Enterprise takes another media beating

[Ted C]

END OF TRAIL FOR 'TREK'

The series' fifth spawn, UPN's "Enterprise," is in the ratings dumps. And even the last "Trek" movie, 2002's "Nemesis," tanked at the box office, garnering only $18.5 million its opening weekend - the lowest opening ever for a "Trek" movie.

UPN, in a bid to drum up more interest for "Enterprise," changed the show's title to "Star Trek: Enteprise" this year - but ratings were still off 10 percent last month versus Nov. '02.

"If ratings for 'Enterprise' continue to go down next season, it's going to hurt the franchise," [Marc no-relation-to-Rick] Berman says. "They can still do a movie or a TV special if there's not a weekly series - it is and will always be a viable franchise if treated properly."

Star Trek could still be a good weekly series if the producers would get some good stories instead of peddling dumbed-down trash.

[Dark Primus]

Yes but as long Paramount sees the cash flowing in, Berman stays.

Oh God I want Enterprise cancelled and B&B fired so damn much.
Create a new series with JMS at the helm, at least he knows the understanding of quality and story arcs.

[General Zod]

it's no big surprise really. After Voyager the trek series' has been going downhill. they definitely need a new angle in order to make it work.

[Stravo]

it's no big surprise really. After Voyager the trek series' has been going downhill. they definitely need a new angle in order to make it work.

AFTER Voyager?? How about Voyager kicking off this slide into oblivion with theor AWFUL recycled stories and the fucking reset button?

[General Zod]

misstated. i meant after the first episode of voyager, not after the entire run of voyager.

[Dark Primus]

I think the serie is dull as hell. Only few episodes for each season are worth watching, the rest is garbage.
The crews don't act like real humans, but more like zombies walking back and forward.

[Robert Walper]

Star Trek could still be a good weekly series if the producers would get some good stories instead of peddling dumbed-down trash.

What stories are left to tell? They've covered almost all types of story arcs so far as I can tell. They'd have to come up with some pretty original stories to bring me back into watching new Trek regularily. The latest episode I ever had any inclination to watch was ENT's "Regeneration", and for obvious reasons.

Frankly, even new stories might not be enough. Some decent action and consistency within the Trek universe wouldn't hurt either.

In fact, Paramount should rewrite and remake many Trek episodes so that Starfleet and other Trek concepts aren't so brutally butchered, like tactical thinking and effectiveness, intelligence, etc. Sign me up for trimming up the Borg image.

[General Zod]

one thing i wouldn't mind seeing is a series that shows episodes concerning events that happened elsewhere in the trek universe. Not necessarily focusing on the flagship of the federation, but letting us see some of the stuff that happened that's only been hinted about.

[Master of Ossus]

I think the serie is dull as hell. Only few episodes for each season are worth watching, the rest is garbage.
The crews don't act like real humans, but more like zombies walking back and forward.

The problem with the crew is that the writing is so inconsistent that a character can literally change personalities from one episode to the next. This means that character development is totally useless, since a character may revert to their previous personality type in the next episode, or even completely forget that the other episode even happened! Just look at how Data forgot ever having his emotion chip in ST:Nemesis! The problems with the TV series are, if anything, worse, since the characters literally cannot even be stereotyped into different categories as their personalities are SO random.

[Rogue 9]

one thing i wouldn't mind seeing is a series that shows episodes concerning events that happened elsewhere in the trek universe. Not necessarily focusing on the flagship of the federation, but letting us see some of the stuff that happened that's only been hinted about.

Yeah. They really need to do that. But what? Something contemporary with TNG but focused on another ship?

[General Zod]

maybe they could do a type of 'what if' stories for star trek? also wouldn't mind seeing some stuff on that 'secret organization' that's supposed to exist in starfleet. sector 31, wasn't it?

[neoolong]

Section 31.

[Uraniun235]

Eh. I think putting the weekly show down for awhile would probably be good. But TV movies could work. Personally, as long as B&B had nothing to do with it, I'd be all for seeing Captain Sulu again.

[RedImperator]

Star Trek could still be a good weekly series if the producers would get some good stories instead of peddling dumbed-down trash.

What stories are left to tell? They've covered almost all types of story arcs so far as I can tell.

In 10,000 years, humankind has come up with, IIRC, 32 basic stories that every writer, storyteller, playwrite and filmmaker since has used (save probably some experimental modern art stuff that, unsurprisingly, nobody outside the experimental modern art community likes). If in 10,000 years humankind hasn't managed to run out of stories to tell with only 32 basic plots, there's no excuse for Star Trek to have run dry after three decades.

[Superman]

'Smallville' is kicking its ass. HA HA! 'Smallville' RULES!

[Atavarius]

Yes but as long Paramount sees the cash flowing in, Berman stays.

Oh God I want Enterprise cancelled and B&B fired so damn much.
Create a new series with JMS at the helm, at least he knows the understanding of quality and story arcs.

Seeing JMS helming an ST series would be cool as long as he had TOTAL control and no Paramount execs trying to shape the series into a teenage testosterone milker ala 7of9 and T'Pol. Unfortunately I don't think we will ever see it, especially with hinting of more B5 surfacing.

Enterprise wouldn't be nearly as bad as it is if the series had direction and decent acting. First they tried the absolutley idiotic Temporal "Cold War" and when people realized they had no idea where to take it, they capitalized on the whole 9/11 sentiment and gave us this Xindi garbage,and they still don't know where to take it. Enterprise was a kneejerk reaction to try and bring Trek back to post-TOS, mid-TNG popularity and it failed. And with characters like John "Keanu" Archer and "Travis" I am in the show so little i don't even qualify as token anymore" Mayweather I don't see it changing at all.

[Ace Pace]

In 10,000 years, humankind has come up with, IIRC, 32 basic stories that every writer, storyteller, playwrite and filmmaker since has used (save probably some experimental modern art stuff that, unsurprisingly, nobody outside the experimental modern art community likes). If in 10,000 years humankind hasn't managed to run out of stories to tell with only 32 basic plots, there's no excuse for Star Trek to have run dry after three decades.

Uh is there a list? I was kinda wondering to myself if there was such a list, but where can I find it.

[Vertigo1]

You know, they should just shitcan Enterprise and bring back DS9.

[Rogue 9]

'Smallville' is kicking its ass. HA HA! 'Smallville' RULES!

Smallville is boring as all hell. I'd rather watch Enterprise if I was watching anything at all, but frankly I've just about given up on TV altogether. I watch the news.

[Super-Gagme]

You know, they should just shitcan Enterprise and bring back DS9.

Amen brutha

[Durandal]

What stories are left to tell?

How about a series that doesn't center around the Federation? Why can't we follow a crew of Maqui or a completely new species in the Delta Quadrant facing extermination at the hands of the Borg? Anything but the same old, "Meet new alien species, create situation where Prime Directive and practicality are in conflict, watch crew struggle" bullshit.

[General Zod]

something involving section 31 would be nice for that. they seem to be a fun, shady organization that doesn't give a rats ass about federation laws when it inconveniences them. it'd be nice to have a 'darker' star trek for a change.

[Solauren]

How about a series focused on a human leading a Klingon noble house?

[Master of Ossus]

'Smallville' is kicking its ass. HA HA! 'Smallville' RULES!

Smallville is boring as all hell. I'd rather watch Enterprise if I was watching anything at all, but frankly I've just about given up on TV altogether. I watch the news.

Watch MI-5, then. It's a great show.

So as not to hijack the thread, I will now bring us back on topic (sort of).

If you've created an entire frickin' Galaxy, you have a galaxy full of potential characters and interesting locations and such. There's no possible reason why you can't come up with stories with that much material at your disposal.

I like the idea of either a post-DS9 series that covers the occupation of the former Dominion territory, tension with the wormhole, the reconstruction (or lack thereof) of Cardassia and its territories, etc.

I also like the idea of doing a series in the "lost period" between TOS and TNG. That would have been a vastly better prequel timeframe than the one ENT is set up in. However, I am also now wary of such things because of the massive failure that is ENT. It's clear Paramount does not respect continuity.

Finally, an examination of the Romulan/Vulcan history might be very interesting, and also would have been a good prequel series. The bonus to doing this, of course, is that there's not that much material there to contradict, although admittedly the stakes are high.

Star Trek needs to create new characters, though, and I don't mean touching up the make-up and naming Bones "Trip," Picard "Archer," and Neelix "Doctor Phlox." They can't just go around taking their old characters and making them more craptacular by destroying the essence of those characters through poor writing, acting, and directing. They need to come up with a new, interesting question to ponder during their series, and they need to have a substantial portion of their episodes (ie. more than 30%) revolve around asking that question and seeking an answer for it.

[Patrick Degan]

They could have given us the only logical storyline that was available: the lead up to the Earth/Romulan War. They could have gone right back to Trek's literary and cinematic roots and based a crew upon that of the Horatio Hornblower series and the movie Forbidden Planet. They could have at least tried to model a more "primitive" look and feel for the series with ship and set design based on TOS and Forbidden Planet. But that was far beyond the creative competence of this clown crew because they would have actually had to have done some fucking work for a change.

So instead, they simply recycled Voyager lock, stock, and photorp tube.