News Exclusive: Scott Bakula Eyeing Star Trek Return In President Archer Series Pitch From ‘Enterprise’ Producer

[ChristopherPike]

I don't recall anybody but George Takei giving a Captain Sulu series the oxygen of publicity. Certainly nothing clicked with anyone working on either DS9 or VOY writer's rooms or Rick Berman - beyond his return being one of two things that celebrated then 30 years of TOS. What was the convention circuit like then? Did any writers join George on stage to present their pitch to fans? Or was it just hardcore wishful thinking and sheer force of the Sulu actor's personality live onstage?

Meanwhile I think the line of thinking about "What happened to Archer after Enterprise..." was among the specific things Kurtzman mentioned while they were optimistically determining whether ideas were either future series, or another streaming movie like Section 31. So it's difficult to know whether it really came from Sussman first or a seed planted by the present regime - which it might've been given the number of references throughout Discovery and SNW.

 

[Deleted member 104212]

And now he even wants his own Admiral Sulu show.

Interview: George Takei Talks Timeliness Of ‘Beam Me Up, Sulu’ Doc; Wants To Return As Star Trek Admiral

"Gene Roddenberry had a mission… He wanted to make the statement that our diversity was our strength."

trekmovie.com

I mean, we wouldn't be here without TOS. And Sulu was and is a major part of the franchise. But seriously...

 

[tharpdevenport]

We'd still be here is TOS didn't have Sulu or Takei. Seriously, this guy needs a to get a grip. He pissed and moaned for years with statements about Shatner that didn't always add up or were just demonstrably false, went around saying all kinds of stupid shit over the years, and those dingle'member berries just won't wipe away and he has this delusion Sulu's going to be something and we're clamoring for it. I'm/we're not clamoring for Admiral Sulu than an Admiral fill in the blank.

I'm reminded of a scene from an episode of "The Simpsons" where we see Jay Sherman ("The Critic") in a mental hospital repeatedly saying, "It stinks! It stinks! It stinks!" and a employee says, "Yes, Mr. Sher,man, everything stinks" trying to comfort his delusions. That's Takei right now. "Admiral Sulu! Admiral Sulu! Admiral Sulu!" / Fans: "Yes, George, we all want more Sulu."

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Takei's not stopping the world from spinning, either. He's not the one who need to get a grip.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Unequal comparisons are worth as much as Fool's Gold-pressed Latinum.

 

[XCV330]

. Also, I just can't see Aw Shucks Archer in something like Andor.

Dude was a space pirate and threatened people with torture when he felt it would get results. After "Dear Doctor" he was basically responsible for genocide even if he was trying to do the right thing. I'm not sure there ever really was an Aw Shucks Archer

 

[PCz911]

This Archer show is just the modern day Captain Worf.

And Captain Sulu before that.

Funny….but true

 

[FederationHistorian]

Maybe they would look to Andor as a roadmap. Have Archer doing a "Mon Mothma" dealing with political stuff on Earth and a "Cassian" out in field.

I think that's the idea.

And its worth noting that Enterprise already set up an Andor-like plot decades ago through the Vulcan Reformation arc. With Administrator V'Las (and his Romulan benefactors) pushing state control, suppression of dissent, deception, militarism, ideological erasure - all fascism related traits.

United would just be a continuation of that, but on a more galactic scale amidst a Federation-Romulan Cold War backdrop, a possibly polarized Vulcan society (civil war?), and showing logic extremists and possibly how Vulcan was conquered (as Bones put it in TOS), and cameos from a 20-something Sarek. While showing how the Federation became the Federation.

 

[F. King Daniel]

You know how Trek likes to be topical? Imagine this show and it's Space Epstein Island

 

[Tomalak]

You know how Trek likes to be topical? Imagine this show and it's Space Epstein Island

Risa exposed. Worf was right all along.

 

[Soong-type Android]

I can't imagine there's much clamour for a return to the era of one the most unpopular and maligned Trek series, but in the hands of the right people it might actually redeem Enterprise depending on what they do. I'm not sure whether that's an "Andor" type series about Archer as Federation president or perhaps finally seeing the Romulan war on screen.

 

[Skywalker]

ENT's impact on the pop culture zeitgeist was so nonexistent that I don't think very many normies would see a trailer for United and think, "Why are they making a show based on the bad one?" Most of them wouldn't even know it's a sequel to ENT.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Oh, I think Enterprise did have an impact on popular culture. Just not necessarily a positive one. Most of it centred around a Star Trek show using a pop song for a TV theme, and unfortunately carrying the can for ending an extraordinary 18 year run on mainstream airwaves in one form or other. If there's anything residual to that, it's redeeming what is in the public consciousness as its whole reputation - with the occasional "not as bad as you were told it was" reassessment when actually binging it.

It's obviously distilled down to the one with Scott Bakula in it - see chat shows whenever he's essentially on to discuss anything but Enterprise, and it'll come up. Then as part of that, it's undoubtedly the one with a Captain who has a dog (although Pike seems to be getting in on that now). Then prequel, as the one set before all the others. If it were to come back in a spin-off form, those are all the ingredients United have pitched first and then everything else about Enterprise revisited if it could get approval that far. Looking at Paramount+ shows with the eye catching main actor attraction, it's probably the best shot at selling it.

I suppose the trick is - with axe-to-grind political and cultural views bearing down on the Entertainment Industry - using that swing back to a Star Trek that feels like it's got tough unreconstructed Alpha male attraction - and not lose representation or Roddenberry ideals at the point he died. To not de-evolve completely back to the attitudes found in Original Series era TV or even 1980's begun Next Gen,.as people who bandy words like woke and abbreviations like DEI might wish the world was still like. Presumably in the belief they're now the one's discriminated against, or pushed to the margins, not seeing themselves positively depicted anymore in movies and shows. It's shameful that we might've come to this point, when watching Star Trek movies and Next Generation growing up, the world of 1990's TV seemed such a much more simpler welcoming place and diverse without even appearing to try so hard. Of course ask somebody who was gay for instance, and the reality of programme making was much more unequal - when isn't it for somebody out there? - but in my mind at least, the universe onscreen didn't show signs of any prejudice against.

 

[The Wormhole]

I think Enterprise did have an impact on popular culture. Just not necessarily a positive one. Most of it centred around a Star Trek show using a pop song for a TV theme,

I don't think that counts as "impact on popular culture" as I doubt many outside Trek fandom knew or cared what Enterprise's theme song was. Indeed, throughout Enterprise's run there seemed to be a general ignorance amongst the Gen Pop regarding its very existence. I remember whenever I was involved in Trek conversations in the real world during Enterprise's run, a question asked almost every time was "are they even doing new Star Trek episodes anymore?"

These days, if Enterprise is even recognized outside of Trek circles, it's just as "the Star Trek with Scott Bakula." Its footprint on pop culture is very small.

 

[Skywalker]

I do feel bad for calling ENT "the bad one" because I do like it. But it is pretty much remembered as the worst of the Berman-era shows.

 

[Turtletrekker]

I do feel bad for calling ENT "the bad one" because I do like it. But it is pretty much remembered as the worst of the Berman-era shows.

Not by me.

 

[HotRod]

But it is pretty much remembered as the worst of the Berman-era shows.

That would be Voyager, the show with the absolute most wasted potential.

 

[Skywalker]

You guys realize I'm talking about the general population, right?

 

[Dukhat]

You guys realize I'm talking about the general population, right?

When you say 'general population,' what do you mean? Star Trek fans who don't have a membership on the TrekBBS who were watching the show, or casual TV watchers who aren't Star Trek fans at all who might have been watching the show?

 

[Skywalker]

When you say 'general population,' what do you mean? Star Trek fans who don't have a membership on the TrekBBS who were watching the show, or casual TV watchers who aren't Star Trek fans at all who might have been watching the show?

Casual TV watchers who would make up the bulk of United's prospective audience.