What is your honest opinion of Enterprise?

[Captain Robert April]

April had the ship for five years, Pike for another ten. We have no real idea what the ship looked like prior to "The Cage", so they still would've had a pretty free rein. At most, they'd have to throw a fair share of cash at Ray Liotta to sign on to play Pike and in the last couple of seasons, cast a young Spock.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

You know, I gotta admit that at least one detail in the theme slide show seriously resonates with me: Seeing the depiction of the Space Shuttle Enterprise coming out of its hangar. Anyone not familiar with how this shuttle got its name, and who wants to know, should read this official NASA web page, this wikipedia article, and the Memory Alpha article. In a sense, it really was a Constitution-class spaceship named Enterprise, which owing to the Bicentennial was completely unplanned. The introduction to the wikipedia article, and the Memory Alpha article, both explain why it never underwent the refit to fly in space.

Being old enough, I remember the write-in campaign, I still have newspaper and magazine pictures of Roddenberry and TOS cast members in front of the ship, and I remember watching the first free flight and landing on August 12, 1977. So, hats off to the show Enterprise for having the boldness to be a little more explicit in the inclusion of Space Shuttle Enterprise, beyond a hand-drawn plaque on the wall, or obscure model. I do find this slide in the theme inspiring. Maybe one day I'll even wave my hands over my head and start singing, "It's been a long road...."

Here are links to the live broadcast of that flight on August 12, 1977, as shown on NBC, now on youtube in three parts:

First Enterprise Free Flight part 1 = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I8DZivcnMM&feature=related
First Enterprise Free Flight part 2 = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-YNcwc1ZME&feature=related
First Enterprise Free Flight part 3 = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU6t-bk_sqc&feature=related

There is obviously an edit in part 3, cutting out the part when the Enterprise roles to a stop. This can be seen on this other video of the flight and landing, but which unfortunately is of poorer quality. You may also notice that, ostensibly anyway, the television audience had a much longer attention span in those days, than they do today. Apologies for Jack Perkins's awkwardness, especially near the end.

 

[Dukhat]

I think if they were determined to go back in the timeline, going all the way back to the 22nd century was definitely the right decision. It gave TPTB an almost completely blank canvas from which to work with, as there wasn't a lot of established lore about the era, and it was far enough away from the TOS era that they could mostly just do their own thing without worrying about stepping on TOS' toes as much.

But it wasn't a blank canvas. The show was created specifically to show the formation of the Federation, just like Voyager was created specifically to show what would happen if a ship were stranded somewhere where all they knew and were familiar with was gone.

Neither one of those shows lived up to its' premises. They were essentially TNG all over again.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: The "birth of the Federation" thing was a huge mistake for B&B to take on. Up until Enterprise, every Trek fan in the world probably had their own preconceived notion about how this event happened, and what we ended up getting just couldn't live up to peoples' expectations, just like the Star Wars prequels.

Now if it was the same crew but the show took place on, say, the Enterprise-B in the 2300's, it would have worked fine. Even the TCW could have been somewhat interesting if done right.

*Disclaimer: I realize that there are ENT fans out there that like the show just fine the way it was. I'm not trying to put you down. This is just my opinion.

 

[T'Cal]

I had such hope for this show especially after watching the pilot, which was one of the best in all of Trek. Still, the phrase "missed opportunities" keeps coming to mind when I think of this show. Trip and Phlox were my favorite characters. Had they developed Hoshi more, I would've liked her better. But she, Reed, and Travis were left to spew a bit of dialog to carry the story along and little else. Pity. I never cared for T'Pol. In fact, I really disliked just about everything about her. The catsuits were just plain ridiculous especially since just about every other Vulcan we have ever seen wore robes or similar. When she was excommunicated from the VHC she should've begun wearing a Starfleet uniform if only to lend her some credibility. Otherwise, all she did was purse her engorged lips, insult the crew, and disagree with the Captain. I didn't even enjoy hating her.

As for Archer, I so wanted to like and respect that character. I fully expected to because Picard, Sisko, and Janeway, while very different from each other, possessed a strong sense of leadership that the writing allowed them to exude. In addition, I like Scott Bakula and knew he was up to the task. The writing for his character was weak, resulting in only a fair performance from an otherwise very good actor. His performance was often called "wooden" and I agree. Too bad.

The Borg episode, the Mirror Universe episode, and several others stand out as excellent but they were surrounded by many mediocre ones. I liked the idea of the Temporal Cold War but that just faded unexplicably. I also liked the idea of the MACOs and Major Hayes. I agree with most about "These are the Voyages..." Talk about a wasted opportunity! If they really wanted to bring in the Will and Deanna, they should've been married and on the Titan. They story was flat and juvenile at times. And killing off Trip? Horrible idea.

 

[number6]

But it wasn't a blank canvas. The show was created specifically to show the formation of the Federation, just like Voyager was created specifically to show what would happen if a ship were stranded somewhere where all they knew and were familiar with was gone.

Neither one of those shows lived up to its' premises. They were essentially TNG all over again.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: The "birth of the Federation" thing was a huge mistake for B&B to take on. Up until Enterprise, every Trek fan in the world probably had their own preconceived notion about how this event happened, and what we ended up getting just couldn't live up to peoples' expectations, just like the Star Wars prequels.

I don't think it was a mistake.. It just took them a while to get there.. I get the sense from the first episode that the whole Founding of the Federation thing was going to be something that was ongoing over the run of the series, in the way that DS9 developed the Emissary to the Prophets Thang.

What we got was cool. The way the Andorians, Tellarites and Vulcans were portrayed and how they eventually united in common cause was great to see. I am sure we would have gotten to some great stuff if the show ran longer.

The TCW was mishandled. It was a cool concept that was only half-heartedly developed. There were some good TCW episodes, leading up to the Xindi. I am more upset about not knowing who future guy was than Trip's death in TATV.

 

[david lowbridge]

ENT is a great show in my opinion, yes it has it flaws, but that always happens with prequels in my opinion. If you know what is to come it's always hard to avoid it (e.g. Star Wars C3PO meeting Kenobi in episode 1,2,3 and yet he didn't know C3PO or R2D2 in episode 4 or was Kenobi suffering from dementia?)

TCW was a bad idea in my opinion, but some episodes it did with that were great. The cast however was a sticking point: essentially it was three characters that got all the fun and the others didnt matter: Archer, T'pol and Trip... occassionally Hoshi, Phlox and Mayweather got an episode, but I cant remember an episode dedicated to Reed.

 

[4rengi]

I really like ENT but hated season 3 and felt that season 4 was a total let down. All the momentum gained from the first two seasons were lost by the Xindi subplot. At that point, the show strayed away from being a Trek series; everything you loved about the characters were stripped away because all their energy was focused on finding the Xindi weapon. And don't get me started T'Pol's trellium addiction.

Enterprise definitely had its moments. I especially enjoyed it when the show tried to provide back stories from the other series. (ie., accounting for the conflicting Klingon appearances in TOS and TNG)

 

[Captain Robert April]

I originally boycotted the third season, but after watching it recently on DVD (as a part of research for the new Concordance), it's actually rather good. It helps if you view it as part of the ultimate resolution of the Temporal Cold War.

 

[Skywalker]

I originally boycotted the third season, but after watching it recently on DVD (as a part of research for the new Concordance), it's actually rather good. It helps if you view it as part of the ultimate resolution of the Temporal Cold War.

Agreed. I prefer to imagine the TCW ended there and Archer never got sent back in time at the end of "Zero Hour."

 

[Captain Robert April]

No, you need "Zero Hour" and Archer smashing that big fat reset button, essentially telling the nitwits who forced that subplot on the show, "thanks for wasting three years of our lives, ASSHOLES!!"

 

[Vulpes]

Of what I've seen, Enterprise seems to be the worst Star Trek. It's not all that bad in absolute terms, but it's still not great.

Also, Star Trek should not have theme songs. Especially not pop music ones.

"I've got FAAAAAAAIIITTTHHH in the HEEEEAAAAAAARRRRT!"

 

[JarodRussell]

No, you need "Zero Hour" and Archer smashing that big fat reset button, essentially telling the nitwits who forced that subplot on the show, "thanks for wasting three years of our lives, ASSHOLES!!"

I never got what this scene meant. Did it mean that all episodes before didn't actually happen in the restored timeline?

 

[Captain Robert April]

It meant no more fun and games with the timeline. What wasn't addressed during the course of the fourth season can be chalked up as fixed with the resolution of the TCW.

 

[Catalyst]

I've always felt Enterprise was very underrated. Did it have its mis-steps? Sure, but not nearly as much as early TNG or even DS9. I honestly believe had it been allowed to continue it would be considered one of the better series, especially with Coto, Sussman, & the Reeves-Stevens producing.

I still consider 'Broken Bow' the best of all the Trek pilots. It was as close to a "perfect" pilot as I've seen any show pull off. Now, after that much of season 1 was a significant step down in quality. This is what, IMO, killed the show.

This continued on through about the mid-point of season 2, but then something happened. Seasons 3 & 4 are often considered when the show really "got good" but I've always felt the second half of season 2 was VERY solid. Only 1-2 weak episodes after "Stigma."

S3 and the Xindi arc was very good, if a little out of the blue. I personally would've chosen then to kick-off the hostilities that would ultimately lead to the Romulan war, but as it stands, they managed to really do some good work with the Xindi storyline.

What really makes ENT work, though, in the larger Trek franchise is season 4. Not only did Manny Coto and co. manage to take an out-of-the-blue cliffhanger at the end of s3 and turn it into one of the better 2-parters in all of Trek, but their decision to get back to basics and tie the show into what we've seen on TOS/TNG was brilliant. It should have been done this way from the start, TBH.

Some have said s4 is basically "continuity porn" and to a degree, I can see where they're coming from. But you have to understand they were playing catch-up with 3 seasons that did very little to acknowledge TOS and the connections we should've seen to that point.

I LOVED the way they re-did the NX-01 bridge to better reflect the more colorful designs we know are coming in the TOS-era. The subtle changes went a LONG way toward setting the tone that they wanted. The blue floors, doors, and addition of more blinking lights and sounds, and on Columbia the computer displays featuring the TOS color scheme really give you a sense that you can imagine this look evolving into TOS in 100 years.

Addressing the augments and then tying them in with the Klingon forehead mystery was a stroke of genius. I honestly never thought we'd ever see that addressed officially, but they did it and without making it feel forced or silly along the way. I also loved the early days of Section 31; a nice nod to DS9, which there are far too few of in Trek. I also liked how they portrayed Starfleet and Earth as having grown to the point that they're now a real factor in the region and also managed to tie the Xindi attack into the pre-TOS era, thus making it fit much more naturally into continuity.

I've always found it ironic that the "purists" were the ones who hated ENT the most, mostly due to what they saw as continuity violations. And yet, not only is ENT the only series not affected by the Abrams movie now, but s4 also established it as being FAR closer to TOS than any of the other series and had more nods, references, and follow-ups to TOS concepts and ideas than the 24th century shows by FAR.

Everything from finally clearing up continuity issues such as the Klingon forehead issue, the TOS-era design scheme, the Vulcan behavior of early ENT, Section 31, the Orions, and even UESPA in "Demons" was confirmed/cleared up. It started out despised by TOS fans and ended up being a TOS fans wet dream.

 

[BlackFire3]

in a way, the akiraprise design kinda makes sense, i doubt they had the tech at the time to build a stable neck like kirks enterprise, that neck was crazily thin. also, i think the enterprise series unknowingly made a nice little paradox for the borg. the borg from the movie first contact send a signal to their past counterparts possibly having them expand towards the alpha quadrant, seven's parents become intrigued by old reports of the borg and set off to find them, borg assimilate and confirm the old signal, further contact expedits their expansion towards the alpha quadrant till the events of the movie first contact. if the borg never attempted to use time travel for assimilating earth then it's likely the borgs expansion would be more evenly rounded, seven's parents wouldn't be assimilated, and chances are that giennas race (sorry for miss-spelling the name) would never have been assimilated and she wouldn't be on the enterprise-d presumably. just one big unintended paradox, i liked it

 

[Catalyst]

I never had any problem with the NX-01 design. I get that it looks a lot like the Akira-class, but a lot of different classes resemble each other that way. I suppose the fact that they're 200 years apart is a little odd, but I've always felt the design worked very well for what they wanted to do: a smaller ship with the basic design of what we know Starfleet ships come to look like, but less advanced and more cramped.

 

[donners22]

I genuinely liked Enterprise. I like all Trek series; not equally, but am happy enough to be watching any of them.

It was the first series I watched without spoilers, which certainly helped. However, even going back and watching on DVD, I still find the show entertaining.

I think not participating in online discussions about it as I watched helped as well. The prevailing negativity tends to drag me down a bit. It's not hard to dislike something when you go in with a negative mindset.

Oh, and I like the song.

 

[Reliant Robin]

I think Enterprise had great material - great characters, great actors, great premise, even some good storylines - but just never quite knew how to use them, and ended up missing a lot of opportunities because of it. That said, I still love the series, I love the retro feel to it, the flawed characters, I always feel like the actors were giving it their all, and a good Enterprise episode is like a treat for me - and the bad ones (excepting Bound and TATV which were both plain offensive) still often quite entertaining. There's something about the show which makes me really want to root for it to do well, which I guess is what makes me a fan. I love DS9 too but I never felt like it needed me in quite the same way

 

[Too Much Fun]

All I've watched are some of the arc episodes in season 4. The augments trilogy, the klingon virus two-parter, the mirror episodes, and "Demons" (planning to watch "Terra Prime" soon). After seeing these episodes, I'm starting to get annoyed with people calling this a crappy show that never should have been made.

Those episodes are some great television. They don't quite reach the heights of the best TNG or DS9 episodes, but I still think they're damn good. Now for all I know the first three seasons stink and if I saw them I wouldn't have so much affection for this series, but from what I've seen, this is a series that had some truly inspired moments, and you can't say that about every show.

I also like the whole cast too, although I think Hoshi and Travis are a bit underused and Bakula is a very limited actor who doesn't have a lot of range and can't show anger or intensity very well (especially compared to Patrick Stewart). Reed is a little bland as well. Nonetheless, at least the cast is certainly less bland than the "Star Trek: Voyager" cast, and the T'Pol/Trip romance is very well done (although I wish they didn't always have to be so conflicted and repressed about it...would have liked to see them gain more joy/pleasure out of it).

This is definitely a flawed series, but it sure seemed to pick up towards the end. I wish it had got the seven season run that became standard for Star Trek shows after TNG. Again, based solely on the last half of season 4, I certainly think it deserved that run more than "Star Trek: Voyager", a show that has never impressed me ever, not with one single episode.

 

[Reliant Robin]

I really think it might have hit its stride in season 5, though actually I'm one of the rare people who didn't like season 4 quite so much as the earlier seasons. I just really loved it as an ensemble show, and some of my favourite episodes are from season 2, where the crew cooks up a plan that plays to all of their strengths and then pulls it off. Season 4 focused too much on the Big Three IMHO.