[todd s]

The following rumor was posted at www.cinescape.com

As we first reported last week, a scooper contacted us with what they claimed was inside information about the mood of the crew on the set of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE. The UPN series, the fifth in the TREK franchise, has had a number of rumors circling it like dark clouds, some of which were confirmed and others dismissed by Paramount and ENTERPRISE brass.

After we ran our first scoop about ENTERPRISE, and after the weekend of the Television Press tour, the same person contacted us again with what they claimed was more inside information about the production. We will present what they told us with the caveat that the following report is unconfirmed and should be treated as gossip right now, for reasons that will become clear in a moment:

"It would seem the lackluster support of ENTERPRISE by Les Moonves and Dawn Ostroff at this weekend's UPN press junket has gotten the attention of Garry Hart, President of Paramount Television Productions. Quiet for some time regarding the dismal performance of his division's most important moneymaker, it has been rumored that Hart may be planning as early as March to make concessions to UPN to help keep ENTERPRISE on the air. From an insider in John Wentworth's office at Paramount Television's Marketing and Media Relations Department, a memo has been spotted suggesting Hart may be waiting until after ENTERPRISE's February sweeps performance to announce the possible replacement of some of the show's production staff, to possibly include longtime TREK Executive Producer Rick Berman. There is no word at this time of any possible replacements."



As you can see, the information our scooper sent to us is riveting but also extremely next to impossible to verify -- and that is why we are stressing that it should be taken as speculatory at this stage.


Hours before the annoucement of this week's shuffling of ENTERPRISE to its 9 PM timeslot (beginning in March), we were sent another message from the same scooper. Again, we present what they had to say to us as they sent it:

"The mood at ENTERPRISE, however, is mixed. Some fearing a dreaded Friday time slot are relieved the change is minor. Others, however, are less than optimistic considering the lead in shows of GAME OVER and THE MULLETS and think this may be a setup for disaster.

And as I reported earlier, the set is still awash with concern that within a month or two, there may be a new 'captain' in the Executive Producer's chair. There is concern that Rick Berman's future with the beloved TREK franchise may be coming to an end, making less certain than before the future of ENTERPRISE and a possible fourth season."

The reason we are choosing to now publish the scooper's two reports, even though we cannot confirm if this is truly the mood on the set of ENTERPRISE, is the mention of the timeslot change slightly ahead of the time the news broke online. Whether there are definitive plans for Paramount to remove producer Rick Berman from the STAR TREK franchise or a "memo" circulating in their offices remains unknown, but we still felt that it was necessary to print what was being told to us at this time. Fans reading this article are again stressed to keep this in mind; these are rumors right now and not known facts, and until our scooper chooses to show us hard proof of their claims or we discover another means to confirm what they are telling us, an open mind should be kept.

It may simply take time to determine if what we are being told is an accurate portrayal of events happening to ENTERPRISE or some individual crying wolf. With February around the corner and sweeps imminent, the final answer to these speculative questions should be known soon.

Berman..don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[Michael St. Clair]

Too little, too late?

[Jason Seaver]

To be honest, I thought Paramount was planning on losing Berman last year. It seemed kind of fishy that they'd hired John Shiban, one of the more popular X-Files writers who'd run The Lone Gunmen, if there hadn't been plans for him to be the heir apparent.

Do I think it's likely that Berman's out? Yeah. Les Moonves has only been running UPN along with CBS for a year or two, and I can't recall him ever being shy about looking for new show-runners. He also understands the value of a franchise, though, so I can see him trying to help Trek out by putting someone new in charge.

Will it help? Well, here's the thing, I think he'd have to hire a name for it, a David Greenwalt or Robert Wolfe or someone else the audience might have heard of and trusts. The sci-fi audience is pretty savvy about such things, and that's not how this usually is done.

[Will_B]

I care about the show still, so I just hope that the reason they're keeping him through Feb is so that the Feb Sweeps episodes can resolve the Expanse plot in a sensible way (a way that does not appear to have been thought up by someone else, I mean!).

[David Rogers]

I like Trek. However, I hate Berman. SF is about ideas and characters, not skin. There are several good examples of SF on TV that can be emulated. They include:

* Babylon 5
* ST:Next Generation
* Firefly
* Space: Above and Beyond
* Buffy the Vampire Slayer

These shows *all* focused on content. They had no stupid sexy alien babes. They had no pointless Decon-Gel scenes with crew members rubbing it on each other in a uni-sex environment. The storylines grew out of the characters and their drives. The audiences were not asked to swallow crap.

If they get rid of Berman, I can absolutely promise I will tune in immediately to see Enterprise and/or the next Trek Series. I think *many* Trekkies would return to the fold to see if Trek could be what it used to be prior to Berman's idiocy.

[Michael Hein]

I hope Berman's gone. As much as I like half naked babes I really hate how they use sex to try to grab ratings when Star Trek is so much more than that.

[Todd Hostettler]

Well, if Martin Blythe happens to ever find his way into this thread...

Hey, Martin! Let me know the names of the Paramount execs involved in this decision. I'd love to put them on the Christmas Card list.

[Sven Lorenz]

As long as they don't fire Braga too nothing will change.

[RickGr]

Yah! Like the orginal Trek never used half naked babes!