Please allow me to address your issues. I'm not interested in getting into an angry debate, and this thread is meant to be informative, but I'd like to chime in.
People have gotten specific, but here, let me try.
It won't come back for a number of reasons:
1) Like it or hate it: the sets were destroyed. Regardless of the reason, they are gone. Yes, they can rebuild, but that would be very, very costly.
With a show like ENT, and really any show filmed inside, sets are actually the cheapest portion of the budget. Look at it this way... the ENT set was the equivalent of about a 5000 sq. ft. house. Right now the raw materials for construction are at an almost 50 year low (relative to inflation, of course). You're talking about $500,000 in raw materials, and about that in labor. It makes MORE sense to build new sets now than it ever has. Further more, the display technology (LCDs, cameras, etc.) have come down so far in cost and gone up in quality is incredible. They could film the whole thing with 4 RED cams and release in studio quality 1080p. That would set them back probably another $80k US. Factor in dedicated CG staff, and you're looking at a full season run with infrastructure costs in the $1.5 million range. That's not too bad considering you'll pull that in ad revenue alone, especially if it runs on SyFy or another cable network where advertisers can have targeted demographics at their beck and call.
2) While those in this forum (myself included) like ENT, it just wasn't that popular when compared to TOS and TNG. I realize that it was on UPN and repeats on Sci-Fi, which causes it to have a lower viewership. However, the fact remains that, like DS9 and VGR, it never really delved into pop culture as well as the first two shows.
All great points, however Trek fans were only half of the audience the creators were attempting to appeal to, and that was either a good idea, or a horrible one (horrible, in my opinion). They tried very hard to pull in people that would watch CSI, 24, and other action dramas. They sold the adventure/intrigue aspect of the show extremely well, but they forgot to continue producing episodes that would draw those audiences in. Also, it fell prey to timeslot bingo... every season was a different day and time, making it difficult for regular, non-DVR viewers to consistently tune in, and eventually people just stopped caring.
With that said, there's an easy cure... stick it on cable and give it a steady timeslot. If your favorite restaurant kept changing locations every year, and it kept getting further and further from your home, you'd eventually stop going, no matter how great the food. Unless they deliver of course, thus my second point: MANY more viewers have DVR tech at home now, meaning that eventhough the live hits of the show might not be great, you'll be getting many more viewers watching on DVR, as well as on web simulcast if they want to go down that road.
Enterprise originally aired in a sort of TV Limbo time... between the big boom of the early 2000's (gee, thanks 9/11 for turning us all into shut-ins) and the revival thanks to web-based distribution we're currently seeing. On top of that, Trek as a brand is at an all-time peak as far as interested households. If this is ever going to happen, it needs to be in the next 12-18 months. Not necessary go on-air, but at least get put into motion and/or production. If they want this to be successful they HAVE to capitalize on the success of the new films and ride that wave of exposure AS MUCH as possible.
3) It also doesn't help that the media, in relation to this new movie, constantly implies that the show (and the other spin-offs for that matter) were bad. Additionally, the reviews when the show was on tended to be on the negative side, which is unfortunate as ENT was a well constructed show and it was probably being reviewed in comparison to the other Treks, as opposed to how it was on its own.
You absolutely hit the nail on the head. It was being compared to all other Trek, and the fact of the matter was that it was trying to DISTANCE itself from Trek. It was darker, more real, more now. Other Trek series were smiles and puppy dogs and rainbows at the end of the day, but ENT put a gritty, human face on the future, although it still stayed true to the generally optimistic view of the future. The show made sure people knew things would get better, but that it would take a hell of a lot of work to make it happen. Thus is the blight of our cause... the future is certainly bright for the brand, but it's going to take a hell of a lot of work to get the show back on the air. Do I think it can happen? If a POS like Jericho can get another season... anything is possible. Also, don't forget... FOX brass killed Family Guy and said Seth McFarlane would never work in Hollywood again... Family Guy is now the #2 watched show on Sundays, with the IP worth over $2 billion. Anything is possible, friends :-)
Those are my reasons on why I think ENT won't be back.
I really appreciate you elaborating, I enjoyed reading your responses and hope you'll stay active in the thread as we move along!
It's too successful, and they likely won't echo the so called "franchise fatigue" again.
