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welfconfed

The demise of enterprise...

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Like many trek fans I find myself saddened by the recent news that Enterprise was canceled, but what really bothers me is some of the reactions.

 

Tonight as I write this a large portion of trekdom is CELEBRATING the demise of Enterprise, even as their fellow trekkies are hurt and dismayed by the news.

 

How did it come to this? How did we become so divided?

I'm not questioning the motives of either side. I believe that, not only the Enterprise supporters, but also the 'bashers', believe they are doing whats best for Trek.

 

...but here are some cold hard facts...

 

regardless of the quality of Enterprise, we now have no series, no movies, and only a few re-runs shown on spike t.v.

So what, you say, the 'franchise' needs a rest.

 

The reason Trek became so popular in the 80's and 90's was because, thanks to syndication, non-trekkies were exposed to Trek.

 

With only the relatively small group of die-hard fans willing to pay around a $100 each for the season sets and very little opportunity to hook causal viewers on the re-runs, Trek is in real danger of fading away for quite a number of years, if not forever.

 

And to those that thought Enterprise was crap because of meddling by paramount, wait till they try to 'fix' a franchise they see as 'broken', you aint seen nothing yet.

 

Even for non-enterprise trekkies, there is plenty to be concerned about tonight.

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Tonight as I write this a large portion of trekdom is CELEBRATING the demise of Enterprise, even as their fellow trekkies are hurt and dismayed by the news.

 

Well, it's done now, so of course for the "anti-ENT" faction it's a tremendous day. There is hope for our franchise after all. The weak link has been cut.

 

How did it come to this? How did we become so divided?

 

When Brannon Braga opened his mouth and said "Hey Rick, wouldn't it be cool if.....?"

 

I'm not questioning the motives of either side. I believe that, not only the Enterprise supporters, but also the 'bashers', believe they are doing whats best for Trek.

 

I prefer the term "Pro-Trek" or "Anti-ENT" rather than "bashers".

 

Even though it's been well and truly "bashed".

 

regardless of the quality of Enterprise, we now have no series, no movies, and only a few re-runs shown on spike t.v.

 

Worry not. Having no Trek for a while is better than having a weak show on air.

 

So what, you say, the 'franchise' needs a rest.

 

For at least five years, longer perhaps if new ideas can't be created by then.

 

The reason Trek became so popular in the 80's and 90's was because, thanks to syndication, non-trekkies were exposed to Trek.

 

It also became so popular because of the legacy of the Original Series and the high quality of TNG and DS9. Something that was missing from ENT.

 

And to those that thought Enterprise was crap because of meddling by paramount, wait till they try to 'fix' a franchise they see as 'broken', you aint seen nothing yet.

 

No, Trek is strong. It can be fixed. It just needs some creative ideas and new leadership.

 

Even for non-enterprise trekkies, there is plenty to be concerned about tonight.

 

Perhaps, but the biggest concern no longer is a factor.

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With only the relatively small group of die-hard fans willing to pay around a $100 each for the season sets and very little opportunity to hook causal viewers on the re-runs, Trek is in real danger of fading away for quite a number of years, if not forever.

 

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For a number of years, yes, possibly. Forever? I sincerely doubt it. If anything should have killed Star Trek, it was the cancellation of TOS. Look what happened there.

 

I am not, nor have I ever been, a 'basher'. I am a sincere Trek fan who spent years devotedly watching the show and buying the books. I have never publicly said a derogatory word even about Enterprise before tonight, and all I'm saying now is that I don't think it was of sufficient quality and that the Trek franchise would be better off with a rest. Hardly heresy.

 

As far as fans being divided - having different opinions does not mean that one opinion is less becoming to a Trek fan than another is. In the Star Wars fandom, in which I am more active these days and with which I'm sure many of you are quite familiar, there are fans who hate the Prequel Trilogy. There are others who love it more than the Original Trilogy. There are those who read the books religiously and those who consider the books heretical at best. There are some fans who write fanfic or make fan movies, others who care only about watching the movies or collecting. Despite those differences, they're all SW fans. There's nothing wrong with having a different opinion regarding the Trek franchise in any aspect.

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As I have seen, in my many years of syndicated TV, many things can last forever. We may all miss the latest and not so greatest attempt at entertaining our S.T. craving, but isn't there some hope that there will be a bigger and better show that will help us remember and forget the all the things that entertained us?

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I'm also sorry to see Enterprise go. I was looking forward to seeing the Romulan Wars and the formation of the Federation. Looks like the fan fiction and fan films people and sites are going to have their chance now...

Edited by captain_mcknight

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I'm not worried about the Trek franchise now that they have canceled Enterprise ... perhaps with this Enterprise debacle some heads (B&B???)will finally roll at Paramount.

 

And $100 for a whole season of Trek sans commercials is not that big of a deal ... so every couple of months you save your loose change and don't eat out so much and, voila, you have enough cash to purchase a new DVD season set.

 

Heck, we only paid like $60 each for the first three seasons of TNG because we shopped around a little and bought them off of eBay. The others varied in price, but you can find good deals on these things (and no, they are not Asian imports but the real McCoy).

 

If we're lucky, Peter Jackson (my new god of filmmakers) is a huge Trekkie and will take on the project of the next movie or the next series. Hey, I can dream can't I?

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I'm really sorry for those that will miss ENT, actually, I'll miss it a bit too. But I don't think having it on was necessarily helping the franchise.

 

People weren't watching it. And the really sad thing is - I don't think they understand why. It's not that the franchise needs a rest. Example: Stargate SG-1 is going into production for a 9th season. People don't get tired of a show they like. So all this talk about it needing a rest is a cover for "we dont' know what we did wrong"

 

So it doesn't matter if it rests three or more years - if they don't figure out why people weren't watching they'll just bring it back with the same problems.

 

I talked to a lot of people who had been fans of Scifi in general or TOS or TNG who had no idea there was even a current Trek show on TV. So there was an access and promotion problem.

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I've been wondering if part of the ratings trouble was due to the loooong Xindi story. As much as I love Enterprise, I got kinda tired of seeing soooo much about the Xindi. :look: Perhaps if they had spent less time on the Xindi, and more time on "the joy of discovery and excitement of first contact", Enterprise might have had better ratings. :laugh:

 

I'm anxious to see what they'll do next. :) It may not happen right away, but I'm sure that Trek will be back.

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So there was an access and promotion problem.

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Indeed there was. It's known as UPN.

 

Cancellation at this point really doesn't make sense in light of the impending DVD release and syndication in 49 of the top 50 U.S. markets. This covers roughly 90% of the U.S. This could very well be a break through for the series. People may start seeing reruns and then want to see new episodes. They should at least give the show a season 5 (maybe just 13 shows) just to see if this translates to increased viewership. It's a long shot, I know but its a long shot worth taking.

 

I've also e-mailed the station that carries Enterprise here in Southern Ontario (City TV) asking what the ratings were like for the series. I got an auto reply and if I get a definite answer I'll pass it along.

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