Enterprise (retitled
Star
Trek: Enterprise at the start of its third season) is
a
science fiction television program created by
Brannon Braga and
Rick
Berman and set in the fictional
Star
Trek universe created by
Gene
Roddenberry in the 1960s. The series follows the adventures of
humanity's first
Warp 5
starship, the
Enterprise, ten years before the
United Federation of
Planets shown in previous
Star Trek series was
formed.
Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001. The pilot
episode, "
Broken
Bow", takes place in the year 2151, halfway between the
21st-century events shown in the movie
Star Trek: First Contact and
the original
Star
Trek television series. Low ratings prompted
UPN to cancel
Star Trek: Enterprise on February
2, 2005, but the network allowed the series to complete its fourth
season. The final episode aired on May 13, 2005. After a run of
four seasons and 98 episodes, it was the first
Star Trek
series since the original
Star Trek to have been cancelled
by its network rather than finished by its producers. It is also
the last series in an 18-year run of back-to-back new
Star
Trek shows beginning with
Star Trek: The Next
Generation in 1987.
Production
In May 2000,
Rick Berman, executive
producer of
Star Trek:
Voyager, revealed that a new series would premiere
following the final season of
Voyager. Little news was
forthcoming for months as Berman and
Brannon Braga developed the untitled series,
known only as Series V, until February 2001, when Paramount signed
Herman Zimmerman and John Eaves to
production design Series V. Within a month, scenic designer
Michael Okuda, another long-time
Trek veteran, was also signed.
Michael Westmore, make-up designer for
Trek since
Star Trek: The Next
Generation (TNG), was announced as working on Series V by
the end of April. Returning as director of photography would be
Marvin V. Rush, who had been working on various
Treks
since the third season of
TNG. For visual effects,
Ronald B. Moore, who had previously worked on
TNG and
Voyager, was brought in.
However, the biggest news would wait until May 11, 2001. The title
of Series V was revealed to be
Enterprise, with
Scott Bakula, of
Quantum Leap fame, playing
Captain Jeffery Archer, a name that was quickly changed to
Jonathan Archer due to fan feedback. Four
days later, the rest of the main cast was announced, though the
character names would not be announced until the next day.
— Rick Berman
On May 14, 2001, shooting began for the pilot episode, Broken Bow,
on stages 8, 9, and 18 at Paramount Studios. Three days later, Tom
Nunan, entertainment producer at UPN, held a press conference
formally announcing
Enterprise to the world at large.
Featuring a video on the history of the
Star Trek
franchise, Nunan held up previous installments of the franchise as
proof-of-concept that
Enterprise would succeed.
On September 26, 2001, the premiere episode of
Enterprise,
"Broken Bow", aired on UPN with an estimated 12.54 million
viewers.
Through the life of the series,
Star Trek: Enterprise
would mark several milestones for
Star Trek television
production.
Enterprise was the first Star
Trek to be produced in widescreen,
the first Star Trek series to be broadcast in HDTV, beginning on October 15,
2003, midway into the third season, the first Star Trek to
be filmed on digital video (season 4),
and the first science fiction television or movie production in
history to use video footage taken on another planet (the
Sojourner rover
approaching the Yogi
Rock
, taken by the Mars
Pathfinder lander and used in the opening
credits).
A number of episodes of
Enterprise were directed by
Star Trek alumni:
Cast
- Jonathan Archer
(Scott Bakula), captain of
Earth's first Warp 5 starship, Enterprise. His father
designed its engine, giving Archer a very personal connection to
his ship. Archer feels an immense amount of pressure concerning his
mission, especially when hunting the Xindi to save Earth from destruction.
Subsequently he is assigned Earth-local or diplomatic missions.
Instrumental in founding the Federation.
- T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), originally attached to
the Enterprise by the Vulcan High Command to keep the humans
out of trouble. Becomes very loyal to Archer, leaving her position
in the High Command to accompany him, find the Xindi, and later
join Starfleet. A version of T'Pol who was flung into the past
gives birth to the first human/Vulcan hybrid. In later seasons, forms a
romantic relationship with Trip. DNA stolen, along with Charles
Tucker's, in order to make the first Vulcan/Human hybrid in the
"normal" timeline, who unfortunately died from complications.
- Charles "Trip" Tucker
III (Connor
Trinneer), chief engineer of the Enterprise, and
long-time friend of Captain Archer. Started off conservatively
modest, but becomes more seasoned as the series runs, losing a
sister in the Xindi attack. In later seasons, forms a romantic
relationship with T'Pol. DNA stolen, along with T'Pol's, in order
to make the first Vulcan/Human hybrid in the "normal" timeline, who
unfortunately died from complications. Was killed in the series
finale based 10 years in the future saving the ship while it was
under attack.
- Malcolm Reed
(Dominic Keating), armory
officer of the Enterprise, also in charge of ship
security. Reed comes from a long line of Royal Navy men, but joined Starfleet due to a
fear of drowning. An extremely taciturn man, his own family did not
know his favorite food when asked.
- Hoshi Sato
(Linda Park), communications
officer and linguistic genius. Capable of learning alien languages
extremely quickly, Hoshi serves as the translator between the
Enterprise crew and new alien species, even after the
Universal Translator is on-line. Suffered anxiety about her place
on board originally, but exposure to frequent danger helped her
realize her value to the ship.
- Travis
Mayweather (Anthony
Montgomery), helmsman. A "Space Boomer", Travis is unique
on Enterprise being born in space. Son of a freighter
captain, Travis knows many of the alien species as well as
locations that Earth traders frequent. As Enterprise moves
farther and farther from Earth, his value in this area lessens, but
his skill at the helm is constantly appreciated, making him the
pilot of choice for many missions.
- Dr. Phlox
(John Billingsley), chief
medical officer. A member of the Inter-Species Medical Exchange,
Phlox is brought aboard the Enterprise to care for their
Klingon passenger. Afterward, he volunteers
to stay on, delighting in the experience of humanity taking its
first steps into the larger galactic stage. An exceedingly cheerful
alien, Dr. Phlox uses many animals and various naturalistic cures
to practice his trade, instead of the usual technological
implements. Devises a method of eradicating Borg nanoprobes, but
because the method is fatal to humans and nearly so to Denobulans, it has little use.
Plot
Seasons 1 and 2
The first two seasons of
Star Trek: Enterprise depict the
exploration of interstellar space by the crew of an Earth ship able
to go farther and faster than any humans had previously gone, due
to the breaking of the
Warp 5
barrier, analogous to the
Bell X-1 breaking
the
sound barrier. The crew faces
situations that are familiar to
Star Trek fans, but are
unencumbered and unjaded by the experience and rules which have
built up over hundreds of years of
Trek history
established in previous
Star Trek
series.
Star Trek: Enterprise takes pains to show the
origins of some concepts which have become taken for granted in
Star Trek canon, such as
Lt. Reed's development of
force field and Captain
Archer's questions about cultural interference eventually being
answered by later series'
Prime
Directive.
A recurring plot device is the
Temporal Cold War, in which a mysterious
entity from the 27th century uses the Cabal, a group of genetically
upgraded
Suliban, to manipulate the timeline
and change past events. Sometimes sabotaging
Enterprise's
mission and sometimes saving the ship from destruction, the
entity's motives are unknown. Agent [[Daniels (Star
Trek)|Daniels]], a temporal agent from the 31st century, visits
[[Jonathan Archer|Captain Archer]] occasionally to assist him in
fighting the Suliban and undoing damage to the timeline. In the
past ninety years since ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]'', the
[[Vulcan (Star Trek)|Vulcan]]s have been mentoring humanity to what
they see as an appropriate level of civilization, routinely holding
back scientific knowledge in an effort to keep humans stranded
close to home, believing them to be too irrational and
emotionally-dominated to function properly in an interstellar
community. When ''Enterprise'' finally sets out, the Vulcans are
often conspicuously close by. This generates some conflict as, in
several early episodes, Archer and others complain bitterly of the
Vulcans' unsubtle methods of checking up on them. === Season 3 ===
Low ratings encouraged the series' producers to seek a new
direction. In analyzing past ''Trek'' movie successes, a storyline
where the Earth was put in jeopardy was devised, as such a story
had proven popular before, as in ''[[Star Trek: First Contact]]''
and ''[[Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]]''. The third season also
sees the change of the series' name to ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' as
well as an updated main title theme. Season three introduces the
[[Xindi (Star Trek)|Xindi]], an enemy bent on annihilating humanity
via a planet-destroying super weapon similar to [[Star Wars]]'
[[Death Star]]. The third season follows a single [[story arc]],
beginning in the second season finale "[[The Expanse (Enterprise
episode)|The Expanse]]", in which a mysterious probe cuts a wide,
deep trench from central [[Florida]] to [[Venezuela]], killing
seven million people. ''Enterprise'' is recalled and retrofitted as
a warship, with more powerful weapons and a group of elite Military
Assault Command Operations (MACOs). ''Enterprise'' travels through
an area known as the [[Delphic Expanse]] to find the Xindi
homeworld and prevent another attack against Earth. The crew learns
in "[[Azati Prime (Enterprise episode)|Azati Prime]]" that the
Sphere-Builders, a transdimensional species, have technology that
allows them to examine alternate timelines. The Sphere-Builders
know that in the 26th century, the "Federation" fleet, led by
Enterprise's distant cousin, the Enterprise-J, will lead an attack
against them that will defeat them. They wanted the Xindi, who
revered them as "the Guardians," to destroy Earth in the hope that
this would deter the formation and existence of the Federation.
However, in the season finale, "[[Zero Hour (Enterprise
episode)|Zero Hour]]," they manage to defeat the Sphere-Builders
and destroy the Xindi weapon. They also succeeded in returning the
Expanse to normal space. The season ends with the Enterprise being
mysteriously transported into the middle of World War II. This plot
was resolved in Storm Front, Part I&II. === Season 4 === The
show was renewed for a fourth season on May 20, 2004. The renewal
moved the show from Wednesday night to Friday night, a move that
seemed to replicate the third season renewal of the original ''Star
Trek'', when it was moved from Thursday night to the Friday night
"death slot." Many cast and crew members supported it, saying that
[[X-Files|The X-Files]] gained more viewership during its first
three years on Friday nights. As a sequel to "Zero Hour," "Storm
Front" and "Storm Front, Part II," opened up the fourth season on
October 8 and 15, 2004. The episodes ended the ongoing Temporal
Cold War arc, which proved very unpopular among the show's viewers
during the first three seasons. The Xindi arc, started over a year
ago in "The Expanse," ended with the third episode, "Home," which
mostly dealt with Captain Archer's ethically and morally
questionable actions during the yearlong mission in the Expanse.
The general theme of the season was a refocus on the prequel
concept of the series, with many episodes making reference to
themes, concepts, and characters from past series. The fourth
season saw [[Brent Spiner]] ([[Data (Star Trek)|Data]] from
''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'') as the imprisoned scientist
[[Arik Soong|Dr. Arik Soong]], an ancestor of Data's creator, in a
three-episode arc at the end of which Soong abandons the concept of
improving mankind in favor of creating artificial intelligence: an
allusion to what will eventually become Data. The Soong episodes
later gave rise to a story arc where the [[Klingons]] were
attempting to improve their species through the continuation of
Soong's work. This allowed for an explanation of why the Klingons
on ''The Original Series'' lacked brow ridges and were much more
human looking than any of the other series. Season 4 also addressed
some discrepancies between the Vulcans of ''The Original Series''
and those depicted in ''Star Trek: Enterprise''. In the Vulcan
Civil War arc, Romulan subversion of the Vulcan High Command leads
to a splinter group of Vulcans opposed to the High Command's
actions, believing those actions to be against the teachings of
Surak, the mythic leader who brought logic to Vulcan. After this
storyline, Vulcans began a cultural transformation that was
presumably a turn toward the more enlightened Vulcans of ''Trek''
series set further in the future. For example, mind-melding before
the ancient teachings were recovered was considered immoral; after,
it was embraced as the legacy of all Vulcans. A two-part return to
the Mirror Universe, made popular by ''The Original Series'' and
''Deep Space Nine,'' titled "In a Mirror, Darkly," was made late in
the fourth season, which take place in the parallel dimension (and
to date they are the only ones to do so). These episodes use the
''Enterprise'' crew as the most barbaric members of the Terran
Empire. As a sequel to the original Star Trek's "The Tholian Web,"
"Part I," proved popular while "Part II" had a ending which was a
cliffhanger. Had the series gone on for a fifth season, the story
would have continued. The story was "continued" by means of the
first "Mirror Universe" anthology published in 2007 by Pocket
Books. The story, "Age of the Empress" was crafted by Mike Sussman,
the writer of "In a Mirror, Darkly." Romulans also stir up trouble
midway through the season. While a diplomatic conference hosted by
Earth on the planet Babel, Romulans, using drone ships with
holographic emitters (mimicking any ship) stir up trouble with the
Andorians and Tellarites. This places the two races at each other's
throats, and when they're revealed to be Romulan, Archer devises an
alliance similar to the Federation is formed, along with the
Vulcans. This three-part arc, which presaged the inevitable
Romulan-Earth War of 2156, received the lowest Nielsen ratings of
the entire series, leading UPN to cancel it on February 2, 2005. In
the final story arc of the season, a human terrorist group called
Terra Prime, bent on removing all non-humans from human planets,
genetically engineers a child from DNA samples of Commander Tucker
and Commander T'Pol. They use the baby as a means to rile up humans
who have become afraid of aliens since the Xindi conflict, and
launch a campaign from Mars to drive the alien outsiders from human
space. This storyline has been said by producers to represent how
humanity must overcome its own bigotry and hatred in order to
become the human race seen in later ''Trek''s. The series
cancellation was announced prior to the writing of the final
episode of the fourth season, allowing the writers to craft a
[[series finale]]. This final episode, titled "[[These Are the
Voyages... (Enterprise episode)|These Are the Voyages ...]]", aired
May 13, 2005, in the United States, and was one of the [[These Are
the Voyages...#Reception|most heavily criticized episodes of the
''Star Trek'' franchise]], much of the criticism focusing on the
premise, which essentially reduced the finale to a holodeck
adventure from an earlier ''Star Trek'' series. This is why many of
the cast consider the two-part "Demons" and "Terra Prime" to be the
true finale of the series. The episode featured guest appearances
by [[Jonathan Frakes]] and [[Marina Sirtis]] as their ''[[Star
Trek: The Next Generation]]'' characters [[William Riker]] and
[[Deanna Troi]]. The show took place during the ''TNG'' episode
"[[The Pegasus (Star Trek: The Next Generation)|The
Pegasus]]".{{cite web |title=UPN Releases 'Terra Prime,' Finale
Plot Details |date=2005-03-24 |work=Trektoday.com
|url=http://www.trektoday.com/news/240305_01.shtml
|accessdate=2007-12-18}} [[Brent Spiner]] lent his voice to the
finale, and is briefly heard as [[Data (Star Trek)|Data]].
==Cancellation== :''See [[List of Star Trek: Enterprise episodes]]
for the [[Nielsen Ratings]].'' By the third season, ratings were
continually declining, and the threat of cancellation loomed over
''Star Trek: Enterprise''. This, along with the poor box office
performance in 2002 of the film ''[[Star Trek Nemesis]]'', cast an
uncertain light upon the future of the ''Star Trek'' franchise in
general. ===2004=== Fans launched a letter writing campaign similar
to the one that saved the third season of the ''Original
Series''.{{cite web | title = Fan Groups, Sites Rally on Behalf of
''Enterprise'' | publisher = startrek.com| date = 2004-05-28|
url=http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/5500.html|
accessdate = 2009-07-04}} On May 20, 2004, it was announced that
''Enterprise'' had been renewed for a fourth season, but that the
show would move from Wednesday to Friday nights.{{cite web
|title=Enterprise Renewed for Fourth Season |date=2004-05-20
|work=Startrek.com
|url=http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/ENT/news/article/5218.html
|accessdate=2007-12-19 }} This move echoed the rescheduling of the
original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' to a
[[Friday night death slot|Friday night time slot]] for its third
season prior to its ultimate cancellation, as Friday nights have
traditionally been considered "[[Friday night death slot|Death
Row]]" for a major TV production. Hired as a writer during the
third season, [[Manny Coto]] was promoted to co-executive producer,
becoming the series [[show runner|showrunner]] for the fourth
season. Coto decided to retain the "arc" concept of season 3, but
reduce it from one season-long arc to several "mini-arcs" of two or
three episodes, with few standalones. The producers attempted to
attract viewers by terminating a long-running story arc (the
[[Temporal Cold War]]) and scheduling numerous episodes that served
as prequels to storylines from ''TOS'' and ''TNG''. Beginning in
the summer of 2004, and continuing throughout the fourth season,
there were reports that [[William Shatner]] would reprise the role
of [[James T. Kirk]] or perhaps an ancestor in the series,{{cite
web|url=http://trekweb.com/articles/2004/05/22/40afa6641e910.shtml|title=Rick
Berman on Enterprise Season
4|year=2004-05-22|publisher=TrekWeb|accessdate=2006-12-19}} however
an agreement could not be reached.{{cite
web|url=http://www.trektoday.com/news/170305_02.shtml|title=Coto,
Writers Reveal Mirror Universe
Backstory|year=2005-03-17|publisher=TrekToday|accessdate=2006-12-19}}
The fourth season got off to a slow start in the ratings on October
8, 2004, due to the Friday time-slot, preemptions by local sports
in some markets, and by coverage of the second presidential debate
between [[George W. Bush]] and [[John Kerry]] in others. As well,
''Enterprise'' fans continued to indicate they chose to watch the
weekend showing rather than the Friday broadcast, or chose to
"time-shift" the program using their [[VCR]] or [[DVR]] equipment.
In October 2004, it was announced that ''Enterprise'' was the 25th
most popular [[Season Pass]] on the [[TiVo]] television recording
system in the United States.{{cite web |title=TiVo Press Releases
|date=2004-11-01 |work=Tivo.com
|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20041101030509/http://www.tivo.com/5.3.top100.asp
|accessdate=2007-12-18 }} ===2005=== Speculation as to the future
of the series came to an end on February 2, 2005, when UPN
announced the series had been cancelled and its final episode would
air on Friday, May 13, 2005.{{cite web |title=Star Trek: Enterprise
Canceled! |date=2005-02-03 |work=Startrek.com
|url=http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/9469.html
|accessdate=2007-12-18 }} Fan groups such as "Save Enterprise"
joined forces{{cite web |title=Save Enterprise 2005 Outlook
|work=TrekUnited.com
|url=http://www.trekunited.com/news/content/view/21/44/1/1/
|accessdate=2007-12-18 }} and announced a drive to raise money to
finance a further season of ''Enterprise''. Approximately $30
million was the goal of the campaign, based upon estimates of the
cost for a full season cited by John Billingsley and others. In
addition, Washington, D.C., lobbyist Dan Jensen, circulated a
letter on Capitol Hill in an effort to appeal to the sentiments of
legislators. As a result, then Florida Congressman [[Mark Foley]]
(R) agreed to sign the letter. The Washington "lobbying" effort
garnered considerable press, and had a feature article on the front
page of ''Roll
Call''http://www.rollcall.com/issues/50_84/news/8432-1.html/, the
most widely circulated political newspaper in the United States.
Production of the fourth season concluded on March 8, 2005, and by
the end of the month, Startrek.com was reporting the ''Enterprise''
sets had been taken down, marking the first time that Stage 9 at
Paramount Studios has been without ''Star Trek'' sets since the
late 1970s. The website did not indicate whether the sets have been
preserved in storage (the industry term being 'fold-and-hold') or
if they have been destroyed.{{cite web |title=A Brief History of
Paramount Stages 8 & 9 |date=2005-04-05 |work=Startrek.com
|url=http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/9513.html
|accessdate=2007-12-18 }} As of April 13, 2005, Paramount and UPN
remained adamant that the cancellation of the series was final and
that the studio was not interested in continuing the current
incarnation of ''Star Trek''.{{cite web |title=Enterprise Decision
Final, Support Appreciated |date=2005-04-12 |work=Startrek.com
|url=http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/10510.html
|accessdate=2007-12-18 }} TrekUnited officials, however, still
claimed to be in talks with Paramount over the future of the
series.{{cite web |title=Paramount Said 'No' to TrekUnited Campaign
|date=2005-04-12 |work=Trektoday.com
|url=http://www.trektoday.com/news/120405_02.shtml
|accessdate=2007-12-18 }} The website IGN Filmforce, reporting on
rumors Paramount had actually decided to cancel ''Enterprise''
after its fourth season as early as midway through the second year,
quoted an unidentified "executive involved with ''Enterprise''" as
saying this scenario was "very likely". Although reported widely as
the death knell of the Star Trek franchise, the cancellation of
''Enterprise'' was followed within months by the announcement that
Paramount was in pre-production on an 11th ''Star Trek'' feature
film. After a false start involving Berman which would have set the
film in a time period after the events of ''Enterprise'' but before
TOS, Paramount recruited a new producing and writing team, which
ultimately led to the release of a new ''[[Star Trek (film)|Star
Trek]]'' film in May 2009. Like ''Enterprise'', the new film also
adopted a prequel concept, with a different approach. ==In other
media== === Soundtrack === {{main|Enterprise (soundtrack)}} ====
Theme song ==== {{main|Faith of the Heart}} The series' theme song,
written by [[Diane Warren]] and sung by [[Russell Watson]], was a
marked contrast to the sweeping instrumental themes used in all
other ''Star Trek'' series. It was also the first such theme not to
have been composed specially for ''Star Trek'', having previously
appeared (performed by [[Rod Stewart]]) in the film ''[[Patch Adams
(film)|Patch Adams]]'' (1998). Like other aspects of the series,
the theme song polarized fans. Online petitions were signed
demanding its removal from the titles.{{cite
web|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,179633~3~0~whytrekkieshateenterprises,00.html|title=Sound
Trek|year=2001-10-16|publisher=EW.com|accessdate=2006-12-19}} A
new, more upbeat arrangement of the theme song was introduced for
the third season, but this did not assuage the song's critics, and
elicited criticism from some who liked the original version.{{cite
web|url=http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/561/561279p1.html|title=The
Trek Report #2:Bring on the
Augments|year=2004-10-28|publisher=IGN|accessdate=2006-12-19}} The
theme song, as well as the opening credits, were altered for two
back-to-back episodes in season 4 entitled "[[In a Mirror, Darkly
(Enterprise episode)|In a Mirror, Darkly]]", which take place in an
alternate [[Mirror Universe (Star Trek)|mirror universe]].
Throughout the show's run, there was extensive Internet speculation
as to whether the theme song and opening credits (which were
questioned by some for depicting only American flight and
spaceflight advances while omitting historically important
incarnations, such as [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] milestones
[[Sputnik]] and [[Yuri Gagarin|Vostok 1]]{{cite
web|url=http://www.treknation.com/interviews/bormanis_interview_trekbrasilis.shtml|title=Andre
Bormanis Interview|year=2002-11-12|publisher=The Trek
Nation|accessdate=2006-12-19}}) would be changed.{{cite
web|url=http://www.trektoday.com/news/040903_01.shtml|title=Is
Enterprise Losing Faith of the
Heart?|year=2003-09-04|publisher=TrekToday|accessdate=2006-12-19}}
This speculation was fueled in October 2004 when the official
website startrek.com
postedhttp://www.startrek.com/startrek/videoview?id=7730&episodeid=6485&count=-1
an opening credits sequence in which Scott Bakula recites a
modified version of the famous "Space, the final frontier..."
speech (with the phrase "[[where no human has gone before]]" in
place of "where no man" or "where no one"), accompanied by
"Archer's Theme", the instrumental used as the closing credits
music for the series. In 2001 UPN heavily promoted the premiere of
''Enterprise'' with a song by [[The Calling]], "[[Wherever You Will
Go]]." === Original novels and relaunch === Like the ''Trek''
series that preceded it, a series of original novels based on
''Enterprise'' was launched by [[Pocket Books]] soon after the
program debuted. During the run of the series, however, only five
books were published (not counting episode novelizations), a low
number compared to the other series. No ''Enterprise''-specific
novels appeared at all in 2005 and the first post-cancellation
novel, ''Rosetta'' by Dave Stern, did not appear until February
2006. As explained by Pocket Books editor Margaret Clark, it was
decided to scale back the number of books published not due to low
sales or lack of interest in the prequel series, but due to the
fact that the televised series often conflicted with planned
literary plotlines, or beat the book series to the punch entirely.
The novel ''Surak's Soul'' by [[J.M. Dillard]], includes as a major
plot point the aftermath of T'Pol killing a person during a
mission. Before it was published, however, the TV series aired "The
Seventh", an episode with a similar core plot point, which forced
last-minute revisions to Dillard's book. Later, the novel
''Daedalus'', by Dave Stern, included flashbacks to the early days
of the NX Program which needed to be revised to avoid conflicting
with the already-broadcast episode "[[First Flight (Enterprise
episode)|First Flight]]", which also featured a look at the early
days of the NX Program. Apparently, things weren't expected to
change during the fourth season; in a May 2005 posting at the
[[TrekBBS]], Clark explained that the lack of ''Enterprise'' novels
was intended to avoid any further potential storytelling "land
mines" since "Season Four kept doing stuff we wanted/planned to
do".{{cite web |title=Star Trek Books News |date=2005-05-18
|work=TrekToday.com
|url=http://www.trektoday.com/news/180505_01.shtml
|accessdate=2007-12-18 }} With the series concluded, novelists are
free to compose continuation novels without fear of being preempted
or contradicted by the show, save for any restrictions put in place
by the finale episode. In May 2005, Clark announced plans for a new
series of ''Enterprise'' novels that will constitute a "relaunch"
similar to that of the literary continuation of ''[[Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine]]''. Clark indicated that the books will cover events in
the six years between "Terra Prime" and "These Are the Voyages...".
An original novel, ''Last Full Measure'', was released in April
2006. It takes place during the third season Xindi Arc and
therefore isn't considered part of the relaunch (''Rosetta'' takes
place during the fourth season and likewise is not considered a
relaunch volume, either). However, ''Last Full Measure'' does
contain a "framing sequence" that serves as a preview for the
Relaunch. This framing sequence, which has proven controversial,
suggests Trip Tucker did not die in the events of "These Are the
Voyages..." and is alive in the early 23rd century, though the
reason for this is not explained. According to Clark, again posting
on the TrekBBS, dissatisfaction over the finale episode is the
driving factor behind the continuation novels/relaunch including a
story arc that suggests that Trip's death in the finale was not as
it seemed. The first official relaunch novel, ''The Good That Men
Do'' by [[Andy Mangels]] and [[Michael A. Martin]] was published by
Pocket Books on February 28, 2007, and gives a different
perspective on the events shown in the final episode. This book
also provides a lead-in to a series of books that will document the
[[Romulan War|Earth-Romulan War]] that has been referenced in the
other Star Trek materials, but was never developed during the
television production of ''Enterprise''. The relaunch novels'
conceit of Trip not actually dying in the final episode, are based
on an enigmatic moment in which Trip is supposedly near death and
is being loaded into a medical chamber. He looks up at Archer,
smiles and winks; Archer smiles back and also winks. The novels
take this to mean the death of Trip was actually an elaborate ruse
and not his actual death. The book reveals that the events of the
holo-program from "These Are the Voyages" are a deliberate lie.
Noting the inconsistencies in the episode as proof that it is a
fabrication, an aged [[Jake Sisko]] and [[Nog]] discuss the lack of
promotions among the crew, the pirates' warp 2 ship that is some
how able catch up with ''Enterprise'', and the complete lack of
MACOs and security teams when the pirates stalk the ship. It should
be noted that the established criteria of [[Star Trek canon]]
disqualifies novels as being official continuity; the decision to
undo Trip's death in "These Are the Voyages" in the novels marks
one of the only occasions in which a licensed, expanded universe
spin-off has openly contradicted a major part of Trek continuity -
an earlier example involved the launch of a series of novels
featuring Kirk that suggested the character did not die at the end
of the film, ''[[Star Trek: Generations]]''. ''Kobayashi Maru''
continues the story, with the Romulans continuing their attacks
against the newly formed Coalition of Planets. Archer and crew
appear to be the only ones who believe the Romulans are truly
behind the attacks. The book culminates in Archer facing the
infamous [[Kobayashi Maru]] no-win scenario, and the beginning of
the [[Earth-Romulan War]]. === DVD releases === In October 2004,
coinciding with the start of the show's fourth season and months
before the cancellation announcement, Paramount revealed plans to
release the four seasons of ''Enterprise'' to DVD in North America
during 2005. It has yet to be revealed whether this had any bearing
on the decision to cancel the program since ''[[Star Trek:
Voyager|Voyager]]'' was offered to syndication midway through its
run with no impact on its network status, and ''[[Star Trek: The
Next Generation|TNG]]'', ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|DS9]]'',
and ''Voyager'' all saw episodes released to [[home video]] during
their runs, long before those series ended. It had also become
commonplace for current series to have past seasons released to
DVD. The first season DVD was released on May 3, 2005, ten days
prior to the broadcast of the final episode. This release marked a
couple of firsts for ''Star Trek'' TV series DVD releases. It was
the first to include extensive deleted scenes (although footage cut
from the premiere of ''Voyager'' had been included in a featurette
previously), and it was the first to include an outtakes or
[[blooper]] reel. The remaining seasons were released on July 26,
September 27, and November 1. All the remaining sets also included
deleted scenes and outtakes of varying length. {| class="wikitable"
!DVD Name !Ep # !Release Date{{cite web |title=Star Trek:
Enterprise on DVD |work=TVShowsOnDVD.com
|url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shows/Star-Trek-Enterprise/3975
|accessdate=2007-12-18 }} |- | Season 1 | 26 | May 3, 2005 |- |
Season 2 | 26 | July 26, 2005 |- | Season 3 | 24 | September 27,
2005 |- | Season 4 | 22 | November 1, 2005 |} == Reception ==
[[Image:Star Trek Enterprise ratings chart.png|right|thumb|A graph
of ''Star Trek: Enterprise'''s
Nielsen
ratings for the series' duration]]Seasonal rankings (based on
average total viewers per episode) of
Star Trek:
Enterprise on UPN:
| Season |
Timeslot |
Season Premiere |
Season Finale |
TV Season |
Rank |
Viewers
(in millions) |
| 1st |
Wednesday 8:00PM |
September 26, 2001 |
May 22, 2002 |
2001-2002 |
#115 |
5.9 |
| 2nd |
Wednesday 8:00PM |
September 18, 2002 |
May 21, 2003 |
2002-2003 |
#132 |
3.94 |
| 3rd |
Wednesday 8:00PM |
September 10, 2003 |
May 26, 2004 |
2003-2004 |
#178 |
3.3 |
| 4th |
Friday 9:00PM |
October 8, 2004 |
May 13, 2005 |
2004-2005 |
#146 |
2.81 |
Rebroadcasts
UPN continued to air reruns of
Enterprise for only a month
after the series finale, with the last network-broadcast episode,
"In a Mirror, Darkly Part II", airing on June 11, 2005 this despite
initial announcements that reruns would continue throughout the
summer. With disruptions from local sports programming, many areas
never had the opportunity to see all the episodes, which had been
aired elsewhere.
Syndicated rebroadcasts of the series began in North American
markets on September 17, 2005. Broadcasts in high definition began
on
HDNet in late 2006.
NBC Universal's
Syfy ran the series from January 8, 2007, until July,
2008 in four-episode blocks every Monday night. Since Sci Fi does
not own HD airing rights to the series, it was shown in a 4:3
letterbox 16:9 format on both the SD & HD feeds. Syfy played
reruns on weekdays at 5pm, though not in their original broadcast
order. Enterprise was replaced by Stargate Atlantis in June 2009.
However, Enterprise is sometimes shown on the 8 am to 4 pm weekday
marathon on Syfy.
In Canada it is aired on Space.
It is aired on Star World on weekdays at 4:30 p.m. in India.
It is aired on
MTV3 Scifi on weekdays
starting from April 1 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in Finland and repeats on
Saturdays.
In October 2007, Virgin 1 in the UK announced, it was "The new home
of Star Trek" and that this would include the channel showing a
re-run episode of
Enterprise at 9 p.m. every Friday.
In Belgium and the Netherlands it is aired on the SciFi Channel
(Benelux).
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