Enterprise Cancelled

kingfish · February 2nd, 2005, 12:37 PM

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/i...ory=0&id=30302

UPN Cancels Enterprise

UPN and Paramount Network Television jointly announced Feb. 2 that its low-rated Star Trek: Enterprise has been canceled after five seasons. "This will be the final season of Star Trek: Enterprise on UPN," the companies said. The series finale will air on May 13. When Star Trek: Enterprise ends its run, it will mark the first time since 1987 that no new Trek series will appear on the air.

Enterprise becomes the first Trek series to end prematurely since the original Star Trek aired on NBC in the 1960s. All previous Trek spinoff series, including The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, have completed seven-season runs.

This year, new executive producer Manny Coto re-energized Enterprise's storylines with episodes that hearkened back to the original series. Last year, the series attempted an ambitious season-long story arc centering on the hunt for the Xindi.

UPN said that the prequel series will have produced a total of 98 episodes. The early cancellation announcement presumably allows producers to write and produce a series finale.

Archangel · February 2nd, 2005, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kingfish

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/i...ory=0&id=30302

UPN Cancels Enterprise

UPN and Paramount Network Television jointly announced Feb. 2 that its low-rated Star Trek: Enterprise has been canceled after five seasons. "This will be the final season of Star Trek: Enterprise on UPN," the companies said. The series finale will air on May 13. When Star Trek: Enterprise ends its run, it will mark the first time since 1987 that no new Trek series will appear on the air.

Enterprise becomes the first Trek series to end prematurely since the original Star Trek aired on NBC in the 1960s. All previous Trek spinoff series, including The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, have completed seven-season runs.

This year, new executive producer Manny Coto re-energized Enterprise's storylines with episodes that hearkened back to the original series. Last year, the series attempted an ambitious season-long story arc centering on the hunt for the Xindi.

UPN said that the prequel series will have produced a total of 98 episodes. The early cancellation announcement presumably allows producers to write and produce a series finale.

After "five" seasons???

The show is only at the end of it's fourth, and from what I've read recently, the decision to cancel won't be made until May.

Gemini1999 · February 2nd, 2005, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Archangel

After "five" seasons???

The show is only at the end of it's fourth, and from what I've read recently, the decision to cancel won't be made until May.

Archangel -

I noticed the boo-boo as well.... It's only been four seasons!

The press can't get anything right....

Bryan

Archangel · February 2nd, 2005, 12:46 PM

But it is official. Startrek.com just posted it within the last hour.

Rowan · February 2nd, 2005, 01:04 PM

I really loved the 3rd season it was amazing finally something truly imaginative and different I absolutely loved the whole Xindi thing! But this season has just bored me to tears! it's the same old trek stuff I could write the story lines blindfolded! So I've been bummed over Enterprise since the beginning of this season and if they were going to continue along this vein some more I wouldn't miss it at all!

February 2nd, 2005, 01:10 PM

I quit watching Enterprise after the first season but started watching again late last season. It seems like this season they finally got their act together and were making good episodes but too many fans had already given up. Four years is a pretty good run for most shows. In the case of Enterprise it's sad because with good writing they could have done so much more with the time it had. It was billed as a prequel but it only has about 1 seasons worth of episodes that really explain what the fans were looking for.

I hope we see the Romulan War to close out the series. Sadly I think there are more people out there that would rather see why the TOS Klingons don't have bumpy heads (they can't accept the obvious special effects answer).

Too little, too late.

Archangel · February 2nd, 2005, 01:11 PM

I too liked the Xindi arc, and the 4th season was even better. This is about a guy (Moonves) who has no interest in science fiction, a network (UPN) which is, at best, low-rent and a ratings system that is outdated.

As for Enterprise
Season 1 was so-so
Season 2 was bad, no matter how you look at it.
Season 3 was better, but still had a ways to go
Season 4 (from what I've seen so far)was an indication that Star Trek was back on the right track.

Darth Marley · February 2nd, 2005, 01:11 PM

Guess I better head over to Subspace and get in the fight.

nextceo · February 2nd, 2005, 07:54 PM

I'll miss Enterprise, but having Satellite and not having a local UPN station haven't been able to watch it much the past couple seasons. I've seen some eps this season, but it wasn't enough to get me excited to "acquire" additional eps. It was getting better, but I guess in the end not worth my trouble. My big question is what is with Berman? No huge knock but it seems like Trek has gotten so formulaic and gone down hill the past few years, particularly with the lackluster performance of the last two or three movies? Why doesn't Paramount replace him as the Producer of the franchise and go in a new direction? Doesn't Paramount own the franchise anyway? Just my thoughts.... I feel for our Trek bretheren but maybe the franchise needs a little break...

What we need is to see more B5..... (along with BSG of course!)

Sci-Fi · February 2nd, 2005, 08:39 PM

Personally, I have mixed feelings. While this season under Manny Coto, IMHO, is light years ahead of the previous seasons and back on track to answering and exploring what the Trek fans have always wondered about, it could not erase the 1st 3 seasons. Now while there are Xindi arc fans, that story arc should not have taken the whole season and more of the Xindi back-story could have been shown early and more often. The temporal cold war, time disruption, future visitors/events, etc etc, while ok for an episode every *other* season or a movie, is not something that can be sustained on a weekly basis. If you notice, Manny Coto ended that arc as soon as he came aboard, although it may have been too late.

The cast, while pleasant, was too much alike in demeanor and style. There wasn't the conflict or contrast between them that could have lead to more humorous exchanges and the viewers identifying and bonding to each of the major characters. During the 1st few seasons, sometimes fans wondered if they were watching a continuation of Quantum Leap. T'Pol and Archer was what the shippers wanted to see and there were plenty of episodes hinting about that relationship. Instead we got Trip and T'Pol and that went nowhere fast. Many fans complained that it seemed TNG and Voyager scripts were reused too often and didn't fit or feel right in execution or adaptation.

Some fans have speculated that Bakula was miscast and noted that many ST captains in the past started out or became strong in their own and unique ways, but Archer never did. Many of the main characters were sorely underdeveloped or even written out of episodes for a long period of time. Others feel that the tried-and-true ST formula needed to be changed to go with the times. Even recent interviews with the actors indicated that Enterprise should have went darker and more character driven to attract new and future fans. Personally, I felt that Enterprise had the opportunity to gallop through the cosmos and have a fun time discovering "What's out There" and bring the wonderment and excitement of space exploration back to the public eye. This was afterall, the beginning of interstellar exploration for Earth.

What went wrong is hard to say. Ratings go up and down depending on the strength of indididual episodes or story arcs. The move to Friday and the cutting of the budget, plus the lack of promotion didn't help matters nor was the offer to halve the budget IF UPN decided to renew the series for a 5th season have any affect in the renewal process. Enterprise started out with a ~7.0 debut rating but steadily declined, some say rapidly, over the course of it's run. This season, Enterprise ratings seem to go down every week, even though the stories were interesting. Believe the last episode, Babel One, only got a 1.0 rating, and it was an excellent opening episode of the planned 3 episode arc and up from the previous episode, Observer Effect with a 0.7 rating . Voyager, which some Trek fans dislike royally, had these numbers:Voyager Ratings
TNG ratings
DS9 and more Voyager Ratings

I can probably count myself as one of the few million that actually have seen every episode of Enterprise. With the cancellation of Enterprise, that leaves only BSG as the only "in space and spaceships" show left on the air.

Don't know if anybody even wants to read about the fight among fans over the survival of Enterprise over the course of the past few months, and it's ugly, the saveenterprise vs killenterprise factions and each side make valid points that cannot be easily explained away or ignored: (Warning: language may not be appropiate. View or read at your own risk.)
http://saveenterprise.com/
http://www.killenterprise.org/forum/list.php?f=1

Senmut · February 2nd, 2005, 11:58 PM

I'm sure some fan write-in campaign or other will start up to save it.

BRG · February 3rd, 2005, 06:16 AM

Like most Trek fans, I'm saddened but not suprised.

We have only had two seasons on British terrestrial TV, but I honestly don't think Enterprise is all that bad. TNG, DS9 and Voyager never really took off until season 3-4, so I would like Enterprise to be given the same chance. And given the total crap that is on TV 99% of the time (endless soaps, reality TV nonsence, talent contests like X Factor & American Idol, and god knows how many hours of DIY/gardening makover show) I do not think I'm asking for too much that we sci fi fans have 1 hour of Enterprise a week!

I agree with Nextceo, the Sta Trek franchise does need a break. I felt they should have waited a few years for a new show after Voyager ended as Star Trek Fatigue had set into most viewers. If it was my call, I would wait 10-15 years until a new TV series. And if there are to be any films, I would make them with a wholly original cast. Forget a spin off from one of the TV shows, a new crew with an A list star as captain!(And I would wait 5 years.

)

Well, at least I have 2 whole seasons to watch yet. Although Channel 4 are hopeless! It has been a year and a half since they finished season 2, and season 3 has been pushed back again, from January until the middle of March!

They also pull this old chestnut with my other favorite shows- Smallville & The West Wing. So God knows when I'll finally see the end of season 4!

BRG

PS- The BBC are bringing back Doctor Who this year. The new Battlestar Galactica has been given a 28/3/05 release date for the season 1 DVD(region 2) And Star Wars Episode 3 is out this summer. So it's not all doom & gloom on the sci fi front!

February 3rd, 2005, 03:12 PM

Fragmentary · February 3rd, 2005, 03:30 PM

Mike, I don't know if that'll last considering the language in it... but I laughed HARD! Thanks for posting it, dude. You made my day.

Fragmentary · February 3rd, 2005, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Archangel

I too liked the Xindi arc, and the 4th season was even better. This is about a guy (Moonves) who has no interest in science fiction, a network (UPN) which is, at best, low-rent and a ratings system that is outdated.

Ugh...
I know its amazingly popular among sci-fi fans to constantly trash the powers that be for everything. I join in that on occasion as well, but this time I think you're off.
For all intents and purposes, Enterprise should have been canceled after its third season. The ratings were bad and only getting worse. Paramount gave it another season. They did just what everyone always wants the suits to do. Yeah, they cut the budget and changed nights, but they're a business and have to answer to the stock holders. What should be remembered though, is that they did try. They gave Enterprise another year, even brought in some new blood to run it. For once, couldn't we acknowledge that they did try? How bad is "bad enough" for fans to not be bitter about a network doing what they have to do?

ernie90125 · February 3rd, 2005, 04:19 PM

I've been a fan of Star Trek for as long as I can remember, along with Star Wars and of course my favouite TV show Battlestar Galactica (The Original Series)

When I heard that they would be making a new Star Trek series, I was pleased and interested.

I read about and supported the strong movement in the fanbase for Star Trek : Excelsior.... They even had a support meeting with George Takei in he Paramount car park !!!!

Then I read the premise of the new show...and thought....oh OK...doesn't sound that great.

I watched it and gave it chance - and I thought it was poor. They have brought new writers on board, but for the most part I saw them as just trying to create 'ratings spikes' They were doing so by bringing in 'star' cast members of other shows - but Enterprise should have been making its own stars (not relying on another show's stars)

I hope, but fear it may be too late, to create Star Trek : Excelsior which is what the fans actually wanted....

kingfish · February 3rd, 2005, 05:25 PM

Is It Finished ????

repost from thedigitalbits.com:

As some of you can probably guess, the thing that's gotten me all worked up this morning is that UPN officially announced the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise yesterday (click here, here and here). 10 more new episodes will air on the network with the series finale tentatively set for broadcast on 5/13 (right, of course, in the middle of the media furor over the release of the final Star Wars movie to theaters on 5/19 - which do you think will get more coverage?). I heard the news early yesterday and received hundreds of e-mails from angry Bits readers (who also happen to be fans of the show) overnight.

Look... I know not everyone is a Star Trek fan, and there were plenty of people who didn't warm to Enterprise. But come on! Look at the crap on TV these days. The same old doctor, lawyer and cop shows, crappy sitcoms and the most offensive batch of reality programming in years. The Biggest Loser?! Jesus. Mark my words, the cancelation of Enterprise bodes poorly for other TV science fiction. Sci-Fi costs more than regular programming by its very nature, and with its audience becoming ever more fractured (bickering over which is better - Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek or Stargate), do you really think broadcast and cable networks are going to continue to foot the bill with small and declining ratings?

The real shame of it is that the show, creatively, has never been better. Don't believe me? Bite the bullet and watch the rest of the season. If you tune in for the last 10 episodes, I think you'll be disappointed that there aren't any more coming. Star Trek, as a franchise, probably DOES need to take a good 10-year break. But there's just no reason Enterprise shouldn't finish out its full TV run. No reason that is, other than that UPN doesn't know what the hell to do with it. They've never promoted the show, which doesn't seem to fit with their goal of going after young urban or young female audiences... or whoever the hell they're trying to program for these days (I don't think the network even really knows).

As you can imagine, fans of Enterprise aren't taking this lying down. MSNBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6902611/

is running a poll about the cancellation that's overwhelmingly in favor of the show continuing. SaveEnterprise.com

http://www.saveenterprise.com/

and The Enterprise Project

http://www.enterpriseproject.org/

are organizing letter writing and boycott campaigns. There's talk of fan-sponsored advertisements in magazines and newspapers, and a rally outside the Paramount lot. Plus, there's always the DVD release of the show's first season on 5/3. We have Bits readers among the show's production staff, and we've learned that the DVDs may even include cast and crew audio commentaries in addition to deleted scenes and outtakes - pretty much everything we've been asking for from the studio for the discs.

Anyway, if you're a fan of TV Sci-Fi, we encourage you to go to the above websites and participate in some way. Who knows? Maybe the show can still be saved for another year. If not, we can at least send a strong message to the powers that be. Bastards.

Excalibur · February 4th, 2005, 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rowan

I really loved the 3rd season it was amazing finally something truly imaginative and different I absolutely loved the whole Xindi thing! But this season has just bored me to tears! it's the same old trek stuff I could write the story lines blindfolded! So I've been bummed over Enterprise since the beginning of this season and if they were going to continue along this vein some more I wouldn't miss it at all!

I'm, the exact opposite.

While I love Enterprise, and never miss an episode. The third season just wasn't up to standard. It was driving me crazy towards the end. I was so happy to see them getting back to what the show was all about this season. In the fourth season, they are finally getting to the good stuff.

I'm not surprised they gave it the ax.

They moved it to the night, that network shows go to die. But! I hate to see it go.

UPN is throwing away the only show I watch on that network. When it's gone, so am I.

Senmut · February 4th, 2005, 10:54 PM

What does one expect from a bunch of bean-counting suits? They wouldn't know good SciFi if it settled on their head and felcercarbed all over them.

repcisg · February 4th, 2005, 11:39 PM

Suits, like to watch "Friends" and "Mork and Mindy". They think the Simpsons is high quality entertainment.

Need I say more?

Ian_W359 · February 5th, 2005, 01:08 PM

Enterprise is one Star Trek show I'm just way behind on. Like BRG, I'm yet to see the bulk of Season 3 and any of Season 4. From the rumours I've heard, Season 3 should be on terrestrial TV (Channel 4) in the next couple of months.

Well.... terrestrial TV..... If you count the ultra-lame teen slot 'T4' that was running/ruining Enterprise up til now as TV. (Still, it will give them more room for their beloved 'coming of age' dramas

)

Anyhoo, I digress.... Despite some characters I could best describe as bland. I think that the show was beginning to hit it's stride, and I'm especially looking forward to the Xindi arc, and the pre-Federation events of season 4.

But I guess that's gonna be it, isn't it?

So very dissapointed.....
Ian W359