Trekkies of the World, Unite!
As mentioned in an earlier post, the powers-that-be at Paramount and the UPN network have decided to cancel the show Enterprise, ending a long run of Star Trek-related shows that dates back to the debut of Star Trek - The Next Generation.
Not so fast, my friends.
Some of you might know that the original series of Star Trek was cancelled after 2 seasons, but a huge response from fans of the show impressed NBC so much that they green-lighted a 3rd season. Granted, the 3rd season kind of sucked, but there were a few diamonds in the rough like The Paradise Syndrome and Day of the Dove. Despite the fans' enthusiasm, it didn't translate into ratings and the show was cancelled for good after the 3rd season.
Now, today's Trekkies are showing solidarity for Enterprise and trying to change UPN execs' minds by holding rallies across the world tomorrow (Friday). The biggest rally will be in front of the Paramount gates in Hollywood, but they are trying to coordinate rallies in front of UPN stations across the country as well as places like London, a city in Germany and a city in Israel.
Want more information? Check out www.saveenterprise.com
Like I mentioned before, I have never seen an entire episode of Enterprise, so I have no emotional attachment to this movement. However, I did hear that Paramount is working on a new Star Trek movie with all original characters to try to kick-start the franchise again.
Not so fast, my friends.
Some of you might know that the original series of Star Trek was cancelled after 2 seasons, but a huge response from fans of the show impressed NBC so much that they green-lighted a 3rd season. Granted, the 3rd season kind of sucked, but there were a few diamonds in the rough like The Paradise Syndrome and Day of the Dove. Despite the fans' enthusiasm, it didn't translate into ratings and the show was cancelled for good after the 3rd season.
Now, today's Trekkies are showing solidarity for Enterprise and trying to change UPN execs' minds by holding rallies across the world tomorrow (Friday). The biggest rally will be in front of the Paramount gates in Hollywood, but they are trying to coordinate rallies in front of UPN stations across the country as well as places like London, a city in Germany and a city in Israel.
Want more information? Check out www.saveenterprise.com
Like I mentioned before, I have never seen an entire episode of Enterprise, so I have no emotional attachment to this movement. However, I did hear that Paramount is working on a new Star Trek movie with all original characters to try to kick-start the franchise again.
posted by cvo @ 4:01 PM
2 Comments:
At 10:43 AM,
R said…
So I watched "Enterprise" for the first time the other day, and it was pretty decent, far better than the worst of Next Generation. Assuming it does die, I think I would probably enjoy watching some of the episodes on DVD some day. As has been pointed out, that's not so true of the first season of Next Generation, and from what little I saw of Deep Space Nine and Voyager, not true of them either.
It's hard to say since I've just seen this one episode, but it seems like they are involved in a serial confrontation with the Klingons. (I think I remember reading when this first came out that it is set prior to the era of the original episodes). I hope that the season has had more to it than this. One of the reasons I can still watch the original series was that plot elements like the ongoing Cold Wars with the Romulans and the Klingons took a back seat most of the time. When they did appear, they tended to serve as allegories for topics that might have been difficult or unpopular to show on television in the late 60s.
It seems to me that a lot of the "fantasy elements" of the original show have tended to be more emphasized by the Trekkies, e.g. the alien cultures and languages. This fantasy world could just as well have been set in Middle Earth as in Alpha Quadrant. I'm not saying that fantasy can't serve up a good allegory. You could argue that the popular success of Lord of the Rings has a lot to do with the state in which the world perceives itself to be now. Maybe 10 years ago, the War Againts Sauron would not have seemed so topical to so many. But I digress.
Getting back to Enterprise, the danger is that fantasy elements like Klingon politics tend to be featured for their own sake, for the edification of fans who are wrapped up in the overarching narrative history of the Federation. It's easy for a fan to get sucked into a compelling story like this (like a lot of us did with Babylon 5), and it's easier for the writers to give these kinds of viewers their weekly fix. But when these elements tend to dominate each episode, the show loses its connection with a lot of its potential audience.
I've always liked best the kind of science fiction that, while it's set in the future, you can easily recognize the present. One of my favorite bits of Sci Fi dialogue is the observation in Lem's "Fiasco" that "...space travel [is] made up of catastrophes averted at the last minute and long conferences." Probably in the original Polish it has a better ring to it, but the idea speaks to almost anyone who works for a living.
So, if I were a writer for Enterprise and wanted to try and save it, one thing I'd look to is the headlines. Have an episode about euthanasia, or torture in a military prison (the NG like this where Picard was captured was one of the great ones of that series). If that won't fly, how about doing a 23rd century version of JAG to capitalize on the time-tested "law and order" fascination of American viewing public (remember how good the original series two-parter "Menagiere" was?) Or how about a reality show? Go to the Naval Academy, get them to start a class on strategy and tactics, but have them act out battle episodes from old Star Treks? Film it, and have the viewers vote on who gets to go on to the next episode? Nah...
At 11:47 AM,
Unknown said…
I just like Enterprise because every set is populated with flat-panel displays. We've known for 30 years that the future would be full of flat-panel displays, but Enterprise is the first Star Trek in which the future finally looks as we always new it would.
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