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Trek Producers Will Provide World A Break
David Crumpton writes "Star Trek Producers have finally agreed that Star Trek fans are oversaturated with the show, and are planning to provide a break. This does not mean they wont bring something new to the screen; they will just wait a few years. They are convinced the ratings dropped due to the show competing against other Trek re-runs."
I have to admit though that the show in the last 4 episodes here are keeping me right on the edge of my seat. Even the different opening and "The Alliance" theme was just awesome to watch. yes the "alternate universe and timelines" plot is old, but to see it played out on Enterprise is awesome. Not to mention Jolene looks great in that alliance outfit - NICE!
Or perhaps the ratings dropped... because they decided to replace strong plots and good character development with gratuitious sexual situations in order to attract UPN's 18-25 year old male target audience. Or perhaps they relied too much on time travel stories, which have become rather cliche in Trek of late. Or perhaps not calling it Star Trek for two years didn't help? Or perhaps the really BAD theme music for Enterprise? Or the tortured script of Nemesis, which was an obvious attempt to combine the elements of the higher rating treks into a new movie? Or Berman and Braga not understanding what Trek audiences really like?
Just a thought...
Star Trek Producers have finally agreed that Star Trek fans are oversaturated with the show, and are planning to provide a break. ... but after the moratorium, what we want are new producers.
Yeah, but the point is that enterprise is going up against these re runs and *losing*. Cos its a crappy show.
Not even! The reason people didn't watch is because the writers kept doing stupid things like using the Borg, Nazis, and time travel. All these alien races to have first contact with, and a damn Borg cube shows up on screen.
Oh yeah, the opening theme was substandard too.
I don't think they will ever admit it, I am surprised they didn't try to cancel the reruns with as big of an ego as some of the show producers have.
I found this posted originally to another article and modded flamebait, but I think it raises issues pertinent to Star Trek and which should concern all Star Trek fans.
--
This has very little to do with the article, but a few days ago the L.A. Times published an article regarding the Toronto Sex Crimes Unit that focused on their fight against child pornography ("Sifting Clues to an Unsmiling Girl"). They are the law enforcement organization that photoshopped the victims out of child porn photos in order to get the public's assistance in identifying the backgrounds (it worked). In any case, the article had this amazing claim:
Wow. All but one in four years. Seemed rather unlikely to me.
So, I called the Child Exploitation Section of the Toronto Sex Crimes Unit and spoke to Det. Ian Lamond, who was familiar with the Times article.
He claims they were misquoted, or if that figure was given it was done so jokingly. Of course, even if the figure was given jokingly, shouldn't the Times reporter have clarified something that seems rather odd? Shouldn't her editors have questioned her sources?
Nevertheless, Det. Lamond does confirm that a majority of those arrested show "at least a passing interest in Star Trek, if not a strong interest." They've arrested well over one hundred people over the past four years and they can gauge this interest in Star Trek by the arrestees' "paraphenalia, books, videotapes and DVDs."
I asked Det. Lamond if this wasn't simply a general interest in science fiction and fantasy, such as Star Wars or Harry Potter or similar.
Paraphrasing his answer, he said, while there was sometimes other science fiction and fantasy paraphenalia, Star Trek was the most consistent and when he referred to a majority of the arrestees being Star Trek fans, it was Star Trek-specific.
It hasn't been a crappy show for quite a few episodes now. They had a change of writers in this beginning of this season and it got a lot better.
+++ATH0
I don't think they can cancel re runs, the rights to show the different treks are owned by different channels aren't they ?.
When Voyager came out it had to compete with DS9 new episodes as well as TNG and TOS reruns. But I guess it's foolish to expect them to say "yeah, Enterprise sucked, sorry." The whole premise of the show was stupid. Kirk's crew was supposed to be "the first" and Enterprise ruined all of that backstory time and time again. I remember when they were brainstorming ideas for the new show, one of them was like Star Fleet special ops or something, I felt sure they'd go with that since it really sounded interesting. I even said "Man, they'd never do a show that predated Kirk, the fans would throw a fit," but apparently they aren't that in-touch with their fanbase. Which I guess is logical, since Star Trek isn't that popular, and finding fans must be very difficult.
ST: Nemesis was also a flaming pile of dung, rivalling Star Trek V in the crap department. No need to rehash the reasons that movie sucked. But suffice it to say that while oversaturation probably contributed to people being sick of the show, the quality of the content they're producing has gone down the tubes.
rooooar
Trek does not need a break, it just needs to stop suckings. Berman and Braga are probably the worst producers ever. They ran Star Trek into the ground. I would bet my left nut that if those two got hit by a bus the next Star Trek series would be a good one.
They are convinced the ratings dropped due to the show competing against other Trek re-runs.
I can attest to this. When the choice became suffer through another episode of Enterprise vs watch a re-run of TNG (both in the same Wednesday timeslot, TNG on SpikeTV), I chose TNG every time. If Enterprise had been even almost as good as TNG, the choice would be different. But when the only advantage it has is that it's new, forget it.
$ make work
make: *** No rule to make target `work'. Stop.
In your opinion , and fair enough maybe altot of people agree.
,they are giving it a rest for another few years, .
.
To me though , It still is the worst star trek show ever.
Though i respect the die-hard fans and their love for it , i just couldnt get into it and i did try oh so hard.
I whatched every eppisode and yes true enough it did improve.
Though to me it improved to the level of Season 1 voyager..
That is saying something.
I totaly respect the decision
Gives them a chance to produce a star trek on par with ST:TNG
Though hopefully they dont take as long as long a break as lucas had and end up forgetting how to make good sci-fi.
Had Enterprise not been a star trek , i mnay have enjoyed it more
The proble was mostly that it had so much to live up to and so little to live up to it with.
Your constantly trying to find yourself comparing it to the star-trek greats , yet not being able to. Fair play to those who could seperate it from the others and view it as an entity in and of itself , i just couldnt and as such the show fell so very short for me.
Heres hopping for a new Star trek that can carry on the flame for all the trek fans by 2009
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but in regards to Enterprise, if I -wanted- to watch -Quantum Leap- reruns, I would watch that instead.
;-)
I keep expecting the guy with the "remote control" device to show up.
I want to weep now.
That was beyond watchable. it was entertaining.
Screw a break, I want a series based of the Mirror Universe.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
Yeah. I was also fairly dissapointed. They have no feeling for development at all.
All the Star Trek "history" at hand, and what do they do? Show technology and species not even seen in TOS. And what about all the species found in TOS? Most begin appear in the 4th season. Previously, there seemed to be more species from later series than from TOS.
And couldn't they do the story without a transporter? Photon torpedoes? Or sub-space communication? Or phaser? Would be starting with a laser be so bad?
Couldn't be space traveling and making contact with new species challenging enough? No, they had to invoke a new earth destroying time-war in a unheard region with unheard species.
"Between strong and weak, between rich and poor [...], it is freedom which oppresses and the law which sets free"
Blalock's candor is dead on. Surely, as an actress, she's tired of having to ring the same notes day in and day out. Even though she's one of the show's major characters around which a good many episodes pivot, it seems as though she and pretty much everyone else is frankly underutilized while the producers pursue their season-long arcs of what is basically additional canon (as opposed to augmenting bits of pre-TOS canon fans can relate to).
She also has the nicest ass in series television.
I swear that horrible song was the reason the show failed. The first time I tuned into enterprise I barely made it through that hideous intro... it really sets you up for something that is going to suck.
:("
Last weeks episode where the whole crew was evil... that was a tight into. When it first came on I was thinking "woh they finally changed the intro!!! Too bad the show is already gone
Any good sci-fi helps the other works in the story, not subtracts from them.
For example, I read the Hobbit as a kid and liked it. Then found out about LOTR. Read those and loved them. Found out there was essentially a prequel, The Silmarillion. Read that and loved it.
None of these books subtract from the experience of any other. Why? Because each book adds to the experience of the other. When Aragorn is singing about Luthien, it's a beautiful moment. After you read the Silmarillion, you know what he's singing about and why - and it adds to the moment.
But the new Trek shows don't do this.
They take off on their own and (to me anyways, this is all opinion, YMMV, etc) don't add to the story.
A good example is Khan. Seriously great villain. But now when I look at Khan, I have to picture that ship full of whiny kids pining for Brent Spiner. Doesn't add to it.
And most of the new stuff feels that way to me. Seems like right after DS9 decided it was a war show, the whole magical exploration thing that I liked so much was lost, and it never really came back.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
BitTorrent is not your friend. NNTP + newzbin + nzb-o-matic is your friend. get a pay news server for $15 a month and you're good to go.
I'm of the belief that taking it from syndication to a station that is not widely available, or at least to a station that won't expose the show nationwide as did syndication is the single largest factor.
Let's face it, we can nitpick to our hearts' relative desire about each show. There have been stinkers in each series but what series doesn't have them?
As for the references to using sex this confuses me. Has anyone ever seen the original series? Kirk gets it almost every episode and the women on the show were, for the time I believe, far more provactive than what we get on Enterprise or Voyager.
You know what, you've got something there...
How about a Klingon series? How would a Vulcan do in a Klingon culture?
I personally would like to see a Trek series where each Season bore no resemblance to the past - Short Stories if you will...
For instance, how about a series, where for season one, the story follows the Klingons from the point of view of Gowron, and the Duras element, with occasional battles between the Sisters followers and the Council at the end of it? It could unearth some really interesting elements, I think.
Then, Season Two goes into the Romulan empire, pre-Nemesis era, with the struggle of the Remans, maybe starting with how the situation got to be that way.
Season Three would follow the beginnings of Vulcan emotion suppresion, moving from a war-like race to a culture of peace (supposedly).
I think it could work well, with each Season lasting just a half-season length (12 episodes?) and telling the stories with the knowledge that you're not going to please everyone with one concept, so why not have many?
Oh, and get rid of Brannon/Braga, get the cast in on the writing (Blalock seems to know what she's talking about...) and generally think about situations that people can relate to, rather than doing a piss-poor job of "nine-elevening" everything in sight...
On the other hand, I thought the last season of enterprise was great. I really appreciate how they explore the darker side of human nature as opposed to TNG where the whole crew of the entireprise is a bunch of fucking supermen that never have a negative impulse unless they're under alien control.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
These recent treks that are all about wars and payback (thinly veiled references to the war on terror etc.) are the complete antithesis of what I felt Star Trek was about.
You fundamentally misunderstand star trek. From the beginning of the 60's show it was supposed to have been a commentary on soceity at the time (cold war, racism, hippy peace and love, etc.).
The best example of this is the 6th star trek movie, its an obvious allegory of the end of the cold war. Starting with a klingon energy moon exploding (meant to reseamble chernoble), following through the diplomacy (including the line "only nixon could go to china"), a new bird of prey that can fire torpedos when cloaked (the US/Russia fighter battles) and ending with a traditional (although IMO overplayed) star trek happy clappy ending.
In fact the secret of great sci fi is that is never really about the future, or another universe, or whatever. It's about present day, after all if you couldn't identify anything in it why would you watch it ?. People watched TOS because they found the idea where man had stopped fighting each other and become harmonised inpspiring.
The enterprise writers shouldn't stray away from social commentary but they should learn how to do it right.
Also fans want the Star Trek is technology that serves and invisibly and magically work, and can be fixed in 1/10th of the time by the in house engineer, not the technology that doesn't work, but can be made magically work when the plot requires it. The later is just cheating.
It is also important to have movement and challanges. Just look at the ST movies that have worked, and those that have not. I think we were all eagerly anticipating enterprise. We just didn't know it was going to use every contraindicated plot line. Does experience teach these people anything? And even the stuff that works, use in moderation. I mean 7 of 9 did save Voyager, but that does not mean that we all women have to know be dressed in skin tight outfits. The go go dance stuff of ST:TOS was at least, somewhat, in context.
I suppose them ending with an alternate reality and bringing back actors that have no shame says it all.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
In the end, Enterprise and the last few movies were brought down because they weren't telling good stories. Tell a good story and people will watch.
I sure hope somebody sees this and mods you Insightful because that is _*IT*_. The problem is idiots like Berman are so egotistical and blind to the fans that they figure if the ratings are low it's the fans' fault. Their stories are perfect--who could ask for better?--so it must be for some other reason that the show is dying.
The best thing for Star Trek would be if Berman and Braga simply disappeared.
Just for fun, here's an example of just how stupid (coral cached link) the last Trek film was. Funny, yes, but sadly accurate.
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
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LOL... I remembered suddenly a startrek convention that my girlfriend and I attended. Andrew Robinson (the guy who played Garak) mentioned that since Garak was such an alien... He tried to make alien sexuality unlike any other in the galaxy... That's why he derived so much of his character from his previous role of Liberace.
Odo: You'd shoot a man in the back?
Garak: It's the safest way, isn't it?
-- Call to Arms
Garak: The truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination.
-- Improbable Cause
Bashir: So of the stories you told me, which ones were true?
Garak: My dear doctor, all of them were true.
Bashir: What about the lies?
Garak: Especially the lies.
-- The Wire
What was great about Trek was the sence of explortion that it gave you. The feeling of wonder. Where has that gone? They need to find it before they start another serries.
When i herd of Enerprise I thought they would go and explain how things all started, how they got shields, transporters, and so on. How they made the fedration and met all the races we know now.
T'Pol was not behaving like a Vulcan at all. While the actor that played Spock could really play the role as if he had not emotions, Blalock plays T'Pol as if T'Pol is always angry: she does not speak calmly to others, she raises her eyebrows, and her face generally shows signs of angryness. It was pretty disturbing throughout the show.
that Trek needs a break.
What Enterprise suffered from was poor writing, especially in Seasons 1 and 2. The classic example of this is the ep where Archer takes his dog on a diplomatic mission...rubbish.
Contrast that with Seasons 3 (to some extent) and Season 4, with Season 4 in particular being excellent.
I think that Berman and Braga are full of shit and are trying to cover their ineptitude and lack of originality.
I had almost given up on ENTERPRISE last season, when I heard that Berman and Braga were essentially stepping back and letting Coto take over as producer.
My reasons for giving up were the pointless story arcs and liberal re-imagining of the TREK Universe until it was barely comparable to the initial vision of Roddenberry...and being a survivor of the "Arnold Wars" for the heart and soul of Trek, I saw this coming a long time ago.
When I found that Berman and Braga had written ENTERPRISE into a corner last season for Coto to resolve without help, it showed Berman and Braga for what they were...petulant weasels who desired all credit and spread all blame.
Considering what Coto was left with, he did a brilliant job of pulling the series out of the corner, and eliminating the 'Time Wars' arc at the same time.
But Berman and Braga had done their damage...if the fans didn't like _their_ version of TREK, then Coto would be the 'fall guy' for their errors...and he is.
Berman and Braga are _NOT_ science fiction fans, let alone writers...they are TV hacks, trying to cash in on the work and imagination of others, and being given the keys to the kingdom through control of TREK.
They wrested control of the TREK franchise from Gene when he had his stroke, and they cut out Majel, reducing her to comic relief or computer voices. They ignored quality of content for T&A and shoot-em-ups.
A simple check of IMDB on their records indicates that they have no real experience in production of programming, aside from the pocket universe of TREK; it's not unreasonable to presume that they chafed under Roddenberry's "rules" and decided to change the TREK Universe completely to their own interpretations.
Mind you, this is not to argue that the TREK Universe is inviolate...but their interpretation of the original concepts that Roddenberry laid out bear little or no resemblance to those concepts.
We could do worse than Manny Coto...in fact, we _have_ done worse with Berman and Braga.
We would all be better served by getting Paramount to remove those two and letting Coto, or anyone else with a _real_ programming/writing background, take over the TREK Universe.
Roddenberry created his universe with people who have worked on cop shows, soap operas, adventure shows and films, and all manner of programs, having done the same himself.
Berman and Braga have incestuously drawn the circle of TREK so tightly that it has developed the same stagnation we would see in inbred hillfolk...the hideous and pointless sterility that we would expect has hit TREK because of them.
Dump Berman and Braga...let in some 'fresh' genetic material to allow TREK to regenerate as it moves along, and not lock it away for Berman and Braga to continue screwing it all up again.
"Eustace? Eustace? Are you there? Are you there?" = John Leeming