Subj : Re: Was It Rally That Bad? To : alt.tv.star-trek.enterprise From : Ron Hubbard Date : Thu Sep 29 2005 03:17:54 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.enterprise "Gerald Meazell" wrote in message news:W7x_e.839$Y_5.478@newssvr11.news.prodigy.com... > Ron Hubbard wrote: > > As the song says, how bizarre. I try to watch these > > shows without bias and TOS had a lot more hits > > than misses. There was a workable combination > > of humor and seriousness, and a great sense of > > camaraderie especially between Kirk, Spock, and > > McCoy but also with the other members of the > > bridge crew. > > I will give you that. TOS's characters had more depth. However I think > ENT's characters had the same depth as those of TNG and VOY. > > > > > Now special effects aside, I thought TOS was a > > damn good series. In my opinion, nothing came > > close to it's writing. But Voyager had come closest > > to TOS in terms of concept and spirit: Janeway and > > crew were on their own for the most part without > > any aid or contact from Starfleet. Much of the > > time that was the situation with Kirk & crew. > > The general consensus is the TOS's third season sucked. No wonder it > got cancelled. > > > > > Yet, I had gotten a bad taste in my mouth from the > > very first episode of Enterprise. It's dark and dingy > > compared to the NCC-1701; Archer didn't inspire > > any feeling of ... well, any of the things that made > > Kirk or even Sisko interesting. The Archer/Trip > > dynamic is even worse than Janeway and Chakotay > > and the series wasn't true to it's premise of life > > before the Federation. > > Some people just never could get it. It was a PREQUEL. Did you want > the NX-01 to be as spacious and bright as the 1701D? Please, I'm sure > our first spacefaring vehicles will look more like submarines. As for > the rest of this paragraph, it's a judgement call and I couldn't > disagree more. While Archer/Trip was no Kirk/Spock, it was way better > than Janeway/Chakotay and probably approaching Picard/Riker. Also, > where do you get the idea it wasn't true to its premise? That's what it > was all about. > > > > > > There were so many things that could've been written > > about, yet B&B chose to make Enterprise a TNG-Lite > > series with "phase" pistols (Worf made it clear that > > laser guns were in use back than and even as far as > > Pike's time), Reisa, Ferengi, and the Borg. Well, > > they did go back in time, so okay with the Borgs but > > I don't think B&B had that in mind at first. > > Phasers/Lasers is just a nit. Reisa? C'mon, just because Kirk and crew > never mentioned it doesn't mean it didn't exist or wasn't known about. > Ferengi and Borg, yes, B&B did play fast and loose with those, but they > managed to cover it up somewhat. > > > > > > Too much time was being wasted on the hostility > > between humans and Vulcans, but not until late in > > the series did it start getting good with Andorians > > and Tellarites, and any of the races that populated > > the TOS universe. Instead so much time was wasted > > with the Xindi and the pointless time travel arc. Despite > > continued criticism, they continued along a downward > > spiral until the end, then it was too little great writing > > too late to save the show. > > I will concede this point. The TCW and the Suliban were terrible things > to put in this series. They could have made very interesting stories > with just the aliens from TOS. The Human/Vulcan thing was OK by me. > Fanwise, most people's favorite aliens are the Vulcans so it was fitting > that the series had a big Vulcan focus. > > > > > I just don't see anything that makes Enterprise > > second to any Trek show; to me, it's at the very > > bottom of the list with ST:TNG a bit higher up > > than Enterprise. To me, TNG was a bit too much > > esoteric and not enough action or great aliens. > > I think all the Trek series had their bad points and ENT was no > different. The people in TNG spent waaaaay too much time on the > holodeck, for example. That thing put the ship and crew in danger over > and over both on TNG and VOY. If I had been captain of either vessel, I > would have ejected it into space and replicated some 20th century sports > equipment for used in the bay. > > It's kind of like the Rumsfeld rule: You have to like the Trek series > you have, not the one you want to have. I say it wasn't true to it's premise because so much of the beginning time it was bitching about how the Vulcans were keeping Humans down and so very little exploration; so little first contacts. Shrek became the most popular alien and we eventually did learn more about the Andorians-- when it was too late. But the Tellarites was handed to us on a plate because the Vulcans knew them. The Vulcans knew the Tholians. The damn Vulcans knew the Andorians! Where were all the first contact stories you would expect from a prequel? Another thing is that we *know* from TOS that there had been a lot of cultural contamination back in those early days like with the Horizon; yet Archer is sprouting Prime Directive stuff eleven before the Federation came into existence. B&B took all the heart, soul, and fun out of Enterprise until the last season when they got good writers-- and then it was just too late. Yes, you are so right when you say it was a prequel-- but it didn't act or seem like a prequel. Shiiit! I wanted to see first contact with Tholians, but damn, it was just a flyby scene. I might have ignored those complaints if Archer had more humor or charisma, but his damn dog had more charm than Archer. The Menagerie had shown us Pike, a damn more interesting starship captain, his crew a group with great morale, wielding there laser pistols and that whup-ass laser canon. That was a first contact story with the Talosians: was there even one first contact story with anybody the Vulcans didn't know first hand? Man, it was just one crappy prequel and B&B ignored the feedback with his blind insistence that the bad ratings weren't the fault of their [bad] writing. I don't know why you weren't disappointed, but an awful lot of people were and still are disappointed. Ron .