Enterprise: What idiots were running the show?

nyarlothothep · 09-08-2021 10:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117713267#Comment_117713267

Yeah, definitely, I think ENT corrected a lot of the mistakes made in Voyager, for example with Year of Hell the ship magically repairs itself in one episode whereas in ENT, the Enterprise is properly battered. I have to say, once they got over the Xindi arc, ENT became close to fantastic. Almost finished the fourth season and it's extremely innovative. Season 3 was solid but season 4 is where I think the show really excelled. The idea of a multi episode arc is a great idea and I think we need more shows with it rather than one large spanning one. Most shows follow that pattern set by GoT so it would be cool to see that hybrid model that ENT experimented with as it has the following advantage: if you don't like a particular arc, don't worry because in 2-3 episodes there will be a new one.

a_squirrelman · 20-08-2021 1:15pm

I just watched S3E10 Similitude. Very Tuvixy, Archer was quite harsh to Fake Tucker when he didn’t want to die but unlike Tuvix, Fake Tucker walks to his death by choice in the end. Good episode, enjoyed it a lot.

TheIrishGrover · 23-08-2021 11:40am

I think, for me, the most damning thing about Enterprise is that I don't really remember it:

I disliked voyager. I thought the characters were all annoying. There was no sense of danger or impact: Every episode or two ended with a big red reset button press. They gutted/de-fanged The Borg. Their main villians were either weak (Kazon, the ones with the plague. Whatever they were called) or quickly defanged also (The Hirogen). So while I disliked the show, at least I remembered it.

Enterprise was just so bland and forgettable. I remember thinking at the time that The Xindi arc was good but dragged out a bit long maybe. And I can't remember the last season at all apart from it started with the traditional "Star Trek Versus Space Nazis" and had a half-interesting/half-dull arc with Peter Weller and some human supremacists or something. There was that temporal war thing which they popped in every now and again when they remembered it. But yeah, simply forgettable.

The characters were boring and one dimensional:

Standard captain with nothing distinguishing like being a bad-ass black guy or woman with an EXTREMELY annoying voice and attitude (How cool would it have been if Voyager's captain WAS Geordie's mother as rumoured beforehand).

Texan. Repressed Brit. Hot alien. Hot Asian translator. Token black navigator. Silly alien (Although not as silly as Nelix).

Evade · 23-08-2021 11:53am

I'll have you know Lieutenant Commander Charles Tucker III is a Florida man, which explains a lot.

If you go back to it Enterprise is good in Comparison to all the live action TV that came after it. Faint praise, I know.

a_squirrelman · 02-09-2021 11:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117792372#Comment_117792372

Yep. Enterprise beats Discovery and Picard big time.

Currently watching s3e15 Harbinger. And Reed is a TOTAL pain in the arse. I don’t like him usually but he’s totally unprofessional in this one.

ps: I love Tucker. The mate we all wish we had.

flazio · 13-09-2021 7:39pm

I'd fallen out of interest in Star Trek long before Enterprise aired so I'm only running through the series for the first time now (as part of a full run through of the Star Trek saga in release date order.) Up to Season 3 episode 12 Chosen Realm (Religious extremists hijack Enterprise) had to check the air date on Memory Alpha because I thought it aired a lot closer to 9/11 then it did. (January 04) it would have still been a very topical episode none the less.

It's OK overall, not liking Archer if I'm honest, certainly not Federation captain material. It's fun to spot the ex cast turn up directing (Levar Burton, Robert Duncan McNeill and Roxann Dawson mainly) although, with the exception of the Dawson led episodes, there did seem to be an unhealthy obsession with disrobing at least one female cast member each episode.

Dr Bob · 24-11-2021 6:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/115020248#Comment_115020248

Thats thething about Enterprise , there was a a decent show under the showrunners (Bannon and Braga I think? off the top of my head anyway) trying to make a 'trek show for people who didnt like Star Trek . When they left and Manny coto took over in Season 3 , it got really ,really good .

TheValeyard · 28-11-2021 1:31pm

Yeah S3 and S4 really showed how to do a prequel show..... That makes sense. And they were able to fix some of the 'costumes changes' over time like the Klingons appearance. Which made total sense.

pixelburp · 28-11-2021 2:35pm

These "years later" series are very popular at the moment; Dexter being a more recent one. I wonder: how mad, appealing would an Enterprise Season 5 be? Beyond Bakula there was little competency in its cast so wouldn't rush to bring back many (some have just disappeared from acting); and while Picard has been an idea without a story to justify it - bringing back the Archer Enterprise, 20 years later and being the lynchpin of the early days of the Fed? That might be interesting.

Plus, for all those producers more interested in"darker" Starfleet, it would tonally make sense here, when the kinks are still being ironed out in these frontier days. You could have a dark heart in the Fed, cos Utopia is still more a WIP.

Evade · 28-11-2021 3:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118235352#Comment_118235352

If they did real world time elapsed = in universe time elapsed right now we'd be around 10 years after Riker's holodeck simulation, 2171ish, which would put us smack in the middle of Archer as Ambassador to Andoria with the Federation council seat still a few years away and over a decade until his Presidency. If Star Trek is going to have a bunch of concurrent series mixing up different genres might be the only way to stop it burning out quickjly. I saw elsewhere the idea of a Star Trek: West Wing style series floated and basing it around Archer wouldn't be the worst idea ever tried plus as ambassador to Andoria it would mean Shran could be a regular. All depending on competent execution of course which is where all the current series, bar LD, fall flat.

Rawr · 29-11-2021 11:23am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118235491#Comment_118235491

Star Trek: West Wing? For some reason that sounds really appealing. What's more they could probably do it on a shoestring budget with only occasional space scenes between the political intrigue and drama.

I'd watch the hell out of that show if they did it well :)

pixelburp · 30-11-2021 11:38am

Mind you, it wouldn't happen cos I don't think any producer, of any quality, would be brave enough to bring Trek's most unpopular show (ignoring the new stable), even if the premise of West Wing in Space would be a great one. Enterprise is loathed, or ridiculed, returning would get a lot of pushback.

Everything's a brand and formula now, so I can't honestly see any new Trek ever deviating from that set of tropes. Christ Picard should have been a show of talking and occasional planet transition - yet of course it had to have a ship, and a crew, cos that's what focus groups say Trek is supposed to have.

Evade · 30-11-2021 12:45pm

I think the recent crap has made people give Enterprise another look and realise it's not as bad as they remembered.

pixelburp · 30-11-2021 1:08pm

Definitely not as bad, no; but not good either - such that our idea is basically to jettison everything about the show bar Archer (and I guess the occasional cameo from whoever's still acting (I see the actor who played Hoshi is in Bosch).

Of course, the main blocker is the aforementioned perception of Trek as a brand, and what the studio dictates. Maybe, in some parallel world Paramount sees the goodwill for Lower Decks and put more sensible heads in charge of the franchise; trust their ideas for some lower-budgeted shows to pad out the streaming service. But with Kurtzman at the helm, it's unlikely unfortunately. When even Picard can't resist the checklist of tropes, what hope has a The Andorian Wing?

Evade · 30-11-2021 1:23pm

I've always maintained season three and four were actually good. Throwing out everyone bar Archer, and maybe Shran, is more of a necessity than anything else, it's not very realistic to have his whole bridge crew follow him on his political career. I mean you could easily contrive Hoshi, Reed, and Travis being there given their skill sets if you really wanted to but moving on to some fresh characters gives more room for story potential.

But yeah, while Kurtzman is in charge it's all just wishful thinking that we'll get anything interesting in live action.

TheIrishGrover · 30-11-2021 1:47pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118238596#Comment_118238596

I'd love to see something like that if the Sci-Fi aspect was kept at an accessible rate for non-trekkies. Not because I don't love Sci-Fi (A quick search of my post history will prove that 😀) But would love the idea of this type of show which maybe references centuries of human/Federation/Klingon history. Mentioning the impact of recent Romulan migrants. How the post-currency Federation works with The Ferengi. Dive into the whole post-currency nature of The Federation (To paraphrase First Contact: "You mean you don't get paid?"). I don't especially want to see a Klingon Bird of Prey shooting up Federation headquarters each week. A more "mature" show would be interesting. Not saying Trek is immature but you know what I mean.

It's the reason DS9 was such a success in UK/Ireland (especially from Season 4). I know it was initially poorly received in the US but has continued to grow in respect globally. There was something to get your teeth into.

Or an ACTUAL "Lower Decks" type show. A proper, serious show about mid-level officers. I love "Lower Decks" animated show but would like to see a serious one also (But NOT at the expense of the great animated show). Or a show totally unrelated to The Federation. Just in the Trek world. A cop show (Not Space Cop 😀)

I remember when they announced that they were going to come with a TV show based on Gotham Police Department. Thought that was a great idea. Have a show about street-level cops/detectives and have all the Batman shenanigans impacting them peripherally. Then it turned out to be.... Well. Not good.

AMKC · 30-11-2021 6:45pm

@TheIrishGrover I disagree. I quiet liked Gotham. It was certainly better than Batwoman which is so contrived and badly done although season 3 seems a bit better than season 2.

Enterprise: What idiots were running the show?

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