Preview Of Scott Bakula’s Guest Spot on Chuck + Bakula Talks About New Star Trek Movie April 5, 2009
by TrekMovie.com Staff , Filed under: Celebrity, ENT, Sci-Fi , trackback
On Monday Scott Bakula, Star Trek Enterprise’s Captain Jonathan Archer, begins a three-episode arc on the NBC show Chuck. We have video and image previews plus some interview excerpts from Bakula talking about Chuck and about Star Trek, including how maybe the new Star Trek movie could prove that Enterprise should never have been cancelled.
Scott and Chuck
The NBC show Chuck is about a nerdy guy (Chuck Bartowski) who is a member of the ‘Nerd Herd’ for ‘Buy More’ (like Geek Squad for Best Buy), who ends up with a secret computer program in his head, turning him into a key asset for the CIA. The show has had some connections to Star Trek in the past, none the least of which is Star Trek Voyager’s Robert Duncan McNeill who is a supervising producer for the show and has directed six episodes. The show recently had Robert Picardo (VOY: The Doctor) and on Monday Bakula begins a three-episode arc playing Chuck’s long-lost Dad.
Here is a preview showing Bakula (as well as guest star Chevy Chase).
Bakula on Chuck and Star Trek
Excerpts from interview with Bakula from SciFiWire
Bakula on preparing for Chuck:
Well, I had some inside information. I talked with the executive producers, and we had a long, almost an hour conversation with Josh [Schwartz] and Chris [Fedak] and I. And I’d seen a bunch of episodes, but there was a lot of fill-in-the-blank stuff that I needed help with. I can’t say that I knew everything about it, but I knew a lot. … It’s a great show, and they’re doing really wonderful work. It’s a great cast, very talented, and they’re extremely dedicated and hopeful about the series, and I am too. I hope they get picked up. … Bonnie’s [Bonita Freidericy, who plays Gen. Beckman] a good friend of mine. Her husband, John Billingsley, was on Enterprise with me, and I’m rooting for her. … It was fun.
Bakula on the new Star Trek movie:
I’m dying to see it. It looks like they’ve found a way to modernize it, and hopefully in a way that will [work] … I was talking to my 18-year-old son, and we were looking at the billboard, and I asked him, "What do you think of that?" He said, "When I first saw it, I was like, ‘Oh, another Star Trek movie. Those movies are so … ‘" And he didn’t have the word. I said, you know, "Dated?" And he said, "Yeah." It feels dated to an 18-year-old.
The trick is, they’ve got to bring it up to date and make it hip and sexy and fast and all the things they can do with effects now, and keep the die-hard fans in the theater. I’ll be curious to see if they’ll be successful with that. I hope they are.
We were trying to make that bridge with our series, and we had resistance. There was no question that some of the Star Trek fan base was not ready to go there [laughs]. They just didn’t want to do it. A guy stopped me, and he said, "Oh, I loved that show, I loved it, loved it, … except for the theme song" [laughs]. I was like, "Man, people should just …" But they’re not willing to give it any slack. If they don’t like it, they’re vocal about it. But if they like it, then you’re made. … The trailer looks fantastic. And, obviously, [director J.J.] Abrams knows how to make a movie. And, hopefully, he will have succeeded, and the studio will say, "We shouldn’t have canceled Enterprise" [laughs].
Much more from Scott, including talking about Quantum Leap, at SciFiWire.
Photos
And here are some images from the episode:
Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski and Scott Bakula as Steve Bartowski
on CHUCK — "Chuck vs. the Dream Job"
Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski and Scott Bakula as Steve Bartowski
on CHUCK — "Chuck vs. the Dream Job"
(l-r) Zachary Levi as Chuck Bartowski, Arnold Vosloo as Vincent, Scott Bakula as Steve Bartowski and Chevy Chase as Ted Roark
– on CHUCK — "Chuck vs. the Dream Job"
"Chuck Versus The Dream Job" airs tomorrow April 6th on NBC at 8:00 PM.
All Photos: Warner Bros Television Entertainment/Paul Drinkwater
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Comments»
Make more Enterprise!
We need more Enterprise, im sad IDW dont have the rights to make some ENT comics
Man, i dunno if its Star Trek actors in particular, but those guys with cancelled shows seem to get *bitter*.
I really would have like to see what would have happened in Enterprise’s season 5 and 6. Liked the show and the cast.
I will go on record saying I really enjoyed “Enterprise”, especially that final season.
I would be pleased if someone from “Enterprise” made a cameo in the new movie, just to show continuity in the way that “These Are the Voyages” tried to do (and failed at miserably). Maybe an elderly Archer or an approximately 150-year-old T’Pol. I’m not suggesting that such an appearance would have to figure prominently (or at all) in the plot, but it would be a nice nod to continuity. It could also be the movie equivalent of the pilot-episode “handoff,” which has become traditional in televised Trek, at least: DeForest Kelley in TNG, Patrick Stewart in DS9, Armin Shimerman in Voyager, and James Cromwell in ENT. But I guess Leonard Nimoy has the honor of doing the handoff this time.
Steve Bartowski……didn’t he play for the Atlanta Falcons in the 70’s and 80’s?
I loved Enterprise too (apart from the theme song which was indeed execrable!) but I do think it was still far too tied to the Berman universe, which despite big changes over the years, still felt very much like The Next Generation to me. It’s so clear that the new movie is by an entirely (or almost entirely) different production team and it sends a different message.
Well Scott Bakula seems to be a nice guy and Eterprise seems to be a bad show, it is intresti that he pinpointed with his comment on the new movie exactly the problem with enteprise.
Enterprise got really good toward the end of the second season, but I think by then it was lost on most people.
I think one huge thing was, the drab, monochrome look to the series just didn’t work. Form the uniforms to the set designs to every alien planet they visited, everything just felt so monocrhome.
Second, the overall time-travel temporal civil war storyline was just plain lost on a lot of people. It reminded me of the last few season of DS9. A great series – if you saw every episode. Otherwise, it made less and less sense for a the caual viewer.
Enterprise’s last season turned out to a season of what I’d cal really good fan fiction – which I think is what it should have been the entire time.
Pics of Pine and Quinto heading down to Australia: http://justjared.buzznet.com/2009/04/05/chris-pine-zachary-quinto-australia/
(are they sharing glasses? LOL)
We’ll get the first reviews in just a few days!! *excited*
I have recently been re-watching Star Trek: Enterprise in HD and I have to say that except for some occasional wooden acting by some of the actors, this has become my second favorite Star Trek series behind TOS. The production crew and design was absolutely perfect with a blend of today and tomorrow.
In my opinion, the early seasons were my favorite because some of the wonders of the final frontier were tackled as the crew ventured away from Earth for the first time. I remember the scene where the bridge crew answered questions from the elementary school students and how it shed new light on the characters. “A poop question?” Priceless.
Too bad the show was on UPN, a network that never really took off and one that had no complementary programming to help build an audience.
Scott Bakula and yes, even B&B, grew the character of Jonathon Archer into a believable character that became the core of the show.
I really hope that people from Paramount/CBS will make Enterprise direct-to-DVD movie (like Stargate SG-1) movies or miniseries. J.J. give us ENT miniseries please! :)
I liked Enterprise. It really sucks they stopped making the show. It was better then some stupid shows like….. Terminator the sarah connor chronicles or CHUCK. Oh well, i’m sure we’ll have another Trek series in the next 5-10 years. Can’t wait for a new tv series to follow.
As I said in the previous post, it would be really nice (and profitable for Paramount/CBS) to use ST XI as tentpoole movie for making some additional miniseries or TV movies with ENT, DS9, TNG or VOY cast. Whata heck, it would be nice to se even captain Robau miniseries. :D
It would be nice if they brought the cast of Entrprise back so they could have a proper farewell instead of “These are the Voyagers..”
Enterprise had wooden acting and writing, sadly. Stale stories, and an initial fear to be a true prequel to TOS in style and substance.
@15
Hear, hear, mate ;)
@16
Are u live in the basement?
The 4th season had shown the potential of the show but over all Enterprise was not fresh enough. The intro music was way to cheesy and the caracters boring (for me there is only one vulcan sience officer) But i liked the show more than Voyager and the special effects were really great. I dont like the show but i am not one of those Trekkies who hate Eterprise.
By the wy had anyone wonder how the next star trek Tv show will look like?
So Enterprise was trying to be new and fresh by remaking old shows with exactly the same storylines? Darn it, it only that theme song had been better…
I called my local Tampa affiliate of UPN to keep the show on the air, but the show had many problems beside that much-hated theme song.
Enterprise was a good show and did a great job bridging the gap between current-day and the TOS era. It died mostly because it wasn’t properly marketed and because there was star trek fatigue amongst the general population. No star trek series or movie can succeed if only the elderly nerds around these forums watch it – that simply is not a big enough audience.
I loved Enterprise, including the theme tune.. if you actualy took the time to listen to the words, they fit exactly the whole idea of where human-kind is by that time, and the struggle getting there..
I disliked Enterprise because I didn’t recognize a whole lot that was antecedent to TOS, instead it felt like it skipped TOS and was trying to be a prequel to only the modern Treks. Also, Bakula’s portrayal of Capt Archer was one of constantly being exasperated- it was like he was so insecure and afraid of new things that he would shout at everyone, not just T’pol. That final year they were on, it finally felt like they got the balance right, especially that show where Archer was on Vulcan and he finally seemed centered and balanced, I was really sad to see that show end. Another thing, that finale was atrocious, they should’ve fired whosoever suggested that idea and killing Trip in that lame ass last second way was a travesty. The only thing out of that finale that was of any value was the last 30 sec with the various Ent’s flying by.
The problem with Enterprise was always the story writing. The cast was good, sets and CGI were great, but the writers were weak. If they had concentrated on key trek cannon points, the Romulan War and through it the creation of the Federation, the show would have been better. They only gave the cannon centered story lines a few episodes, a squandered opportunity. The Romulan shape shifting ship was real bad, but not at bad as devoting an entire season to the Xindi, poor poor scifi. Maybe they could have explained the world that Capt. Kirk inherited. Now there were some excellent episodes which are just as good as any in the franchise, ie-when the Vulcan chick takes Archer back to early Vulcan and he sees the Vulcans nuking each other, and meets that Vulcan who brought them logic.
like a lot of fans i missed Ent when it was first around as id tuned into season 1 and 2 and didnt like it at all(like VOY and DS9)…then there was a lot of fan buzz about season 4 so i bought it and watched it and yes it was very good – “In A Mirror Darkly” 2 parter was better than Insurrection and Nemesis put together and the Augments 3 parter with Dr Soong was great…like a remake of Space Seed and TWOK but at the same time a prequel..the Khan alike Malik is an absolute PSYCHO…totally on the same level as khan
id have kinda liked Enterprise to continue. season 1/2 were pretty dire apart from the pilot and the borg ‘Regeneration’ ep but season 3 was pretty good in parts (kinda like watching a 20hr Star Trek movie) and season 4 was really great thanks to Manny Coto being brought in and its foreshadowing TOS (which is what ENT shouldve been doing all along instead of acting like prequel to TNG as in season 1/2)
i get the impression had it continued for the whole 7 seasons (finishing last year) wed have seen Shatner in an episode (there were always rumours but im sure itd have eventually worked out)…and maybe the last ep wouldve been a flash foward to seeing Archer and Tpol at the NCC 1701 launch under Capt Pike or even April (Archer was supposedly present at the launch – info on Mirror Darkly screen)…but then if itd had continued there probably wouldnt have been any new movie!
i think we’ll see a few ‘Enterprise’ homages in the new film (more so than any DS9/VOY)..the kelvin uniforms and ship look a little ENT inspired…There was also one ep in the 1st or 2nd season about a rival of Archers and there was a cool fight in a NASA style Starfleet bar that was kind of similar of the Kirk bar fight in the new film….also in the Vulcan 3 parter in S4 about Tpau, Surak etc i noticed that the Vulcan HQ FX on planet vulcan is (i think) the same one seen in the 2nd trailer of the new film (the bit where Sarek is saying ‘you will always be a child of 2 worlds…’) i mean obviously the FX in the trailer look better but i really think its the same
Enterprise had potential, but still had too much of Braga’s garbage in it: from the insipid temporal cold war to ‘bitter beer face’ Vulcans to putting iguana pituitary glands into puppies. There was a lot of crap in Enterprise. It started getting better toward the end but it was too little too late.
Or some of those Andorian episodes, and the mirror universe two parter, really great TV. Every great civilization is born of conflict, the Punic Wars established the Roman Empire, the Revolution established the USA, WWII created modern China, we could have seen first hand how the Earth-Romulan War created the Federation, instead of just the few episodes we got. All in all, it was a good series, better then most Scifi, not nearly as great as great as the greatest Scifi show of all time now, Ron Moore’s Battlestar Galactica.
Also in regard to the new film bringing Trek more into the real world abit – ENT felt like that at certain times (like in the pilot and that Archers rival episode) …much more than any of the other series
#5
Believe it or not, there will be an Enterprise reference in the movie. On the planet Delta Vega, Scotty confesses that he accidentally scrambled “Admiral” Archer’s prized beagal in a transporter beam. I mean, we won’t get to see any Enterprise characters, but diagloue references are always fun!
I liked Enterprise and especially it’s theme song, it gave the franchise more relevancy in my opinion. I didn’t care for the bridge though, it should’ve looked more retro, as in a precursor to the NCC-1701.
I also didn’t care for John BIllingsley. Why do actors think they always need to alter their voices to sound like a geek when playing an alien?
I for one liked Enterprise but that’s just me. Now let’s get back to the new movie only 32 days before we can see it
The first couple of seasons of Enterprise were on par with the first two of TNG, average storytelling. I much enjoyed the final two seasons and it should’ve not been cancelled.
I remember hearing something that there will be mention of an Admiral Archer in the movie…
I really liked “Enterprise”……..Whoa good thing Spell check was on otherwise it would’ve said Eterprise, which would have been a whole other all together.
Enterprise could come back,,
It would mix well with ST : TFB, theres alot of storylines they could blend together.
:o)
I’m surprised I’m the only one, so far, who has noticed Arnold Vosloo in the “Chuck” screencapture – most of you would know him from “The Mummy” movies starring Brendan Fraser!
35 — “most of you would know him from “The Mummy” movies starring Brendan Fraser!”
That may be why nobody noticed…. :D
Wasn’t there a report that Scotty mentions an Admiral Archer and his dog in the new movie?
ok people theres one reason Enterprise was cancelled, and it wasnt show quality, or ratings: UPN, a network aimed at guys, was morphing into the CW, a network aimed at girls…the new suits axed Enterprise for THAT reason…just as the WB axed the Buffy spinoff Angel before the WB merged with UPN to become the CW… ironicly symbiotic, you see, because in the final season of Angel, an ‘Old One’ proto-demon named Illyria killed Amy Acker’s character Fred and took over her body…while simultaneously, in Enterprise’s 3rd season, the episode ‘Damage”, specifically, the alien race Archer stole the warp coil from was called the Illyrians… LOL…the irony is had both series been relocated to the Scifi Channel, theyd probably both still be running today :)
#37–Scotty meets Kirk on Delta Vega because Archer used his pull to get Scotty transferred to Delta Vega after one if Scotty’s transwarp beaming experiments killed Porthos 11, Archers most recent dog…
correction…thats one ‘of’, not one ‘if’ (LOL)
Hi, Everyone.
I have missed ” Enterprise” for quite a long time. There were some rumors what episodes of “Enterprise” would be showing.
The rumours were visiting stratos, the city on the clouds, from the original TOS episode “The Cloud Minders”. Which in our point, it is our second visit. For the NX-01 crew, it is their first. Simular when the NX-01 crew visit Organia for the first time on season four.
Second rumour was the KilKenny Cats will show up. These catlike predators are from the animated series “Star Trek”, episode – The Slaver Weapon- and they are known as the Kzinti. They had a stolen pink(!!!) vessel named “The Traitor’s Claw”. It was a former police ship.
Third rumour was a return trip to the mirror universe. Long live Empress Sato. I wonder if Mirror T’Pol would hijack the Defiant and take it to Vulcan.
Your guess is as good as mine.
Here are a couple of YouTube.com addresses if you want to visit:
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-XV5Yvm7ZI&feature=related
2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nle8VFQoqps&NR=1
Thank you, everyone for reading my message. I hope it was helpful.
Take Care. Long Life and Happiness to you and your loved ones.
Sam
I’m a Enterprise fan and It is sad that Enterprise was cancelled.
It is good to read this board and see how many like Enterprise now.
Back in 2001-2005, people were attacking the hell out of it.
I’m happy to see the change of heart for Enterprise.
I think Enterprise was a good prequel to The Cage and that is how should look at it. Enterprise all way made me smile with their hidden canon in the show. It took more deeper research into trek-canon to find out the links. For me, ENT, TOS and TNG form a trilogy. With change of heart for Enterprise maybe one day we’ll see Enterprise: The Motion Picture.
PS: I call Enterprise just Enterprise because it is set before Star Trek (aka TOS). Enterprise, Star Trek and then Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Also Hey, DST make more Enterprise Figures and Ships.
Enterprise had potential, but for me the biggest issue was Bakula. I love the guy in nearly everything else I’ve ever seen him in, but he was so wooden/borderline corny in Enterprise. As were a lot of the other actors. I’m sure it was a matter of material, and the fact that the audience felt we’d seen so much of it already. Maybe if they’d waited to do the series, instead of picking up right after Voyager (and Voyager would probably have done better had it waited for DS9 to go off the air. Why they decided to always have two shows running simultaneously always baffled me). If they’d at least put together a different production team, instead of wringing yet another show out of the same group.
Still looking forward to seeing Scott & Chevy on Chuck, though. Great show, lots of fun and never boring. And Quantum Leap will always be a classic.
#38
Angel was canceled in 2004, well over a year before Enterprise. The CW wasn’t created until 2 1/2 years after Angel’s cancellation, and nearly a year after Enterprise’s cancellation. Trust me, TV networks do not think that far in advance (if they did, they wouldn’t be so quick to cancel as many shows as they do). According to David Fury, Joss was actually at fault because he insisted they give Angel an early pickup, and the network declined.
The sad thing about Angel’s cancellation was that it was actually outperforming most of the shows on that network, in terms of key demographics. Lord knows it was miles beyond the crap they were shoveling out on Smallville.
I have a personal affinity for Enterprise as it was the only Trek series I saw from the very beginning. It lost me during Season 3, and I’ve never really gone back to it despite the opportunity to do so. I may pick it up again one of these days.
I could have gone with a theme song for Enterprise, if they’d invested a little more budget to get something less cheesy rock anthem Bryan Adams-ish.
“Faith of the Heart” borders on parody and wouldn’t sound out of place in Team America: World Police. Probably turned away a lot of audience right at the opening credits.
Enterprise was really a big failure. It started off with two terrible seasons. I don’t know of any really good episodes from those seasons. By season three, the team new they had to change something, so they decided to go the whole “story arc” approach, which sort-of worked, sometimes better than others. Season four, however, was really, really good. In fact, I think its one of the best Trek series seasons ever.
I had started watching Enterprise during its first and second season run, but I got really tired of it really quickly, and before long, I found myself saying, “Enough Trek. Its time to move on.” And that’s what I did. I saw bits and pieces of season three, and none of season four. Only recently have I gotten both of the later seasons on DVD after I saw a few episodes in syndication.
I am looking forward to the new move more than I have any other movie before. Despite the fact that the time incursion by Nero changes the timeline, allowing for a new story and rebooted visualization of the Trek universe, Enterprise is still, I suppose, a prequel to this movie. I would love it if the studio made a couple more seasons, but that won’t happen, mainly because it had a crappy start and nobody watched it, and also because of Trek’s new direction. As I said before, its time to move on, but now, its time to move on to more Trek!
I really loved ENT from the Begining and they were really starting to feel like the other Treks by the time the last eposdoe came out….I hope they make a mini-series for ENT or TV movie…I hope they can do the same for DS9. I want some better Closer on that show.
Today’s Outpost Gallifrey Doctor Who News points to an interview with Russell Davies at the UK Times where he says the following:
RTD I would have loved to have done a Star Trek crossover. The very first year, we talked about it. Then Star Trek finally went off air. Landing the Tardis on board the Enterprise would have been magnificent. Can you imagine what their script department would have wanted, and what I would have wanted? It would have been the biggest battle.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6022914.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2
Wow!
Nice to see a few Enterprise fans here.
I loved the show; my second favorite after DS9. And it was totally cut down in its prime…the show was only getting better. (Well, until ‘These Are the Voyages…’ anyway….)
I almost wonder if it wasn’t that third season that totally polarized people on the show. Personally, I loved the Xindi arc, but maybe a lot of fans weren’t appreciative of a season-long arc, or the shift from exploration to a mission to save the planet. (Admittedly, that is the one thing about season three that totally changed the spirit of the series.)
With Manny Coto running the show in season four, they were doing some spectacular things. I can only believe that season five would have been one of the best seasons in all of Trek.
I miss Enterprise!
Also, I don’t think Bakula had it right when he was talking about how Trek needs to modernize. Don’t get me wrong, I think Trek needs a major overhaul, but that shit theme music wasn’t the right way to go at all. As a musician, Trek music was always a high point for me, and Enterprise really failed in that area. That said, can’t wait to hear the soundtrack from the new movie.
#48
I’ve always wondered why Trek couldn’t go in a similar route as Stargate: make direct-to-DVD movies. There have already been two based on Stargate SG-1, and another SG-1 movie and one for the spin-off, Stargate Altantis, are in the works.
Why couldn’t we get something like that for DS9, Voyager and/or Enterprise?
#51
I really didn’t mind the theme song. Really didn’t. It took me off-guard the first time, but I do think that it fit with the spirit of the show.
50 – thank god that didnt happen!
sorry – meant 49
I loved ENT for the most part and Bakula is just a SCI-FI Legend
Same here. (What can I say… I’m a Star Trek fan.) I loved Enterprise, loved it and loved it even more. EXCEPT FOR THE THEME SONG!!! ;D
And I do think that Enterprise needs some closure. A mini-series or something like three feature-length episodes would be great.
I think it’s a shame about ENT. The show was starting to get good in it’s last season, imo. Not as good as the best of OST or Next Gen… it had definitely floundered for a while there but finally found it’s legging towards the end, and started to show promise. What a waste.
Eh, found it’s “footing”. Imma doofus.
Direct-to-DVD “Enterprise” movie showing the Romulan war, written by Manny Coto? I’d watch it.
43 – Bakula got alot better in season 3/4…he went from being a bit of a wussy captain to being really hard ass when he needed…pretty damn good.
in A Mirror Darkly he quite amusing – like he was channeling some serious shatner (that speech he gives to the crew in part 2 – close your eyes and it could be shatner…plus that ‘Raise Them!’ – almost like Khan)
it did feel that the makers of the show were really trying to promote archer as a historic starfleet figure – (remember the way it was promoted in 2001 with posters of Bakula with the tagline ‘Kirks childhood hero’)
22 – i understand what you mean – in the first 2 seasons it really felt like it was a prequel to TNG (e.g. the uniforms were reminiscent of TNG era, the borg ep, all the First Contact Cochren references) – with no connection to TOS at all almost like berman etc were trying to wipe out TOS (thankfully Coto changed all that)
Big CHUCK fan! Can’t wait until tomorrow for Bakula’s and Chase’s 3 episode arcs.
If you have not caught this show – check it out. Its light weight but extremely fun and the cast is well….awesome!
Building on what I was saying in 61 – with archer being portrayed as this living legend as opposed to how Kirk was portrayed in TOS and movies – sorta just another Starfleet captain but who was pretty young…I don’t think it was until Generations that he was a kind of Starfleet ‘celebrity’….guess it made sense with archer being the first starship captain and all – but it all felt a bit odd at first – that there was this previously unheard of Enterprise that had been out there patrolling the galaxy encountering Romulans and borg and klingons etc a century before Kirk…in TOS it really felt like Kirk and the Ent and all the other Constituion class ships were encountering all that stuff for the 1st time
I loved ‘Enterprise’ from beginning to end. I’ve been a vocal supporter of the show in here-and outside of–as well.
I think the first and last season (I never quite warmed up to the sory-long arc) were the best. I agree with many of the posts in here… and I’ve said this many times in the past, ‘Enterprise’ NEVER belonged on UPN.
I’d love to see he show on direct-to-DVD, but know that will never. It’s just one of those case were we have to accept that bean counters at UPN really fu**ed up.
Thing that always bugged me was the “look” of /Enterprise./ Okay, the writing is going to have a TNG/DS9/VOY feel, because that’s where they got the writers. But the sets, the props, the costumes — it didn’t look like an antecedent to Pike and Kirk’s era. Combined with the lack of “canon stories,” as someone above put it, /Enterprise/ seemed disconnected, like it didn’t fit within the ST universe. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the show, especially towards the end of its run, and wish they hadn’t moved it all the schedule for years where I couldn’t find it. I was definitely left wanting for more by the end, just as it was getting good. Sadly, the finale didn’t do a lot to settle my stomach about /Enterprise/’s premature cancelation. If anything, it made me madder.
Enterprise is my fav Star Trek show. People who say they don’t like it sould watch it (again). I think it’s the perfection of everything that was tried to be done since the beginning of TNG.
The problem “Enterprise” had was that it was a prequel, that it was called “Enterprise” instead of Star Trek – Enterprise and that the studio made clear that they wanted to try something diffeent. Because of those simple reasons people didn’t watch it .. didn’t give it a cahnce because they wanted to see what happens after TNG, DS9 and VOY. I know because I was exactly this way.
Then after some time I thought I should watch it anyway and it turned out to be my favourite show… I hate that it was cancelled.
He’s Chevy Chase…and by the looks of his health…I’m glad I’m not.
enterprise should not have been canceled, it was great.
there was plenty of ‘canon’ storytelling (eugenics wars, terra nova for starters) and the tech was definitely pre-pike, post nasa.
upn was really circling the drain, what an awful lineup of shows they offered. they should have launched with star trek tng.
but they waited, and ended up producing desperate, lowest common denominator programming that finished them off, and rightly so.
i hope there is a captain archer cameo in this new flick, maybe they’ll do the futurama thing and produce straight to dvd movies of enterprise, i’d buy a subscription.
as for the theme song, i’ll take that inspirational ballad of human achievement over the lullaby’s that opened ds9 and voyager anyday.
I wish Enterprise had been given one more season. I think a lot of the criticisms of it would have faded. It had an identity crisis for the first couple of years. One more year, and I think it would have shaken that.
Incidentally, I was at the Quantum Leap convention that is referenced in the SciFiWire story. It was extremely well done, and all by volunteer help (as opposed to the ‘professional’ cons). Scott Bakula was a joy throughout, an extremely nice guy whom I got to meet. It was sad, though, to hear him and Don Bellisario essentially rule out a Quantum Leap movie….
IMHO, none of the theme songs were as good as TOS and TNG, that one from Enterprise was gawd awful.
#61
I’ll simply have to disagree, as ‘In A Mirror Darkly’ is nigh unwatchable, for me. Way too corny, hammy and over the top. I thought Scott made Bill look subtle in comparison! :)
#69
“as for the theme song, i’ll take that inspirational ballad of human achievement over the lullaby’s that opened ds9 and voyager anyday.”
I’ll have to disagree here as well. That Top 40/Adult Contemporary theme makes me wince whenever I hear it. It was awful in Patch Adams (which itself was awful) and even worse when recycled for Enterprise. Too sappy and lifeless. Theme songs should be instrumental (especially in Science Fiction), unless they’re for a sitcom. Even then, you’re tossing a coin as to how quickly it might date itself. Personally, I loved the DS9 theme, as they’d finally managed to stop recycling Jerry Goldsmith’s TMP theme and come up with something different.
And in all fairness to Enterprise, TNG had 1 awful first season and an incredibly dodgy second season. IMO, the only Trek that consistently produced high quality stories throughout its run was DS9.
If he was given better material, Bakula could have been a GREAT Trek captain.
Unfortunately, as others have said, the writing was just stale and unoriginal as can be. And the characters were just all over the place.
73
Yeah the first couple seasons of TNG weren’t great, but they at least had the benefit of being fresh and unique. Where ENT felt stale and recycled from the very start.
And except for a few episodes, I’d say the first season of DS9 was generally pretty weak. In fact Sisko was barely more than a supporting character. lol
Im not a big trekkie, but the problem I find with Star Trek FANS is they’re never satisfied with anything.
How many posts have said “Oh! They should include a nod to Archer, or T’pol” or “they should include a nod to the TNG, maybe have the Enterprise-E show up at the end and blow up the Narada! AWWWEEE! That’d be awesome!”
And yet it would completely negate the point of starting over with a new movie reboot of the franchise.
This movie doesn’t HAVE TO STICK to continuity at all, yet there are always posts that complain that because the new movie doesn’t have so and so, or doesn’t mention so and so, it’s going to suck.
But hey, that’s what the internet is for, bitching about Star Trek. so.. whatever. Just sometimes, I don’t think people get what this movie is trying to do.
And loo, I too agree Enterprise started getting good in it’s 4th season, and then got completely shafted by the final “valentine for the fans” episode.
But they’re not ever gonna go back and fix that. That’s how this franchise has always been. They say one thing happened, and then ignore it in the next episode or series, etc… That’s why they need a reboot and to bring in some freshness to it.
One episode I liked on ENT, from Season Two, I think: Carbon Creek. The notion of one of the Vulcans staying behind was silly, though.
With all this talk about a Direct-To-DVD for ENT, I am wondering if Mr. Sternbach, who frequents these boards, could confirm if the sets were struck or just plain destroyed. That would certainly solidify that decision for any future producers, I would think.
I have a feeling we’re pumpin’ a dry well. The staff and cast have most likely moved on with their careers, even if the word came down from on high that a DVD flick was available.
It’s sad, really. ENT was the one series that had the potential to recapture the magic of TOS. TNG was good, but it was its own animal. DS9 was a over-acted soap opera in space and VOY should have remained lost with such milquetoast characters that really sapped the soul out of the franchise. But, in the end, ENT was trapped under the weight of the canon beast.
If only a series could have been made with the basic premise of ENT, but totally in a new venue and without all the baggage that Star Trek holds. My hope is this new movie will follow this path. Time will tell.
47. The Governator – April 5, 2009
Enterprise was really a big failure.
————————————————————————————
Having Four Seasons is NOT a big failure.
All star trek show have it hard for first 3 to 4 seasons.
If ENT had a 5th is would have made it.
Enterprise was a GREAT show and I truly mean that. I ignored it for so long because “die hard” Trekkers were bashing it so much. After watching the series for the first time beginning to end recently, I can not understand why people didn’t enjoy it. What a great show and certainly a great Star Trek show. What a shame it turned out the way it did, there were so many great stories left to tell.
#65 – I agree… and GO NAVY from an MC2.
Enterprise was not a failure; its writers were failures for not having a good plan to show the origins of TOS and the rest of Trek the way the fans expected them to. The “temporal cold war” was a terrible idea. The series could’ve been fine without it and still had a lot of its details play out the same. Berman has always been a time-travel nut it seems and maybe they were trying to capitalize on Quantumn Leap and Bakula. However this was not supposed to be Time Trek. The 4th season was the right formula for sure, IMO.
I didn’t think Bakula came off as bitter in the interview…I don’t know where #2 gets that idea
76. Billman – April 5, 2009
Im not a big trekkie, but the problem I find with Star Trek FANS is they’re never satisfied with anything.
————————————
No, you are wrong!
Just look up posts on Terminator 4 sites or X-MEN ORIGINS WOLVERINE sites and find the dislike and judging about the new films coming out as Some trek fans have on here.
The real problem is the ones who attack the dislike.
Non-trek site don’t have people who attack the dislike and judging about the new film coming out.
You do not see Terminator fans and X-Men fans who are for the new films attacking the ones not for them or saying things like “they live in the basement”.
#75
Disagree, but to each their own. I think Brooks was finding his voice as the character, but the stories were more interesting and consistent than TNG, VOY or ENT’s first seasons.
82. same here.. it seems like he was picking his son’s brain for his opinion on whether JJ’s Trek will hack getting it past the ‘dated’ stigma and being very objective with him (sounds like a good dad!).. Also he is giving the latest movie his blessing (perhaps so he can have a cameo in the sequel.. hehe)
Those pictures look more like Quantum Leap then Chuck. I wonder if Scott noticed. . .
83. darrksan – April 5, 2009
I get ya. Im not trying to really attack the dislike, as I have my own gripes, but it seems these posts are getting repetitive i.e. “this movie shouldve had so an so” etc… that”s all I was trying to say.
I dont think I attacked anyone for living in the basement.
Enterprsie was the BEST Star Trek show since TOS.
It also had the best casting.
Since this seems to have become the “chime in with your opinion of Enterprise” thread (with a side order of “chime in with your opinion on the theme music”):
Never really watched Enterprise. No strong opinions. Saw one episode from the first season and had no problems with it (but it didn’t draw me in to watch more). Saw three episodes from the final season (the Babel arc), and I liked those well enough. Meant to get around, someday, to watching more of that season. Never quite did. Still mean to, more or less, someday.
Theme song: Surprised me. Decided I was fine with it … again, it didn’t stoke me one way or the other. Did the job. I liked the actual credit sequence it ran with; with the little walk-through-history going on.
Perfect casting!
will watch!
I love Bakula, but Enterprise felt overproduced, and too TNGish for what it should have been.
It should have had a different production crew.
Yeah, Rick S. is one (I think?) to ask about those sets – if they remain in storage somewhere or were trashed. Or, perhaps some of them were “saved” in some form, somewhere. (?) Several excellent possible Season Five episodes (also potential TV movie versions) are listed on the Memory Alpha website (some are shown above), and the Earth-Romulan war arc (–possibly beginning with a Season Five cliffhanger carrying over into Season Six–) might have been a great way to explore how we as a species are behaving among one another in reality, in our time. That might be a positive way to return to more of what Gene R’s vision of what Star Trek, in any form, was trying to be. Oh, well….
ROBERTO and/or ALEX: what do you guys think about all of this talk of how ST:ENT fits into ST canon, potential TV movies of Memory Alpha’s ST:ENT “The Would Be Season Five” material, the not-filmed Earth-Romulan War arc, and specifically, how those specific story ides might or might not fit in with your movie’s story-line? (’Not asking you to give any spoilers before the film hits theaters, of course, only wondering how you view what might have been done with the ENT portion of the franchise, and could still be, IF…..)
ENT didn’t do much for me during its initial run, but I stuck with it until the end. Because I always enjoyed all the Trek shows and movies to some extent, I rented the whole series over the course of several months and was pleasantly surprised to find much to like about it. They sometimes played fast and loose with canon, but if you just roll with it the series was quite entertaining!
The cast was great! Bakula’s Archer was a little weak, but maybe that was his choice to portray the tentative steps mankind was taking into the unknown. I missed the gravitas of the previous captains. Even Janeway.
As for the theme song? It’s a harmless but well-crafted pop song. Appropriate for a Trek theme? I guess that’s up to the individual viewer. It’s too inoffensive to get me all bent out of shape.
I am waiting on iron spikes for the Chuck episode:
Chuck vs. Young Captain Kirk
41. There’s a higher resolution version up of those “imaginary” Season 5 titles -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1PwNEOiBXU
Thanks for the plug!
I’m gutted Scott wasn’t asked to visit JJ’s set (everyone else under the sun seemed to have stopped by).
I suppose I shouldn’t get my hopes that he donned old age latex and was there as a 130-something Archer, watching the launch of NCC-1701. The fact he’d need paying even for his likeness, probably means no portrait hanging on the wall during the Academy scenes…
95, my girlfriend just woke up and heard the opening credits for season 5 of ent and said omg what the hell is that music its awful! lol!
enterprise was a good series, especially in the beginning. too much people, also so called fans, did not realize that.
Not liking a tv show bec of a theme song is like not liking the Mona Lisa bec. of the frame.
theres an amusing Utube thing of the final scene of the last Enterprise with Archer and Tpol embracing before he goes to do his speech …then the quantum leap FX start around ‘archer’
I loved Enterprise… I thought seasons three and especially four were very, very good. I’ve also read up on what would have been previews for season five, and it would have been awesome! I mean, it even had potential to go into details of the Romulan War! I think it’s a shame that they never pulled it through for another season. They were going to do a lot of the “why this happened” kind of plots… Which would have been pretty cool.
The show had huge potential for tying the series together in one big happy circle. And then they canceled it. -sigh-
And, AHEM, I happen to love the opening theme to ENT. Shoot me if you must, but I think it’s better than the opening to TOS, and I love that series.
To Captain Pike:
Sir, I want to thank you for responding back. It is an honour. I just saw your youtube.com address and it is better than the two address I found.
I would agree with you, sir, for the opening season 5 of Star Trek Enterprise. I also notice that the Daedalus class starship showed up during the opening sequence.
Once again, Captain Pike, my thank yous to you.
Take Care and have a great easter week.
Sam
Despite many of the same distracting trappings of other 24th century drek, I rather enjoyed the characters or Enterprise more than any other of the spin offfs. Trip was fantastic, Reed and Phlox were grossly under-utilized. I even liked T’pol. Archer, however was severely lacking as a starship captain. His happy-go-lucky ,golly-gosh demeaner just didn’t suit the character. It was perfect for Quantum Leap, no so perfect for a starship captain.
Bakula is a good enough actor and a likable guy, but the writing for Archer was lacking most of the time. I never saw him as a role model, and I saw all of the other captains and commanders as just that – people who, while flawed like all humans, were great leaders. I liked Trip better and wonder what the show would’ve been like if Archer had been killed off and Ticker had been promoted to captain. There were other good characters/actors(Malcolm, Hoshi, Plox, Hayes) but I couldn’t get past Archer or T’Pol, who I found irratating. I watched the show religiously because I saw some very good episodes, more than bland or bad ones. I did like the regular theme song, especially the slower version, but I liked “Archer’s Theme” and IaMD’s theme better.
102. Thanks. Star Trek.com originated the Bakula narration and it must’ve been quickly done, judging by the rough delivery in his voice. Could’ve done with a few more takes, imo. The Federation logo makes a good contrast with the Terran Empire logo from the IaMD titles and sets up the theme perfectly for a Season 5 arc. One thing I do wish ENT had done differently was the titles… changing and evolving the sequence every year (like Babylon 5 did) as and when the tone changed. The upbeat pop song was totally inappropriate for the dark and gritty Season 3.
A guy called Skippy2k should really get the credit for starship CGI. I haven’t heard from him in while though but I’ll pass along. It’s fun to speculate that the Daedalus class and the Warp 7 starships mentioned by Reed (ENT #98) are one and the same.
Cheers for being the highlight of my day, Sam!
If Enterprise had started with many of the episodes of the 4th season it would have been a real hit.
The problem was that the show had terrible writing for three years, badly defined characters that were nerds. Some up and down acting.
And the theme tune SUCKED. And the reason that’s important is because it sets the tone of the show you’re about to watch.
It looks very much like the new movie is going to be what I’d hoped Enterprise would be in its dynamics.
I liked Enterprise. Especially the later seasons. I think the first season–with exception of a few episodes felt a little too much like the later next generation era. But the later seasons were better to me because it had more action. Plus they brought back alien races we really did not see since the original series. I like the original crew and Enterprise crew shows because they had action. I like the episodes of Enterprise were the people showed their flaws. For example, there was a mistrust between the humans and Vulcans. Though I realize that this is not really a “nice” thing, or the morally right thing, and some may argue it’s not optimistic I disagree. It is more realistic thing. It shows the humans and the other races with their flaws and how they start to change their views. Learn from their mistakes. They learn to trust and work with each other as the years go by. To me that is a more optimistic showing. It teaches us that people aren’t perfect, but they can change if they can see their flaws.
The Next generation didn’t have that. It had a lot of talking. A lot of moral lessons being told. I always felt the humans of Picard’s time were finding screwed up aliens and saying things like, “we humans were once like you. But now we are way better than that. You need to be like us because we have most of the answers.”
The original crew and Enterprise had the crews still making the mistakes. They weren’t any better than us. They were screwing up and learning over time. That makes for better story, in my opinion. They learned about themselves as the series continued on.
The show became really good, too late, in my opinion. If the first season were more like the last one the show may have had more viewers. Plus, I think it may have been a good thing to bring in people who were not necessarily Trek buffs to work with people who were Trek buffs. You know, like they did with the new movie. It would have helped in doing new things–outside of the box things.
I hope that IDW gets to do some Enterprise stories. I wish they ould be allowed to do a movie–maybe a made for t.v.–SCI-FI channel movie or two with this crew.
#101: Just where would one find prospective plot lines for a fifth season for Enterprise?
I think if that had had happened they would have to find a way to explain/change the very weak/lame season four ending… especially Trip’s death… (as I’ve said in other postings I am pleased that the novelizations have found a way to explain and get around Trip’s death).
Producing both Titan and Enterprise on Direct-to-DVD would be a great means of continuing both storylines (ala Stargate SG-1).
(ahem) Paramount, are you listening?
Most ST shows took a couple of years to hit their stride and Enterprise was there when they canceled it. The 4th season was the best. What fans wanted to see was some ST history come to life. We wanted a glimpse into ST lore. Season 4 was finally reaching into that and from what I’ve read about what was planned for year 5 it was going to continue. It’s too bad it ended too soon. If Mr. Bakula ends up reading some of these posts, hopefully he sees there are a lot of us who enjoyed the show and have enjoyed his work immensely.
#108. “….I think if that had had happened they would have to find a way to explain/change the very weak/lame season four ending… especially Trip’s death… (as I’ve said in other postings I am pleased that the novelizations have found a way to explain and get around Trip’s death)….”
NOT NECESSARILY, MC1 DOUG. The 2-part Terra Prime story takes place in 2155, nearly SIX YEARS BEFORE the events depicted in “These Are The Voyages” (2161). If you look at TATV again, listen to Travis’s statement on the bridge mentioning they’ve been out in space for ten years. Ten years! The writers of the novel appear to have purposely ignored that issue, to lead Trip into a different kind of “undercover prelude” [--via Section 31, we presume--] to the Earth-Romulan War arc (during 2157-2159, at least if you read enough into established ‘Trek canon). So if the series was renewed, even for a TV movie or feature film on SciFi, Conner could easily (for ENT canon’s sake) have his job again on the Paramount backlot as Trip Tucker, at least for 5-6 more seasons. Again, presuming. (Connor would most certainly appreciate that take on the show’s time-line, I think, even with the added potential of being under cover in Romulan territory.)
An outline of year 5 can be seen here:
http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek:_Enterprise
Just fyi
[...] and if you’re a Scott Bakula fan, here’s a great interview with him. (Heaven knows I’ve been a huge fan since Quantum [...]
If Enterprise were to get a fifth season, I do not think that the episode were Tucker is killed would have aired. I think that was a case were someone decided, “what the heck, where off the aire anyway. Let’s do something big.”
As pointed out by Rhett Coates, These Are the Voyages does take place in the tenth year of their mission. I think another five seasons could have worked. And maybe they would have ended with Trip Tucker faking his death to avoid Tera Prime–after all, there was obviously enough Terra Prime folks alive and they made it clear they were willing to murder for their cause. Someone like Trip Tucker–being the first one to get pregnant with an alien species, and then have an affair with a Vulcan–may have been enough for him to have his death faked so he could live in safety. I read about the book, but I thought it was kind of weak that they changed dates around and what not to make Trip live. Plus, if you’re gonna have him live there would be something going on between him and T’pol.
I for one, would not have a problem with a character getting killed as long is it is not dopey. Tucker had been in worse situations and came out of it alive. To have him blow himself up to kill three or four alien criminals seems stupid. It would have been as dumb if they had him cut his finger in the last episode and dying of infection. Then there was the whole Shran faking his death storyline. If Shran faked his death, maybe Tucker did too. But I don’t know about becoming a spy. And then it’s a whole holodeck story line. It was describe as a valentine to the fans. I felt it was a slap in the face.
“It was describe as a valentine to the fans. I felt it was a slap in the face.”
I did not care for that episode, but my face was not slapped.
My sig on Trek Nation’s BBS (I’m Dusty Ayres, BTW) says it all:
Star Trek Fandom (1966-1979)
The current generations are nothing but a bunch of whiny frakheads bitching from the anonymity of the Internet who can’t write a script to save their lives.
That’s why Enterprise failed.
his Kirk and Spock (Chris Pine and Zach Quinto), all boarded their first
turning him into a key asset for the CIA. The show has had some connections to Star Trek in the past, n