HeatherD

As if anyone had to guess:

managalar

So if they are after ratings, why would they try and make a Star Trek for the non-star trek crowd?

I bet they were thinking they could get a broader auidence base, while keeping the hard core trekies. I'm not exactly a hard core trekie, but I'll watch just about any space based sci-fi series (with the exception of Lexx) even if its for nothing other than seeing spaceships flying around. The first time I saw a star-fury rotate around mid flight and drift (basic newtonian mechanics) I about fell out of my chair. After that I was hooked, and sitting thru the Membari prayer chants didn't seem all that bad anymore.

I bet the writers are going to re-consider their plan to apeal to the non-star trek crowd. I expect we'll get a war with the Klingons, like the DS9 Dominion war, to spice things up a bit. It would be nice if they could keep the characters from whining all the time without a big dramatic war. I had a hard time watching Voyager because of Neelix, he was also a whiner...space travle isn't supposed to be a walk in the park, so what if you dont have the right vegtables for your stew.

FloatingEgg

One could make the argument that "most" Producers are more concerned with ratings than story quality. I understand that they�re targeting the key demographics, just as they do on most television programs, from firefly to Alias.

Shallow: not thinking or feeling deeply: having or displaying little intellectual or emotional complexity or value.

I would describe pandering to key demographics as being shallow, which you apparently agree with, and I would describe your complete lack of respect for a person you don�t know, and not even their character, but their physical appearance, as being shallow.

It�s hypocritical because your judgment of their �pandering� gives the false pretense that you have more admirable principles, and yet if the actress was in the room, would she be more offended at being the focus of a marketing ploy, or being called ugly by someone she doesn�t know?

Of course it is, but I do think that she's a good actress, just as I think Jerry Ryan is a good actress. They're not given Shakespeare to work with, but what they do with their characters, I think is sufficient and at the very least entertaining.

T'Pol's character requires a certain temperament of emotion, being a Vulcan, and managing to get across any subtlety at all with such stiff boundaries is admirable, as far as I'm concerned.

Obviously, I'm interested in the characters, and I've enjoyed all the episodes, some more than others. Perhaps I've just been overcome by the beauty of the women in the show, but I'd like to think that I've been around long enough not to be so easily manipulated.

I honestly never watched it enough to express an opinion either way about the show. I did enjoy the first few episodes however.

You also haven't addressed what you don't like about the show. The burden of proof, in a matter of speaking rests with you. Your only written criticism seems to be the obvious pandering to males, your disdain for Jolene Blalock, and the lack of "real" writing.

I can't consider every criticism I've read, and I've read far too many, so if you want to present something specific, please do, in the meantime, I'll answer your first volley of questions.

The opening song never bothered me, and I find it to be a refreshing change from the old narration. I also find the blending past and future video clips inspiring, which perhaps best expresses Gene Roddenberry's optimism for mankind, and the words correspond to that. There's a sense of hope and unwillingness to fail that appeals to me.

I enjoy the reminder of humanity, and the differences between Vulcan and Human cultures. If this is to take place 100 years before Kirk, the problems between the two races would presumably multiply ten-fold. It's an interesting dichotomy, and I don't find the references at all tiresome.

One must also take into account that this series wasn�t created purely for the fans, its intention was to attract a new generation of viewers. Whether or not that succeeds, we shall see, as I don�t base such things entirely on ratings.

Perhaps I'm more patient than the average viewer, but I do like repeating themes, which was a staple of the Original Series, and the Next Generation. Perhaps all those episodes are blurry images now, but if you watched one episode every week, you would see a certain repetition, and I welcome that kind of thing, especially as it provides an environment of consistency in which the characters can develop.

The constant referral to Data's humanity was an ongoing punch line, and resource for stories in the Next Generation Universe, and with Star Trek Nemesis, his struggle to define himself finally cumulated in perhaps the most humane action to date.

Captain Archer's difficulty in bringing to terms the play on emotions and logic is feeble because he's struggling against something that he should embrace, and yet he fears loosing that "illogical" side to his personality, something that Kirk was never really concerned with. It's viewed as a fault in the writing, the inconsistencies, and the flailing about like a new born child, but it's in this viewer�s opinion, that this awkwardness is a purposeful addition to Archer's character ark.

This captain is not as able as Kirk; he's floundering in a sea of uncertainty, with his bitterness of Vulcan intervention constantly screaming inside of him to be released. And yet, he respects his science officer, but her strict adherence to logic baffles him, and creates an interesting conflict between the two that is similar, but quite different than the relationship between Spock and Kirk.

T'Pol's reasoning relies on the notion that the Vulcan High Command is more than capable of making logical decisions without the presence of outside input, and she herself feels less than capable of the task of doubting them. After all, her faith is paramount with regards to the great strides of the Vulcan people, and their removal of emotional considerations.

Many of the non-cannon elements of the Original Series and the Next Generation perhaps should be rectified by now, but by altering those elements, it also undermines the previous two series.

People hold TOS and TNG as some sort of Holy Grail of artistic excellence, and yet many of the complaints, from pandering to young males, to the logical errors became part of that world, and for a time we ignored the inconsistencies, in favor of character interplay and thought provoking story lines.

I compare the criticism of Enterprise, to the criticism of Episode 1. No one seems to remember that there were always silly characters in the Star Wars universe. No one seems to remember that the dialog was always simple in Star Wars, and no one seems to remember the characters were mere cardboard cutouts, or for fans of Jung, archetypes. No one remembers Lucas's comments on the release of a New Hope, his desire to make a children's movie. No one remembers that, and criticizes episode 1 as some sort of blight on the Star Wars Universe, when the same themes are repeated, the same play to the children exists, and the same reliance on visuals and musical milieu remains.

Now I'm rambling and I've lost my train of though. Feel free to deconstruct, of course, as you said, this is a matter of personal taste. I'm not without criticism myself you know, I don't think this is the perfect series, and I don't think it's as good as TNG or TOS, but it could be if certain things were fleshed out. I dare say that it has potential.

[ December 22, 2002: Message edited by: jsimmons ]</p>

Neo

Excellent analysis (and rebuttal) of the show jsimmons.

You are correct in saying that 'Enterprise' does have potential. Only if Rick Berman (and likewise his cronies) would get his thumb out of his (bleep), maybe that potential could be realized.

Neo

The Other Michael

Should I presume from all the preceding messages that Nimoy/Shatner are no longer the main characters of "Star Trek"?

Shucks, you go without a TV for 26 years and they change everything on you.

cheers,
Michael

Thomas Ash

(LOL - I rememember that!)

Oxymoron

Enterprise series 1 blew... series 2 starts tonight in the UK. For some odd reason, I may actually end up watching it.

Saw Nemesis on Saturday, that sucked donkeys, too (A remake of the Wrath of Khan?).

The Star Trek team have no ideas left, it's quite sad to watch them going through the motions week after week. I offer only one solution:

Sack Rick Berman. Get a fresh team with some imagination and ditch the sanitised, do-goody, squeaky-clean, goodies vs baddies formula.

Grad Student Humanist

I really agree with your post. The Nemesis movie was much hyped and failed to deliver which makes it two pretty bad movies in a row.

As for Enterprise I wouldn't get my hopes up about Season 2; if anything it's getting worse.

I really think it's time to put the franchise to bed for a good long while before they embarass themselves further. Not including Enterprise there have been 24 seasons of Star Trek which seem to have exhausted most, if not all, of the possible storylines.

Wyz_sub10

I thought Nemesis was okay. Not a fitting end to the movie series, mind you, but okay.

When I heard they were doing a movie with the Romulans, I thought Commander Tomolok would be a much better bad guy.

Anyway...Enterprise never caught my interest. I hate prequels. You are basically handcuffed because the future has already been told. You can only do so much before inconsistencies arise.

I think a prequel (if they had to make one) would have been better if it would have started from the absolute beginning - meet the Vulcans, begin with the solar system. Already they have alien crew members. Plus, I thought TOS was the first ship to bear the name 'Enterprise'?

I don't know. Just bores me, essentially.

Grad Student Humanist

Anyone would have been a better bad guy. This movie wasn't even about Romulans, it was about Picard's clone who had a beef with everyone. The whole plot was contrived and boring. If you're going to use the Romulans, then use the Romulans, build on what;s come before, instead of giving us a ridiculous clone plot which comes out of nowhere.

And trying to remake the ending from Wrath of Khan was a moronic misstep.