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[vangace]

UPN Cancels Enterprise

UPN and Paramount Network Television jointly announced Feb. 2 that its low-rated Star Trek: Enterprise has been canceled after five seasons. "This will be the final season of Star Trek: Enterprise on UPN," the companies said. The series finale will air on May 13. When Star Trek: Enterprise ends its run, it will mark the first time since 1987 that no new Trek series will appear on the air.

Enterprise becomes the first Trek series to end prematurely since the original Star Trek aired on NBC in the 1960s. All previous Trek spinoff series, including The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, have completed seven-season runs.

This year, new executive producer Manny Coto re-energized Enterprise's storylines with episodes that hearkened back to the original series. Last year, the series attempted an ambitious season-long story arc centering on the hunt for the Xindi.

UPN said that the prequel series will have produced a total of 98 episodes. The early cancellation announcement presumably allows producers to write and produce a series finale.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Ouch, don't they need 100 episodes to go into syndication?

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

(Story says five season. Whoops for whomever.)

Not a surprise, but I'm glad we got the fourth season at all. Also nice to see the earlier rumor which seemed to indicate this season would get cut short isn't quite accurate. 98 episodes would mean season 4 has 22 episodes as planned.

 

[soundwave05]

I just couldn't get into this show, despite the fact that Jolene Blalock is haaawt.

One thing I did like about it was the widescreen presentation and the more movie-like special effects though.

 

[number386]

Damn, I wasn't too fond of enterprise but this is bad news in general for Star Trek. With Nemisis bombing in theatres,and the cancellation of enterprise doen't bode well for the future of Trek. It could be a decade or more before they make another Trek series. =(

The logistics of getting canned from the UPN network is staggering, the rating must of stunk even for UPN standards.

 

[DarienA]

Too bad, this season hasn't been that bad....

 

[Manics]

I can't believe that steaming pile of crap lasted 5 seasons.

 

[ManaByte]

I can't believe that steaming pile of crap lasted 5 seasons.

It lasted four.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

The logistics of getting canned from the UPN network is staggering, the rating must of stunk even for UPN standards.

http://www.ece.ucdavis.edu/~mvrojo/entratings.htm
Viewership has gone down each year. I'm sure the necessarily higher budget was a factor, too.

 

[teiresias]

I think you need like 80 episodes to be able to sell a show into syndication. Not sure of the exact number, but you can be certain getting the required number of shows to sell the show into syndication is the only reason the show was renewed for this season at all.

 

[BuckRobotron]

That stinks. I left it behind after it seemed to get increasingly silly a couple seasons ago, but recent episodes have been great. Just as they were managing a quality turnaround...

Oh well, they should end with a bang, get the Trip/T'pol thing sorted out, and try to remember that this last season's episodes were more along the line of what many expected from the series overall.

 

[BojTrek]

Won't miss it, didn't watch it... I hate prequels...

They should have gone 100 years past Picard/Riker/Data and maybe had the Federation in turmoil and have Earth destroyed with humans trying to find another planet...

Oh wait that would be Battlestar Gallactica which I don't watch too...

It needs a vacation for 5 years...

 

[Crispy]

I think you need like 80 episodes to be able to sell a show into syndication.

What exactly is selling into syndication? Never heard of it before.

 

[SpoonyBard]

Won't miss it, didn't watch it... I hate prequels...

They should have gone 100 years past Picard/Riker/Data and maybe had the Federation in turmoil and have Earth destroyed with humans trying to find another planet...

Oh wait that would be Battlestar Gallactica which I don't watch too...

Or Andromeda...

I can't believe they have made 5 seasons of THAT.

 

[teiresias]

What exactly is selling into syndication? Never heard of it before.

You know how you can turn on the TV, switch to any local channel or any of the "buffet" cable channels and have a high probability of seeing one of the two-hundred different Law & Order shows?? That's selling into syndication.

 

[Ghost]

I havent even bothered to download it since all the crazy time travel stuff.


Stargate (both) & Battlestar are so much better at the moment anyways, my Sci-fi quota is being met.

 

[BuckRobotron]

I'm amazed Andromeda got that far too. As for Battlestar Galactica, finally got around to the episodes sitting on the Tivo over the past weeks...

Great stuff, high-quality and serious sci-fi. Check it out.

 

[Crispy]

You know how you can turn on the TV, switch to any local channel or any of the "buffet" cable channels and have a high probability of seeing one of the two-hundred different Law & Order shows?? That's selling into syndication.

Well it's not like that here in the Netherlands, but I guess you mean that by selling into syndication they aren't restricted to air on just one channel but also on smaller ones?

 

[COCKLES]

Congratulations Berman & Bragga!

"THE GUYS WHO KILLED STAR TREK"

Live long and prosper.

 

[borghe]

the syndication deal works like this....

basically at 100 episodes a broadcast television show is able to be syndicated at a price that is determined, not by the studio, but by the ratings of the competing stations in the local market. the studio really has no choice in the matter. This is all FCC hubabaloo to protect independent local stations and allow them to always have content to broadcast.

Under 100 shows, there is no syndication requirement. At this point the studio is able to shop out the show to whoever they want and charge whatever fee they want.

So you might think it sounds like it is better to not hit 100 episodes. Well, the problem is that if the station shops out the show at fewer than 100 episodes, they call all the shots and dictate the price. Many stations would never agree to anything like that. Thus the studio will receive fewer syndicated airings. However if a show hits the magic 100 episode number, it is guaranteed that almost every market will have at least one or more stations interested in at as it is a new show with weeks and weeks of programming.

So this doesn't necessarily suck for Paramount. They can still sell the show into syndication. But they will have to solicit stations and work out contracts and pricing etc. Not to mention doing so with the series cancelled will make stations much less interested. 100 episodes and still going is an indefinite supply of programming. 98 episodes and cancelled is 20 weeks of programming and then repeats.

 

[Crispy]

Thanks for the explanation Borghe, I get it now!

By the way, I'm really interested to see where the star trek series will be going now. I guess it will be one of three things:

-Movies in the trek universe with a different cast each time, maybe some cameo's from regular trek people.
- A new series
- A long (and well deserved) break from the trek universe.

The first option seems very unlikely, but I think it could work really well. There are some pretty big advantages to a different cast, like...you don't know who's going to die at the beginning of the movie. They would have to do much better work for the story and such though, because they can't rely on the attraction of the regular cast to get people to watch the movie. When one of those movies is succesful though, a whole new trek series could emerge from it.

 

[Saturnman]

I just couldn't get into this show, despite the fact that Jolene Blalock is haaawt.

Is it my imagination or is she getting thinner?

 

[Phoenix]

Or Andromeda...

I can't believe they have made 5 seasons of THAT.

Yeah, Andromeda went off the deep end into lunacy. This last season is actually what Enterprise was supposed to be about and its unfortunate that when Manny Coto and company got the helm it was too late to stop the series from plummeting into the blackhole that Berman and Braga steered it into.

 

[BigJonsson]

FUCKING HELL

LIFE WITHOUT STAR TREK IS SCARY

 

[Fuzzy]

Too bad Enterprise wasn't on a real network in the first place (UPN's penetration sucks and so did the advertising for Enterprise). I wouldn't be surprised if Enterprise gets higher ratings in each market in syndication than on the UPN affiliate.

 

[Escape Goat]

Thank you, jesus.

 

[Teal'c]

I only started watching Enterprise this season, some of the arcs are actually quite good. Oh well...

 

[ShadowRed]

You people are late I've been saying this show was going to get cancelled after this year last year. Yes it does suck that it gets shit canned right as some new blood gets in and starts turning things around. Mark my words B&B will use this as an excuse that they didn't kill Trek as it was cancelled after they stepped back, and then claim that in order to bring Trek back they need to be incharge again.

 

[android]

If only the didn't create that peice of shit show Voyager, ruining their fan base support, then maybe Enterprise would have gotten better ratings.

 

[DarienA]

I'm amazed Andromeda got that far too. As for Battlestar Galactica, finally got around to the episodes sitting on the Tivo over the past weeks...

Great stuff, high-quality and serious sci-fi. Check it out.

This season of Andromeda is like a big WTF for people who haven't followed the show religiously over the years.... Vedran, Paradine, Tar Vedron, Seefra, huh? Having followed some but not all of it over the years even I'm like WTF? sometimes.

 

[Phoenix]

If only the didn't create that peice of shit how Voyager, ruining their fan base support, then maybe Enterprise would have gotten better ratings.

And their Babylon 5 - clone, Deep Space 9, didn't help any either.

 

[DarienA]

And their Babylon 5 - clone, Deep Space 9, didn't help any either.

DS9 actually didn't do that bad at all... even storywise it finally found a good groove... and the Dominion War? Awesome....

You know I was thinking about that... you know we had the Observer Effect which was the first experience with the Organians... then of course we had the TOS episode and the establishment of their piece treaty... and the subsequent Treks have never shown them again... and they've never prevented large scale wars(like the Dominion War) again....

 

[levious]

Is the five season thing where actors from the show would get percentages of the syndication money?

 

[ShadowRed]

And their Babylon 5 - clone, Deep Space 9, didn't help any either.

Thank God you agree that DS9 sucked. I thought I was the only one on the board thought this.

This season of Andromeda is like a big WTF for people who haven't followed the show religiously over the years.... Vedran, Paradine, Tar Vedron, Seefra, huh? Having followed some but not all of it over the years even I'm like WTF? sometimes.

Yeah it's like they decided to cram all the endings to all their plots into one season. I thought the Beca realation about the Nechians(sp).

Spoiler

I actualy thought earlier in the show that Tier and Beca would create some sort of new Nechian Pride that would take over the others or at least defend the new Commonwealth when Dylan was able to reform it.

 

[Shouta]

DS9 rocked, you guys suck.

 

[Saturnman]

And their Babylon 5 - clone, Deep Space 9, didn't help any either.

How can it be a clone if they started at exactly the same time (B5 ended sooner though)? Being on a space station, for one thing, was pretty much a coincidence. You can argue DS9 copied parts of B5 (which is debatable) but it can't technically be a clone.

I can understand if the TNG fans didn't all rush to watch DS9. After all, ST:TOS had its purists and many of them didn't like TNG either. Certainly, the first season of TNG was god awful bad. I don't blame them for sticking with ST:TOS after watching that.

DS9 also had more competition in terms of other sci-fi shows than TNG faced. DS9 even competed within Paramount for writers with Voyager running in parallel for a few years.

Trek has been on a decline ever since the 5th season of ST:TNG. Viewership just steadily declined afterwards. The newer series started off with less viewers each time and the last ones, Voyager and Enterprise, ditched syndication and went on to be aired on a unpopular network, not helping matters. I wouldn't dismissed 'Star Trek fatigue' among TV audiences either.

 

[suikodan]

Voyager was my favorite ST

 

[golem]

How can it be a clone if they started at exactly the same time (B5 ended sooner though)? Being on a space station, for one thing, was pretty much a coincidence. You can argue DS9 copied parts of B5 (which is debatable) but it can't technically be a clone.

as i understand it, JMS shopped the B5 script to paramount before they made DS9...

but that doesnt necessarily mean they stole from it...

and for the record i enjoyed both shows (and i dont mean Enterprise)

 

[Shompola]

Dominion vs the shadows etc. it's quite obvious that DS9 copied B5. Doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy DS9. DS9 rocked.

 

[Saturnman]

Dominion vs the shadows etc. it's quite obvious that DS9 copied B5. Doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy DS9. DS9 rocked.

That's not much of an argument. The Dominion is just an evil Federation, one of many empires often threatening humanity in Trek.

Spoiler

Sisko reaching godhood is a better example but still debatable.

 

[Shompola]

The dominion war reminded me of the shadow wars.

 

[Shouta]

The Shadow War felt all mystical when I watched it rather than a battle of military powers like the Dominion vs Federation was. =O

 

[Boogie]

Voyager was my favorite ST

Brannan Braga, is that you?

 

[Shompola]

Voyager wasn't that bad.. Well until they introduced 7 of 9 that is. Then it went to hell and the last couple of seasons were just ridiculous. It was the very show that made me hate anything associated with the borg.

About the shadow wars beying mysterious. Yah I guess they were. My favorite battles in B5 are probably the earth civil war.

 

[tedtropy]

Voyager was my favorite ST

You are dead to me. DEAD!

 

[Phoenix]

as i understand it, JMS shopped the B5 script to paramount before they made DS9...

That is correct. The B5 script was shopped for over a year to the people who ended up pushing out DS9. They could never come to terms on a direction to adapt the show for Trek and DS9/Babylon5 were born shortly thereafter.

 

[Saturnman]

That is correct. The B5 script was shopped for over a year to the people who ended up pushing out DS9. They could never come to terms on a direction to adapt the show for Trek and DS9/Babylon5 were born shortly thereafter.

The only basic concept B5 has in common with DS9 is the space station. That's it and it's hardly a revolutionary idea.

Though JMS seem to have had a basic idea of major plot twists in the series before starting it (Trek tends to make it up as they go along), you couldn't tell really with most of the first season. There were a lot of trials and errors early on, the pilot in particular. That early script for the series must have been pretty vague and open-ended.

 

[Black Deatha]

Im soo pissed off about this right jow, I only actualy found put tody, god this sucks, Enterprise has been AWSOME this season, but those innept morons B&B drove it in to the ground. Lets see, DS9 have hardly any ofg there involvment, and it rocked, Voyager seems to be almost hated by real Trek fans, and that was the show they poured there lack of tallent in to, Enterpsise WAS hated, but when they step back, it's liked, FUCK PARAMOUNT, IT'S BLACK AND FUCKING WHITE!!!

Take those morons for a perminent visit to Gene Roddenberrys final resting place.

~Black Deatha

 

[COCKLES]

I think the new Battlestar Galactica showed without any doubt that Ron Moore was the talent behind DS9.

 

[maharg]

Heh, B5 was shopped around for much longer than a year, and was being planned and written as much as 4 years before the show started. There's promo material from attempts to get it going from as far back as the late 80s.

Detailed plot summary of the backstory in 1991