NEWS

[Sonic74205]

It seems a new direction isn�t the only change in
store for "Star Trek: Enterprise." Accompanying the
slight change in storytelling, the UPN series also
will be receiving a new writer, one who is no stranger
to the genre, or to new showrunner Manny Coto.

As of Season 4, Alan Brennert will be part of the
writing team for the show. Brennert previously worked
with Coto on the cancelled Showtime series "Odyssey
5," which was created by Coto. His other genre
television work includes "The Twilight Zone" and "The
Outer Limits."

On other fronts however, Brennert also is responsible
for graphics novels based on some of the best
comic-book heros, including Batman, Daredevil and
Wonder Woman.

One of Brennert�s written pieces, "Ma Qui," won the
1991 Nebula Award for Best Short Story, and Brennert
himself has won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama
Series for his work on "L.A. Law."

Season 4 of "Star Trek: Enterprise" begins in the fall
on UPN

[Sonic74205]

There has been a lot of discussion about the possible
introduction of actor William Shatner into UPN's "Star
Trek: Enterprise." Many fans see it as a sure way to
revive the show, whilst others see it as the final
nail in the coffin. But it seems one Trek actor will
be making not just one appearance in the prequel
series ... he'll be making three.

Brent Spiner, known for his performance as Lt. Cmdr.
Data in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and its
followup movies, will guest starg in a three-episode
arc on the upcoming fourth season.

The announcement apparently was made at Sci-Fi Expo in
Dallas by Spiner's Trek co-star, Marina Sirtis (Deanna
Troi). Spiner will not be playing the loveable android
in search of a heart, but instead the creator's
grandfather. So in essence, Data's great-grandfather.

The episode is likely to air during the November
sweeps and should begin filming at some point next
month.

The "Enterprise" premiere, Storm Front, begins
production next week.

In other news, TrekWeb is reporting from the recent
issue of Star Trek Communicator that executive
producer Rick Berman has denied reports that his
"Enterprise" co-creator is going to be stepping back.

"I think to say he 'might be stepping back' would not
really be true," Berman said. "Brannon isn't going
anywhere."

Please note that Spiner's appearance on "Enterprise"
has not been confirmed by Paramount, and should be
treated as any other rumor would.

[Sonic74205]

The following report contains minor spoilers of the
Season 4 premiere of 'Star Trek: Enterprise'

For the first two seasons, "Star Trek: Enterprise"
followed a very subtle story arc, which captivated its
audience in a way similar to what "Star Trek: Deep
Space Nine" did. This time, however, "Enterprise" has
used the temporal cold war.

In an attempt to boost its less than spectacular
ratings, the cold war story was forced to take a
backseat on "Enterprise" for its third season. But now
as the show moves off into its fourth -- and
potentially final -- season, the temporal cold war is
back, and stronger than before.

According to sources from TrekToday, the Season 4
premiere ("Storm Front") begins where the finale
("Zero Hour") left off with Capt. Archer (Scott
Bakula) being held by the Germans. It turns out,
Archer wasn�t in Nazi Germany, or the front lines � he
was in New York City, which is now under control of
the Nazi regime. The mysterious alien seen at the tail
end of season three, known as Vosk, is actually
assisting the Germans with futuristic weapons
technology in order to win World War II.

But on the ship however, a dying time-travelling
Daniels (Matt Winston) has to enlist the help of T�Pol
(Jolene Blalock) by telling him to stop Silik (John
Fleck), who is heading toward Earth in a stolen
shuttle pod.

Please note that these details have not yet been
confirmed by Paramount Pictures or UPN and until such
time you should treat this information as you would
any other rumor.

[Sonic74205]

Star Trek: Enterprise executive producer Rick Berman
today said last season's cliffhanger will be resolved
within the first few episodes of season four.

"We've already mapped out the first six or seven
episodes, in a general sense," Berman said in issue
116 of Star Trek Magazine. "We've got a story beat out
for the first episode. The Xindi arc will be resolved
within the first three episodes.

"And when I say the Xindi arc I mean the predicament
of where our characters now find themselves," he said,
referring to last season's cliffhanger episode, "Zero
Hour", in which Archer wakes up in the custody of an
unknown alien wearing a Nazi uniform.

Instead of a storyline that unfolds over the course of
an entire year, season four will be comprised of a
series of "very high-concept mini-arcs", Berman said.
"Just as when we did Star Trek: First Contact, we
couldn't do a movie about Picard and company saving
the future from being destroyed, we can't do another
season-long on Enterprise that involves Archer and
company trying to save humanity. On the other hand, we
don't feel that we want to go back to the season one
and season two concept of 'we're out there exploring
space,' period."

Former Odyssey 5 writer Manny Coto, who joined the
Enterprise staff as co-executive producer last season,
will take a more active role in the creative direction
of the series. Coto has been working with Berman and
executive producer Brannon Braga to map out these
arcs, which "will run two, three, maybe four
episodes".

"We've got a couple of them that I think are going to
have some big surprises and things that will hearken
back to perhaps The Original Series. We'll bring in
some actors, and possibly some characters, that are
very familiar to our audience

[Founder]

[Sonic74205]

I think they killed him off so they could stop the TNG films.

[hdn]

Brent Spiner rocks...

[DeltasVoyager]

hopefully he will bring something fresh to the table

[Sonic74205]

Berman, a new Leap ovember 04, 2004 -

A Shift in Power for Trek?

With Paramount head Sherry Lansing preparing to leave the studio,
rumors have begun to fly regarding how long Rick Berman, the studio's
man behind the Trek franchise since Star Trek: The Next Generation,
will remain in charge of the studio's most lucrative property. With
the failure of the Berman-controlled Star Trek: Nemesis and the
disastrous ratings for Enterprise, many at the studio have thought
for some time that Berman's time was up. Lansing had always been
Berman's strongest supporter at the studio and with her gone, this
may be the right time for Berman to move on as well.

A lot of money rests on Paramount's decisions regarding Star Trek.
The franchise has long been the major money-maker for the studio and
has bailed it out of several fiscally challenging years. Berman has
been discussing a Trek prequel film that would ignore his own
television creation, Enterprise and an air of desperation seems to
have set in where the marketing of the franchise is concerned.
Manny Coto, current show runner for Enterprise, has been mentioned as
someone who might be on Paramount's list to take over, as has Babylon
5 creator, J. Michael Straczynski.



Extras for TOS Season 3 Set Announced:

Paramount Home Video has announced the extras that will fill out the
third and final DVD set for the original Star Trek series. Included
in the set will be both the color and black & white versions of the
original pilot episode, The Cage, starring Jeffrey Hunter and Captain
Christopher Pike. Also included will be a rare interview with James
Doohan, one of the last he gave before his recent retirement and an
interesting feature with George Takei as he goes back to the
internment camp his family was shipped to during World War II.



Bakula Making a Bold Leap Forward?

Sources over at Coming Attractions have reported that producer Don
Bellasario is in the process of making a television movie based upon
his series, Quantum Leap. According to CA, the pilot film will be
titled A Bold Leap Forward and will pick up Dean Stockwell's
character, Al, as he continues to try and lock in on Dr. Samuel
Beckett, played by Enterprise star Scott Bakula. Sam's daughter is
tapped to step into the Quantum Leap chamber to try and find her
father, now in his 50's. Production is supposed to begin sometime in
January and may feature a cameo by Bakula. If the pilot went to
series, it's hoped that Bakula would be able to make appearances
during the run, depending on his Enterprise schedule. Of course, if
other rumors about Bakula's current day job are true, he might just
have a lot more time to go Leaping with his old pal, Al.



Ratings Improve But Not Enough:

Ratings for part one of the Brent Spiner three-part Enterprise story
arc were up from the previous week but still only managed to reach
the level of the season premiere. Ratings for the series are down
this season, continuing a steady decline that has been in progress
since the premiere of the series. The news isn't all bad, though �
Enterprise has done better in the Friday night time slot than
previous UPN programs. If that'll be enough to keep the series on
the air remains to be seen.



Review: Cold Station 12:

Part Two of the Brent Spiner / Augments story arc picks up right
where last week's Borderland left off. Soong and his increasingly
homicidal Augments are on the way to "free" their embryonic brothers
& sisters while the Enterprise checks out the planet they escaped
from, finding that someone was left behind. Following clues left
behind by the Augments, Archer and the Enterprise set off for Cold
Station 12, also referred to as C-12, to try and stop Soong. Long
time viewers of the series will get to see Richard Riehle as Dr.
Jeremy Lucas, the human doctor that Enterprise's Chief Medical
Office, Phlox, has been corresponding with since the series began.
Riehle has appeared in a number of film and television roles,
including Star Trek: The Next Generation and Quantum Leap.

Cold Station 12 lacks some of the flair of its predecessor and seems
to take some storytelling shortcuts to get where it's going, making
it feel more like the usual Enterprise episode rather than something
special. There aren't any surprises here and every character
development can be guessed by the audience the moment that character
walks onscreen. It's strictly a by-the-numbers production all the
way and leaves us with much more of an immediate cliffhanger than
Borderland but none of the feelings of anticipation that episode
inspired. One thing that has improved is the quality of the fight
sequences, something noticed last week that follows through into this
week's episode.

Next week's final episode of the arc, The Augments, has a lot of
ground to make up if it has any chance of delivering on the promise
of the arc's ambitious premise. If not, then this could be the arc
that finally kills the series instead of the push it needed to get it
back on track.

[Sonic74205]

Ira Steven Behr is getting a lot of press lately for his work on the
USA Network series, "The 4400." But he's not getting love from
everywhere ... especially when it comes to his former bosses and
colleagues.

During the third season of "Star Trek: Enterprise," when UPN
threatened to pull the plug on the struggling series, Behr was
invited to the Paramount lot by executive producers and co-creators
Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. The goal? To pick his brain on how to
make the series better, and to find out where the show missed. The
result? A little bad blood.

"I've never seen another episode, so I don't know" if they used any
of my ideas, Behr recently told DreamWatch magazine. "But I doubt it.
From what I understand, Brannon assembled the writing staff the
following day and said, 'You know what? We have a pretty damn good
show here, and it doesn't matter what people say. We're going to stay
the course here.' Of course, I'm hearing this second or thid hand,
but I'm sure that as soon as they left the meeting, they stabbed my
picture with a knife."

During the third season, Berman and Braga dumped the original story
arcs of the first two seasons in favor of a season-long arc that put
Earth in jeopardy from a race called the Xindi. While the arc was
critically-acclaimed, the ratings continued to slip, threatening a
cancellation of the series. However, UPN decided to renew the series
at a smaller production cost, and moved the show to Friday nights,
and writer Manny Coto took over showrunning responsibilities.

Despite the run-in he had with his former colleagues, Behr said he
still has some fond memories of his work with "Star Trek: Deep Space
Nine," which went off the air in 1999.

"I guess the thing I'm most proud of is the idea that when all is
said and done, and you look at the show in its totality, you see a
story with a beginning, middle and an end," Behr said. "It really
does hang together despite all of the curveballs we were thrown when
we were in the midst of the series."

One of those curveballs, Behr said, was the addition of Michael
Dorn's character of Worf from "Star Trek: The Next Generation." But
also, Paramount seemed to want to see less of the stories they were
doing initially, and more diversity, so Behr said they chose to focus
more on religion.

"The whole idea of religion was interesting to work in there as
well," he said. "When we were told that Paramount was getting tired
of political/Bajor stories, we came up with religion, and for some
reason, that didn't bother them. We were able to take problems and
turn them into virtues.

"At the end of the day, I think 'Deep Space Nine' told a pretty
compelling story over seven seasons. By the end of the show, whether
you liked them or not, you really did know who Odo (Rene Auberjonois)
was, who Sisko (Avery Brooks) was, who Nerys (Nana Visitor) was, and
I'm proud of that. The other thing is that Martok (H.G. Hertzler),
Brunt (Jeffrey Combs), Weyoun (Combs) and other supporting players
have more development than most of the lead characters in the other
series. I thought that was pretty cool, too."

[Otter]

Well, That's very interesting reading!

[The_Sisko]

Yeah thanks for the info

[Sonic74205]

George Takei, who played Sulu on the original Star
Trek and has been active in Japanese-American affairs,
including speaking about his experiences at an
internment camp during World War II, will be honoured
by the government of Japan for their contributions to
the Japanese-American community.

The Japanese Consulate announced that Takei and
Assemblyman George Nakano, a Democrat from Torrance,
would be awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold
Rays with Rosette, in a ceremony in Tokyo, according
to NBC.

In addition to his numerous film and television roles,
Takei has been a member of the Board of Directors of
the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the
advisory committee of the California Civil Liberties
Public Education Program. He is also a member of the
board of governors of the Asian-American theatre group
East West Players, and a former chairman of the board
of trustees of the Japanese American National Museum.

The Order of the Rising Sun will be bestowed upon both
men next Tuesday.

[Sonic74205]

(PLEASE MOVE TO GENERAL STARTREK DISCUSSION)

[Siege]

I'd like to see someone take over for Rick Berman, although Berman and Braga have done some good things, we need some fresh ideas. I want to see a new Trek series after Enterprise ends, which I don't expect Berman deliver on.

[Sonic74205]

There are some who praised Jolene Blalock's portrayal
of T'Pol during the third season of "Star Trek:
Enterprise." And while Blalock may not have any qualms
with how she acted the character out, she doesn't seem
to be too happy with the way the Vulcan was written
during the Xindi arc. And she makes that unhappiness
known in the upcoming issue of SFX Magazine.

"You can't substitute *beep* and ass for good
storytelling," Blalock said in an issue of the
magazine scheduled to be released in the United
Kingdom next week. "You can have both, but you can't
substitute one for the other, because the audience is
not stupid. You can't just throw in frivolous,
uncharacteristic ... well, bull, and think it's going
to help the ratings."

In the interview, Blalock said that seeing a fifth
season of the series was highly unlikely, and that
executive producer Brannon Braga should have been
replaced by someone like Manny Coto -- which happened
at the beginning of the current season -- far sooner.

"It's the same in any industry. You have this head guy
who's some kind of ancient old croaker with no concept
of the real world outside, with his fine wine and his,
er, crumpets," Blalock said of Braga. "And what are
you going to tell them? 'Give it up'? 'Go home, be
with your wife, go play golf'? No, then you got no
job.

"A powerful job is your identity. Give that up, and
who are you? What the hell are you going to do with
all that time. You can't tell people what to do
anymore."

The story was previewed recently on SFX's Web site,
and the preview doesn't say what prompted Blalock's
outburst of the former showrunner.

During the third season, T'Pol became addicted to a
substance that was harmful to Vulcans that caused her
to lose her ability to suppress some emotions. She
also disrobed several times, and had sex with Trip
Tucker (Connor Trinneer). But she did help to save
Earth in the process

[KathrynDavismyalterego]

cool!

[Sonic74205]

Bakula: 'I'm Exploring Possibilities Should Enterprise End'
Author: Wayne Hall
Source: Save Enterprise

Scott Bakula, who plays Capt. Jonathan Archer on "Star
Trek: Enterprise," recently told an interviewer from
the Save Enterprise Web site that he is looking at
possibilities for work in the theater and elsewhere
should the fourth season finale also prove to be the
series finale for the show.

Bakula, who thanked the fans for their support,
emphatically added that he has no wish for the show to
end.

If "Enterprise" did not return, the actor said he
would not want to dive into another show right away.

"I would want to take the time off and reassess," he
said. "I am looking at things in the theatre to do and
get away from TV for a while."

Bakula also noted that he was interested in NASA's
space program, though he is very opposed to weapons in
space and worried that further space exploration could
be used as an excuse for conflict rather than the
cooperation he hopes to see among nations.

However, he said, he was not ready to give up on the
show yet, and his emphasis is still on Star Trek.

"I would be thrilled if the show would be picked up
for another year. And I'm not tired of it, I love
doing it," Bakula said, stating that he was
particularly proud of the fourth season episodes.
"Everyone needs to know how hard we are working to
make good shows and how, in this season especially,
they've really made a big attempt to say thanks to the
fans, and that's why a lot of the stories have had
tie-ins with the original series."

Bakula also firmly denounced rumors that he had wished
to leave, should the show be renewed for a fifth
season.

"That was a totally erroneous statement, and there�s
no truth to that at all," he said. "I can�t be anymore
strongly in terms of my denial of that.

"I love the cast and crew. I love what we�ve done this
season, so it remains a terrific experience for me.
I�m sorry those things get out and sorry people tend
to want to believe those negative things as apposed to
positive things."

Noting that he appreciates the fact that Archer has
continued to grow and change as the series has moved
on, he added, "I love that they keep making him work
through some of his old demons and prejudices and
things that he�s carried his whole life."

Bakula said he thinks T'Pol's (Jolene Blalock)
character has matured a great deal as well and that he
expects to see a greater awareness and caring between
Archer and T'Pol.

Bakula said that one of the biggest challenges facing
"Enterprise" has been UPN's attempts to redefine
itself as a network and to define its core audience,
which affects both programming and advertising
dollars.

"They have a lot of people that spend a lot of time
and energy looking at the Nielsen's ratings," he said,
observing that ratings can be presented in a variety
of different ways for positive and negative purposes.
"Obviously there is a large fan base around the world,
but it has not been just a smooth sailing
environment."

[Sonic74205]

Fans of Star Trek: Enterprise know that the fourth season has been a milestone in connecting the history of the prequel series with the rest of the Star Trek universe.
We've seen great story arcs including one dealing with Vulcan socio-history, set on their rather inhospitable homeworld, and one centered on Dr. Arik Soong, an ancestor of Data's creator, Noonien Soong. Other episodes include "Daedalus" about the "father" of the Transporter, Emory Erickson, and an upcoming storyline addressing the Klingon forehead mystery. Those, along with a trilogy starting tomorrow night fleshing out Original Series-era aliens � Andorians, Orions, and Tellarites � and presaging the Romulan Wars, give us a mix of stories that demand attention by the long-time fan.

And if these stories aren't enticing enough, perhaps the coup de gr�ce of Season 4 will be the two-part story "In a Mirror, Darkly," a script that revisits the mirror universe but focuses on the power struggles of Captain Forrest and Commander Archer and the discovery of a rather special starship. This story is the brainchild of writer Mike Sussman, who wrote both teleplays, along with executive producer Manny Coto, who wrote the story for "Part II." According to Sussman, the episode is "a prequel to 'Mirror, Mirror' and a sequel to 'The Tholian Web,' two of my favorite episodes."

The history of getting this episode made included a long gestation period. "When I initially pitched this idea two or three years ago, it was too big for a one-part episode. But Manny suggested we do in two parts, and that was the key to realizing it," says Sussman.

Fans of Vaughn Armstrong will be glad to hear that he reprises his role as Forrest, albeit with a twist. This Forrest is everything that the good admiral from our universe is not. For the most part. The beauty of mirror universe characters, of course, are the subtle nods to their real-universe characters. Archer, as second in command, is given carte blanche to plot his way into command of the ship (remember "Mirror, Mirror") not to mention regaining the woman (Hoshi) who's loyalty changes, depending on whomever is in command.

Playing the alterna-Forrest has been great fun for Armstrong, who's now completed filming his scenes. On his last day, the always jovial actor commented about his "action" as the commander of the mirror starship. "In 25 years [of acting], I haven't gotten the girl, but I come back here and I get the girl! This is great."

Scott Bakula was also able to find humor in Vaughn's return. "Didn't we kill you already?" he joked outside the Enterprise sets.

"Yes, but this death is much better!" replied Vaughn on his mirror character's imminent doom. His "real" character, the upstanding Admiral Forrest, met an untimely but heroic fate saving Soval from a bomb blast at the United Earth Embassy in "The Forge." For a character we had followed for over three years, it was all over very quickly, perhaps too quickly. But the beauty of the mirror universe is that there are second acts, even if it is a dangerous place with a short life expectancy. Vaughn Armstrong, one of the most prolific guest stars dating back to the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, may be done for now but he will no doubt be back again one day. For now, we will wait and see what's in store for Captain Forrest and his command in this "Mirror."

On Tuesday, even though it was the last day of shooting for the James Conway-directed part one of "In a Mirror, Darkly," it was historic as well. The highlight came when filming moved on to the Bridge of the Constitution-class Defiant, the one from the TOS era as seen in the episode "The Tholian Web." We won't tell you how the two ships meet, but it is in Tholian space. That's all we're saying for now.

For these historic scenes, production designer Herman Zimmerman was responsible for what is perhaps the most awe-inspiring set done for Enterprise to date. It may not be the most complex set, but the fact that it was done, and done to perfection, is due to a tremendous production team who made sure that every last detail was in place prior to filming. Although it is the Defiant, it is, for all intents and purposes, the Original Series U.S.S. Enterprise. There are subtle differences, but viewers will be amazed at the detail used for this full three-quarters around set, the likes of which have not been used for filming since the final Star Trek episode, "Turnabout Intruder," in 1969.

Special kudos for the Defiant set must go to members of Zimmerman's team, such as set designer Ahna Packard, who spent days drawing the set in incredible detail and also to senior illustrator Doug Drexler, who pioneered most of the original research for the DS9 "Trials and Tribble-ations" episode and the set built for the London Hyde Park exhibit. Truly a group effort, many more details of the Defiant set were worked on by such art department veterans as scenic art supervisor/technical advisor Mike Okuda and scenic artist James Van Over.

Acknowledgement must also go to construction coordinator Tom Arp and his department. After all, they are the ones who physically build the amazing sets you see week in and week out. For the Defiant, they've gone that extra parsec and produced a stunning vision of this older, but at the same time futuristic, ship.

Writer Mike Sussman is impressed by the efforts of the crew in constructing sets for "In a Mirror, Darkly": "I think the bridge set is remarkable. I hope fans will be thrilled to see that set again in all of its glory. I feel that it probably looks better than the original in many respects, if you compare them side by side."

The "In a Mirror, Darkly" saga is set to air on April 15 and 22, on UPN.

[Sonic74205]

Rumors Report That 'Enterprise' Has Been Cancelled


The ratings struggle for "Star Trek: Enterprise" could
possibly end as early as this week.

Strong rumors are circulating that UPN is cancelling
the fifth Star Trek series after four seasons. No
official word is up yet, but sites such as William
Shatner's official site are hinting that the
announcement could come before the end of the week.

"Star Trek: Enterprise," which stars Scott Bakula and
Jolene Blalock, was a prequel series in the Star Trek
franchise created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It
was set about 100 years after the events of 1996's
"Star Trek: First Contact," and about 150 years before
the original "Star Trek" of the 1960s.

The series replaced "Star Trek: Voyager," which ended
after seven seasons in 2001, and struggled in the
ratings from the start. While producers tried new
directions -- including a season-long arc in 2003-04
-- ratings never picked up.

The show was threatened with cancellation after its
third season, but Paramount Television lowered its
demand on licensing fees per episode, and UPN moved
the show to Friday nights. Paramount Television and
UPN are both owned by Viacom.

Although Manny Coto was brought in to run the show
with mini-story arcs, ratings just never picked up.
Most recently, original programming on cable's Sci-Fi
Channel -- including "Stargate SG-1," "Stargate:
Atlantis" and "Battlestar Galactica" -- beat out
"Enterprise" in total viewership despite reaching a
smaller overall audience.

The above story has not been confirmed with anyone
from Paramount and should be treated as any rumor
would.

[CJ Cregg]

And let Cancellation rumor season Begin! Its that time of year again with the rumors

[teya]

It's official.

Enterprise Cancelled.

Announced this morning.

[memyselfandI]

The fight has just begun.....

[Sonic74205]

Marina Sirtis Denies 'Enterprise' Role


Could it have only been a dream?

Reports had surfaced last week that in place of
William Shatner coming back to Star Trek with a stint
on "Star Trek: Enterprise," coming onboard instead
would be Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes, who played
Counselor Deanna Troi and Cmdr. William Riker
respectively in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and
four feature films.

But appearing at a convention in Orlando, Fla., this
weekend, Sirtis said nothing of the kind is taking
place.

"I spoke with Marina Sirtis at FX today," said Norm
Liddell, a member of the Orlando-based USS Haven fan
club. "She insisted that the story about her and
Frakes on ('Enterprise') is a rumor, and is completely
false. She says she has nothing going on with
('Enterprise.')"

It had been originally reported that Marina Sirtis'
official Web site had the news about the guest
appearance on the site. However, a current check of
the site shows no such story there

[Sonic74205]

Fans React To 'Enterprise' Cancellation


There are mixed emotions from the science-fiction
fandom this week after UPN announced it was cancelling
"Star Trek: Enterprise" after four seasons.

This will be the first time in 18 years that a Star
Trek show will not be on the air in the United States,
and is the first Star Trek series to be cancelled
since the original "Star Trek" got axed by NBC in 1968
after three seasons. All the other spinoffs -- "Star
Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Deep Space
Nine" and "Star Trek: Voyager" -- lasted seven
seasons, and were ended by the production staffs in
moves unrelated to the ratings.

One fan, going under the handle of "jameskirk" on the
TrekWeb boards, expressed anger at the decision.

"Trek is going to be gone now for at least a decade,"
the poster said. "For all you spoiled little SOBs that
did everything you could to destroy the show,
congratulations. You won. I don't have a clue as to
what you think you've proven, except that the death of
the franchise had nothing to do with (co-creators
Brannon Braga and Rick Berman), but with the spoiled
little bastards that have never known a life without
Trek. Well, they will now."

Another poster on the TrekWeb boards was a little more
calm about the cancellation.

"I'd just like to say that anyone pleased with the
cancellation of this series is being
counterproductive," said a poster named "Rational
Voice." "If they want better Trek, this will not speed
the process. If anything, it may slow it, as we may be
years away from the next series. If they don't want
any Trek, as it might get in the way of past series,
they are just being unreasonable -- and unrealistic."

"Crambam," who is a regular on the AOL message boards,
said that the quick demise of the series should raise
questions about whether or not the show will be
considered official canon for the franchise.

"At this point, despite all the improvement in Season
4, I will say it shouldn't," he said. "I reserve
judgement, though, until May."

Ronald D. Moore, who once served as a producer on
"Deep Space Nine," and had involvement with "The Next
Generation" and "Voyager," said the Star Trek universe
may just be too big to stay true to what has been
established.

In the wake of STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE's cancellation
yesterday, the Boston Globe talks with former TREK
writer/producer and BATTLESTAR GALACTIC executive
producer Ronald D. Moore today.

"The franchise is a strong idea," Moore told the
Boston Globe. "The character concepts are great. It
just isn't being written in a fashion that is grabbing
the audience anymore. In some ways, the continuity of
the show is starting to work against it. There is such
a complete universe with so many characters that it's
a bit daunting for new audiences."

Moore is now the executive producer of "Battlestar
Galactica," the new series on Sci-Fi Channel that has
been finishing ahead of "Enterprise" in the ratings
since its debut a few weeks ago. But Moore said that
Star Trek won't be gone forever.

"Paramount Pictures will eventually sit up and say,
'Hey, don't we still own Star Trek?' You can count on
Paramount's greed to bring it back."

"Star Trek: Enterprise" will air its final episode May
13. It currently is shown Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on UPN.