Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise, originally titled simply Enterprise for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001 to May 13, 2005 on United Paramount Network (UPN). The sixth series in the Star Trek franchise, it is a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the 22nd century, a hundred years before the events of The Original Series, it follows the adventures of the Enterprise, Earth's first starship capable of traveling at warp five, as it explores the galaxy and encounters various alien species.
This article is about the series. For the spaceship, see Starship Enterprise.Star Trek: Enterprise
Enterprise
- Brannon Braga
- Manny Coto
"Faith of the Heart", performed by Russell Watson
"Archer's Theme" by Dennis McCarthy
United States
English
4
98 (list of episodes)
- Rick Berman
- Brannon Braga
- Manny Coto
42-44 minutes
- Paramount Network Television
- Braga Productions
- Rick Berman Productions
$1.7 million per episode (season 1–3) $800,000 per episode (season 4)
September 26, 2001 –
May 13, 2005
Following the culmination of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and with Star Trek: Voyager scheduled to end, Paramount asked Braga and Berman to create a new series to continue the franchise. Rather than setting it in the 24th century alongside Deep Space Nine and Voyager, they decided to set it in an earlier period, allowing them to explore new parts of the Star Trek fictional universe. Wanting a more basic, relatable, character-driven series, Berman and Braga concentrated on a core trio: Captain Jonathan Archer (played by Scott Bakula), Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), and Sub-commander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock).
The show broke with Star Trek convention in several ways. In addition to dropping the Star Trek prefix, Enterprise used the pop-influenced song "Faith of the Heart" (performed by Russell Watson) as its theme.[1] It was filmed on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles, California, on the same stages that housed the Star Trek series and films since the abandoned Star Trek: Phase II in the late 1970s.
The first two seasons were characterized by stand-alone episodes that explored topics like humanity's early relations with the Vulcans, and first encounters with the Klingons and Andorians, aliens already familiar to franchise viewers. Seeking to attract a wider audience, UPN called for changes for Enterprise's third season. It was renamed Star Trek: Enterprise, and was changed to focus on action-driven plots and a single, serialized storyline: the crew's mission to prevent the Earth being destroyed by a newly introduced alien species, the Xindi. In 2005, UPN cancelled the series after its fourth season, despite a fan-led campaign to continue it. It was the first time in 18 years that no new Star Trek television series episodes would be produced, the beginning of a hiatus that lasted until the launch of Star Trek: Discovery in 2017, another prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series and chronological sequel to Enterprise.
Series overview[edit]
General[edit]
Star Trek: Enterprise follows the adventures of the crew of the first starship Enterprise, designation NX-01. They are the first deep space explorers in Starfleet,[2] using the first warp five capable vessel.[3] The Vulcans have withheld advanced technology from humanity since their first contact, concerned that humans were not ready for it. This has delayed human space exploration[2] and caused resentment in Starfleet test pilot Jonathan Archer, whose father developed the Warp 5 engine but did not live to see it used.[3]
The Enterprise was intentionally equipped with less-advanced technologies than those seen in previous series (which occurred later on the Star Trek timeline). It had no tractor beam, but utilized grappler cables; and used missiles instead of particle weapons (see Weapons in Star Trek); in Season 1, phase cannons were added, similar to those on the Enterprise in The Original Series. It had only limited means of synthesizing foods and other consumable items.[2] Communications Officer Linguist Hoshi Sato's expertise in linguistics helps compensate for the lack of the advanced universal translator.[4]
The series also showed the crew making first contacts with a number of races previously seen in the franchise. The Klingons, who appear in the pilot "Broken Bow," have the ridged makeup seen in the movie franchise and from Star Trek: The Next Generation onwards (excluding Star Trek: Discovery), rather than the smooth-headed versions seen in Star Trek: The Original Series.[5][6][note 1] Berman and Braga attributed this change to advancements in makeup, and felt that such contradictions in continuity were unavoidable. The change in the Klingons' appearance was eventually justified by attributing it to a plague caused by genetic experimentation in the two part arc of "Affliction" and "Divergence." Electronics in Enterprise were also more compact than those of previous (future) series, as advances in real-world technology made devices seen in The Original Series and Voyager seem anachronistically oversized.[8]
The series's first season emphasized a core trio of characters: Jonathan Archer, T'Pol, and Trip Tucker. Other main characters had primary roles in particular episodes, such as "Dear Doctor" and "Fight or Flight."[4] The second season saw deepening relationships between characters—for example, the friendship between Tucker and Reed, seen in episodes such as "Two Days and Two Nights"; and the relationship between Tucker and T'Pol, which begins contentiously but leads to romance in later seasons.[9][10]
Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
The first season was generally well received. The pilot episode of Enterprise, "Broken Bow," was well received by critics, with Ed Bark for the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service saying that it all came together in an "impressive fashion,"[171] while Brandon Easton said in The Boston Herald that the cast was "impeccable" and the writing was "strong" despite the "limitations of a questionable premise."[172] In a differing opinion, Charlie McCollum for Knight Ridder said that the premise was "great", although at the time had yet to see the episode.[173] Dan Snierson, while writing for Entertainment Weekly, praised the series, saying "It's hot, it's sexy, it's kinda funny" and called it the savior of UPN.[174]
Following the pilot, the critical reaction became mixed. David Segal said in The Washington Post that the series "has a bargain basement feel that lands this side of camp."[175] During the course of the second season, mainstream media publications began publishing that the show was "broken."[25] Tom Russo proclaimed in Entertainment Weekly that "It's dead Jim – almost," attributing the lack of appeal of Star Trek: Nemesis and the dwindling ratings received by Enterprise as demonstrating that the franchise was tired.[176] The frequency of stand-alone episodes broadcast during the second season resulted in a negative fan reaction.[22]
The reception for the third and fourth seasons improved overall,[68] but with some negative reviews being received. One such criticism was from Gareth Wigmore in TV Zone who said that "Enterprise isn't so much reacting to current events as it is lazily picking items from the news to produce stories."[177] Coto felt that the critics "dumped on the show,"[51] and despite his feelings that the final season marked an improvement, he was disappointed that the critics did not change their minds. Critics received the news of the cancellation with mixed opinions, with Ted Cox in The Daily Herald saying that it was "good riddance to space rubbish,"[51] while an article in the Lethbridge Herald blamed the cancellation on the poor ratings despite the improved quality of the series.[51]
The series finale, "These Are the Voyages...," was poorly received, with Cox adding that Enterprise ended "with a whimper,"[51] while Kevin Williamson stated in the Calgary Sun that it was the worst series finale since "Turnabout Intruder" and criticised the concentration on characters from The Next Generation instead of Enterprise.[51] Mark Perigard held a similar opinion in The Boston Herald, saying that William Riker "has no business walking the ship," and that the death of Tucker was "for no other reason than the show's creators realized at least one dramatic thing had to happen in the hour."[178] Braga later admitted that killing Tucker "wasn't a great idea,"[179] and called making the finale TNG-centric his biggest regret of the series.[12] Others found the conclusion a comforting reminder of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Pegasus," which aired about 11 years prior in real-time.[180]
In 2016, in a listing that included every Star Trek film and TV series, Enterprise was ranked 12th by the Los Angeles Times, ahead of the 1994 film Star Trek: Generations.[181]
