In the 37 years since the original “Star Trek” premiered in September 1966, fans have come to know its reality almost as well as they know their own.
So it was risky business when, in 2001, UPN launched a fourth “Trek” spinoff that not only didn’t have “Star Trek” in the title, but went back in time to before the events of the original series, threatening the hallowed history of the “Trek” universe.
“Enterprise” producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga tampered with the timeline at their peril, and the results have not been altogether stellar — at least from a ratings standpoint.
From a high of roughly 13 million total viewers at its premiere, the recently renamed “Star Trek: Enterprise” (7 p.m. Wednesday, WPWR-Ch. 50) suffered a ratings decline in Season Two, averaging only 4.03 million viewers per episode. The early part of Season Three didn’t show much improvement.
Being on UPN is a burden and a blessing for “Star Trek: Enterprise,” since the network offers lower viewership as well as lower expectations.
The show also has suffered some critical drubbing for everything from continuity problems within the “Trek” timeline to lackluster adventures.
Nevertheless, UPN has kept its faith in Berman and Braga, and it may be paying off. After facing a strong challenge from postseason baseball and a decline in young, male viewers — a problem common across network prime time — “Star Trek: Enterprise” posted modest gains in both total viewers and the key 18-49 and 18-34 demographics recently.
The Nov. 19 episode delivered the largest audience, with 4.6 million viewers, and highest ratings in the key demographics since February.
Taking a gamble
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One reason for the improvement may be the gamble taken in last season’s finale, when a devastating preemptive strike on Earth by unknown aliens sent Enterprise into uncharted space in search of a mysterious five-species race called the Xindi.
“We made a decision to develop a unique, seasonlong arc, which we are nearly half-done with, as far as shows that have been completed, and two-thirds done with, in terms of shows conceived and written,” Berman says. “We’re pleased that the ratings have been holding on, and we’re pleased that the shows have been terrific. A lot of fans seem to agree.”
Adds Braga: “There are two things that are really working for us creatively and, it appears, for the fans. There are strong science-fiction components to this arc — the mystery of the spheres, the five-species Xindi, great time travel — and also, the emotional stakes have been raised quite a bit.”
With his ship now on a desperate mission to save Earth from ultimate destruction, Enterprise’s Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula) has shed his easygoing persona in favor of a scruffier, grimmer outlook. His second-in-command, Vulcan T’Pol (Jolene Blalock), has broken with her own people and cast her lot with her shipmates.
And Chief Engineer “Trip” Tucker (Connor Trinneer) has backed off on his countrified good-ol’-boy persona as he deals with the loss of his sister in the attack on Earth.
“That was something that we did intentionally, that we talked to Connor about,” Berman says. “As soon as Trip’s sister was killed and this new mission began, we pulled that back extensively.”
A touch of romance
Since the summer, the producers have also hinted at a romance of sorts for T’Pol and Trip. But, aside from some mutual acupressure-massage sessions — which stop at showing off Trip’s abs and T’Pol’s selection of silky PJs — there’s little action on this front . . . so far.
“We don’t want to give anything away, but there’s a lot of really tantalizing stuff happening between Trip and T’Pol, though not quite the way you would expect,” Braga reveals. “So yes, that dynamic is going to go somewhere, but it’s not going to end up in a wedding or anything predictable.”
“We’re also going to find out that there’s a specific reason why T’Pol’s behavior might be a little bit different than we would expect it to be,” Berman says. “I can’t tell you any more than that.”
“Real shocking things are going to happen in that arc,” Braga says.
With all these changes going on, Berman and Braga didn’t put up a fight when UPN also wanted to tack on the “Star Trek” moniker.
“They’ve been very supportive, so I didn’t feel it was worthwhile to object,” Berman says.
“Brannon and I both believe that it has made absolutely no difference. Anybody who had any interest in `Star Trek’ knew that `Enterprise’ was a `Star Trek’ series, so putting the name `Star Trek’ in front of it to seemingly attract potential `Trek’ fans, I think, didn’t serve much of a purpose.”
One reason for the decision to go back in time for “Enterprise” was to capture some of that flavor of the early days of space exploration, way back in the 22nd Century. There has long been an emotional connection between “Star Trek” and the real space program, even including a prototype space shuttle dubbed Enterprise.
With two new NASA rovers set to land on Mars in January, both Berman and Braga would love to renew the acquaintance.
“Tell them to invite us to the Mars landing,” Braga says.
“We have no direct connection to NASA, but any chance we get, we tip our hat to NASA, whether it’s a shuttle name or a direct reference name, always. The whole spirit of the show is, to some degree, based on organizations like NASA.”