Enterprise: Not as bad as it could be (1 Viewer)

[Frank Anderson]

Paramount finds this profitable?

I doubt it. But remember Trek episodes do not need to make a profit during their inital run. And yes I am razzed for the season opener. I am hoping they found their nitch and the episodes get better. However, I still seem to be one of the few people who enjoyed season one.

 

[Sean Laughter]

From Berman:

I wrote three episodes of NEXT GENERATION and did a lot of story writing. On VOYAGER, I ended up doing a lot of rewriting and then, by the end of the show, I was rewriting a great deal. When ENTERPRISE began, I suddenly realized that I was rewriting two-thirds of the episodes by the time we got to the end of last season, which was silly. Brannon and I started writing together. We suddenly realized that we had a remarkable compatibility. We would like to write half the episodes this season

Noting the writing involvement on VOYAGER and then seeing his "enthusiasm" for usurping the entire concept of having a writing staff on ENTERPRISE doesn't put me in the best of mindsets concerning the new show.

 

[GaryEA]

So, are we razzed for the season opener or what?

I am, and on two levels.
For the half of my self that just wants to be entertained with some sci-fi, even if it's goofy and dumb; I love a cliffhanger. So I'm ready and waiting.
But then there's the cynical, picky, film school grad who-kinda-loved-screenwriting-class-a-lot in me, waiting to see what kind of half-baked solution they're going to come up with.
If I could to sit down and make the decision, I'd say to the production team to go back and start again, or at least change gears this season. You have a killer idea with a ton of promise. It has the potential to stand on its own without looking like a watered down version of any of the others Treks. Stick with the established time line provided by the previous shows, and you have the framework for some very interesting and entertaining television.
Better stories, solid acting, more thinking. Now get back to work.
The other thing I would say, and I've been saying this for years about a number of shows, is try being less episodic and use some two or even three part episodes aside from the season ender.
Don't wrap up everything so neatly at the end of an episode with a Captain's Log explaining (just as a made up example) that the Bajorans are safe on their home world and the Enterprise has finished repairs (not to mention a level three diagnostic) after we just saw it getting it's ass kicked.
Take some chances. Challenge the writers, the cast and crew to make a better Star Trek than we've ever seen, rather than shifting demographics and putting a Vulcan in a Seven of Nine outfit.
-g
p.s. With Farscape going to be out of the picture next year (literally), do think there will be any change to Enterprise? Nah, didn't think so.

 

[Jack Briggs]

In other words, let's get the hell away from cookie-cutter, by-the-numbers, one-size-fits-all Star Trek. I've said it before, but the stories on Enterprise could be adapted to any of the four spinoff series. Business as usual. There's nothing conceptually daring going on here, unlike in TOS, TNG, and DS9. There's nothing truly unique to this particular crew. They are even vacationing on Risa already, and they have already met the Ferengi—even though the 1701-D's crew was supposed to have experienced the first face-to-face contact with the species.

The irony is that Rick Berman was just what the franchise needed at the start of TNG's third season. But look at what he has wrought. His boredom and apathy are all too apparent.

And what with the original Outer Limits being on DVD now, Enterprise has its work cut out for it to keep longtimers interested. There are so many options available now.

 

[GaryEA]

I agree; Berman's once-needed approach has soured into dull story-telling. It's not god-awful (well...), but I look for more from a show with the name "Star Trek" attached to it.
Thinking ahead, I wonder what post-Nemesis Star Trek will be like. The TNG generation are allegedly departing, never to do another film. What does that leave us?
Surely they will do another Trek film. Many fans would like to see a DS9 film, others a continuation of TNG, some want Voyager. Personally, I'd like to see the old Sulu/Excelsior idea made. It would be a great way to get some of TOS back on screen (you should know that I've never been a huge TV TOS fan - I grew up on the movies).
Enterprise, however, needs a LOT more to earn a spot on the big screen. It needs depth; its characters are starving for it. So is the writing. And why are we discarding so much of what has been established? Cochran, the Ferengi, Vulcans... to me the continuity of five televisions shows are now out the window. My next guess (this is sarcasm) is that Archer will fight a young Khan, hunting for a Slurpee ("Damn YOU!!!", he says as the machine reads "out of order").
The production value is solid and I have no complaints about the look of the show, but the writing has got to step up and match it if the series is to become a worthy addition to the ever-changing mythos. My opinion, of course. Mr. Berman, who really shouldn't be doing so much of the writing, needs to either step aside or introduce new producers with fresh ideas.
Maybe he will with the next show*. I'd like there to be another series; As much as I enjoy the premise of a pre-TOS series (and I do), I still long for the weeks episodes had starships slicing through the 24th century.
-g
(* = Pitch for a future show; Start Trek in the 25th Century with Captain Buck Rogers. Let's see what they do with time travel then! )

 

[Will_B]

Character depth wasn't requested or provided for the original series; it is a credit to our increasing sophistication that we want it now for the new series. Bones was a grouchy doctor, Kirk was a daring-do womanizer, Scotty and the rest were one-note-only characters, and Spock was the only one with any sort of depth.

T'Pol has good internal conflict which must continue to be developed if this series is indeed supposed to teach us about how different races and cultures can come together.

Archer's motivations are unclear at best, I don't have any sense of passion from him, yet as the lead he should have more development. Reed is pretty well developed as a secondary character, Trip is very natural and oftentimes seems to be the lead of the show, not Archer (Trip is an effortlessly realistic character), Hoshi had a good start but then they essentially dropped her from the shows. Mayweather is an embarrasment in that they give him a credit as a main castmember but he does the same as the anonymous crewmen who sat to the right of Data on the bridge of the Next Generation Enterprise - they should probably pull a Tasha on him so the other cast members can flourish.