Interview: Anthony Montgomery On ‘Unbelievable!!!!!’ And Wanting More ‘Star Trek: Enterprise’

On Saturday, Star Trek: Enterprise star Anthony Montgomery will be one of the many Trek celebrities attending the virtual premiere and online convention for the sci-fi parody film Unbelievable!!!!!. TrekMovie caught up with Montgomery to talk about his role in the film, his four years flying the NX-01 as Travis Mayweather, and more.

Let’s start with Unbelievable!!!!!. What can you tell us about your role and the movie?

I play the Launchman, and I am in one scene that sends the main adventurers on to their mission. It’s a fun sci-fi spoof. I think I think Trek fans all over the world are really going to love it because they’re going to see some of their favorite past Trek actors. It boasts the most Star Trek actors in one movie which isn’t actually a Star Trek movie. So I think it’s going to be a lot of fun for the fans.

Who did you get to work with on set?

Nobody. Literally, it was just me. One scene by myself. I was in and out. I know Garrett [Wang] and all of those guys got to work with each other and have great interactions. I can tell you [director] Steven [Fawcette] and [producer/star] Angelique [Fawcette] are absolutely wonderful people. It was truly fantastic that they were able to pull this together. And Steven was great as the director when I was there. Everybody on the set was really wonderful. All the people and the energy was really loving. It felt just like every other Star Trek set that I’ve been on because there’s just an inherent love in the Trek universe.

Anthony Montgomery in Unbelievable!!!!!

We hear about different sets having different moods, like the TNG cast was wild, but the DS9 cast was very serious. What was the tone like on Enterprise? Did you have fun on those bridge days?

We did. But it was because we were, almost from the onset, the ones that were on the show that could be canceled. There was fun on set, but there was also a level of seriousness because we knew what was at stake. With Scott [Bakula] being our captain, he kept the energy light, but we also put in the work that we needed to, because literally from the first season the worry was that the show is going to be canceled. And then, eventually, it was.

Going back to that first season, you gave an early interview talking about Travis and you said, “I just want him to keep growing.” Looking back, did you get your wish?

No. No, Travis, he was there and I did my best with what I was given to the show and the evolution of the character, and hopefully, the fans got to see it. But there was not the kind of growth that I was hoping for over time. Travis didn’t have very much to do over those four years, the 98 episodes. They had a lot of people to write for and you have to pick and choose what stories you’re going to tell.

When you were auditioning and being cast, what attracted you to Travis? And did they kind of pitch you on any kind of arc or growth for the character?

No. I was never pitched on what the arc was going to be for him other than he was a space boomer and he had more space exploration and space experience than even the captain did. One of the things I do remember them saying was that Travis and Tripp were supposed to be good friends. And then as the show went on, I think that relationship that was going to be with Travis and Trip ended up being with Malcolm and Trip, but I don’t know.

Forgive me for sounding cryptic, but I’m also writing my autobiography right now. I address some of these things in the one chapter that I talked about Star Trek. I have a whole chapter that’s dedicated to my Trek experience. And I have a chapter dedicated to my General Hospital experience, since those were the two major series that I’ve done. I’ve done several series, but those have been the most poignant ones for me. So I will say things but I’m also leaving things out because I’m I’ve written a lot of these things into this chapter on Star Trek. People will actually hear these words from my own mouth when this book is done.

Great, when might that be?

My goal is to be done within the next couple of weeks for the first draft. But because of the way that I write, my first draft will be close to being the final draft. I have four writers that I respect that I will be sending it out to and once that’s done, my manager will get it out to the powers that be.

Since you are holding it all for the book, I will limit myself to one more Star Trek question. You did get a chance to flex a bit more in season four. For example, in the Mirror arc, even though some of your co-stars weren’t so happy with those episodes, you had more to do. Were you cool with that?

I was. [Laughs] It’s funny. I had more to do but less to say. Remember, for my Mirror character he may have said two words the whole damn time! [Laughs] But yes, it was fun. I didn’t have an issue with it, just because it was an homage to all the other Mirror Universe episodes from all of the other series.

You know I actually still have not seen our Mirror episodes. I’ve actually only seen three or four of our 98 episodes of Enterprise.

Anthony Montgomery with Linda Park in Star Trek: Enterprise

You know Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill have started doing a Star Trek: Voyager podcast where they are rewatching every episode. Could you imagine doing something like that?

No, sir. No, sir. Not at all. [laughs] Simply because whatever that time was, we gave our all to it and I will leave it for the interpretation of the fans. I will watch it one day, but unless I’m with my family or something, I won’t do a commentary on it. But I heard our show was really awesome. So I definitely want to watch it because I’m a sci-fi fan.

This may be a kind of brutal question. But looking back at your time in Star Trek, both personally and professionally, is it something that you look fondly at? Or not?

Absolutely fondly. Both personally and professionally. Anything that I did not like both personally or professionally, they are all a part of what that incredible time was for me and becoming a part of the Star Trek franchise. It made me a part of the global lexicon. That’s something much bigger than a kid from Indiana could ever have imagined. And again, these are the kind of anecdotes that I will be talking about in the book.

You said the show was constantly under the potential ax of cancellation. That ax finally fell at the end of season four. Before then, were you holding out hope for season five?

Well, I wasn’t necessarily holding out hope, but I knew that we had finally found our space legs by season four, and we had finally gelled as a cast. We were more than ready to go to seasons five, six, and seven and beyond if that’s where they wanted us to go. I was cautiously optimistic. If they were going to do it, it would have been wonderful. But because I had also been in Hollywood for quite some time by then, I know that usually when the powers that be make a decision to terminate something, it’s usually gone.

There was no reason for us to be taken off the air, in my opinion, in the first place. We weren’t in a good time slot, but  I think we still had the best numbers for the network for what our show was. And we still could have been around. I was told that each of the different Star Trek incarnations took two, three to four years for the crew and everyone to gel together. Even the storied TNG crew.

So with so much Star Trek happening now, if the opportunity ever came, you would reprise the role?

Sure, of course, I would! [laughs] I’m an actor, man. That’s what I do!

You have kept busy since Enterprise. You mentioned your extended stint on General Hospital which wrapped up last year. So are you gone, or is there a chance you could be back?

You never know. I don’t anticipate them bringing me back. I’ve not heard from anyone but because he is not dead and they got him out of jail, then it’s always possible.

And he could have an evil twin, right?

Anytime. [Laughs] Even if they killed him, it’s a soap opera, they can bring him back.

You are also in the new BET+ series The Family Business. Have you had a chance to do any scenes with Robert Picardo?

I was supposed to, but I had to film something else out of town when they scheduled the scenes for him and me to work together. Told me, “Hey, we have one of your Star Trek brothers coming in.” And I was like, “Oh, Bob Picardo’s coming in? I love it, great!” But I ended up not being able to do it because of the dates.

I have done seven episodes of The Family Business. The first six are now streaming on BET+. And we are going back. We’re waiting to find out when the Screen Actors Guild will give us permission to go finish filming the remainder of the second season. This is a character that I’ve never played before. I’m playing a Muslim. Brother Elijah is part of a fictionalized radical faction of Islam. My character does some kind of reprehensible things, seemingly well for a good cause. It’s been a fun journey for me, and I hope that fans get a chance to check it out.

Unbelievable!!!!! online premiere and convention on Saturday

The sci-fi parody film Unbelievable!!!!! featuring over 40 Star Trek actors is holding a virtual premiere on Saturday, August 1st, along with a virtual convention featuring many of the stars of the movie. The premiere at noon (Pacific) will include a Q&A with the team behind the film. The virtual con is also offering an online “lounge” where stars will pop in and out and one-on-one chats with the stars. More info and tickets can be found at bit.ly/UnbelievableTheMovieTix.


Keep up with all the Star Trek interviews at TrekMovie.com.

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He was the show’s weakest actor, but he has always come off as a nice guy in interviews.

Maybe he was acting exactly like Ensign Mayweather was supposed to be- an unflappable and even-keeled young helmsman- and thereby he is the show’s greatest actor.

Exactly.

I met Anthony at a convention back in 2015. He was hands-down the best part of that entire thing. He sat at a booth outside the main ballroom and we would occasionally chat. I was nervous to talk to a Star Trek actor at first, but he was so friendly and approachable. By the end of the convention, if I was walking by, he knew my name and would call me over. I ended up asking for an autograph which hangs proudly in my living room. But I will cherish that particular memory forever.

What a wonderful story!

Well, lets face it, T’Pol, Reed, Phlox, and Saito were all pretty one demensional characters as well….

T’Pol was the most nuanced character on the show. Calling her one-dimensional is rather bizarre, as she’s pretty much the only character who had a story arc.

Jolene Blalock understood that her role on the show was the catsuit. Thats about as one dimensional as you can get in a two dimensional costume.

She was so much more than the catsuit. There’s a reason she’s many fans’ favorite character on Enterprise, and it’s not just her curves. The character had great story arc.

You have to look beyond the catsuit! Re-watch the show — definitely NOT a one dimensional character.

Yep! Meow!

People, Phil is doing a satire of people who have only seen one or two episodes of a show but then make sweeping and very wrong judgements. Very rich and very dry. Spats off.

Phil’s right. It is what it is.

God Lord though her acting was atrocious, that goes for Montgomery as well. I cringed every time they were on screen.

Neither of them were the actor I cringed at.

That was Bakula/Archer who was given far more screen time than Picard on TNG, Sisko on DS9 or Janeway on Voyager.

TPTB of the day tried to go back to the triumvirate model of TOS, but for that the lead has to be very compelling for a wide range of tastes. Sorry not Bakula in that role.

T’Pol in a catsuit made me suspicious, but the actor quickly showed a great deal of subtlety in her interactions with Trip. I can agree that I always found it hard to believe her growing admiration for Archer, but that was more about Bakula/Archer than T’Pol.

Merriweather was just not given things to do that aligned with the character’s backstory, on the rare occasions he was given anything to do at all.

If there was anything cringy it was the writing and direction that put a Black man in that kind of role after the progress of DS9 as well as strong alien roles for Black actors on TNG and Voyager.

Only if the intent from day one was to cast a black man in the role and then give him nothing to do. Which I very much doubt was the plan at the time. The way things ended up working out was to try and recapture the triumvirate from TOS but I honestly did not see that as the intent early on. I don’t know Mr. Montgomery from Adam but it seems like he would agree with that assessment and to assume the worst seems amazingly disingenuous to me.

Hear hear. I’m rewatching Enterprise at the moment and T’Pol’s arc is great.

There’s more to her than a number of characters on The Delta Voyager.

I would also include TOS, TNG, DIS and PIC on that list as well. ;) And to be fair, of course DIS and PIC are still very new so they have plenty of time to develop them. If I can actually just remember the names of all the bridge characters on Discovery that will be a win for me.

But DS9 is probably the only show where ALL the characters felt fully developed and three dimensional.

Yeah T’Pol had an AMAZING arc. I don’t understand where this is coming from? Obviously you don’t have to like the character or the arc itself but somehow to suggest it was just the same character who never changed or exhibited depth in any way is just very strange because pretty much every story that was about T’pol did both of those things most of the time.

I rewatched the Syrannites three part story a month ago and that was a huge reminder just how much T’Pol had changed. T’Pol started out as someone who NEVER questioned Vulcan culture or policy to now becoming suspicious of them herself. T’pol was very much a loyalist and almost sounded like a mouthpiece whenever she talked about the Vulcan High Council in the early days. That was all but gone by the end of the show. She still considered herself Vulcan but all the things she seen them do made her realize just how flawed Vulcans actually were.

I just love T’Pol. In many ways she had the same character arc that Kira had who started out mistrusting Starfleet/Federation and humans in general (for very different reasons) and wasn’t super happy with the idea of working with them. But by the end had completely changed and accepted them. T’Pol went even farther than Kira since she fell in love with a human.

Malcolm, Phlox and Hoshi at least got to do things. And T’Pol was a very three dimensional character.

Starring: The Catsuit as T’Pol. Very. Three. Dimensional .

I’d say that the main character arcs were T’Pol and then Archer after the Xindi thing. He changed. In a way I found interesting.

The show was mainly revolving around Archer, T’Pol and Trip. The others were just ancelary like Sulu and Uhura were. It was obvious they tried to re-create the Kirk-Spock-McCoy thing with Archer, T’Pol & Trip. Which I felt was a mistake. Hard to recreate that lighting in the bottle. No other Trek show has been able to do it, too.

Yea, but Archer was the worst character of the bunch.

About as constipated a captain I’ve ever seen….

Hahahaha – that’s a good one. Hahahaha. Some classic comedy in these comments. T’Pol “one dimensional.” Now I’m cry-laughing and now I have heard it all. You are very dry, sir. Well done. Too much.

Sorry Phil, I have to disagree IMMENSELY about T’Pol like the others. It was the complete opposite. She wasn’t just three dimensional, she also had one of the best character arcs in the entire franchise. She went from a character in season one who clearly looked down on humans (but she’s a Vulcan, that’s what they do ;)) and very standoffish about them (and to be fair we humans do smell pretty bad, so I give her credit for making the effort) to basically giving up her entire life and career on Vulcan to join them full time. She even fell in love with a human. Season one T’pol probably couldn’t imagine having a real friendship with one much less having romantic feelings.

I don’t understand how is that ‘one dimensional’?? That would imply the character just had one trait or never grew. She grew immensely and we saw so much conflict with the character both internal and external on what it meant to be Vulcan. I mean Space Hitler is one dimensional (which is why so many call her that in the place ;)). Chekhov is one dimensional. Geordi is one dimensional (but still a great character). Even Q is one dimensional when you think about it (but did grow a bit by the end). This is not anything close I would describe to T’Pol at all. It’s one of the reasons she seem so popular today and why people keep saying they want to see her again.

Now Reed and Saito I would agree but not in a bad way. The characters were fine IMO, they just didn’t get a real arc like T’Pol did. I love Phlox to death, he kind of is like Scotty was that he never really grew either but every time you saw him he came off very interesting and people just generally liked. And he was the ‘moral’ voice a lot of times like a lot of the doctors in the franchise were from McCoy to Bashier. He was obviously well defined as a character, we just never got to see him develop more. They did develop a lot about Denobulan culture in general but since we rarely saw them outside of one of his wives we never got to see him really engaged with his species. One of the MANY ideas that sounded great about the proposed season 5 is that they had planned to go to Denobula for an episode. But sadly, didn’t happen of course.

That’s your opinion, so don’t try and pass it off as a fact because it isn’t. In my opinion, Enterprise was a great series with great characters. Ok, the title music was worse than a Michael Bolton b side and the series ended messily, but I personally loved the show and it’s characters.

I think you might be confusing T’Pol that character with Jolene Blalock’s acting. T’Pol had significant deliberate character growth nearly on par with Seven of Nine’s, the only difference is that Blalock is no Jeri Ryan, and any humor they tried with T’Pol fell flatter as well most of the time. IMO, of course.

Montgomery, I remember him as the kindest actor on the set. You can tell by his acting, he was super excited to be part of the Trek family.

So unfortunate they cancelled Enterprise right when it was actually great. I really wanted to see who was the Future Guy. For years, I was waiting to find out. Also Daniels. So much potential with this character. Having that door to go to the future was a great/missed opportunity for this crew.

I admit, it was hard for me at the time, to see technology going backwards. The ship looked like a submarine. The devices looked older than what we were actually using in the 90s. But the script and the stories were superb. We were going thru hell with 9/11 and they were able to move forward improving the quality of the show.

Really enjoyed the story arc with Daniels. The episode T’Pol told the story of her great-grandmother, when she was to earth. A great backstory for her reasons to spend time with humans, to fall in love (the Vulcan way) with Tucker.

Travis did not have the opportunity to shine. And this is exactly what is going to happen with Discovery, if they continue to ignore the others on the bridge. Even in Picard, we had the opportunity to see all the others actors shine. :)

CBS should do a Star Trek show about the Earth-Romulan war and the early years of the Federation. Enterprise only got to the point when the Federation was founded. That time period of Star Trek history is really interesting.

Daniels could be referenced in Star Trek: Discovery season 3 because that is in the 30th century or so. Travis is a nice guy. T’Pol is one fascinating character.

Well it was probably good for you the show was canceled then. The first thing Coto did when he took over was wrap up the temporal cold war story. Future guy and Daniels were no more. He was planning on focusing on the 22nd century. He said season 5 episodes would have included the establishment of Starbase 1. A trip to Stratos and he even hinted at the show leading up to the Romulan War. Sad we never got it. But I’d love to see a revival of the show. Even a one season thing to give them a proper send off. I’d even take an animated version of the show to give us fans some real closure. The only Trek entity that got a crappy send off was Enterprise. To this day I still consider the penultimate episode to be the series finale.

The last episode was a STNG episode.

Dude, learn your Star Trek.

TURNABOUT INTRUDER

nuff said

Dude, learn your Star Trek.

THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY

’nuff said.

What a lame, saving face, piss-poor comeback attempt. And you even imply your initial statement was incorrect as well.

Epic Fail! LOL

It is increasingly obvious that replying to you is a fools errand. But here goes. The reply was only to showcase that you made a mistake. And I did it in the tone you gave me. It did not imply the initial comment was a mistake in any way shape or form. Your response above just made zero sense.

Feel free to respond and tell me that you are right and I’m wrong. I won’t be reading it. It will be ignored.

Take care.

You contradicted your own post. You first said Enterprise got the worst sendoff, then you changed it to Undiscovered County. Which is it?

And now you are saying it’s somehow it’s my fault that you can’t keep your story straight?

Get real.

*sigh* the bridge crew on Discovery are somewhere between recurring and secondary characters. Our mains are Michael, Saru, Stamets, Culber (now), Tilly, and the Captain.

Wow Jay I see you really loved Enterprise. All the things you are saying now I did eventually come around to loving myself. But yes I think the fact it wasn’t just a prequel but one set SO early in the Trek timeline put many people like me off from the beginning. I just NEVER cared what happened in Trek pre-TOS (which is why I wasn’t exactly excited about Discovery in the beginning). For me, on a STORY level and not a canon one, TOS was really the starting point for me and anything earlier than that was just background information, I.E., I didn’t need to see it. And I think for me (and probably others) why I even had a hard time getting into the show not to mention it just felt pretty bland and aimless in the beginning.

The irony is Enterprise actually proved to me how exciting a pre-TOS show could be once we got to the Xindi arc and then of course season four. That was really the first time I wanted to see things like how the Federation was actually founded or the Romulan war. I never cared about those things at all. Yes they are important to Star Trek on a foundational level, it doesn’t mean we need to see any actual episodes or movies about it.

But now those stories interest me. I WANT something revolving around the Romulan war/birth of the Federation. This is where the show faltered on day one because this is something fans really wanted. Again NOT me, I don’t think I still would’ve personally cared in the beginning BUT as the show proved, I could’ve easily been persuaded to care. It’s been said so many times, if the show started off more in the vein of season four than it did season one, it probably would’ve been a huge hit from the start. And doesn’t just mean TOS fan service like what Discovery was clearly doing in season 2, but really building the history of Star Trek itself. That should’ve been the show.

It still could’ve done all the things it was doing but making it clear the show and Archer himself was going to be the ‘George Washington’ of Star Trek history. Like how the 13 colonies in America just started out as another British colony in a world FULL of them which that’s all it was suppose to be to end up forming not just one of the greatest nations on the planet but becoming a global power as it is today with many alliances including the U.K. itself. That’s exactly how the show should’ve done it from day one; Starfleet is just another start up space organization in a galaxy full of them to somehow being the founding leader of the biggest and influential organization/alliance in the galaxy that is still thriving centuries later (and at least up to the 31st century ;)). I mean that technically WAS the show (and my ONLY guess was the point of TCW, to help disband it) but sadly not really went that direction full throttle until its final season.

It’s all hindsight now but I wish they changed course much sooner. Even Discovery was smart enough to know it’s original premise wasn’t working and changed much faster.

Archer was the only interesting character on Star Trek: Enterprise for me. His ship the NX-01 was the first ship to be capable of warp drive space travel. His dog is very cute.

I don’t care about Travis that much. His character is so one dimensional I forget he even existed on the show.

Faze, in this post you say “Archer was the only interesting character on Star Trek: Enterprise for me” yet literally 5 minutes later in your post above replying to Jay, you say “T’Pol is one fascinating character”.

Which one is it?

You get confused too easily. Read carefully next time. My name is Ninja not “Faze” okay. Archer and T’Pol are both cool characters.

I only get confused when I read your conflicting posts. You say they’re both cool characters, yet in your post you say “Archer was the only interesting character on Star Trek: Enterprise for me” and yes I did read carefully, since I cut and pasted your own posts. So please spare me your attitude, you’re the one whose confused. By the way Faze, if you read carefully, a lot of people here use a diminutive when they refer to each other, so relax if I call you Faze.

Agreed. He contradicts himself at least once a week here it seems like.

Also agreed. Archer had issues….

No offense, but you frequently contradict yourself on this site, and sometimes on the same freaking day.

The thing I never understood about Travis was he came across as naive, but was written as an experienced space traveller. And yet, neither of those qualities were really touched on much. They really should have figured out his character. I think it would have been nice if his experience came into play to solve problems more often. In fact, I can’t even recall an instance where his experience helped. He just had his character episodes and a few backstory talking points.

Yeah, the character seemed not well thought through. On the one hand, he was supposed to be the human with the most space experience on board, on the other hand they gave him one of the most “junior” positions. I don’t know if the writers were afraid that he might “outshine” some of the stars of the show if he gave advice to them based on his experience or if they were afraid of another Wesley-Crusher whizkid saving the day situation. So in the end they ignored the character setup and turned Mayweather into the guy who looks up directions on Vulcan Google Maps.

It just occurred to me that Merriweather suffered from the Neelix problem.

Neelix was a character who had local knowledge and had lived through rough times and situations (as discussed on a recent thread). In the pilot and early Voyager season one episoded, Neelix was edgy, but then became a bubbly morale booster.

Merriweather was supposed to be the bridge officer who group up in space and Earth’s furthest colonies. He was supposed to represent early space-born communities that might be edgier but also flexible. He wasn’t permitted by the writers to be any of that.

Kim and Mayweather need to be on the same ship. Mayweather can be the captain and Kim can be his ensign — kidding. Kim could be his number one.

Montgomery was fine on ENT. The problem was the writers neglected the character and Travis became the Mr. Leslie of that series.

Exactly.

He had more to do than Sulu did…

Enterprise remains very underrated. There’s a lot to be said for a likeable ensemble. The ENT cast exuded warmth, had some terrific moments of humour and were written capably enough that the audience grew to like and care for them. Complete contrast with DISCO’s over-the-top, faux grief for Airiam.

Absolutely agreed. A wonderful show and the last real instalment of Trek sadly.

The most underappreciated Star Trek show by far.

That would be DS9, actually. Enterprise is just B list Trek viewing.

Yep!

OMG. OK, whatever. LOL

Airiam was poorly handled from our perspective, but the grief was better handled there than on TNG with Tasha imho.

Yeah, this is a good point and why I still have issues with DIS. Even though the ENT crew wasn’t a ‘family’ when that show started, it did start to feel that way by season 3. I liked how they treated the relationships. The only true ‘friends’ we saw was Archer and Trip at the beginning, but everyone else was slowly starting to get to know each other and as time went on it felt more organic, like real life. Frankly all the shows did EXCEPT Discovery for me. It’s just weird to me, because they seem to suggest everyone on the ship are the best of friends but it feels so forced because we never really SEE it outside of Burnham with Tilly or Saru.

And yes, the grief for Ariam just felt ridiculous because she was treated like a background character the entire time. She was basically Chief O’Brien his first two seasons on TNG, just given a name. And then of course we find out her and Tilly are the BEST of friends when for 20 episodes I don’t think we saw them exchange more than a line of dialogue together. Suddenly they are showing up in each other’s rooms gossiping and exchanging clothes. I’m shocked they didn’t show her braiding Tilly’s hair while they talked. It’s the equivalent of suddenly learning O’Brien and Geordi were best friends in season 2 in just one episode….and then they killed him. But the entire crew is grieving like he touched all their lives personally. Can you imagine if TOS treated every red shirt officer who died like that? By the time Spock dies in TWOK Kirk should almost be suicidal lol. The reaction to her death felt so forced and ridiculous.

I think a part of that of course is just the serial nature of the show (and fewer episodes). On TNG you can have an entire episode of Data and Geordi hanging out in the holodeck together. In Discovery it’s CRISIS CRISIS CRISIS from the premiere to the finale. I REALLY hope they can slow it down next season, even if the situation they are in causes urgency.

The reason for that is in a 26 episode season you can have character shows. (And we both know how I feel about the TNG episodes but they did have the time to TRY to have character episodes). In a short serialized season there just isn’t time for that. It HAS to be crisis to crisis to crisis. Maybe a few scenes dropped in here and there for some emotion. But that is about it. Discovery is a victim of its time. Short season shows with no time to really gel.

Now, it is possible to make a short season show and work in character stuff. But it doesn’t seem to happen all that much from what I can tell. It’s pretty rare.

Genuinely nice guy who was woefully underutilized on Enterprise. Great interview!

He hasn’t aged a day. He seems like a great lad too.

Enterprise Season 5 please with Berman, Braga and Coto. NX-01 refit and the first year of the UFP.

Tucker. His death was totally unnecessary. He can be come back to life by Archer and Daniels. :)

Agreed. One of the best characters in Trekdom. Needlessly killed off in a writers’ room moment of madness.

Agreed. Killing off Tucker was the most idiotic thing you can do. I get it was the final episode and I guess they wanted to go out with a ‘bang’ but it only made a really bad finale felt that much worse.

Even though its not canon, I’m happy the novels brought him back to life. And while I’m not holding my breath on an Enterprise revival show or anything but if something like that were to happen, I can almost guarantee the first thing they would do is find a way to bring Trip back if the actor wanted to come back. This is Star Trek, it is known for bringing dead characters back from time to time (although RIP Data and Prime Kirk ;)).

Totally with you Tiger2.

Trip was the character that most interested me right from the first few episodes. I hadn’t expected to like him, but he brought a genuine inquisitiveness and his reactions to the strange and weird foreshadowed the best of future Starfleet values.

Killing him off in the finale was a gut punch with no real dramatic benefits.

I wasn’t as offended-in-principle however by the construct of the finale as a historical retrospective through the eyes of TNG.

I’ve always seen it as a way to reinforce the importance of the Archer Enterprise in the establishment of the Federation. If you see that as the principal story arc for the series, then something was needed to anchor that point given the early cancellation.

Interesting. Once again every character is someone’s favorite. I had a really tough time warming up to Trip. The character may have knew his way around that warp 5 engine perfectly well but apart from that he came across to me as awfully clueless. Maybe naive is the better word. I mean he often acted in ways you, as a viewer, KNEW was wrong too many times.

I agree. The way they offed Tucker was inexcusable. I mean, he risks his life so Archer can get to his SPEECH in time? Are you kidding me?

The way around it is easy. Just say that final episode never REALLY happened. It was all a holodeck fantasy for Riker.

Boom. Problem solved. Tucker lives.

Now that’s streaming content I would happily pay for.

Observer Effect is my favorite ENT episode, and Montgomery gets the chance to do some good work in that one.

Good shout there.

Haven’t seen that one in ages. Looks like I have another episode to watch soon!

That’s what I love about the internet, constantly giving me ideas about episodes I haven’t watched in awhile or overlook.

Man would I love to have ENT back or at least some of the crew. There should have been (or could be) a sequel series named FEDERATION set 10 years after ENT.

My two favorite ENT episodes: (1) “North Star,” where the crew finds a colony of humans living, Old West–style, on a planet in the Delphic Expanse, their ancestors having been abducted from Earth in the 1860s, even though the premise was kind of a rip-off of VOY’s “The 37’s.” and (2) “Twilight,” in which Archer can’t form any new short-term memories and the Xindi blow up Earth. I liked how the writers suggested that Archer and T’Pol had developed a romantic relationship without actually saying so.

My favorite episode of Enterprise:

I wasn’t a big fan of North Star. I felt it odd that they never advanced in any way. Even slowly. They are humans. Human nature is to be innovative. But ignoring that huge plot hole, it wasn’t too bad. I did think highly of Twilight.

However, Similitude was easily the best episode of the series and stands up to the best episodes of any Trek Series.

Yep, I agree those are two amazing episodes and both came out of season 3. That’s why many say that was the season that really started to turn things around for that show like the others. In fact I have to say minus 1-2 of them I loved all the standalone episodes in that season and some of Enterprise, if not the franchise itself, best stories. Twilight is one of my favorite alternate history stories like The Visitor. I would say its one of my favorite time travel stories as well (also like The Visitor) but I don’t know if you can count it as time travel.

And it also showed a very different side to T’Pol, which once again goes against the idea of her being one dimensional which is being discussed in this thread. As you said she clearly developed feelings for Archer and became so loyal to him. I thought the show was hinting that they would be the ones who developed a relationship later but it became her and Trip instead.

Similitude is also the one many people still talk about and is probably considered Enterprise best episode by many…also season 3.

I really miss these stories in Star Trek and stuff like North Star. That’s probably why a lot of fans hate the new shows because they haven’t done these kinds of stories. The closest DIS got to doing one was New Eden and surprise surprise is probably considered the best episode by a lot of fans right now.

The good news is SH has suggested they will be doing more stand alone stories for Strange New Worlds. It is possible to have stand alone stories that also propel the season long narrative. As the above examples showed. Let’s hope they work out. But to be honest, as excited for SNW as I am, my expectations are awfully low. So it won’t take much to impress me if they do OK.

Tempted to watch Enterprise again. I liked his character.

Travis Mayweather’s defining character trait was that he’s been in space!

Okay, boomer. ;)

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Yum-yum, I want to watch Anthony as a radical, bow-tied Black Muslim on BETplus. Good tip.

I don’t like hearing the actors say they never watched the series they worked on. I understand that giving your time on a set for years can make you feel exhausted, but I find it to be a disrespect for your colleagues. Hundreds of people who work hard to create something together with you deserve that you honor the effort by looking at the final result. Then after years you see them talking about things they partially ignore with fans who know more about them. The same goes for Brent Spiner, an actor and character that I love, but who often shows he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Or kate Mulgrew … It’s an attitude I can’t stand, sorry.

Would you like to sit around and relive hours’ worth of one of your old jobs? I have no need for artists to consume art in the same way I do, personally.

It’s not always a joy, but I definitely see it as part of my job.

Although by the time I’ve completed a project, I’d rather never see it again, that’s generally not how it works.

Instead, I’m doing follow up one way or another for years. I actually see that as a sign that the work had some impact.

His being willing to do interviews like this doesn’t count as following up?

As fans, we like to think the actors see the work and we want to know their opinions of it. But I have to say that if I was an actor I feel I would be one who doesn’t want to watch themselves perform. So I kinda get why one might not want to see themselves on screen.

If you have to act with other actors you need to know the dynamics between the characters, especially among the others. If you want the value of your work to grow, you need information. If you don’t spend 40 minutes to understand where the project is going, you will just recite your lines while remaining isolated in your bubble. Besides, you will not create a great bond with your colleagues … So there are 3 cases. In the case of Bren Spiner or Kate Mulgrew their indifference to the work of others has been counterbalanced by their charisma and the importance of their characters. In the opposite case of Robert Picardo, his talent has awakened the interest of writers who wanted to dedicate themselves to the doctor even though they had conceived him as a secondary character. Anthony Montgomery’s case is different from theirs. He limited himself to saying his lines waiting for the writers to give him better ones, without adding anything in terms of interactions with others, without having a charisma that made him emerge and without his character having a value for the writers. Now after 15 years he goes around complaining and writing books about something he knows only a part of. In every job you do you have to see the final product if you want to improve. If you paint you have to move away from the painting and look at it from a distance to understand what you are really doing. If you sing you have to listen to your songs again to hear if you can sing better and if what you do mixes with the sound of your musicians.

Are you an actor? The closest I ever was was a drama class in Jr. High. So I’m not even close. But I can tell you I think I would be uncomfortable watching my own work. In my actual profession there is an artistic element to it. The cartography part. I generally do not like to evaluate my work too much. If I do I critique it too much. I will go in and constantly find something to change. I can actually make it worse if I fiddle with it too much. That is why I will give it a quick once over and depending on the project will enlist another set of eyes to evaluate it. Often someone who does not have cartographic expertise so I get it though the eyes of of the “layman”. If I were an actor I imagine I would do the same if I watched my work. I would find flaw in everything and want to fix too much. Hence, it would be better to not watch too much.

Reading your response it sounds like you are confusing watching one’s own work with lobbying for a bigger part or more lines. Those are different things completely. You just claimed that Picardo’s character got bigger not because he watched his own work, but because writers liked what they saw. On set, one can get a fee for the chemistry with your fellow actors. Watching on screen can certainly help but if one had to rely on one or the other I would think that what you are getting from your co-actors in person is more valuable to work with than what one sees on screen. So I’m not saying that watching your work isn’t helpful. It certainly can be. But I can relate as to why some actors just don’t like doing it.

Shockaroo…another underemployed Trek actornwould say HELLS YES to some much needed high profile employment.

I’ll alert the media.

I like Star Trek: Enterprise. It should have not been cancelled. If others think and feel the same way, there is a petition on change. org, which is trying the bring back the series for more seasons. Either as a live action series again or animation series.

I’d be careful signing anything on change.org. Asides that it won’t change anything, you’ll get bombarded with a ton of spam e-mail. Signed a baseball petition for a friend a couple weeks ago, after unsubscribing a half dozen times, blocked them entirely.

Great interview and Montgomery looks terrific 20 years on, in this style he’d fit even better as the rough edges “space boomer”! Agreed on many opportunities missed with his character, and same as the continued employment of John Eaves it goes to show Colonel Kurtz & Gang mostly kept the bad parts of Berman Trek (by making the same mistake with the Discovery bridge crew – who is this Bryce guy anyway).

Finally, it’s nice to read an interview where a Hollywood actor, privileged as they are, doesn’t voice their grievances and fringe political convictions about how presumably ‘the system’ instead of crass individual failings, character flaws and bad life choices are making certain notorious groups ‘blanket victims’ (hint: do less crime, less drug for starters) Its just the same lame conspiracy BS as “pizza gate” and has no place in a reminiscence interview. Keep it going!