in the ratings.

    You don't need to be a Kreskin to predict Enterprise's future. The hand writing is on the wall: Enterprise faces a bleak future. In fact there won't be any future at all for Enterprise because Enterprise is dying. Things are looking very bad for Enterprise. As many of us are already aware, Enterprise continues to lose viewers. Red ink flows like a river of blood.

    The Star Trek franchise is the most endangered science fiction franchise of them all, having lost 93% of its core nerds. There can no longer be any doubt: Enterprise is dying.

    All major surveys show that Enterprise has steadily declined in consumer confidence. Enterprise is very sick and its long term survival prospects are very dim. If Enterprise is to survive at all it will be among sci-fi dilettante dabblers. Enterprise continues to decay. Nothing short of a miracle could save it at this point in time. For all practical purposes, Enterprise is dead.

    Fact: Enterprise is dying

  • Why can't they learn (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 91degrees ( 207121 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:30AM (#8030879) Journal
    Sci-fi fans have higher expectations from series these days. We just don't like episodic television. Lost in space was over 30 years ago.

    Events from one episode have to influence future ones. Babylon 5 did this. So did Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Star Trek franchise managed to learn this in the end with DS9, but now they've totally forgotten. Season 3 has had a couple of references to the Xindi backstory, but really we need more than that. We never get the feeling anything has happened after an episode has finished.

    Paramount doesn't even seem to want to try. There were clear signs of a subversive effort to change this in Voyager, with Janeway slowly losing it in Equinox, but then the franchise backed away. At the end of that episode all was forgiven and forgotten. Chakotay decided that going on the Ahab revenge thing and locking him in the brig was only a minor misunderstanding, and they could still be friends.

  • I can't decide if this was a good or bad thing. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by gozar ( 39392 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:32AM (#8030889) Homepage
    Although Star Trek: Enterprise hasn't really rocked at all [ryancollins.org], it did take a few seasons for TNG to hit their stride. There is a definate problem with focus. Secretly I was hoping they could get Joss Whedon to come in and at least help them map out a story arc over this season and the remaining seasons. Unfortunately, they decided to totally change the premise of the show, make Archer to be some sort of maniac will to do anything to save Earth.

    A review at the beginning of the season in USA Today brought up some very good points on the lack of focus in Enterprise. Although Paramount wants you to think they took the show for a dramatic twist this season, nothing really has changed. They are still exploring the unknown, which is what they have been doing the first two seasons. Nothing to see here, move along.

    To fix Enterprise they need to:

    Be a little more subtle with public commentary. Compare Similitude [treknation.com] with TOS's Let That Be Your Last Battleground [thelogbook.com]

    More friction among the crew.

    Lose the T'Pol-Tucker story line

    Slow DOWN THE TRANSPORTER!!!! It's faster than The Original Series'!

    There have been a couple good episodes:

    Shockwave [treknation.com]

    Chosen Realm [treknation.com]

    And a lot of duds:

    A remake of Data's Day: Dear Doctor [treknation.com]

    An A-Team episode: Marauders [treknation.com]

    And just a really lame episode: Extinction [treknation.com]

  • Could have been so much better... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by 26199 ( 577806 ) * on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:33AM (#8030901) Homepage

    ...IMHO Enterprise should make a whole lot more of the fact that they're much closer to NASA, military outfits, etc, than the others.

    Which doesn't mean technology which doesn't work as well... it means a completely different social structure and way of doing things... the crew shouldn't be one big happy family.

    I have yet to see a really entertaining episode (although I admit I've only watched five or six random ones).

    I suppose I should probably accept that I'm not in the target demographic... although exactly what the target demographic is, I'm not sure. As a 19-year-old compsci student I should be quite a good bet for sci-fi...

  • What's Wrong with Enterprise (Score:5, Insightful)

    by haplo21112 ( 184264 ) <haplo@epithnaFREEBSD.com minus bsd> on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:34AM (#8030913) Homepage
    Personally after being lost in the delta quadrant for years on voyager, I thought trek would get back to some basic Treking. Klingon's (Bad ones, nasty ones, Enterprise's Klingons are more like TNG's, which in my opinion ought not to be the case). Bad Ass Romulans, and the discovery of thier link with the vulcans (this was touched on Briefly, very Briefly, and really ought to get more attention as well. They really need to round up the writers and directorys that made some of the DS9, TNG episodes that really stick out as Classics. Best of Both Worlds, the Bell Riots, The entire Bajorian Religious Arc at the end of DS9 (the final season was one of the best seasons of Trek ever). I also feel like Enterprise has quickly degenerated into the Captain Archer Show, which some Trip and T'Pol thrown in here and there. They need to open up the cast more let us get into the other characters heads, and perhaps even give us a few more characters. It looked like they were headed that way they had that ensign (Cartright? maybe?) who seemed to get some focus in a couple episodes (on an away mission in the episode with the slave race, and the episode where she has a crush on Flox)...ah well I hope they work something out and we get a season 4 and perhaps they can strighgten this out...
    • To have the discovery of the Romulan's link with the Vulcans in Enterprise would be an unforgivable continuity breach: it was a major plot element in the original series episode "Balance of Terror," which was such a popular episode that they brought back the actor who played the doomed Romulan commander to play Spock's father in 1 TOS episode, 2 movies, 2 TNG episodes, and as a Klingon in the first movie.

  • Well... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Dogun ( 7502 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:34AM (#8030916) Homepage
    I do enjoy the whole Star Trek universe, but it's hard to deny that Enterprise has largely been unoriginal. This hairbrained season-long plot hasn't worked out well, and I find that the only episodes I most like heavily feature Phlox.

    If the series had instead of going with this "temporal cold war" idea gone with a simple "explore nearby space and meet new races" type idea, I heavily suspect that things would have been better. I mean, hell; TNG and TOS were great; DS9 was alright, but Voyager was a step in the WRONG DIRECTION.

    Just my .02 $US.

  • What a Shame! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by R.Caley ( 126968 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:35AM (#8030926)
    And after they rearanged their bland jingly title song into an even more bland muzak version for this series too.

    I thought they were on a roll, managing to get two scenes with the female characters half undressed, and a tacticless space ship fight into almost every episode.

    When I first heard the premise for this new series, I was actually quite interested. A primitive Entreprise, first real deep sapce ship from Earth, presumably out gunned by almost everyone they meet, and maybe having to do some interesting things to win through.

    But no. They turn out to be able to beat crap out of almost everyone. The only way to get a plot is to have something blow up on board, or mysterious `gravimetric bullshiterons' hold them while the inferior aliens attack, so that 10 minutes later they can beat crap out of those same aliens without breaking sweat... scene of vulcan underwear giving engineer a hand job... end of episode.

  • What worries me ... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by The AtomicPunk ( 450829 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:35AM (#8030931)
    It seems like every sci-fi show, good or bad, popular amongst us geeks or not, gets cancelled.

    Instead, we have these mind-numbing 'reality' tv shows, vapid sit-coms, and corny teenage melodramas.

    I watch Enterprise. It's not that I think it's that great, it's just better than most of the other rubbish on TV. At least it's mildly entertaining, and I need something to watch while I exercise.

    Does anybody REALLY want another Joe Millionaire/Survivor 14/Bachlor(ette) clone to replace it?

    I might shoot plot holes though Enterprise all day, but at least my brain functions while doing it.

  • Good. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mmm coffee ( 679570 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:37AM (#8030940) Journal
    Star Trek:
    Western in space. Kinda campy but did have its moments. Very memorable characters. Fanbase: Big enough to get a few movies going after its cancelation. Noteworthy: The fans loved the show and movies enough to get an entire freakin' space shuttle renamed. Nae bad.

    Star Trek: The Next Generation:
    Pretty deep plots. Much deeper than much of what is shown on TV, which really doesn't say much. Very memorable characters. Very powerful episodes. (Remember the one where the crew find a probe and Picard spends a lifetime on a dieing planet?) Had many people who aren't fans of scifi watching. Noteworthy: Roddenbery died during this series.

    Star Trek: Deep Space 9
    Very deep storyline spanning many seasons. Characters not as memorable as those on TNG, but memorable none the less.

    Star Trek: Voyager:
    Unmemorable characters, superficial plots, enough gaps in the plot to make Spock have a stroke. The previously immortal and near unbeatable borg were made to look like a bunch of pussies in this. Time travel became more cliche than it previously was. It's crap, Jim.

    Star Trek: Enterprise
    New 'hip' series that shits on the pre-federation history laid out by the previous series and movies. Superficial. Unmemorable characters. Plots so shallow not even an infant could drown in them. Superficial. Tries to grab your attention with random semi-nudity. Predictable. Superficial. Theme song sucks. Superficial.

    As somebody who used to be a HUGE Trek fan 10 years ago - good. The horse is laying in the middle of the field, four broken legs, broken ribs, and is oozing blood out of its ears. Just shoot it and get it over with. I hate seeing my childhood fave raped for ratings.

    Berman and Braga can kiss the fattest part of my ass.

    • It's the writing,stupid. Or maybe the vision thing (Score:4, Insightful)

      by hey! ( 33014 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @12:36PM (#8032840) Homepage Journal
      Taking your sweeping series at face value, let me point out a few things. DS9 had some real stinker episodes and even some stinker story arcs. Voyager had a few episodes that were among the best in the franchise.

      The point is, the thing that really had me rolling my eyes at many of the Voyager and DS9 episodes is how poorly written they were. They were organized around gimmicks which were simply patronizing to the fans of the franchise. To be fair, doing something memorable is going to be a huge challenge in along running franchise like ST. However, I think the ST writers would do well to be suspicious of "concepts" that scream to be summed up on one line ending with an exclamation point, e.g. "Let's have the whole cast play a baseball games against the vulcans!", or " Let's have Janeway fall in love with a hologram (OK, I can buy that) from a cute irish village!" Message to Mr. Berman: desperation is showing.

      This has been a bit of a problem in every post TOS series, but it has steadily grown. Enterprise is the worst offender. I often feel like the writers are talking down to me. Or perhaps they aren't trying to talk to me, but to a demographic. You know, the kind that has to have "edginess". It's art by formula, but Komar and Melamid [diacenter.org] they ain't.

      It's not a mystery that the franchise has lost its way since Rodenberry's death. The thing about Rodenberry is that he had a vision. At times it was a cringe-inducingly naive and parochial vision. But it was a vision you could buy into because the show really believed in it.

      With Enterprise, the franchise's masters are trying to recapture the sexiness of TOS. But they fail because what they come up with is as artifical as a pair of regulation issue 40DD boobs. Enterprise doesn't believe in sexiness, it just needs a certain amount of it to meet the product specifications they have in mind. Take so much T&A, so much gunplay and battle, sprinkle at least one gimmick, stir and serve lukewarm.

      Even when Enterprise raises what could be a provocative issue ("can torture be justified"), it ends up shying away because it doesn't believe anything. Time for another half nude shot of Jolene Blalock! No offense to her; despite her obvious endowments I think she is quite skilled and talented, as is much of the rest of the cast. They just aren't given anything interesting to do. I'd be glad to see a half-nude or even full-nude shots of Jolene Blalock in every episode. Rodenberry would have loved it. Just give the rest of my brain something to keep it occupied.

      So, Enerprise just drifts in limbo, having neither the freshness and energy of TOS, or the gravitas and maturity of TNG. What it does have is "edginess", which I suppose is a kind of nervous tick. The fascination of that kind of thing is rather limited.

  • Ideas for better new Series (Score:4, Insightful)

    by haplo21112 ( 184264 ) <haplo@epithnaFREEBSD.com minus bsd> on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:57AM (#8031128) Homepage
    When I heard rumors of a New Trek Series I had been hoping for something along the logical progression of the Trek Universe.

    1. We have for years had teasing hints of the Post Kirk Era, in seeing Sulu on the Excellsior(I know I spelled that wrong). I had been hoping that perhaps a new Trek Series would go down that line.

    2. We have also seen bits of the Post Kirk Pre-picard Universe in seeing the Enterprise-B, and C I had hoped that maybe a new series would go in this direction especially the C. The Federation in the middle of an all out war would make for a refreshing change from the general Peace and love universe we are all used to seeing.

    3. I heard a rumor of a Star Fleet Academy show at one point, Not sure about this one, but it might have worked.

    4. A Post Picard Setting, where the Federation is on the verge of, or has already colapsed.

    5. A Post Picard Setting way way into the future, jump forward 100-200 years (Leaves lots of room for back story) set on the the Enterprise - L. Perhaps things are very different in this age, the Romulans, Klingons and Cardasians are Full Memebers of the Federation, perhaps the Enterprise is even Commanded by a Klingon, with a Vulcan/Romulan first officer (A decendant of Spock fathered during his time on Romulus).

    • Re:Ideas for better new Series (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Gannoc ( 210256 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @11:34AM (#8032159)
      5. A Post Picard Setting way way into the future, jump forward 100-200 years

      You can't go any farther into the future. The TNG era technology has already established that you can pretty much do anything. You can order the computer to solve any problem, produce any goods or services, create artificial crewmembers that are as good as the real thing, etc.


      A good premise for a ST series would be similar to what you were saying about the "verge of collapse". Have a disaster that renders federation/klingon/romulan/major species computer technology useless. As a bonus, have it somehow involve the destruction of the borg for all time.

      They have to retrofit what ships they have with older technology. The plot of the series can be discovering what went wrong, and defending the federation from the minor races who now have the technological advantage.

  • Sad to be alone (Score:5, Insightful)

    by wornst ( 317182 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @09:59AM (#8031158)
    I actually like Enterprise and am disappointed that it may get cancelled. I absolutely agree that the plots have been done to death and that the aliens are sadly predictable in appearance but I more or less like this crew.

    I think Bakula makes a good captain and his play with the Vulcan Sub-Commander is good. That can't carry the show however as much of the other crew hasn't been allowed to breath (except for Hoshi in the Psychic/Alien episode which isn't saying much).

    But there is a lot of untested material in the Star Trek universe. There should be more Andorran plots and it would be really nice if the writers remembered the Gorn Empire or the Tholians. The universe was unstable back then (as opposed to TNG Federation/Romulan/Klingon triumvirate) and that instability could make for some good shows.

    This season's "Expanse" theme is interesting and I personally like it. However, it can't go on forever, for the very fact that none of it was ever mentioned in any past series.

    The show needs to get back to its beginnings. USE the tried plot but lets not forget that space is a new and exciting and unknown place. Everything that the crew seems to encounter has already been encountered before. The original series used that unknown as the backbone of plot. TNG really built up a crew centric aspect. The other two kind of let me down. Enterprise has the potential to do a lot but isn't going anywhere.

    They should really let the fans be the writers. Set up a contest or something on the website to submit an episode. Star Trek is a good and proven concept but there needs to be more trekking and more weird discoveries.

  • Just remember... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Realistic_Dragon ( 655151 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @10:00AM (#8031162) Homepage
    When they cancell it they won't replace it with new FireFly or new Farscape or even Futurama reruns.

    They will replace it with EXXXXTREME Survivor Pop Idol Challenge Get Me Out Of Here!!! Now with MORE Celebrities!!!! Some of whom you might even have heard of!!!!!!!

    The kind of programming so bad that the 15-20 mins of advertising per hour are actually the highlight.

  • Today's /. Poll: (Score:5, Funny)

    by jht ( 5006 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @10:08AM (#8031223) Homepage Journal
    What do you think of the possibility that Star Trek: Enterprise may be cancelled?

    - "Who cares? Kirk rules!"

    - "Who cares? Picard rules!"

    - "Berman sux. I expected it any day."

    - "Ahh... I just watched it for the hot Vulcan chick anyways."

    - "I just wait for the Trek movies."

    - "That's horrible, I just decided that Crusher was cool because he runs Linux, now this!"

    - "It's all the fault of CowboyNeal and his Nielsen-connected TiVo!"

  • Save Trek? Replace Rick Berman (Score:3, Interesting)

    by citanon ( 579906 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @10:23AM (#8031376)
    A decade of Berman at the helm has proved that mindless action, tight outfits, gibberish Trek pseudoscience, and petty, artificial conflicts does not a compelling sci-fi series make.

    It's time to replace him with some one who can put mystery, suspense, and yes, realistic characters back into Trek.

    I've got an idea. Take a capable producer and a couple of good writers, not necessarily from sci-fi backgrounds. Over the course of a month, Have them spend a week at JPL, a week aboard a nuclear submarine , a week hanging out with David Blaine, and a week with Donald Trump. Afterwards, lock them in a cabin for a week and tell them to transport the characters they've met to the Trek universe. I'll eat my shoe if they can't come up with a blockbuster.

  • Unlikely to drop before 100 episodes (Score:3, Insightful)

    by unfortunateson ( 527551 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @11:01AM (#8031774) Journal
    Trektoday.com [trektoday.com] reported that they shortened this season, and will have a similar 24-episode season next year to reach the magic 100 episode count for syndication.

    If they believe they can sell it to syndication, they'll keep going, by all means. If they don't think they'll sell it, it probably won't last out the season.

    How can they keep it alive? Half-dressed Vulcans don't seem to be enough.

  • Random nudity and forehead-of-the-week club (Score:4, Interesting)

    by kabdib ( 81955 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @11:09AM (#8031862) Homepage
    Enterprise has been well in line with Sturgeon's law: 90% of the episodes have been crap. Instead of buying decent scripts, they (hmmm) "borrowed" and rehashed old, hoary plots, substituted random nudity in favor of developing characters you could care about, and have saved so many impossible situations with the deus ex machina time-travel garbage that, well...

    I just want to see the puppy save the ship. Once. I'll Tivo episodes and fast-forward 'til I see that.

    One thing *could* save the show: Solicit scripts from old heavies. I know it's painful, but buy some writing from the likes of Harlan Ellison, David Gerrold and other people with reasonable horsepower. Doesn't even have to be their best work; I'm sure they've got something stashed away that could be adapted quickly. Heavily publicize the eps. Watch the ratings spike.

    Until some good writing happens, Enterprise will be good riddance as far as I'm concerned. Bring back Firefly. Jesus, what a business.
    • Getting the scripts from good writers.

      But I'd go a bit further. Hire the good writers to come up with a story that can be broken down into 5 years worth of scripts. A real story. One that fits with the existing mythology.

      Then, each writer could handle different scripts. Each episode would be part of the same story, but they would be told in a different fashion. You could even have one writer handling a sub-story for 5 or 6 episodes in a row.

      Do the original, "5 year mission" of the FIRST star ship to leav

  • I blame.. (Score:3, Funny)

    by phaze3000 ( 204500 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @11:42AM (#8032239) Homepage
    The criminaly bad theme music.

  • I'm Easily The Biggest Trekkie I Know (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dupper ( 470576 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @11:49AM (#8032318) Journal
    And I come pretty close to the stereotype (eg, I have a tricorder within arm's reach). And I haven't watched Enterprise at all since midway through last season. I still watch TOS, TNG and DS9 reruns religiously, but I just can't stand Enterprise.

    After Nemesis and Enterprise, Star Trek needs to die. Brannon Braga and Rick Berman are a bunch of greedy fuckwits, dumbing down and morally sterilizing the franchise (God, I hate Janeway) to attract Mr. and Mrs. MTV lobotomized American, and should be killed as horribly and painfully as possible.

    Okay, a little far. But Star Trek needs some serious time off, after which it should be handed over to someone who might actually care about the franchise, and hire proven, good writers who aren't afraid to take a chance. Berman, the franchise's current head, was Roddenberry's money guy, and Braga, the main writer, is a wannabe Jerry Bruckheimer hack, and he's not even very good at that. Someone like Joss Whedon (not sure if he even likes Star Trek, but he'd still do well), Ira Steven Behr, or even fucking Jonathan Frakes. I'm sure there are other, better candidates, but I haven't done my research.

    The best idea I've heard, I'd even go so far as to say the only idea that might salvage our beloved Trek, is to do "Star Trek Adventures" (lame name, but I'm not in fucking marketing). Essentially, a series of short miniseries set in various times and places throughout the mythology. Like 3 gritty episodes following a Klingon strike team in the Dominion War, then a few following Q around, having fun. You could jump to way the fuck in the future and watch the crew of the Enterprise-Q make first (well, second) contact with the Andromeda galaxy, spend an episode following the successful assimilation of a civilization from the people's point of view, then another, from the Borgs', and then spend a few weeks chronicling Khan's rise to power in the 21st century. You could take any genre, jam it into a Star Trek setting, and have a go. It's unlimited! They could even pander to a few episodes of CSI: Ferenginar, or a stupid sitcom set on Bolius Prime. Hell, after a hiatus, you might even enjoy dropping in on the NX-01 for a while.

    The current producers need to go, they need to get the fuck off UPN, and they possibly even need to ditch the whole lone ship of exploration thing. TOS and TNG were mostly original, DS9 went somewhere entirely different, and did damn well at it (mostly because Berman and Braga ignored it, and left it to his subordinates), Voyager was utterly derivative of TOS and TNG, with a quarter the enthusiasm and passion, and Enterprise started out as the third iteration of the law of diminishing returns on the whole lone ship in an increasingly sickeningly PC unexplored space. Something like "Star Trek Adventures", without Berman and Braga, is the only way to save Star Trek.

  • B&B are the problem (Score:4, Insightful)

    by laird ( 2705 ) <lairdp@gmail.TWAINcom minus author> on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @12:59PM (#8033080) Journal
    The real problem with Star Trek is that it's controlled by a pair of egotists who:

    1) Think of Star Trek as a franchise to be exploited, instead of as an opportunity to tell great stories. This means that everything is derivitive retreads of existing material, because that's the safest tactic. This is whey don't hire real SF writers (e.g. Niven, Ellison, Gerrold) but instead hire TV writers who slap SF gadgetry and doubletalk over generic TV show plots.

    2) resent the fact that everyone likes Gene Roddenberry's work better, and keep trying to create an "original vision" instead of executing GR's vision well. This is why they even took the name "Star Trek" off of Enterprise. They don't want to make Star Trek a success, they want to make something "new" a success, only they don't have the guts to actually create anything new, so they're trying to hijack Star Trek. This same issue is why the movie of Dune sucked (the director didn't want to simply film Dune, but had to get his ego involved), but LOTR was wonderful (Jackson told the original story perfectly, no ego BS), only Enterprise gets to suck weekly.

    It's a shame, since Star Trek has so many fans, and the actors and effects in Enterprise are first rate. It's just the writing that sucks.

    My advice: hire real SF writers and give them real creative control. Or watch Outer Limits instead. Or Farscape, Lexx, or SG-1....

  • Hate, from the bottom of my soul, to say this ... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by WCityMike ( 579094 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @02:43PM (#8034235)
    ... but good.

    I can't say I'm sorry to hear that Enterprise is in danger of cancellation. I recently began reading Star Trek Creator: The Authorized Biography of Gene Roddenberry, and hearing in Roddenberry's own words about his vision of Star Trek, I can only say that the current Trek producers are pretty much raping the hell out of the Trek dream for pure marketing and financial reasons. Most of the movies and television series have become incredibly jingoistic and militaristic, and both ironically pretty much encompass almost every single thing that Roddenberry warns against. Roddenberry didn't have it perfect, either, but he cared with an obsessive-compulsive passion about the cohesiveness of his creation. The loss of that shows clearly. And the sheer contempt for prior series continuity that is evident in Enterprise absolutely disgusts me.

    I'm a Trek fan. Not a con-attending, fanfic-writing one, but certainly semi-passionate; I often find myself reading the books, trying to catch the movies, etc. I was a Trekker even before TNG came out, and read the books as a young teenager. And right now, I could see nothing better for the franchise than for it to die. It's been milked to death and beyond, and the people in charge of the franchise now remind me of necrophiliacs who will simply continue humping the corpse until it decays to dust around them. Strong words, but sincerely, non-trollishly meant.

  • Great research! (Score:4, Informative)

    by Snaller ( 147050 ) on Tuesday January 20, 2004 @03:27PM (#8034685) Journal
    Wow, journalism is getting better all the time... an anonymous person writes a note to cinescape telling them he's heard the people on the set are worried about getting cancled... wow - that's some cool research right there!

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