Enterprise star Scott Bakula discusses the many things he’s proud of in the four years he played Captain Jonathan Archer in the Star Trek prequel.
Summary
- Scott Bakula fondly remembers the “magic” of Enterprise’s Xindi arc and the challenging scenes he got to do as Captain Archer.
- Despite initially being derided, Enterprise has gained new fans and appreciation after becoming available for streaming on platforms like Netflix and Paramount+.
- Fans are eager for a revival or appearances of Enterprise’s cast in current Star Trek shows, though integrating them into different time periods poses a challenge.
Star Trek: Enterprise series lead Scott Bakula looks back on the “wonderful” things about the prequel show. Enterprise, as it was originally titled in its first two seasons, was the third spinoff of Star Trek: The Next Generation produced by Rick Berman. Enterprise was the first Star Trek prequel series about the 22nd-century voyages of the first Starship Enterprise, the NX-01, led by Captain Jonathan Archer (Bakula). Unfortunately, Enterprise never achieved the ratings or popularity of TNG, and Bakula’s series was canceled after just 4 seasons.
In the Star Trek oral history “The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years” by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, Scott Bakula described what he’s proud of and enjoyed about Star Trek: Enterprise. Bakula looks back fondly on Enterprise’s premiere episode, Captain Archer’s time travel, and Enterprise season 3’s Xindi arc. Read his quote below:
The whole Xindi thing really captured my imagination. Part of it was really fanciful and appropriate for the world we were in, and I felt that had a lot of magic. I thought the pilot was really great. I got to do a lot of wonderful stuff that for me was challenging. It’s why you do sci-fi: to run across a bridge while the whole thing is blowing up behind you. You only get one shot at it. That’s the kind of stuff that I love to do. All the stuff in the spacesuit, as painful as it was to do, was kind of great. The time travel stuff—I got a kick out of it. It was so wacky, but what are the odds that a guy who’s done a series as a time traveler would roll into another series so many years later and a time element is introduced again, only completely different? For sci-fi fans like myself, that was just ironic and wonderful.
Enterprise Has Found New Star Trek Fans Thanks To Streaming
Star Trek: Enterprise is better appreciated now than when it first aired on UPN.
For many years after Star Trek: Enterprise ended in 2005, the prequel show was looked upon derisively as the show that “killed” the Star Trek TV franchise. Indeed, Star Trek stayed off TV for 12 years until Star Trek: Discovery reignited the flame on CBS All-Access/Paramount+ after J.J. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek movies in 2009. Enterprise was defined by its widely disliked series finale, but with the advent of streaming, the prequel has been reassessed. When Enterprise became available on Netflix, and now Paramount+, legions of new devotees found the series, and Enterprise gained a new fanbase and a greater appreciation than when it ran for 4 low-rated seasons on the UPN Network in the early 2000s.
Enterprise stars Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer host a hit Star Trek podcast called The Shuttlepod Show.
Today, fans are clamoring for a revival of Star Trek: Enterprise or appearances by the cast in the current Star Trek on Paramount+ series. Enterprise‘s 22nd-century setting makes it a challenge to incorporate its characters in the 24th century and beyond, but Star Trek: Lower Decks has worked in several shout-outs to Enterprise. Star Trek: very Short Treks also brought back Connor Trinneer as Trip Tucker for the first time in 18 years. Of course, the ultimate Star Trek: Enterprise coup would be coaxing Jolene Blalock, who retired from acting, to return as T’Pol, or Scott Bakula himself to reprise Captain Jonathan Archer in some fashion, but, someday, that long road may get from there to here.
