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UPN's Final Frontier Finale Sweepstakes

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STARTREK.COM

 

06.24.2005

Captain's Uniform Winner Reports – A Letter to the Editor

 

 

The winner of UPN's Final Frontier Finale Sweepstakes, Rich French, sent us his thoughts on winning the captain's uniform, Enterprise and his love of Star Trek. We thought this would be a perfect opportunity to start our new "Letters to the Editor" feature.

 

Dear STARTREK.COM,

 

I was elated to win the Captain's flight suit worn by Scott Bakula during the filming of Enterprise. I was in the middle of a class and my wife kept buzzing my cell phone. I excused myself for what I thought was an emergency at home and called back. When I found out I won, I was floating on air and could not concentrate on the class. At lunch I called Ken at LA Promo who was handling the contest and he filled me in on all the details. I was stunned and barely remembered entering the contest. I only entered once and it was late at night. I had heard Enterprise was being cancelled and could not believe it and did an internet search. When I brought up UPN, they had the vote-for-your-favorite-episode contest and I thought I would vote for my favorite. I wanted to see my favorite "E2" but it had not made the top ten, so I voted for the Trip/Clone episode. It was only after voting that a pop up came on and said I could enter that I even thought of putting my name in. I thought maybe at best I would win one of the DVD sets. I had been overseas with the Air Force and had missed part of the first year and was really looking forward to that release. I still can't believe I won!

The prize itself is GREAT! We are building a new house and the suit will be built into a display case in my den. I have not firmed up the case as of yet, (suggestions are welcome), but it will be prominently displayed in a built-into-the-wall permanent fixture in my new den. I am in the final days of my Air Force career and have flown thousands of hours in flight suits of my own, (albeit green and drab). I could not have picked a better Grand Prize than this one because it ties my military career in with my love of Star Trek and SCI-FI. I work aircraft in an exciting test and development arena at Edwards Air Force Base and our motto is AD EXPORATA (into the unknown). The prize and for that matter, the show Enterprise itself just could not fit in better. The show depicts development of the ship and engines it really parallels what we do here at Edwards.

 

I remember when original Star Trek was on the first time. I was probably 7 or 8 years old, but my Mom loved it. We lived in a small town and everyone was trying to make their fingers into the Vulcan symbol like Spock did. I can't remember his name, but our gas man always waved to me with the Vulcan sign, even years later whenever I see a gas truck in a rural town, I remember that. I watched the show growing up in reruns and know them all by heart. When the movies came out, I was there at the drive in opening night.

 

I think when Star Trek: The Next Generation started all of us were well rewarded for our wait with a great show. TNG had a strong but different captain, and we were off to new heights. Deep Space Nine and Voyager were icing on the cake. I am a huge fan of Enterprise. It simply was my favorite Star Trek series. When I first heard of Enterprise, I just wondered how they were going to make that work. Let's face facts, the original series was cutting edge in its time, but with all the advancements we have had with computers and liquid displays, it would be very difficult to go back before that timeline wise, and make it work. Somehow some very brilliant minds made it all come together and made it flow smoothly into the original series. Very well done on a very tough job. "In a Mirror, Darkly," shows how well the two series were merged together technically. It was a seamless transition, from what we see as high tech on Enterprise to the older original "high tech" and it all looked normal and good. I believe that time will show Enterprise to be the best series yet.

 

The casting was also superb, I don't know who picked Scott Bakula as the captain, but he fit the role perfectly. I could not imagine anyone but William Shatner as Captain Kirk, and you could not find another Captain Archer anywhere either. I was a big fan of Quantum Leap and when I heard Scott Bakula was cast into Enterprise I was enthralled. Casting Jolene Blalock as T'Pol was equally superb, she combined all the elements we had come to expect from Vulcans with an allure that captivated. I had also never heard of Connor Trinneer, but he was awesome as Trip and I was very disappointed when his character died in the finale. None of the other series kept their original casts, it was a great job by all.

 

I don't know why Enterprise did not have the following of as many Trek fans as TNG. I do think it was a better show and harder to do. If you compare "Broken Bow" with "Encounter at Farpoint," you would think Enterprise was the senior and more polished show. I think with TNG we were all very hungry for more Star Trek and when Enterprise came into being, people were a little jaded and more critical. Now that Enterprise is gone, we might not have any new Star Trek for a long time and that is a shame. I am sad that it is over, it's like a good friend that I spent one night a week with has left and I will only have memories. Thankfully we will see it on DVD and syndication.

 

I guess my last parting comments would be that I can't understand why the series was cancelled and I am very disappointed that it was. I thought the show was one of UPN's top shows and I wish they would explain the why a little more.

 

All in all, this has been a great experience. I have a part of Star Trek history in my home and I will be a fan for life. I hope that Star Trek is resurrected as soon as possible and it will "Live long and prosper."

 

Thank you,

V/R

Rich French

 

Rich,

Thank you for your letter Rich, and congratulations on your prize. It's great to see that this uniform went to someone so appreciative. This is a wonderful letter, exactly what we would like to publish more of! Remember, Letters to the Editor can cover a variety of topics, from your love of Trek to your criticisms, or simply questions about the show.

–Ed.

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The prize winner seem to be truly deserving. I think it is interesting that Star Trek inspired him to seek a career in aviation. Star Trek inspired many to go into careers connected with science, exploration, and the future.

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