a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivia

[F. King Daniel]

THIS is a fascinating summary of everything we learn on Enterprise's season 2 bluray extras. I'm happy with my DVDs, so this is the first I've heard of a lot of this.

A not-Braga producer (Berman?) upset Bakula during the pilot shoot when he told Bakula that Star Trek captains can’t bleed.

Braga now claims adding the TNG homage to the finale was his biggest regret regarding “Enterprise.”

“I think part of the problem, honestly,
was being stuck with this fucking standalone-episode shit was really crippling us creatively,” says Braga of “Enterprise’s” early seasons. “Star Trek was primed to do something different. [‘Enterprise’] should have done something different from the beginning.” Braga says the show should have been Earthbound in season one and should have employed serialized storytelling from the get-go. “I blame the studio for pushing us to do more of the same,” admits Braga.

One fan mailed a cardboard box full of rotting garbage to the “Enterprise” production offices with a note: “This is what you’ve done to Star Trek.”

Goodman suggests the series might have been better served by depicting how Earth ended war and hunger and poverty rather than casually referencing that all that trouble was done and fixed.

Berman says he would always veto a storyline in which a crewman’s legs were blown off because that would not be true to Gene Roddenberry’s vision.

Black says it was frustrating to the writing staff “that we never got to kill anybody.” He says people got killed in “The Right Stuff” and that’s how the sense of danger was conveyed.

Billingsly concurs, opining that the prototype transporter malfunctions could have been more grisly. Black laments the day producers informed him that the ship’s transporter was no longer a dangerous device.

 

[Isolinear]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

Thanks King Daniel. Reading now. So many interesting tidbits. Looks like the fans were not the only ones who thought the first two seasons were a pile of poo.

 

[Richard Baker]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

This is what happens when instead of one man with vision you have a room full of people all shouting their own agendas.
I liked the show but it could have been so much more.

 

[Isolinear]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

Braga remembers Goodman’s first script – 2.11 “Precious Cargo,” which depicted Trip falling for hot extraterrestrial royalty played by a pre-“Top Chef” Padma Lakshmi – as one of the worst Trek episodes ever.

Man that episode was bad. Basically an "Elaan of Troyius"/"The Perfect Mate" ripoff with a very bad 'actress'. She was literally reading her lines out loud.

One exec, says Braga, pitched the idea that a different boy band would board the Enterprise and perform a musical number each week.

OH...MY....GOD!!!

Braga says when he brought longtime “Deep Space Nine” head writer Ira Steven Behr into the “Enterprise” offices in hopes of luring him onto the senior staff, Behr “shit all over the show. I mean, he shit on the show like I’ve never heard.”

Oh, how I would like to have been a fly on the wall.

Braga says the highly serialized third season was the first season in which he “enjoyed writing every single episode.”
“I always thought season four should have been season one,” laments Braga.

Strange. Wasn't there an interview with Braga years ago in which he states that the first two seasons were what he and Berman intended with the show...?

Braga remembers firing most of the “Enterprise” writing staff between the first and second seasons.

Didn't know that! Obviously didn't help. Season 2 was worse than season 1.

Berman says he would always veto a storyline in which a crewman’s legs were blown off because that would not be true to Gene Roddenberry’s vision.

So, how did "The Siege of AR-558" slip through?

 

[bullethead]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

Berman says he would always veto a storyline in which a crewman’s legs were blown off because that would not be true to Gene Roddenberry’s vision.

So, how did "The Siege of AR-558" slip through?

I heard it was because they reduced it to one leg being blown off instead of two.

 

[dub]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

Braga says the highly serialized third season was the first season in which he “enjoyed writing every single episode.”
“I always thought season four should have been season one,” laments Braga.

But looking at the list, Braga only wrote/co-wrote 5 episodes in season 3, and only 1 in season 4 (the "valentine"). Compare that to seasons 1 & 2 in which he wrote/co-wrote most of the episodes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Trek:_Enterprise_episodes

 

[Dukhat]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

This is what happens when instead of one man with vision you have a room full of people all shouting their own agendas.
I liked the show but it could have been so much more.

Exactly. While I do believe that Berman was worn out creatively, and Braga should never have been made an executive producer, the blame for what happened rested far more on UPN's shoulders than B&B's.

It's funny that fans tend to place all the blame on B&B, and yet nobody seems to blame Dawn Ostroff. I'd bet many people don't even know who Dawn Ostroff is, but she was far more detrimental to ENT than B&B ever was.

 

[Praetor]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

I well remember the very vocal outcry against the Killer Beebs years ago - in fact, I was one of the ones outcrying. In hindsight, I regret that. You can tell that Braga at least, and probably Berman too, were trying to make good television and beyond that trying to make good Star Trek, but were fighting an uphill battle against network execs and franchise fatigue.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

Berman says he would always veto a storyline in which a crewman’s legs were blown off because that would not be true to Gene Roddenberry’s vision.

So, how did "The Siege of AR-558" slip through?

I heard it was because they reduced it to one leg being blown off instead of two.

Berman didn't bother much with DS9 by the late seasons, and according to rumor, Behr was usually successful rebuffing his interference.

 

[Isolinear]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

I well remember the very vocal outcry against the Killer Beebs years ago - in fact, I was one of the ones outcrying. In hindsight, I regret that.

I remember reading the forums back then, during the last year(s) of Enterprise. It was madness!!! B&B hate in every single thread. Many, MANY people actually hoping Enterprise would get cancelled. Well, they got what they wished for. Sad.

 

[Yanks]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

Not sure if purchasing the Blu-ray version of Enterprise is worth it just to get the extras.

For those of you that have them, is the picture quality a marked improvement?

 

[R. Star]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

What a charming thread title.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

THIS is a fascinating summary of everything we learn on Enterprise's season 2 bluray extras. I'm happy with my DVDs, so this is the first I've heard of a lot of this.

A not-Braga producer (Berman?) upset Bakula during the pilot shoot when he told Bakula that Star Trek captains can’t bleed.

Say what? I'm remembering some fine bloody stripes on Kirk.

Maybe this is why Archer had to make up for such malarkey by getting beat up a lot?

Braga now claims adding the TNG homage to the finale was his biggest regret regarding “Enterprise.”

That's nice. Was he still going to kill of Trip even without smarm-face there to see it?

Black says it was frustrating to the writing staff “that we never got to kill anybody.” He says people got killed in “The Right Stuff” and that’s how the sense of danger was conveyed.

What about Hayes?! That hurt, that was a kick in the gut.

Billingsly concurs, opining that the prototype transporter malfunctions could have been more grisly. Black laments the day producers informed him that the ship’s transporter was no longer a dangerous device.

NO THANK YOU STILL TRAUMATIZED FROM TMP

 

[dub]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

Braga now claims adding the TNG homage to the finale was his biggest regret regarding “Enterprise.”

That's nice. Was he still going to kill of Trip even without smarm-face there to see it?

Some people say swarm-face is tasty.

...And some people say Beverly sucks. But I digress.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

Berman says he would always veto a storyline in which a crewman’s legs were blown off because that would not be true to Gene Roddenberry’s vision.

So, how did "The Siege of AR-558" slip through?

I heard it was because they reduced it to one leg being blown off instead of two.

What is this about? Why does Gene envision a future where bombs don't totally maim you?

 

[SpHeRe31459]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

THIS is a fascinating summary of everything we learn on Enterprise's season 2 bluray extras. I'm happy with my DVDs, so this is the first I've heard of a lot of this.

A not-Braga producer (Berman?) upset Bakula during the pilot shoot when he told Bakula that Star Trek captains can’t bleed.

Say what? I'm remembering some fine bloody stripes on Kirk.

Maybe this is why Archer had to make up for such malarkey by getting beat up a lot?

Remember this is TNG-era Gene Roddenberry, not TOS Gene. TNG Gene's outlook changed quite a lot. Berman was always trying to stop and think about WWGD (What Would Gene Do) in the way he ran the franchise. He says so on one of the TNG Blu-ray documentaries and on Rod Rodenberry's doc TrekNation.

He had a bust of Gene in his office and he'd blindfold it as a symbol when he would give in and approve something he didn't think Gene would like.

http://weminoredinfilm.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/roddenberry-blindfold.jpg

I bet that blindfold was on a lot for Ira Steven Behr's meetings

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

Oh wow, did not know that. Thanks for that hilarious pic, NEEDS CAPTION! LOL.

So did Picard never bleed?

 

[SpHeRe31459]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

So did Picard never bleed?

Not that I can recall.

 

[dub]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

So did Picard never bleed?

Not that I can recall.

Yes he did. And apparently it hurt so good:

 

[F. King Daniel]

Re: a box of rotting garbage, "standalone episode sh*t" and more trivi

^Ah, but he was technically a mere cadet back then. Cadets bleed real good - just ask Peter Preston.