Why Startrek is Dead (Opinion Thread)

[Hand of Evil]

Star Trek became a franchise, it no longer boldly went where everyone else has gone, the shows dumbed themselves down to appeal to the largest TV demograghic, it was no longer smart sci-fi but standard TV and standard TV over the years has fallen on hard times, PCism, and the bottomline.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

An argument can be made that Enterprise WAS that attempt. Couple the complete lack of respect for continuity, with the bad design (a 22nd century ship that looks more advanced then a 24th Century Akira Class? What?) One reason ENT was "always" lax on ratings was because it alienated the fans from the start by not respecting the franchise to begin with.

Sci-fi Channel, it appears, has always respected the franchises they have taken over. Stargate is one really big shining example of this.

That ship was too advance to be prior to Kirk's Enterprise. It should've been a simpler design ala Cochrane's warp drive rocket ship.

It wasn't meant to be "your daddy's Trek" from the get-go. Maybe that was its problem: being different than the "norm" for Trek and then trying to fit everything we'd seen in the previous post-TOS shows on this one: ridged Klingons, Ferengi...

 

[Ranger REG]

A Longtime Trek Fan Speaks...

Sighs. Why Star Trek is dead or dying (as some hopefuls would say)?

You need remember two names, is all: Rick Berman and Brannon Braga.

Until they resign from the franchise (even better, resign from Paramount), I'm gonna keep bashing on them, day after day after day.

I was ready to sign off Enterprise as Braga's second failure (his first being a replacement executive producer of Voyager). This season -- albeit too late -- Berman and Braga made what I believe the smartest move in the history of their employment with the franchise: they hired Manny Coto.

Manny Coto is the sole reason why fourth season is a lot easier to watch than the previous three, despite the fact that Berman and Braga can still override him and they're his boss. But he was brought in too late.

OBTW, don't spoil me on the series finale. Once I heard that it will be penned by Berman and Braga, I knew they just had to screw this series one final time, for old time's sake.

 

[Alzrius]

Not to mention it soured fans Right out of the gate with a bad themesong

I can't believe this part contributed to your A+. Russell Watson's rendition of "Faith of the Heart" is extremely well done (much better than Rod Stewart's take on it, certainly), and the montage of images displayed during the opening theme sync up rather well (if not perfectly) with the song.

I personally think that most Star Trek fans had just gotten much too used to the opening we'd seen over the last four incarnations (which was basically the same theme song and imagery rehashed...yes it was different for each, but the basic music and imagery were all of a piece) to be able to accept something so different, like lyrics, and images of things that weren't celestial phenomena and alien planets.

To me, the opening theme of Enterprise has been unfairly panned simply because it dared to go where no (Star Trek) opening had gone before.

...

The show itself sucked, of course.

 

[John Crichton]

I can't believe this part contributed to your A+. Russell Watson's rendition of "Faith of the Heart" is extremely well done (much better than Rod Stewart's take on it, certainly), and the montage of images displayed during the opening theme sync up rather well (if not perfectly) with the song.

I personally think that most Star Trek fans had just gotten much too used to the opening we'd seen over the last four incarnations (which was basically the same theme song and imagery rehashed...yes it was different for each, but the basic music and imagery were all of a piece) to be able to accept something so different, like lyrics, and images of things that weren't celestial phenomena and alien planets.

To me, the opening theme of Enterprise has been unfairly panned simply because it dared to go where no (Star Trek) opening had gone before.

I basically agree. I didn't love the opening but it does work with the theme of the show. Heck, Voyager had the classic Trek opening and that series really sucked.

...

The show itself sucked, of course.

Oh right.

Actually, there were some pretty good Trek eps from S1-3 but they weren't consistant and the TCW was handled badly. S4, however, has been an bitterly ironic sucess. To me, it begs the question of: had VOY come after ENT would it have mande 7 seasons. That answer, I have to assume, would be no. ENT death is a victim of timing and bad network decisions and standing.

 

[MacMathan]

I was one of the few in our house that appreciated the different type of opening for ENT. If the show had dared to be as refreshing it might have worked. I agree that Berman and Bragga need to be replaced ASAP.

As a sidenote- I can't believe I am hearing the new BSG referred to as "good" sci-fi. :Yarp: I couldn't even make it through more than half an episode at a time.

 

[John Crichton]

Allow me to retort. I do love me a good Trek conversation.

Many many people have opinions and reasons for why Startrek has declined.

10 years ago Startrek still pulled in high ratings, in fact it still does today. TNG and DS9 on Spike TV have drawn more viewers then episodes of Enterprise (at least during the marathon runs). Factoring in the fact that most of TNG was available on DVD and half of DS9 was as well, thats pretty impressive. (Or pathetic depending on how you see it).

I take it as neither. Both shows have a built-in, loyal fan base that can only increase with repeated viewings of its best offerings. Continued exposure via current media forms just makes sense. And Trek has always done well in syndication which is essentially what is continuing now with DVDs and chronologically correct syndication.

Here are my "reasons" for why Enterprises ratings are so low.

Inconsistent writing
Inconsistent production values
Fluxuating format
Time Slot
Network Aired on.

To be more specific, TNG and DS9 (and even VOY) had much more consistent quality in terms of the storyboards and direction of the series. The production values of their episodes were higher and there were fewer "shifts" in the direction of the series along their careers. TNG was always an episode to episode type series. DS9 had one major shift in direction, which worked (the Dominion War, the change is highlighed by the return of Worf) , and one minor change (season 7 with the departure of the actress who played Jadzia) which worked less, though the series was on its way out anyway. Voyager had a consistent theme the entire series, which was hard to keep up. There are only so many ways to tease them with ways home before it became stale. The shows primary problem was overuse of time travel, more so then any other Trek series before it. However it returned to the roots of Trek, exploration, and thus it held its ratings till Season 7. ENT however changed its focus and direction EVERY SEASON. Not to mention it soured fans Right out of the gate with a bad themesong, and basically spitting in the face of trek continuity.

Comments have already been made of the theme song so I'll just leave that alone. As to why Voyager stayed on the air, I'm really not convinced that it was because of the classic exploration theme. I believe it had more to do with a lack of similar programming on the air and the steam of Deep Space Nine. Recall that VOY aired concurrently with DS9 for 5 years. So those with a Trek jones could tune in and catch a little extra Trek that was in the vein of the original and TNG but with considerably worse execution, acting and writing. So between many Trek fans (unfairly) not liking DS9 to begin with it Voyager simply had to make it 2 more seasons on its own steam. Not a hard thing to do on a new network that had no other programming that pulled in ratings.

I will agree that the timeslot change did not help one bit. Few shows have survived the Friday night slot, most notably the X-Files but that one eventually got a better one. If it had started on Fridays that would have been one thing but moving there after being on mid-week gave it almost no chance on a network that didn't reach as many homes as syndication would let it. Being against another genre show on Wednesdays didn't help, either. I blame UPN soley for this just as I blamed Sci-Fi for their mishandling of Farscape's airing schedule.

As for the inconsistant writing, production values and format I can only say that these factors had little in the way of ENT's cancellation. The writing is subjective so I will not comment simply because I dissagree. Same for the production values which only showed a noticably decline in the 4th season, ironically. As for the format, I don't see your point. If you mean that because it changed to season-arc format in S3 or mini-arc format in S4 that contributed to it's cancellation you may be right, but only if supported by other examples of this. You can't really compare it to Trek because it has had done both formats (episodic and arc) sucessfully. Genre TV works that way.

In short - Trek's decline and ENT's eventual cancellation had more to do with DS9, VOY and UPN than the actual show.

So, Ent started by shooting itself in the foot, but what really killed it?

Enterprise aired on UPN. UPN a fairly new network (compared to NBC, ABC, CBS, and even FOX) had more trouble finding its niche then the WB. There were various attempts at Sci-fi shows over the years from Seven Days, Special Unit 2, and Jake 2.0, however none of these shows were really given time to shine. UPN slowly became a "network" BET. In many places here in NYC you can find HUGE billboards with an all black cast advertising "UPN, RATED NUMBER 1 AMONG AFRICAN-AMERICANS". Obviously UPN cared more about getting ratings (and revenue) from its "target" crowd then from an established entity like startrek. Because of this Startrek was often shafted and placed in bad time slots competing against shows which drew on the same ratings pool.

According to various sources (mine are my Broadcast Textbooks, all published within 2 years ago, and these facts should be easily verified on the net) 98% of homes in the US have TV's and 92-95% have Cable (or Satelite, or Digital TV or some sort of service which delivers more then what they can receive in their local broadcast area).

Today, Enterprise competes with Stargate and Battlestar Galactica....two extremly well done SCI FI series. Done better then Enterprise. Its no guess to see why Enterprise has crappy ratings.

We certainly agree that UPN didn't handle or more likely couldn't handle Trek correctly. They had the mediocre Voyager to start with and the average Enterprise to follow. Both would have been better served to air like TNG and DS9 - in syndication, on weekends with repeats on Sundays.

An bigger problem that I can see related to the network is the budget to make the show. Genre TV doesn't have to cost alot to make, however space sci-fi typically, especially Trek typically does. Other genre shows such as Buffy and X-Files didn't cost nearly as much to produce (at least for the majority of their runs). So if the audience was there in any force (say, a cult following) the show was a good shot to stay on the air. ENT had good ratings for the network but the budget (just like other genre casualties) was a dead weight around its neck.

Unfortunatly UPN (and their parent company Paramount, which i beleive is owned by Viacom) and Brennan/Braga dont care enough about the Trek Franchise, or its potential to give it the proper treatment.

"Whats the proper treatment?"

The 4th season of ENT was finally getting on Track in terms of Production Values and Writing, though ratings werent rising due to competition. ENT, or any startrek show, needs to be coupled with another sci-fi series, on a friendly network, at a timeslot that does not compete for the same ratings pool.

For example, if Enterprise were coupled with The SG1/Atlantis/Galactica block on Sci-fi its ratings would surge. What geek could resist a 4 hour block of Sci-fi at its best?

Sounds about right. ENT was/is not a strong enough show to stand on its own without help from similar programming. I feel this was changing in S4 but that isn't relevant to the past.

As for other genre shows being better so folks became hip to the "inferior" ENT, I don't really buy that. There were considerably better genre shows on the air than VOY but that managed to stick around. Look at other genres and you'll see tons of varied degrees of quality. While shows may be compared to its peers there is hardly enough sci-fi space TV out there to justify your statement. BSG and SG did not contribute in a major way to ENT's cancellation in any way related to quality. The only comparision that could be made was the competion for a time slot in one season which hardly means a thing considering that the show was on the ratings decline since the start.

Alternativly, moving to Spike TV and coupling with re-runs of another trek series, or a new/fresh sci-fi show would do wonders too.

Well sure, but SpikeTV couldn't afford the show's production costs either and simply wasn't willing to take a chance on it.

 

[John Crichton]

Sighs. Why Star Trek is dead or dying (as some hopefuls would say)?

You need remember two names, is all: Rick Berman and Brannon Braga.

Until they resign from the franchise (even better, resign from Paramount), I'm gonna keep bashing on them, day after day after day.

I don't hate these two guys. Especially since Braga was responsible for some of the best Trek ever in the TNG days. But they have stuck around too long. That is the problem. They are spent and both need to move on. This should have happened 5 years ago. I blame Paramount.

I was ready to sign off Enterprise as Braga's second failure (his first being a replacement executive producer of Voyager). This season -- albeit too late -- Berman and Braga made what I believe the smartest move in the history of their employment with the franchise: they hired Manny Coto.

Manny Coto is the sole reason why fourth season is a lot easier to watch than the previous three, despite the fact that Berman and Braga can still override him and they're his boss. But he was brought in too late.

Couldn't agree more. Coto gets it and has done a great job cleaning up the place.

OBTW, don't spoil me on the series finale. Once I heard that it will be penned by Berman and Braga, I knew they just had to screw this series one final time, for old time's sake.

Heheh. I haven't read any spoilers either and would appreciate the same. The previews are interesting but I really don't want to see those either.

 

[Alzrius]

Actually, there were some pretty good Trek eps from S1-3 but they weren't consistant and the TCW was handled badly. S4, however, has been an bitterly ironic sucess. To me, it begs the question of: had VOY come after ENT would it have mande 7 seasons. That answer, I have to assume, would be no. ENT death is a victim of timing and bad network decisions and standing.

Truth to tell, I agree completely. I liked Enterprise quite a bit. I only said what I said above just because it was humorous, not because I actually thought the show sucked. If there were any justice, another network would pick it up and let Manny Coto do the writing for a few more seasons.

It's ironic that this seems to be going the way of the original series (without being resurrected by the fan campaign).

 

[Chimera]

I'm not going to go into too many issues, because I think we know them well.

Instead I'm going to touch on the repetition of storylines, plots, scripts. The bottom line for me is that they've built a formula that they keep going back to FAR TOO OFTEN for the stories to be fresh.

Such dead-horse-beat-to dustflakes as;

1. The old Shuttle Accident story. Most often two people, usually ones with some tension between them so that you've got that "human drama".
2. Time Travel. This alone killed Enterprise.
3. We've got to stop "the weapon" (torpedo, remote controlled ship, whatever).
4. Kidnapped crew member in peril!

Those are just four I can think of off the top of my head. I know there are others that are escaping me right now.

They need fresh stories and they need to start by eliminating any and all of these stories that have been done a half-dozen times on EACH of the various Trek series.