Enterprise... not fun enough? Too serious?

[ALF]

I've read more than once in the Trek XI forum things that suggest, both directly and indirectly that the Trek's sequel series' (and of course, Enterprise as the immediate ancestor) lacked fun. Something the new film (cl)aims to deliver on.

The Trek XI trailer has established reactions such as, "Trek is finally FUN again!", so that leads me to wonder... was Enterprise really serious?

Of course, nothing is goofier than TOS... and DS9 got silly quite frequently, but I'm trying to remember if Enterprise was too serious before I get out the DVD library to check. I don't think it was too serious, but having not watched it in over a year...

Any opinions?

EDIT: Wow, I just remembered season three, The Xindi attack, T'pol's addiction and Trip's sister... oh my.

 

[Mach5]

I've read more than once in the Trek XI forum things that suggest, both directly and indirectly that the Trek's sequel series' (and of course, Enterprise as the immediate ancestor) lacked fun. Something the new film (cl)aims to deliver on.

The Trek XI trailer has established reactions such as, "Trek is finally FUN again!", so that leads me to wonder... was Enterprise really serious?

Of course, nothing is goofier than TOS... and DS9 got silly quite frequently, but I'm trying to remember if Enterprise was too serious before I get out the DVD library to check. I don't think it was too serious, but having not watched it in over a year...

Any opinions?

EDIT: Wow, I just remembered season three, The Xindi attack, T'pol's addiction and Trip's sister... oh my.

In Enterprise's case, serious IS fun!

 

[SFRabid]

I've heard a lot of people here complain about Enterprise S1 and S2 because of too much comedy. Especially in Trip's dialog.

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

Enterprise S1 and S2 sucked because it was like the Roger Moore of James Bond: it had stupid plots where the characters were inconsistently stuck between acting serious and acting goofy.

TOS was great because it was "fun" in that while each episode may have had a far out premise, it invoked a sense of wonder while our heroes dealt seriously with the issues. Not so much with ENT, imho unfortunately.

Hopefully Trek XI will bring Trek back to its roots.

 

[ALF]

Enterprise S1 and S2 sucked because it was like the Roger Moore of James Bond: it had stupid plots where the characters were inconsistently stuck between acting serious and acting goofy.

TOS was great because it was "fun" in that while each episode may have had a far out premise, it invoked a sense of wonder while our heroes dealt seriously with the issues. Not so much with ENT, imho unfortunately.

I'm certainly going to agree with you about the acting style going back and forth between serious and goofy. But I would argue that many of the stories from the first two seasons were anything but stupid.

Shuttlepod One, Dead Stop, Cogenitor and Future Tense were episodes I found quite exciting... and perhaps even fresh to some degree.

But fun? Going through the series, I've found a few single episodes that seem to have an element of fun.... Feel free to challenge these, bearing in mind their merit was selected not on overall quality, but simply on a fun factor:

Unexpected - Pregnant Trip is rather amusing
The Andorian Incident - The Vulcans getting assed over all the violence
Acquisition - Forgettable but enjoyable
Carbon Creek - The Vulcan adjusting to life on Earth, as well as the story over dinner enabling the flashback
Singularity - I loved this one. The crew reminded me of the Smurfs, as each one had their own obsession. This was plenty of fun.
Precious Cargo - I know people on this board HATE this episode, but I found the contrived story and romance somewhat amusing
Impulse - Total fun! I always watch this one on Hallowe'en
E² - Rather interesting "what if" scenario, had some enjoyable moments (though season three is superserious the entire way through)
Augments Trilogy - Fantastic fun, if it weren't for the dreadful acting by the Augments, Spiner is a standout
Bound - Three space sluts on board the ship, making the men go nuts. This episode is taken too seriously.
In A Mirror Darkly - Obvious fun, what else could the mirror universe offer?

Going through the list, however. "That one's serious. That one too. Oh, that one is waaaay too serious." I think ENT certainly had more than it's fair share of seriousness.

 

[Captain X]

In A Mirror Darkly - Obvious fun, what else could the mirror universe offer?

Lesbians.

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

perfect example of characters acting out of place/stupidly:

"Silent Enemy" where Hoshi is primarily concerned with Malcolm's favorite birthday food when the ship is under attack

i mean, c'mon ppl. this is a starship. we're supposed to take this seriously?

 

[SFRabid]

.... we're supposed to take this seriously?

We're supposed to take it as entertainment. It is a TV show. It's about space travel, aliens, the future. Taking it seriously is a bit of a stretch for me. It tends to lessen the enjoyment.

 

[jgdst]

I enjoyed the darker tones that Enterprise took on in its third season, and it was a welcome return to a less intensive atmosphere in the fourth season.

I think Enterprise did try to be too serious at times. They never did straight-up comedy episodes, per se, like Voyager and DS9 did (Acquisition is the only one I can remember that tried to stick to a comedy theme). It always felt like they pulled back at the last minute and clobbered you with some moral or cliffhanger.

Two Days and Two Nights is the one that sticks in my mind for this, it didn't know whether to really go for Phlox's comedy angle, or delve deeper into the dark world of the Temporal Cold War. The fact that the events of the episode are never visited again does nothing to ease the confusion

I think it boils down to what people have mentioned so far - consistency. I think the unwillingness or inability to go one way or the other is what possibly had a hand in alienating a lot of people early on.

To be honest though, if the whole series had started out as dark as season 3, I don't think I could've stuck with it. DS9 is remarkably dark for Trek, but that still had an awful lot of humour injected into it, and it never felt forced.

 

[JiNX-01]

"Silent Enemy" where Hoshi is primarily concerned with Malcolm's favorite birthday food when the ship is under attack

Actually, it's worse than that. Archer ordered Hoshi to find out Malcolm's favorite meal.

On the other hand, the scene between her and Malcolm where he misinterprets as a romantic overture her remarks about cooking him a meal falls into the humorous category.

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

"Silent Enemy" where Hoshi is primarily concerned with Malcolm's favorite birthday food when the ship is under attack

Actually, it's worse than that. Archer ordered Hoshi to find out Malcolm's favorite meal.

On the other hand, the scene between her and Malcolm where he misinterprets as a romantic overture her remarks about cooking him a meal falls into the humorous category.

i thought that whole "humourous subplot" detracted from the story in general

 

[kissthestar]

ENT had lots of humor. All of the Treks have had plentiful moments of humor.

 

[ALF]

It did.
But given it's cancellation, plus the overwhelming support following the new Trek trailer has me wondering if Enterprise was touting the wrong kind of humor.

 

[Anna Yolei]

I've heard a lot of people here complain about Enterprise S1 and S2 because of too much comedy. Especially in Trip's dialog.

As a few people mentioned, it wasn't so much too much comedy so much as the wrong kind. "A Night In Sick Bay" is one rather notorious example of this.

 

[Michael]

Enterprise's humor was just fine. Bakula, Trinneer and Billingsley had great comedic talent and timing.

 

[Trevacious]

Not enough of anything to live by.

 

[ALF]

Billingsley in particular was fantastic.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

^^ Agreed. His range is astonishing. Consider his hilarious turn in "Two Days and Two Nights"--that scene in which T'Pol and Cutler are trying to wake him from his hibernation is a scream. (The outtake is just as funny--no one could keep a straight face.) At the other end of the spectrum is Billingsley's work in scenes such as the one in "Damage" in Archer's wreck of a ready room, where Phlox and Archer talk quietly in the shadows about crossing ethical lines. Great stuff.

I think Enterprise had really nice moments of humor. The best moments for me were the most natural ones...characters acting spontaneously, goofing around, letting their natural senses of humor, and the humor of whatever situation, emerge. If the show had gone more seasons, it might have had the opportunity to do those "showcase" funny shows that cropped up on all the other Trek shows...the kind of stuff a series can do when it has found its legs, is comfortably entrenched in a network schedule, and isn't fighting for its survival.

Too serious? Not for me. In Season 3, serious was the name of the game. A lot of humor would have been inappropriate, but they snuck some in when they could. To their credit, TPTB explored some very dark stuff, and I was riveted.

 

[Captain X]

If anything ENT wasn't serious enough. The comedy relief of S2 particularly was over the top.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

If you want fun, watch Galaxy Quest.

Give me drama and intrigue and fear and war any day.