Then, of course, there was the two guest appearances by Seth McFarlane. If I remember correctly, he gets berated by Trip both times he appeared.
The astronauts were not professional actors, so expecting anything beyond "stand in the background and don't fall over" would probably be a stretch. I don't think it was done for publicity, more just for the feel-good factor - lots of NASA people are fans, and having them visit gives the crew and cast a bit of a morale boost (plus writers and producers come onto set to shake hands and get autographs). I don't think ANY special cameos like this were done for publicity. Seth Macfarlane having one line wasn't going to attract Family Guy fans, Christian Slater wasn't even credited for his line in TUC, and what on earth would be the commercial value of having the king of Jordan on the show?
Really the same reason you have any cameo from a non-actor. I mean, there was Hawking on TNG that I can recall (insert joke here), The Rock on VOY, among others off the top of my head. Stargate SG-1 did a lot of similar things, with cameos from two active duty Air Force Generals making appearances. Often times its for publicity, it looks cool, and you get some fun shots, like the crew of the TOS Enterprise with the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
I welcome ALL cameos in the STAR TREK franchise. I was just saying it would also be nice to have them mean a little more to the episode they're in, except as a wink to the audience. In a similar vein, it's something, really, how many guest stars in STAR TREK were cast when they were nobody and went on to become internationally famous. STAR TREK does not look bad on an actor's CV ...
Scheduling may not have allowed it. Keep in mind that SAG rules, stunt rules, and the like, that will limit those options, as well as a shooting schedule. It's one thing to be a guest star, or an up and coming actor, who is working to be part of that industry. It's another thing to be an outsider just wanting to appear in your favorite show.
SAG rules is something I had not considered. Also, I'm sure NASA has its own restrictions on things like cameos, as well. The pressure NASA puts on its astronauts, in terms of how they're expected to behave outside of the job, is oppressive, as I'm given to understand. Look at that one lady astronaut from years back, who dressed like Elton John (complete with hat, shades and trenchcoat) and put on Depends to drive a thousand miles to threaten her competition for another astronaut's affections. It's a Mad, Mad World ...
I've not seen that many ENT episodes I hear it's not so popular but anyway my favorite- Dear Doctor-love it, hate it it's very gripping Damage-Archer becomes a pirate to survive
General thoughts ? I liked it. First 2 seasons had a few weaker episodes but far more good than bad and I really enjoyed season 3. The Xindi story is up there with Trek at it's absolute best. Season 4 was enjoyable as well bar one pretty major annoyance. No prizes for guessing what that would be.
I think Enterprise was a missed opportunity, but not a complete waste. I really enjoyed Season 4, and once I got over the fact that there was never any direct mention of the Xindi in any of the other shows, I enjoyed Season 3. There are some sporadic high points in the first two seasons, but overall, nah...
Now that George Lucas is done with Star Wars, we could ask him to take over Star Trek, and insert the more recent aliens into all the old movies and TV series. That would be awesome!
Am I wrong to like the enterprise theme song and the historical path it shows? I know some people say generic bad rock-but I could see what it meant and what the writers were trying to to say progress and all man moving forward.
Nope. Many people do like it--myself included--but it's fundamentally different than anything that came before, so I can why it's also disliked.
So speaking of a particular episode-what was everyone's opinion of Dear Doctor? It's one of Enterprise' most controversial episodes I'm curious as to people's opine ones.
As a song to rock out to, "Faith of the Heart" fails miserably. But as main-title music for a TV show, it suffices. I never understood the backlash, myself. I've found that most of STAR TREK TV has not been blessed in the theme song department. The music generally tends to be too garish. Too distracting ... even mildly annoying. Some replacement offerings for "Faith of the Heart" that fans have suggested were of questionable taste. For example, songs by The Beatles. 50 year old druggie music? They can't be serious ...
Druggies or not, they wrote great tunes. I have to ask, what's your opinion on the TNG theme? Because I'd say both DS9 and VOY are less "garish" than that.
The theme used by TNG, obviously, was nicked from STAR TREK: The Motion Picture - where it worked, very well and sounds quite wonderful. TNG, however, plays the theme brighter and uptempo, which completely robs it of its grandeur. It ends up sounding rushed and repetitive, on television, rather than powerful and poetic, as it does in the movie. So, I'm reluctant to call it garish, as the piece is quite brilliant, in its original form.