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Star Trek

If it had been a better show, I guratnee you that I – and millions of others – would have watched it!

‘Star Trek: Enterprise’ Series Ending
LOS ANGELES – “Star Trek: Enterprise” is about to go where it has never gone before: off the air, taking the “Star Trek” franchise with it.
After the two-hour finale airs (8 p.m. EDT Friday on UPN) this will be the first time in 18 years that no first-run “Trek” series is on TV.
“Enterprise” lasted four seasons. It was the first “Trek” spinoff to last fewer than seven seasons. Plummeting ratings did what no Klingon battlecruiser or Borg collective could accomplish. And this time, network honchos didn’t bow to Trekker pressure to renew the series, as they did in the face of a write-in campaign that gave the original “Star Trek” a third year on the tube (1966-69).
In fact, many longtime Trekkers stopped watching long ago. There were gripes going back at least as far as the fourth incarnation, “Star Trek: Voyager” (1995-2001), about lame or retreaded plots, goofy aliens and the weak leadership of “Voyager’s” Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and “Enterprise’s” Jonathan Archer ( Scott Bakula).
Sadly lacking were the rules-be-damned machismo of James Tiberius Kirk (William Shatner) or the class and thoughtful maturity of Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).
The original “Trek” was not above a little T&A to jazz up ratings. (Who can forget Yeoman Rand’s miniskirt or the green-skinned Orion dancers?) But “Voyager” may have upped the silliness ante with a Borg who wore skin-tight catsuits and high heels, while “Enterprise” had a curvaceous Vulcan officer stripping every other episode.
No villain like the unstoppable Borg cropped up for a decade, either.
Supporters say “Enterprise” had vastly improved in its final season and blame other reasons for the ratings drop: weekend reruns that drew an audience but weren’t counted in the Nielsens; ditto for those who taped or TiVo’d the program. And shifting “Enterprise” to a Friday time slot didn’t help.
Producer Rick Berman has cited the problem of “franchise fatigue” after decades of “Star Trek” spinoffs.
Perhaps, some Trekkers argue, it was time to take a rest. After all, it was 18 years between the original “Trek” and “The Next Generation,” which went on to have a vast following.
In the meantime, there are the reruns, the DVD packages, the video games, the hordes of fans in chat rooms and conventions and the contributions to popular culture that range from Klingon language academies to the phrase “Beam me up, Scotty!”
Things have changed a lot over the years, both within and without the “Trek” universe, as scholars drew real-world comparisons to the shows.
The original series had a Cold War between the Federation and the Russians, er, Klingons and a cheerfully naive approach to solving racial and political conflicts.
“Next Generation” (1987-94) had a post-Soviet view in which the Klingons were allies, and a politically correct view that the values of other cultures, no matter how weird or repugnant, deserved respect.
Both also shared a sunny idealism that humans had overcome their own conflicts, lived in peace, and were on voyages of discovery and knowledge for the sheer joy of it.
The optimistic view of a united future humanity that the original “Trek” offered began to crumble in earnest with “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” (1993-1999). The earnest morality of the first two series gave way to gray areas in which the good guys dirtied their hands with assassinations and other foul deeds in fighting a war for survival.
Moral relativism had crept into the sparkling “Trek” universe. Some viewers were dismayed; others enthralled.
By “Enterprise,” actually a prequel set more than a century before the original series, the plots involved murky machinations and feuds spreading across the galaxy and even through time. Innocence was replaced by a somewhat gloomy view. Even the vaunted Vulcans were portrayed as pompous and dissembling.
But in the meantime, “Trek” no longer had the TV universe to itself. “Bablyon 5” (1994-1998) created a world arguably as rich and complex as the Federation’s. Nowadays, science fiction fans can choose from a host of syndicated and cable shows, including “Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda” (named for “Star Trek’s” late creator and produced by his widow) and the new “Battlestar Galactica.”
Maybe there’s just too much competition these days, and the audience is too fragmented.
Maybe even Capt. Kirk couldn’t save the franchise.
Maybe, as with people, so with “Trek”: the one enemy that always wins is Time.
Or perhaps, someday in the distant future, “Star Trek” will rise again. Fans can have only one response to that hope:
Make it so.

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Star Trek

Soon my collection will be complete!

Paramount to bow Star Trek: Insurrection Collectorís Edition in June
After six years of waiting, Star Trek: Insurrection starring the ìNext Generationî cast is finally coming to DVD as a 2-disc Collectorís Edition as well this summer.
When the crew of the Enterprise learns of the Federation plot against inhabitants of a unique planet, Capt. Picard begins an open rebellion in an effort to defend the planetís people and the principles in which the Federation was founded.
The Collectorís Edition will feature an anamorphic widescreen transfer of the movie with 5.1 channel Dolby Digital audio. A pretty impressive list of Featurettes will be included on the release, covering topics such as ìIt Takes a Village,î ìLocation, Location, Location,î ìThe Art of Insurrection,î ìAnatomy of a Stunt,î ìThe Story of Insurrection,î ìMaking Star Trek: Insurrection,î ìDirectorís Notebook,î and ìCreating the Illusion.î Also included on the DVD are Deleted Scenes and Story Boards, as well as a Photo Gallery.
This Collectorís Edition of Star Trek: Insurrection will come to DVD on June 7 and carry a suggested retail price of only $19.99.

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Star Trek

Will you watch it now?

‘Next Gen’ Stars Visit ‘Enterprise’ Finale
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Two stars of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” will help bring the four-season voyage of the current “Trek” series, “Enterprise,” to an end.
The final two episodes of the show are scheduled for Friday, May 13, and will focus on the forming of the Federation and the role the Enterprise plays in it. “Next Generation” regulars Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis will appear as their characters from that series, William Riker and Deanna Troi.
The network announced in February that this season of “Enterprise” would be its last, resulting in howls of protest from “Trek” fans and a drive to raise enough money to finance another season of the series. Thus far the effort, organized at TrekUnited.com and SaveEnterprise.com, has raised just over $3.1 million, with $3 million of that coming from a trio of deep-pocketed anonymous donors.
The group hopes to raise $32 million, the cost of production for a full 22-episode season.
The final episodes will explore how the United Federation of Planets came to be. The first, which concludes a two-episode arc, finds the Enterprise trying to stop a human isolationist leader (guest star Peter Weller, “RoboCop”) who’s threatening to destroy Starfleet Command.
The finale will flash ahead six years, as Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula) and his crew return to Earth for the decommissioning of the ship and the signing of the Federation charter. Frakes and Sirtis will appear in a sequence set on the holodeck.

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Star Trek

She is hotter than hot, but the show itself is boring!

Blalock Says She’s Not Happy With Finale
Executive Producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga might be calling it a “valentine for Star Trek fans,” but actress Jolene Blalock said she’s not looking forward to the series finale of “Star Trek: Enterprise.”
“I don’t know where to begin with that one,” Blalock told the Toronto Star about the episode, reportedly titled “These Are the Voyages.” “The final episode is … appalling.”
Blalock, who plays T’Pol in the series, said that she was not shocked when UPN finally cancelled the series.
“It is said,” she said. “I think most of us here are still in active denial. But you’ve got to know, going in, that these last few days are going to be highly emotional.”
When the series first debuted, it brought it more than 13 million viewers. Blalock said she didn’t understand how they could’ve “somehow managed to drive 11 million of them away.”
But Blalock wasn’t all negative. She said this past season was a treat.
“It was an unexpected surprise to have the scripts that we did,” she said about the fourth season. “And I am grateful and thankful for that. It was fun to come to work again. And it was certainly much better than spending another season doing what we had been doing. It said a lot about the potential of the show.”
Blalock also saluted the fans that are trying to bring the show back, like the Save Enterprise group and TrekUnited.
“I really am touched by their [outpouring] of support, and their display of passion for the show. i was sort of caught off guard. I didn’t now that they were so adamant. But, you know, they really aren’t saying anything new. They’re just saying it louder.”
“Star Trek: Enterprise” airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on UPN.

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Star Trek

Enjoy it while it lasts!

Latest ‘Star Trek’ Series to End in May
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “Star Trek: Enterprise,” the latest incarnation of one of the most storied franchises in televised science-fiction history, will end its four-season run in May, broadcaster UPN said on Wednesday.
UPN said the last episode would air on Friday, May 13. The series generated 98 episodes over its run, although it struggled in the ratings.
The original “Star Trek” gave rise to generations of fans who eagerly took in movies, books, and follow-on television shows like “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Voyager.”
“Star Trek: Enterprise” was positioned as a prequel to the original “Star Trek.” It starred Scott Bakula and premiered in September 2001.

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Star Trek

No worries! By the time you have watched all of “STAR TERK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON” this DVD will probably be out.

The Enterprise waits in the Nexus
Paramount Home Entertainment has issued a recall on Star Trek: Generations which was due for release on September 7th. No reason has been given, but may have to do with the inconsistency of features on the disc versus the feature listing on the packaging (the box lists theatrical trailers which are not on the disc). Hopefully, if this is the case, the trailer will be added to the disc rather than removed from the packaging since Generations is currently the only Trek film without a trailer on any disc.
Donít rush to Ebay however, the disc will likely be released soon.