News Billingsley: Why Star Trek: Enterprise Failed

Exactly.

 

THAT'S NOT TRUE!!! He did not once say "fiddlesticks" in the entire interview!!

Spoiler

 

It was just a bad show that got off on the wrong foot with the fanbase. They promised a fresh and new take on Star Trek in a period we hadn't seen before, but it had the same cinematography, the same feel of the sets, they just changed the name of a few things. No shields? Don't worry, polarise the hull plating etc. The ship was basically an Akira class, hence the whole Akiraprise meme.

It should have been a show akin to Galactica or Expanse as far as design and feel went, maybe not as realistic or dark, but with less advanced weaponry and technology. There was absolutely no creativity in the show and it was pretty tone deaf.

 

I enjoyed that article. I did not picture him as an F bomb kinda guy, but he made interesting points.
The censorship, and UPN being bastards constantly changing the show's time slot, or it was not on at all when it was supposed to be. I a totally remember that. I'd tune in and it was either not on, or just ending. Even the changed time slot you'd find a sports talk show. Who the F cares about that!
This happened to x-files too.
Its almost as if most tv networks hate sci-fi or something. Whoever the idiot was who showed bias should have been fired and UPN sued.
I can see about the confusion on the direction of the show, but to me that's what made it underrated. I think the problem was it was so different, but now everyone loves it and wished it had continued. The show just got better and better.
I can honestly say I will never say this about anything on CBS all access though or paramount plus produced by Kurtzman.
Do not get me started on the Abrams nightmare montrocity that ruined the franchise.

 

I disagree with people ragging on the first season. They act the same in season 2.
Season 1 was great, S2 started getting better, s3 and s4 very exciting.
I love the stand alone episodes from s1 and s2.

 

I have to agree with this. I was honestly hoping for a more limited technological premise. I had no issue with the NX-01 design and never got the Akiraprise moniker. Stupid nickname is stupid in my book.

But, yeah, the prevalence of technobabble, coupled with unenjoyable characters for the most part made it very much on the wrong foot.

 

The transporter should have had at least one fatal accident a'la ST:TMP. This is a device that's 122 years younger in ENT than it was when the same basic technology killed Commander Sonak and another Starfleet officer. The network interfering and telling the writers that the transporter worked just fine sounds like the kind of garbage that would make some writers walk off the series.

Suits at the network are rarely if ever the best people to make creative decisions within a TV series.

 

Montro City. I think DC has a superhero based there. Hyperbolic Man.

 

Till some stupid with a flare gun showed up.

 

As time rolls merrily by, I don't actually view Enterprise as a 'failure'. Yes, it was cancelled (much like TOS) but after f-o-u-r seasons which, I think, is a pretty good run really. Some poor episodes, some great, some 'meh' and some mighty.

 

ENT lasted longer than TOS, TAS or - so far - any of the new Kurtzman Era series. It may not have done a whole lot right in the context of the time it originally aired but it didn't exactly bomb out and fizzle.

 

With 98 episodes, it will likely still have a bigger episode count than if any of the current shows get to a season 7.

 

Good point, certainly underlines that the amount of seasons doesn't necessarily reflect success or failure.

 

Given how much each episode costs these days, seasons really could be 20-26 episodes each. Just spread the money out more. The problem is there is so much little post production stuff... a lot not really necessary, in my opinion. Take out that, and you have more episodes.

You don't need a big budget to tell a good story.

 

Heck, a streaming season with a bare minimum of 20 or even 15 episodes could give viewers more entertainment value and variety.

 

As much as I would love larger episode counts and agree with you on how and why that's still possible, I don't think this is comparable specifically because TPTB are clearly uninterested in spreading the budget out these days. I don't think it's fair to compare anything but the number of seasons at best, and even then, that's been trending downward for most TV dramas as well.

I'd go so far as to say that four to five seasons is the new seven, at least as far as the streaming landscape is concerned.

 

I don't trust showrunners with 10 to 15. I'm not giving them more.