I am – Hercules!!
In my view, the prequel premise was inspired. The temporal cold war premise, no less inspired. The “Enterprise” pilot itself, absolutely terrific. I truly don't think series creators Rick Berman and Brannon Braga are idiots. I think they're just worn out.
If “Enterprise” failed, it not was for lack of appreciation, or effort, or imagination. If “Enterprise” failed, it failed because good writers were driven from the franchise. It failed because those who oversaw it (not necessarily its producers, but maybe the producers) feared too many changes would alienate the fans.
Having said this? A lot of love went into the “Enterprise.” A lot. Research reveals I gave the pilot four stars back in 2001. Jolene Blalock’s work as T’Pol is absolutely worthy of Leonard Nimoy, and there are not a lot of better ways to praise someone playing a Vulcanian. Linda Park, the Empress Sato, has never failed to impress. Trip, Phlox, Reed, all first-rate. The decon gel was one of the best ideas ever.
The show’s big sins? 1) It wasn't wonderful every week. 2) It hired Scott Bakula instead of Steve Buscemi to play Archer.
Even so, I spent the better part of Saturday blissing out in front of the show’s first-season DVD box-set, which goes on sale Tuesday. I can verify that at least nine of the first-season episodes are actually worth your valuable time:
“Broken Bow”? Great episode. “Cold Front”? Even better. “Shuttlepod One”? Great episode. “Breaking the Ice”? Pretty great. “Dear Doctor”? Pretty great. “Fusion”? Pretty great. “Oasis”? Admirable. “Two Days and Two Nights”? Pretty great. “Shockwave”? Great episode.
Here’s how the extras shake out. There are deleted scenes from nine of the 26 hours. Michael and Denise Okuda provide typically excellent text commentary on “Broken Bow” (1.1), “The Andorian Incident” (1.7) and “Vox Sola” (1.22). The “special” features are short and largely only semi-special. (Though there are very cool outtakes demonstrating what Blalock looks like when she laughs really hard.)
Oh, and? Even though the box says "Star Trek: Enterprise," nobody bothered to add the words "Star Trek" to any of the first-season episodes.
A huge highlight for “Trek” geeks like me is the only audio commentary, as series creators Berman and Braga discuss, post-cancellation, their two-hour pilot. Unlike George Lucas, they’re surprisingly unafraid to contemplate what might have gone wrong. Some of what I learned:
* The chief engineer was named “Spike” until just days before shooting, when it was pointed out that a popular genre series airing at that time already featured a major character by that name.
* The producers refer to FutureGuy as “FutureGuy,” even though I’m pretty certain I made up that name in my review of the pilot way back when. Seriously! Did anyone else call FutureGuy “FutureGuy” before Sept. 25, 2001? I’d almost bet my AICN 401k that everybody was calling him “Future-Man” until like two weeks ago!
* Melinda Clarke, who went on to embody evil MILF Julie Cooper on “The O.C.”, inspires the best line of the pilot: “That never happened before.”
* The guy who plays Archer’s pop in the pilot flashbacks now plays an evil guy on the horrible “Desperate Housewives.”
* Due to netlet demands, Archer has two hairstyles in the pilot. In some shots it’s combed forward; in others, not so much.
* The adorable Porthos is actually a girl-beagle named Prada.
* Archer enjoys water-polo because Berman’s son Eddie plays the sport.
* Though the commentary was obviously taped very recently, neither Berman nor Braga can say who FutureGuy is, though they speculate he could be FutureArcher or FutureBorg.
* The “Bow” in “Broken Bow” is pronounced like a ribbon in the hair, rather than what one does when greeting a Japanese dignitary.
* Producers went to the trouble to hire someone to grow an entire field of corn for the pilot’s opening sequence, because cornfields were otherwise impossible to find at the time of year the pilot was filmed.
* The farmer in the pilot’s opening sequence is named “Moore,” after “Battlestar Galactica” revival mastermind Ron Moore, who co-wrote “All Good Things …” and “First Contact” (among other things) with Braga.
* The audio commentary was recorded so recently that Berman and Braga reference Vaughn Armstrong’s “second” death in “In a Mirror Darkly.”
Seasony Star Trek Goodness:
Star Trek: Enterprise 1.x
Star Trek: Enterprise 2.x
Star Trek 1.x
Star Trek 2.x
Star Trek 3.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 1.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 2.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 3.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 4.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 5.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 6.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 7.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 1.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 2.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 3.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 4.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 5.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 6.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 7.x
Star Trek: Voyager 1-7.x
Star Trek: Enterprise 1.x
Star Trek: Enterprise 2.x
Star Trek 1.x
Star Trek 2.x
Star Trek 3.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 1.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 2.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 3.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 4.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 5.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 6.x
Star Trek: The Next Generation 7.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 1.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 2.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 3.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 4.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 5.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 6.x
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 7.x
Star Trek: Voyager 1-7.x
