What Could Have Changed to Have Brought Back Enterprise?

[eyeresist]

I think with as much crap on TV (then as well as now), UPN didn't have to cancel Enterprise...
My personal opinion is that what Enterprise suffered the most from was the "filler episode syndrome." As for bringing the show back, I have long felt that Enterprise should have been brought back in a miniseries format.

I agree on UPN. Their mishandling of ENT (potentially a flagship show) was emblematic of the poor decision-making that ended in their extinction.
The miniseries approach, or maybe a series of TV movies, might have worked, but would have required good promotion by UPN, which might have been beyond them. I think it would have been better if the show had gone to another network. WB, or HBO.

 

[Nyotarules]

The "we're so weak compared to everyone else" was a poor decision. The captain's "golly gee we're in space" should never have seen the light of day..

They were weak compared to everyone else. Everyone else had been in space for milennia, humans were the new kids on the block. It was an advantage (they carried no cultural historical baggage with other species) and a disadvantage.

 

[maneth]

Am I the only ENT fan who likes Archer's character development? Granted, it wasn't always consistent, but the seasoned warrior who had become disillusioned by the number of disagreeable decisions he'd had to make that we saw in season 4 was a very different man than the "gee-whiz, humanity's actually traveling among the stars" eager explorer of the first season.

 

[Nyotarules]

Am I the only ENT fan who likes Archer's character development? Granted, it wasn't always consistent, but the seasoned warrior who had become disillusioned by the number of disagreeable decisions he'd had to make that we saw in season 4 was a very different man than the "gee-whiz, humanity's actually traveling among the stars" eager explorer of the first season.

I liked the development cos his original naivete was unbelievable. His attitude of 'we don't need weapons we're explorers nah nah nah everyone we meet is sooo gonna like us' is IMO a very American attitude and came across as pretty patronising. I guess the writers were trying not to go down 'here comes the imperialistic humans' route based on Earth's not so pretty history in real life but going to the other extreme was too much. I've read good fanfics that made Starfleet militaristic upfront but with an atittude of 'yes we come in peace but if you hit us are we more than capable of hitting back'.

 

[eyeresist]

I liked the development cos his original naivete was unbelievable. His attitude of 'we don't need weapons we're explorers nah nah nah everyone we meet is sooo gonna like us' is IMO a very American attitude and came across as pretty patronising.

They never said they didn't NEED weapons. They had torpedos, phase cannons, as well as hand weapons and an armory officer. Archer felt being heavily armed was contrary to a mission designated as "peaceful", but although he grumbled I don't think he took any decision that would mean the ship was inadequately prepared for a fight.
Also, I'd say an attitude of "we don't want guns" is pretty much the OPPOSITE of the stereotypical American attitude.

 

[Hopeful Romantic]

Am I the only ENT fan who likes Archer's character development? Granted, it wasn't always consistent, but the seasoned warrior who had become disillusioned by the number of disagreeable decisions he'd had to make that we saw in season 4 was a very different man than the "gee-whiz, humanity's actually traveling among the stars" eager explorer of the first season.

I liked it too. It wasn't the typical start-off-as-a-hero arc. We watched him become the man that Kirk would admire, after first seeing his idealistic start, then his disillusionment, then his trial by fire during the war, and the seasoned leader emerging from that, wiser, stronger, more of a statesman. Cool character arc (inconsistent writing notwithstanding). I think the last 3 seasons would have been really fun to watch, the development of the love-hate relationships with Shran and Soval.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I would had liked to see T'Pol expand on her character, and explore Vulcanian knowledge and mysteries of their culture. See their method of mapping stars and more. I think the show needed more diversity within the crew; so I wouldn't had mind seeing more of the main cast members die or leave the ship in order to introduce new characters of color like Middle-Easterns, Hindi, and more African descent people.

And write stories where it can stand on its own like TOS, TNG, & even the 1st 3 seasons of DS9, and leave those long winded, story-arcs because they don't make the series better IMO.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Recast/rethink Archer. He was one of the weakest elements for the show, especially as a leading man. He bumbled around looking like he didn't know what he was doing, for such an important role as Captain of the NX-01 surely they would need to have a decent scientific or diplomatic background, something that would come in handy when "making history with every light-year", rather than just being a pilot. Or at least someone who had obviously commanded other ships out on the frontier of Earth territory, so he'd be familiar with it and know a few things about alien contact and tactical combat. He just came across as a buffoon.

Oh, also make the ship a Daedalus-Class. Larger and with a more 'retro' look than Akiraprise.

 

[TheSubCommander]

I don't think they necessarily needed to recast Archer, because Scott Bakula had his moments. I don't think he was the problem, rather than it was the writing. At age 50, a starfleet captain acting all doe-eyed and practically saying shucks and golly gee at everything, or having a tantrum any time a Vulcan contradicted him, right, wrong, or indifferent, only served to make him come off as overly naive, ineffectual, and unprofessional. Archer may not have had experience with many extra terrestrials, but he had starfleet experience where he dealt with situations with other humans not too different from what he was running across in Enterprise. By season 3, Archer was how he should have been in the beginning, so I lay all that at the writers' feet.

As far as the NX-01, I FUCKING HATE the Daedalus Class ships. They are hideous. Had Enterprise resembled Drexler's refit NX01, and given it a coat of TOS white paint, it would have been perfect.

 

[DarKush]

On recasting Archer, I wouldn't have minded Dennis Quaid in the role. I think he could've pulled off a two-fisted, fighting captain, a bit of a cowboy. And he has the sci-if cred from Enemy Mine. I had read that the initial idea was to make Archer (perhaps Jackson Archer) at the time more of an Indiana Jones kind of guy. And even in "Broken Bow" Bakula approached Archer with more of an attitude. But then something happened, and Archer became dry, stiff, boring, and as I've said before, Bakula looked constipated playing him. Archer didn't get interesting, IMO, until the Dark Archer in Season 3. After that he became tolerable, if not all the issues I had with him were fixed. I agree with a lot of the two preceding posters said about Archer.

I am partial to the Daedalus because of history, however I would be fine with them making the NX-01 a different, or new design. I liked the Enterprise ring ship and wouldn't have minded seeing that. I would've been okay with them giving us a radically different design than the saucer ships associated with the other Treks. That way perhaps we can see a progression in ship design, perhaps as humans incorporate more things from various alien species.

 

[eyeresist]

Oh, also make the ship a Daedalus-Class. Larger and with a more 'retro' look than Akiraprise.

Sorry.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Ok, little love for the poor Daedalus. Oh well

 

[47of74]

I think the third season just killed the series. I didn't really watch the third season at all, I just lost interest in the series when the Xindi were introduced and didn't really regain much interest until the fourth season when they began exploring the origins of the Federation and started bringing the Romulans more in to the picture. I think the whole problem with the Xindi arc was that we already pretty much knew how that story was going to end from the get go and the idea of a whole arc on this seemed kind of a convoluted mess to me. There were a couple bright spots in the third season - I liked North Star, but overall I just didn't enjoy the third season and was content not to watch. I think if they had skipped the Xindi arc altogether, ditched the temporal cold war, and started exploring the birth of the Federation sooner than what they had it might have been enough to at least warrant a fifth season.

 

[topcat]

Enterprise was doomed from the start. even tv guide commented on the lack of actual options before the pilot ever aired.
Your in the star trek universe, going boldly where everyone else has already gone, and we have seen the things that will be done.
Most ENT actors were cast for looks and sex appeal not for acting talent. Bakula was cast as the captain because he was the most veteral actor, and because there is a large segment of science fiction fans who would watch him just because of quantum leap. And probably that was the only reason people kept watching enterprise. we kind of snickered that instead of going for a quantum leap reboot, he sucked up to get this drecky show.
Most people claim season 1 and two of TNG is unwatchabe because everyone is so stiff and serious about what they are doing. That's professionalism while they made the charecters, and because of Patrick stewarts presence. In the reunion 25th anniversary show for TNG they were all talking about how they wanted to be super professional because of Patrick stewart.
ENT is like a poorly done highschool play.

 

[eyeresist]

I think the whole problem with the Xindi arc was that we already pretty much knew how that story was going to end from the get go

What, you knew the sci-fi heroes were going to save Earth? You must be psychic.

Bakula was cast as the captain because he was the most veteral actor, and because there is a large segment of science fiction fans who would watch him just because of quantum leap. And probably that was the only reason people kept watching enterprise. we kind of snickered that instead of going for a quantum leap reboot, he sucked up to get this drecky show.

Please never presume you speak for all Star Trek fans. You are one person with one opinion, and plenty of people disagree with that opinion.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Yeah, I have to say, I never watched Quantum Leap, though I'd heard about it, certainly, when Scott was cast as Archer. I did take enough of an interest, afterwards, to see an episode of QL and I just didn't get it, nor could I get into it. This roaming Deus Ex Machina possessing people's lives until their problems were solved for them. But then again, the art-buying public bought up Thomas Kincade prints and paintings in a way not to be believed and it was the most horrible kitsch I've never wanted to look at. But that's the masses for you.

So, no ... I only knew Scott from STAR TREK and I found Archer to be a very kind-hearted Man who just had his bubble of naïveté burst after he took command. He was made to do things like torture people, even and it just didn't fit into who he was. Whilst it generated sympathy for him, kind of ... I felt it was some kind of statement the show was making against optimistic people, or to be more precise, against Gene Roddenberry's Vision for STAR TREK, in general.

 

[topcat]

Early reviews of the series by actual news media outlets and even a few random trek fiction writer sights I visited all basically came out with that his fanbase from quantum leap was the most positive thing about the show.
The whole Xindi thing was not about how we knew it would end. So many ways it could have been done differently. But the whole telepathic dolphin thing....and talking cricket people?
What we hated about it was that it was another massive war. And we had been warred out by DS9. And the idea was rather annoying that wed have another big war on our hands. And then another issue is Xindi are a super powerful race of beings that can move and cloak planets.
And they were supposed to be defeated by a single ship, of a race that had only been in SPACE for under 100 years.

 

[eyeresist]

Early reviews of the series by actual news media outlets and even a few random trek fiction writer sights I visited all basically came out with that his fanbase from quantum leap was the most positive thing about the show.

What do you mean "the most positive thing about the show"? Are you saying Bakula was the best thing in the show, or that Quantum Leap fans were the biggest part of the audience? The first is debatable, the second is not true.

The whole Xindi thing was not about how we knew it would end. So many ways it could have been done differently. But the whole telepathic dolphin thing....and talking cricket people?

Yeah, why couldn't they have phoney-looking rubber foreheads, like real Star Trek aliens? Why'd they have to be, like, alien?
(There were no telepathic dolphins.)

What we hated about it was that it was another massive war. And we had been warred out by DS9.

Five years later, and you still hadn't recovered? You are a sensitive flower.

And then another issue is Xindi are a super powerful race of beings that can move and cloak planets.

They couldn't. The sphere-builders, a separate, advanced race, built large cloaked space arrays.

And they were supposed to be defeated by a single ship, of a race that had only been in SPACE for under 100 years.

The humans had Vulcan and Andorian allies, and also allies among the Xindi. And it still wasn't exactly easy.
And don't you want the good guys to win? Do you think every Starfleet ship before Kirk's should have been blown to bits by all the aliens with superior firepower?

 

[T'Girl]

Oh, also make the ship a Daedalus-Class. Larger and with a more 'retro' look than Akiraprise.

I love the Daedalus design, the NX-01 looked too "modern" and it was definitely too large for the early effort it supposedly was. So maybe a design that was somewhat clunky and crude, and tight on the insides too.

=

 

[T'Arwen]

Yeah, I have to say, I never watched Quantum Leap, though I'd heard about it, certainly, when Scott was cast as Archer. I did take enough of an interest, afterwards, to see an episode of QL and I just didn't get it, nor could I get into it. This roaming Deus Ex Machina possessing people's lives until their problems were solved for them. But then again, the art-buying public bought up Thomas Kincade prints and paintings in a way not to be believed and it was the most horrible kitsch I've never wanted to look at. But that's the masses for you.

So, no ... I only knew Scott from STAR TREK and I found Archer to be a very kind-hearted Man who just had his bubble of naïveté burst after he took command. He was made to do things like torture people, even and it just didn't fit into who he was. Whilst it generated sympathy for him, kind of ... I felt it was some kind of statement the show was making against optimistic people, or to be more precise, against Gene Roddenberry's Vision for STAR TREK, in general.

I liked a few QL episodes (Jimmy was my favorite) but I only watched when my dad put in on Netflix. I wouldn't go out of my way to watch by myself. But I only saw QL after ENT so I never had any preconceptions about Scott or Archer.

Like the Xindi arc, people said the same thing about DS9 being against Rodenberry's vision. I have to admit the first half of the season didn't feel like Trek (more like 24 in space) but it slowly grew more like it as Degra started to question if humans really were the bad guys. I can see how people think those stories don't match with an optimistic future but the silver lining was that humans were able to make allies of some Xindi against the Sphere Builders. I saw season 3 as Archer's warmup for building the Coalition. While Enterprise became a warship, he saved Earth by practicing his diplomacy. If they actually got to the Romulan war, I'm sure they would have said the Xindi war helped Starfleet prepare for it.

Despite the inconsistent writing, I had no problem believing Archer was the man to bring all of these species together. Scott Bakula deserves a lot of credit for selling me on that idea.