My thoughts are that I ended up like Enterprise. The last 2 seasons were the strongest and really the 4th season was finally when it started feeling like a true prequel to the rest of the Star Trek universe. In fairness the first 2 seasons of TNG and DS9 weren't their strongest either. But yes, there was franchise fatigue going on so UPN was not going to give Enterprise the same benefit of the doubt as the previous shows. They needed to find their footing sooner. I truly wish Enterprise had gotten a 5th season. But the time for that was between 2005 and 2010 (assuming it was passed off to another network as a syndicated show). For me personally the novels picked up the baton from their and have taken us to the first years of the Federation so for now I'm more or less satisfied with the storyline (I know that's not canon and can be contradicted at any time, but for the time being, absent that I'll accept that as the continuity I follow). I realize not everyone liked the post-Enterprise novels, and to each their own. My only complaint is I wish the Romulan War novels were more fleshed out. They were cut short by 1 or 2 novels so the 2nd book always felt more like a summary of the last 3 years of the war. It's not going to get reboot or restarted. I agree with @Dukhat, if they did, Enterprise fans would probably be disappointed anyway. It probably would not have the feel or even the look of Enterprise as you remember it. Honestly Enterprise might have had better luck if it were made today instead of between 2000 and 2005. Streaming might have been a better place for it. The limited number of episodes streaming shows have per season these days might have actually helped the show stay better focused. At times it seemed like there were almost too many episodes and they had to add some filler to get to the needed 20+ shows per season. As far as Moonves, I don't think it's any secret he had no love for Star Trek. Yes, Enterprise days were numbered. But he seemed to take a special glee in it's cancellation and the way he ordered the sets completely demolished. To me the way he went about it told me he wanted to make sure Star Trek couldn't come back for a very long time. Granted, that's just my opinion, others may differ, but I personally think he was not only relieved Star Trek was over, but wanted to make sure it couldn't come back. I think the best Enterprise can hope for is some episode of one of the other shows, or a short Trek possibly, featuring a character or two from the show as a flashback or maybe a cameo scene, perhaps giving some sort of speech or something about something relevant to that other show. I do think that's a possibility. But a show, or even just a mini-series of some sort....no. I don't see that happening.
A Tales of the Federation series could be great if they could figure out a way to make it affordable. Maybe they could do two or three feature-length stories a year, make an event out of them. Something like Way of the Warrior or Dark Frontier, not a massive blockbuster film like Star Trek '09. I think there'd be some demand for a one-off Star Trek: Archer story, then maybe a Captain Worf story, then Young Picard on the Stargazer etc. And the door would be open to bring characters back for a second story if the first was popular.
This is a thing that fans like to focus on, but at the time (I’m not sure about now) it was standard practice to destroy sets for shows that were no longer in production. The reason Trek seemed to be immune to this is that great glut of sets from the movies onwards that kept getting pulled out of storage and repurposed creates the illusion that there was some effort to curate and preserve Star Trek sets. The reason those sets were kept around is because essentially from TMP onwards until the end of Enterprise, Star Trek was in continuous production. Arguably earlier if we take into account Phase Two. Once Enterprise was cancelled, the sets were done. Star Trek was not in production. I’d have to say “citation needed” before I took the idea that Moonves took any kind of special glee in cancelling Enterprise seriously. As mentioned above, demolishing sets was normal… So does anyone have a picture of Moonves driving the lead bulldozer whilst burning the UFP flag? I think after Enterprise fandom needed a person to demonise and Moonves fit the bill. But he was only doing what any network executive would do when he cancelled a show for not doing the numbers. It just so happened that in this case the show had “Star Trek” in the title.
Les Moonves hating Star Trek is a fallacy. For all his faults, he was a businessman. If ENT had been a ratings powerhouse, it would have been his favorite show. But it wasn't; not even close. It was an expensive show to produce and didn't make back the returns for all the money put into it. Which is why low-budget schlock like reality-tv has proliferated. There's very little money involved to produce those shows but their ratings are through the roof. No, Moonves knew a bad investment when he saw one. It also didn't help that UPN was dying and their executives didn't know their asses from a hole in the wall. Moonves had enough business sense to keep ENT going for a fourth season in order to be able to sell the show to syndication. But I sincerely doubt he was dancing amidst the rubble of bulldozed sets. If anything, he simply wouldn't have cared enough about the show to do something like that.
Sorry, but what do you expect? You are being dismissive because you think the existence of PIC is fueling a desire for more followup shows that you don’t want to see. When fans have always discussed exploring unseen events and various follow ups of characters and what they would be like when they are onscreen. That includes a follow up on Picard (the person). You can not want to an ENT sequel series to exist and also still keep the negativity to yourself. Since ENT is hope to some fans. The period between ENT and DIS is an unexplored period, aside from the USS Kelvin and USS Franklin featured during the Kelvin movies. The Rise of the Federation novels and the Discovery prequel novels are not canon. I’m sure that SNW will cover everything between Captain April and TOS S1. You forgot Lower Decks and Prodigy, even though they don’t pick up direct threads like PIC does. But are still follow ups to the TNG/DS9/VOY era. Well, I wasn’t suggesting a Sisko show at all to begin with. I was referring to a particular event - the return of Sisko, as Sisko promised to Kasidy, which has yet to be seen or referenced. I still think a Captain Worf show would be the best way to follow up on DS9, as DS9 itself had a overall satisfying finale. A Garak show would be interesting though, as would a Quark show and Kira show. And there are no more casual fans anymore, of any form of entertainment. Its all-hardcore fans now. There are too many entertainment choices for there to be a causal audience, so you may as well cater to the hardcore fans. Since only the hardcore fans will buy anything and bring in new fans. Even though Discovery makes money for CBS through Paramount+, despite having less viewers than Enterprise did during its run? If an Enterprise sequel series is greenlit, and it just so happened to air at a time when Paramount+ is struggling with subscribers numbers, the streaming service’s issues will likely be because the audience is fatigued with having so many streaming services to follow. Not because of the abilities of the actors, writers and production crew and the quality of the stories being told. Just to get that out there now. Off the top of my head, some ideas to help them break the stereotypical mold in a sequel series: Archer: parents are from Canada; was born in space on a return trip from Vulcan and technically a space boomer but family settled in upstate New York due to Henry Archer's work; tried to get into lacrosse and hockey growing up but found water polo to be more his thing. Trip: extended family a part of the LGBTQ+; family as a whole are Neo-Transcendentalists and live a simple life on purpose and not because they live in the countryside. Reed: awkwardness around women rooted in being discouraged from being gay growing (a longstanding Reed tradition) despite having several personal heroes (ex. Freddie Mercury, Elton John, Alan Turing, Frank Ocean, Sven “Buttercup” Hansen (VOY reference) and some WW3 UK general), and his aunts are lesbians; despite pro British upbringing, is secretly big on Mexican and Caribbean culture. Mayweather: into D&D, Scrabble and other board game tournaments and has been since childhood; also into anime and manga; still into classic hip hop even though Earth’s tastes in music have moved on; first experience with water was on Alpha Centauri and learned to swim there. Sato: lives in Brazil because Japanese society is too rigid for her; likes to surf and hike in the Amazon in her free time; being a descendant on Buck Bokai is a much bigger deal in Japan than Brazil, as Japan is the only place that still plays baseball on Earth (the Nippon Series). T’Pol: big on jazz and indie rock and listens to them in her free time; undefeated kal-toh champion; studied several Earth comedians to accentuate her skills at humor; has otherwise become more a tradition Vulcan (TOS/VOY) in the face of the dissolution of the High Command and end of the Romulan War. Phlox: tried Starfleet’s standardized approach to medicine and found it limiting; not really weird but a culmination of several alien cultures due to the Interspecies Medical Exchange; big on gossip in general. It's like that saying: If you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.
I don't believe for a second anyone wants ENT bad enough. It's not me being negative-it's based upon what I have seen from the fan base and the lackluster response to any effort to push for Enterprise in any fashion. Picard and Prodigy are showing it's possible. So push for it! Then don't call people out for being negative. Sounds like an excuse when there are many opportunities to push this idea that there is demand for ENT.
Here's the problem with all this: Star Trek shows don't have 25 episode seasons anymore. They're anywhere from 10 to 13. And they have story arcs, not just random standalone episodes about a certain character's quirks. So there's really no time for tons of character development. They're going to focus on one or two main characters, and everyone else will just be relegated to background filler, which will be even worse than when ENT was still on the air.
Actually, it can be done. It called tighter writing. Even in a 6-part miniseries with every episode ranging 30 minutes in run time, it can be done. Especially with characters that have been on screen before and for four seasons on top of that. Do you want me to write out an example, to show why I think what I think?
Well, it could theoretically work since I doubt much of the cast will rejoin anyway. So picking one character, Archer or Reed or whomever, and writing about their journey through a Romulan War story or the like could work in a tighter fashion. But, I agree that it would be limited.
Give Mayweather his own miniseries! I'm sure the actor would be up for it as long as he doesn't have to go anywhere near a helm console.
Ok. Here's a go. ----------- Setting: Starfleet HQ, San Francisco, 2178 Journalist: Councilman Archer, may I have a word? Archer: I still haven’t gotten used to that. I was just getting used to being called ambassador. Journalist: I’ve been in the process of getting interview for a piece on the NX-01 crew. I just finished interviwing both Mayweather and Reed. And I did stop by in Iowa last week. I see why you chose the chef you did. Archer: Like I always say, a ship runs on its stomach. Journalist: I also talked to Mr. Tucker’s family. I had no idea how diverse they were. Or how funny. Archer: Their sense of humor rubs off on people. It did with Trip and definitely has with T’Pol. I still think the Neo-Transcendentalism they practice is a bit eccentric, but they are quite welcoming and friendly. And surprisingly more progressive and open minded than Malcolm’s family. I had no idea that Malcom had to go through what he did growing up. Journalist: The only ones left aside from you I want to interview are Hoshi Sato and Phlox. Archer:Well, good luck trying to talk to Hoshi. She grown to really like her privacy. I remember when we went to a baseball game to Japan, over ten years ago, at the behest of her husband who’s big fan. It was game seven of the Nippon Series. At the end of the game as we were leaving, someone overheard her husband mention that she was a descendant of Buck Bokai. And considering that Japan is the last place on Earth that follows baseball and Buck Bokai is a massive legend over there, everyone crowded around us so fast wanting to talk to Hoshi and get autographs. I haven’t seen a mob of people that large since we returned from the Xindi mission. Even though she hasn’t said anything, I think that the real reason she retired from Starfleet, since she never really adjusted to the fame that came from our mission as I did. She was actually quite happy working on Earth at Starfleet, at least when I was chief of staff there, and at the very least was open minded to the implementation of the Prime Directive. I think she’ll be more interested in surfing or her hikes in the Amazon, when she isn’t studying languages or looking after her kids. But you’re free to try and get an interview with her. Journalist: And Phlox? Archer: You should stop by the Academy next week. He’s delivering a guest lecture I understand on Denobulan medicine. Should be interesting for the cadets to learn a non Starfleet perspective. He has many interesting stores to tell, before, during and after his time on Enterprise. May I ask in what way are you trying to interview all of us? Journalist: I’m just trying to see what made the NX-01 crew the crew everyone knows and became household names. What makes them tick, as it were. In what way were you shaped into who you are growing up? Archer: Well, both my parents were from Canada. I was conceived on Vulcan, as my father went there to learn about how Vulcans developed faster warp drive. After a few months living there, my mom wanted to return to Earth, and had me in between the journey back. Due to the work on at the warp five complex was about to begin, and the transporter was still in the early stages of development, they settled in upstate New York. My parents made efforts to get me into their favourite sports growing up, lacrosse and hockey, but were not as successful as they hoped. It was after those efforts that I got in water polo. It’s been my favourite sport ever since. Journalist: Have you even thought about where you would be, if you didn’t join Starfleet and took a different path? Archer: I’ve had nearly two decades to think about it. I still haven’t wrapped my head around that in a different universe that I could have been living the space boomer life in playing board game tournaments, have dealing with Orions and having to learn to swim on Alpha Centauri on the go like Travis. Or that I would be skilled enough at kal-toh to possibly end T’Pol’s ongoing undefeated streak had I lived on Vulcan while doing a bunch of case studies for one of their ministries. Instead of joining Starfleet and having the career I’ve had. Despite the various crises I’ve faced as a captain, I don’t think I would have done it any differently. Journalist: Councilman, why didn’t you join the freighter life? Mr. Mayweather said you had a story about that, that you once considered it but changed your mind. Archer: I’ve told this story about three times now. Long story short, it involved the Duvalls and Kzinti. Journalist: Wait, the Duvalls? As in the Captain Duvall, of Shenandoah fame? Archer: The same one. It was the moment I decided to get lightyears away from the Duvalls and join Starfleet. Of course Duvall followed me and joined the following year. Journalist: To be fair, anyone would follow you into Starfleet and join. Archer: Look, I’m running late for my regular meetings with the Federation Council. Can we resume this later? We can go to one of the jazz clubs or comedy clubs T’Pol likes. They have their own stories that you’d enjoy. Journalist: Yes, Councilman. --------- This is only about 2-3 minutes at most. Which is plenty of time for the plot, and to further develop characters in later episodes. But you are already learning about the characters in terms of what they’ve been up to since the show ended and the depths of their characters now.
This is very intriguing. The anthology structure would allow for a lot of different characters from the different series - one or several - and infinite possibilities for stories. World-building is done, character backstory is done, a whole hour for a new story, like a mini movie. Great potential. I hope this goes somewhere.
Civility? I can think of a dozen ways to disagree with someone that come across better than “this is a bunch of crap”. We are talking about TV shows, not first-born children. I like Enterprise as a whole. I like the characters. If it were to come to being I’d watch it. I just don’t think it’s going to happen. Any perceived negativity is something I’m allowed to express as long as it’s within the rules of the forum. You’re not the arbiter of what opinions can and can’t be expressed here. They are follow ups in that they exist within the same time-frame. Otherwise saying that is like saying The Mandalorian is a follow up to Return of the Jedi. Citation needed. Hardcore fans buy things and bring in new fans? You’ve lost me there. And I’m sorry but this: Is the very opposite of tight writing. Exposition heavy, full of superfluous, unnecessary detail and just clunky. The only way that represents 2-3 minutes of screen time is if you’d have Bakula speed-read it. Great drama shows, not tells.
Its just a teaser. A concept. I haven’t revealed the plot that it takes place in or revealed any plot twists. Or gone into a deep dive into any of the characters. And I haven’t revealed how much, if any, action or drama is in the episode, although it is intended in later acts. I’m not going to show everything immediately. I don’t believe in giving everything away for free, and immediately with no build on top of that. Everything is to be earned through a sustained build and have a satisfying payoff once reached. I can see how it could be more dynamic and less dry, and might be more 4-5 minutes than 2-3 minutes. But if its first draft of an opening or first act of the first episode - and it is - does that matter? It’s not like I’m deliberately ignoring pacing either.
Pedantic side-note: I would really hope that by the 22nd Century, we're not using gendered titles for elected officials anymore. "Councillor" also just sounds better than "Councilman" or "Council Member."
Believe it or not, I’m following the canon. Since the bio on the USS Defiant for Archer used Federation Councilman. Not Councillor. And the Defiant was a mid-23rd century ship. I completely get the sentiment that Councillor would be far better and makes more sense. But Councilman is actually in line with the canon. Maybe whoever wrote that bio in-universe also agreed with Pike’s sexist rant in The Cage?