My single-reason theory Enterprise didn't last

[Colonel Green]

I don't know to what degree the theme contributed to the show's demise, but I give you my personal experience.

I was living with 3 roommates when Ent was on (non-Trek fans), and I was horribly embarrassed every time the theme started. Sometimes they'd make up satirical lyrics, which they NEVER did for any other show no matter HOW dorky.

It got so bad that I resorted to taping ENT and watching it when nobody was around

 

[Ezri II]

For fun, the folks at startrek.com put this together at the beginning of Season 4, using "Archer's Theme" and the traditional way of opening a Star Trek show with an Enterprise. I think it would have been great:

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/videoview?id=7730&episodeid=6485&count=-1

Have noticed that on YOUTUBE. In my judgment, it is the best. May have been better if the voice of T'Pol or Hoshi.

The reason why I feel that Enterprise failed. It was on UPN and not on SCI-fi. It did not have writters that really understood Star Trek. The characters came off dry and without a soul.

 

[RobertScorpio]

For fun, the folks at startrek.com put this together at the beginning of Season 4, using "Archer's Theme" and the traditional way of opening a Star Trek show with an Enterprise. I think it would have been great:

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/videoview?id=7730&episodeid=6485&count=-1

Have noticed that on YOUTUBE. In my judgment, it is the best. May have been better if the voice of T'Pol or Hoshi.

The reason why I feel that Enterprise failed. It was on UPN and not on SCI-fi. It did not have writters that really understood Star Trek. The characters came off dry and without a soul.

All true..and since the problem was with the writing, as with later seasons of VOY I might add, it would not have mattered where it was aired...even in a plum spot, right after CSI or DANCING WITH THE STARS, those two Trek shows would have not succeeded IMO.

Rob

 

[Morfius]

The theme song. It was just a horrendous, sucking the bacteria-off-of-the-bottom-of-the-LA River, insulting to our intelligence display of aural diarrhea on a piece of stale wonderbread ever to grace a show so great.

I loved Enterprise, but that theme song just kills me. I really believe the death of the show was because of this. I hope so at least.

The year after Enterprise was canceled, my local station re-ran season 4. When they would show the teaser from next week, the music was always from the Mirror Darkly Theme.

 

[Alex1939]

Yes, the theme song is horrible. Talk about turning off a large portion of your potential audience.


But the main reason it failed, imo, was the lack of HD programming.

The show's effects are GORGEOUS in high definition. I think the show would've done much better had it began a few years later, when more people could have taken advantage of the amazing special effects.


That as well as several things mentioned previously. Certainly the writing and storylines in the first two seasons could have been more compelling.

 

[Mirror_Barclay]

I like the theme... but then, I rather like Enterprise, including the early seasons.

And four seasons isn't a failure - I'd have liked seven, but not a lot of shows make it four.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Well technically Enterprise wasn't canceled after 4 seasons, TNG was canceled after 25 seasons.

 

[Mach5]

Well technically Enterprise wasn't canceled after 4 seasons, TNG was canceled after 25 seasons.

If by TNG you mean the "spin off era," then yes, you're right.

And four seasons isn't a failure - I'd have liked seven, but not a lot of shows make it four.

I still think that 4 seasons is not a failure, and a lot less people would see it as such had TATV never happened
(OK, OK, thou shall not mention TATV in a non-TATV thread, I know... )

 

[bluedana]

All true..and since the problem was with the writing, as with later seasons of VOY I might add, it would not have mattered where it was aired...even in a plum spot, right after CSI or DANCING WITH THE STARS, those two Trek shows would have not succeeded IMO.

True conclusion, but it has nothing to do with the writing. Trek is a niche show, and it will always have a tiny viewership compared with, say, police procedurals or reality programming. The vast majority of the viewing public just isn't going to stick around for a sci-fi show, not even if every episode were written by Isaac Asimov. Shows out of the mainstream, even critical darlings, usually die a quick death (see, for example, Pushing Daisies). UPN never had the commitment to ENT that, say, Sci-Fi Channel has to BSG. Shows like BSG, Stargate (and its spinoffs) or Doctor Who will always be dwarfed by the big number moneymakers like American Idol, and instead of measuring ENT's success as compared to other nichy shows, UPN called it a failure and ditched it.

As to the theme song theory: Sheesh. All remotes have mute buttons. Dumb reason to ditch a show.

 

[milo bloom]

I can't help but feel that the thinking by TPTB in regards to the theme song was an indicator of the deeper issues that truly plagued the show (the writing, the cookie cutter cast, Trip excluded, and yes, even the canon violations). The old saying about lipstick on a pig or even polishing turd comes to mind. If you don't start with a good base, then no matter how much you shiny something up it's not going to work.

The year after Enterprise was canceled, my local station re-ran season 4. When they would show the teaser from next week, the music was always from the Mirror Darkly Theme.

This says a lot more than people realize: when they were making IAMD, you could tell they really cut loose with the writing and allowed themselves to actually write interesting characters, and they made a new theme song to go with it that attitude carried over. I've seen people post that anecdote about stations using the IAMD music for promos before, and it just speaks volumes about how the TV people know what people want to hear and how to get their attention.

 

[bluedana]

I can't help but feel that the thinking by TPTB in regards to the theme song was an indicator of the deeper issues that truly plagued the show (the writing, the cookie cutter cast, Trip excluded, and yes, even the canon violations). The old saying about lipstick on a pig or even polishing turd comes to mind. If you don't start with a good base, then no matter how much you shiny something up it's not going to work.

The year after Enterprise was canceled, my local station re-ran season 4. When they would show the teaser from next week, the music was always from the Mirror Darkly Theme.

This says a lot more than people realize: when they were making IAMD, you could tell they really cut loose with the writing and allowed themselves to actually write interesting characters, and they made a new theme song to go with it that attitude carried over. I've seen people post that anecdote about stations using the IAMD music for promos before, and it just speaks volumes about how the TV people know what people want to hear and how to get their attention.

May have more to do with the fact that, unlike FOTH, the IAMD theme had no words and was therefore easier to edit for a promo. That and its a punchy exciting tempo.

 

[Aquehonga]

You hit a nail right on the head, maybe not the nail.

That song was cheesy & inappropriate (to say the least) for any Sci-Fi &/or Fantasy show {or film for that matter}, let alone a ST series.

But I think ENT's demise had to do with more than just that corny pop song. The song was only 1 of several problems that killed ENT.

ENT's biggest enemy was itself, & ironically ST's makers.

Instead of bumb-rushing ENT to TV less than 6 months after V'Ger's Finale, Berman & Co. should've taken a few years off before making ST's Series V.

 

[Skywalker]

I'm sure a lot of those initial 12 million viewers went "WTF?" as soon as the theme started up. But I think it was the overall blandness of the first two seasons that really killed it, particularly that post-A Night in Sickbay stretch in Season Two. It showed flashes here and there, but it wasn't enough.

ENT's biggest enemy was itself, & ironically ST's makers.

Instead of bumb-rushing ENT to TV less than 6 months after V'Ger's Finale, Berman & Co. should've taken a few years off before making ST's Series V.

In all fairness, Berman, Braga, and co. wanted to take a bit of a break after VOY to fine-tune their concept, but UPN forced them into rushing it. The abysmal Temporal Cold War also ultimately came from the studio. I'm not saying B&B are entirely innocent, but sometimes we fans tend to cast a bit more blame on them than they deserve.

 

[Belbe]

For fun, the folks at startrek.com put this together at the beginning of Season 4, using "Archer's Theme" and the traditional way of opening a Star Trek show with an Enterprise. I think it would have been great:

http://www.startrek.com/startrek/videoview?id=7730&episodeid=6485&count=-1

Have noticed that on YOUTUBE. In my judgment, it is the best. May have been better if the voice of T'Pol or Hoshi.

The reason why I feel that Enterprise failed. It was on UPN and not on SCI-fi. It did not have writters that really understood Star Trek. The characters came off dry and without a soul.

yep! that preety much sums it! the baseline concept was good! the characters were well built and the actors did a good job of it! except for Archer (I wouldn't trust that man anytime anywhere and yet i have to convince myself in every episode that he's suposed to be trustworthy) But Jolene, Connor and John did a GREAT job for instance... just to be thrown away on the next scene where all that acting artistry is thrown down the drain by the writers jumping to a new setting and forgeting wa mood the charaters where 5 mins ago! It reminds me of old movies where people dove into a river and right after getting to shore they were dry! how can you connect to a line of tought or emotion when it keeps being cut? The only line we could follow was the action and even that wasn't at it's peak except for the 4th season. Anyway, whoever became a tekkie before Enterprise, he didn't do it for the action... Why do we mainly love TOS? cos of the trio captain+Spock+Doc! TNG? Picard, Data, Riker and Deana! (though I can say i loved them ALL in that series), Voyeager? well, controversy appart, HoloDoc and Seven made it worthwile. And no matter how annoying Kathryn was, she did inspire trust and authority.

where's the interaction in Enterprise??? they do have credit that it's the FIRST time I can actually feel the atraction betwen 2 characters, so strong that it's tingling! never saw that on ST before, but that was it. The Malcom, Travis and Trip trio could have been worked in so many fun ways! They should have found a ways to spotlight the doc! his always cool and relaxed manner seriously deserved to be emphasized upon. Hoshi was barely alive! she was suposed to be the ireverent one! why not use her like they used Paris in Voyager?

and wa about the stars? where were the cool nebulas? the breathtaking scenaries with the aaaaaaawing orchestrated soundtrack? those exact things that make you dream of being on that ship! even if just for a day! They were there yes, but the design was wrong! I finally have a HUGE plasma screen and the depth of the universe looks smaller than in TNG on my old dwarf tv that had to be punched at to display the right colors!

Anyways... they did move in a better track on the 4th season so it was really stupid to end it there. (Especially considering how stupidly constructed the episode was! example: 2 days after Trip died they were all laughing and relaxing in those chairs... 10 years on a miniature ship like that with half a dozen mice inside and they don't bond enough to be heartsick at least for 2 days??? where do those writers come from? where's the humanity in that? T'Pol sounded more human than any of them! )
Anywhoo, Voyager sucked untill season 4 and then I loved every moment of it (those who don't agree, don't disperse: each to his opinion). So why not give this one the same chance? lemme guess: CBS... why don't they just admit it and stick to reality shows and soap novels? why do they even bother with decent programing? Fox would've fixed this series in the 2nd season! and they'd most certainly have publicized it decently...

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

That song was cheesy & inappropriate (to say the least) for any Sci-Fi &/or Fantasy show {or film for that matter}, let alone a ST series.

Why do you say that? It was about the "march" of civilisation from the begining to where ENT started and suitably optimistic for a Trek show. Whilst I don't particularly like it, it did seem to suit the title sequence which seems very apropriate for an SF space exploration show.

 

[Reanok]

One of my biggest problems when I watched Enterprise it aired originally on CBS Saturdays and it was constantly preempted for national football games and local College games so it made it difficult to watch Enterprise for the first 3 seasons. Sometimes it would be during the summer reruns before I got to see a show I waited months to see.

 

[xortex]

Well it certainly didn't help that the B & B's never saw TOS and just thought it was goofy. This is why you get a scene where Flox is cutting his toenails.

 

[number6]

Well it certainly didn't help that the B & B's never saw TOS and just thought it was goofy. This is why you get a scene where Flox is cutting his toenails.

Not true.

In fact Braga was instructed NOT to watch TOS when he was on TNG because GR wanted fresh ideas for TNG. As a result, TNG got some of their most imaginative episodes from Braga.

Of course Berman has seen it. He seems to think certain things about TOS are goofy in the same way some of us think certain things about TOS are goofy.

Keep in mind, a lot of creative arguments with Berman were because he slavishly upheld GR's principles.

I don't have a problem with the scene with Phlox. It was obviously played for laughs and so what? ANIS was a fun episode.

 

[xortex]

Slavish? Braga had to fight for an ear piece for Hoshi.

 

[milo bloom]

I can't help but feel that the thinking by TPTB in regards to the theme song was an indicator of the deeper issues that truly plagued the show (the writing, the cookie cutter cast, Trip excluded, and yes, even the canon violations). The old saying about lipstick on a pig or even polishing turd comes to mind. If you don't start with a good base, then no matter how much you shiny something up it's not going to work.

The year after Enterprise was canceled, my local station re-ran season 4. When they would show the teaser from next week, the music was always from the Mirror Darkly Theme.

This says a lot more than people realize: when they were making IAMD, you could tell they really cut loose with the writing and allowed themselves to actually write interesting characters, and they made a new theme song to go with it that attitude carried over. I've seen people post that anecdote about stations using the IAMD music for promos before, and it just speaks volumes about how the TV people know what people want to hear and how to get their attention.

May have more to do with the fact that, unlike FOTH, the IAMD theme had no words and was therefore easier to edit for a promo. That and its a punchy exciting tempo.

Sorry for the late reply, but the second part of what you said kinda confirms what I was trying to say. It's exciting and new, and doesn't remind you of the muzak piped into the grocery store.

Which, goes right back to what I was saying. The thinking behind choosing FOTH is indicative of the thinking that went into the rest of the series.