I am a big fan of Star Trek Enterprise. The concept of the show is that as a “pre-quel” to the original Star Trek showing how Earth first ventured out into space, under the scrutiny of the Vulcans who are also protaganists, and how the United Federation of Planets is eventually established. I especially appreciated the lack of technology familiar in later Star Trek series, which rendered Enterprise more vulnerable in space, thereby increasing the drama of its interactions with other species (though gradually the technology is being introduced).
After a slow start, the serieshas really gotten good–especially during the past two seasons. But now the series has been cancelled by UPN, which is owned by CBS. Though resistance is probably futile, a letter writing campaign to CBS, Paramount, and the Sci-Fi Channel is being organized by Enterprise Fans. The emphasis is on getting the series picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel. Here is an advertisement they placed in the LA Times. And here are excerpts from an interview with Scott Bakula (“Capt. Jonathan Archer”) who is obviously disheartened by the news:
Michiel: Is there anything we can do to save Star Trek: Enterprise from ending?
SB: I don’t have a clear answer for that. Obviously we want everyone to tune in and watch the last shows because we’re extremely proud of them and we’re anxious to share them with the fans. It would be a disappointment if there was a dropoff in viewership because of the cancellation. But the reality is, as I see it, we’re a little bit like a ship in a storm with no safe harbor. There really are no interested executives left at Paramount or UPN or CBS who would be willing to fight for the show. Everyone at Paramount who had history with the franchise is gone. So I wouldn’t even know who to tell you to complain to, because there’s not anyone who really is interested. We’ve fallen between the cracks in the changing of the guard. . . .
Melc: What are the chances of the show being picked up by SpikeTV or Sci-Fi?
SB: Specifically, to shop the show to another network, you have to have someone from your studio have your show’s best interests at heart. To the best of my knowledge, and from reading the release that Paramount put out, they seem very content to let the show go and, I think, hoping that we would go out quietly.
They have a much bigger agenda and mandate from CBS to make new television shows for CBS and UPN. And once again, we don’t fit the bill. It is ironic that with our numbers, and with our fan support, we would be very successful on Sci-Fi Channell or USA Network or almost any of the cablers.
But Paramount owns Star Trek, and somebody from here would have to want to search that out. In terms of bombarding Les Moonves with e-mails and letters, etc., knowing Les as I do, I would doubt very strongly that could possibly change his mind.
I was, however, reminiscing yesterday about the good old days when Quantum Leap was cancelled, or should I say, ‘put on hiatus’ mid-season, and Warren Littlefield had the good sense and good humor to run a commercial where he was having thousands of letters dumped onto him in his office and the commercial was something about “Enough already, we’re putting Quantum back on the air!”
I got a good laugh out of that and I fondly remember Warren and his openness to the fan support at that time.
If you like Enterprise, it cannot hurt to write.
Update: An obviously knowledgable reader responds:
Two minor comments: UPN is not “owned by CBS”. Both are owned by Viacom and, in fact, Viacom has owned Paramount long before they bought CBS. I worked for a Viacom-owned publisher just before it was sold to a competitor and Parmount label was everpresent (we had to use Paramount amusement parks and Paramount-produced movie titles in textbook examples and exercises).
Second, the kiss of death for Enterprise was moving it to Friday. No TV drama has survived a move to Friday or Saturday night. Homicide was a prime example. Critical acclaim and loyal audience mean nothing because Friday and Saturday numbers will always be low. For one, I find Law&Order: Criminal Intent to be the most intriguing of the three L&Os (soon to be four) and wonder if it will be the first to die (rumor has it that it will).
The third point that should made is that SciFi Channel (as well as USA and Bravo) are part of the NBC network, so, if Paramount still has all the rights to the series, there is a better chance of the show resurrecting in syndication on Spike (owned by a WWE scion). I very much doubt that anyone
would pick up the production costs for any new episodes, although that has happened to SG-1 and Farscape. The difference is that both of those shows were independent and in syndiction from the start, while Enterprise is a network show.
This all sounds right to me, except that I never enjoyed the Law and Order series.
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