star trek enterprise set in what year

Star Trek: Enterprise

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Star Trek: Enterprise , originally titled Enterprise until Season 3, is the sixth series set in the Star Trek universe. Created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga , and based upon Gene Roddenberry 's classic 1966 Star Trek (and its subsequent spin-offs), Enterprise was a prequel set a century before the time of Kirk and Spock . The series followed the voyages of the first starship Enterprise and mankind 's first steps into the "final frontier". Initially titled as simply Enterprise , the series ran an abbreviated four seasons. The series debuted in 2001 on the United Paramount Network replacing Star Trek: Voyager . It was canceled in 2005 .

As of 2024 , due to its placement in the Star Trek timeline, Enterprise is the only Star Trek production whose continuity is not affected by the events of the 2009 film reintroducing the crew of James T. Kirk , making it the only TV series in the Star Trek universe to maintain continuity in both the prime and alternate realities .

• Main Title Theme (seasons 1-2)  file info
• Main Title Theme (seasons 3-4)  file info
• " Where My Heart Will Take Me " lyrics (composed by Diane Warren , vocals by Russell Watson )
• Mirror Main Title Theme  file info (used in episodes " In a Mirror, Darkly " and " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II ", composed by Dennis McCarthy & Kevin Kiner )
• 2 Plot summary
• 3 Reception
• 4.1 Special guest stars
• 4.2 Recurring guest stars
• 5 Production crew
• 6 Opening credits
• 7.1 Season 1
• 7.2 Season 2
• 7.3 Season 3
• 7.4 Season 4
• 7.5 Proposed Season 5 stories
• 8 Related topics
• 10 Video games
• 11 Syndication
• 12.1.1 "Archer's Theme"
• 12.1.2 "Where My Heart Will Take Me"
• 13 External links

Summary [ ]

Enterprise was created in the hopes of revitalizing the Star Trek franchise since ratings for the previous series, Star Trek: Voyager , had waned near the end. Intended to be more modern, with characters far from Gene Roddenberry's 24th century Utopian Humanity, Enterprise was situated in one of the least explored eras in the Star Trek universe and a time only 150 years from present day.

Enterprise was set in the 22nd century , at a time before the Federation and while United Earth was just becoming a player in interstellar politics .

The producers – under the guidance of Roddenberry's successor, Rick Berman – sought to set the series apart from those that had come before, creating nearly every set, prop and costume anew and tending toward a more encompassing, "you-are-there" style of storytelling.

According to comments made by Executive Producer Brannon Braga in discussions with fans at TrekMovie.com , Berman's original idea for the series was to have the entire first season set on Earth as Humanity's first-ever warp starship was constructed. This was soon decided to be too far removed from the style of the franchise as a whole, and so the premise was redrafted.

Enterprise , like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine before it, featured numerous story arcs throughout its run. Story lines included the Temporal Cold War and the Xindi arc that took up the show's entire third season.

The series was the first to incorporate lyrics into its opening theme song (unused lyrics did exist for the original series' fanfare); it also did not include the words Star Trek in its title until the third season episode " Extinction ".

Like its predecessor, Star Trek: Voyager , Enterprise aired on UPN , rather than in first-run syndication like TNG and DS9. Premiering on 26 September 2001 with a strong opening, the two-hour pilot " Broken Bow " garnered a 9.9 overnight rating and a 15% share. Ratings, however, declined over the next few seasons, dipping to an average 2.5 million viewers an episode.

As early as the second season , rumors of the show's imminent cancellation pushed the producers to find new directions to take the series. Beginning with the series' third season, Enterprise adopted a darker tone and a more violent arc, in some ways mirroring the post 9/11 sentiment.

While many critics were impressed with the new pull of the series, ratings remained low, and the show was canceled at the end of its fourth season.

Even so, Enterprise accomplished a number of technical firsts for a Star Trek series. It was the first series to air in high definition , with " Exile " being the first episode to air in that format. It was produced with third-generation Sony HDTV cameras starting in Season 4; the first 3 seasons were filmed with traditional 35mm film cameras (which were then transferred to digital for broadcast). [1] (X) The series was also the first to be produced in widescreen format. The decision to air Enterprise in the widescreen (16:9) format was made halfway through filming of the first season, which required episodes filmed prior to the decision to be re-telecined from the original masters (which had been filmed in the 4:3 ratio used for all previous Star Trek television series). [2]

Enterprise was nominated for five individual Saturn Awards , won an ASCAP Award in 2002 for "Top TV Series", was nominated for seventeen Emmy Awards , winning four, and two episodes were nominated for Hugo Awards .

Plot summary [ ]

Launched in the year 2151 , the NX-class starship Enterprise (the first of United Earth 's advanced warp five vessels) was at first on temporary assignment . Though years of preparation still lay ahead, the ship was unexpectedly put into service when a Klingon national crash-landed on Earth , putting the entire planet at stake should he not make it back to his people. Under the command of United Earth Starfleet Captain Jonathan Archer , son of the famed scientist Henry Archer , the crew of Enterprise succeeded in their mission, but found themselves surrounded by deeper mysteries. Warranting the extension of their assignment into a full-blown mission of deep space exploration, the crew of Enterprise set off into the unknown, taking with them a Vulcan science officer (or chaperone) named T'Pol and a Denobulan doctor named Phlox .

Enterprise 's first years were rocky; while the ship made contact with such species as the Suliban and the previously mentioned Klingons, such contact was not peaceful. In its first two years alone, the ship's crew found themselves in armed conflict with a range of species from the Tholians to the Coridanite to the Borg ... and things only got worse. By its third year in space, an alien species known as the Xindi brutally attacked Earth, killing millions.

The NX-01 was dispatched to a remote and previously uncharted area of space known as the Delphic Expanse in order to prevent the Xindi from completing their ultimate goal of destroying Humanity . While the mission was successful, after nearly a year in the Expanse, the ship suffered severe damage and many losses.

Upon returning home, Enterprise served a more diplomatic role in the service of United Earth, easing relations between the Vulcans, the Andorians , and the Tellarites , and paving the way toward a Coalition of Planets , an alliance that eventually lead to the founding of the United Federation of Planets . Though still often tumultuous, Enterprise continued its mission of exploration as well, bringing Humans in contact with even more new worlds and new civilizations .

Reception [ ]

During its four-year run, Enterprise was nominated for 17 Emmy Awards , mostly in "technical" categories such as visual effects and makeup. It won four: "Outstanding Hairstyling For A Series", "Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Dramatic Underscore)", and "Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Dramatic Underscore)" (twice).

Main cast [ ]

• Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer
• John Billingsley as Phlox
• Jolene Blalock as T'Pol
• Dominic Keating as Malcolm Reed
• Anthony Montgomery as Travis Mayweather
• Linda Park as Hoshi Sato
• Connor Trinneer as Charles Tucker III

Special guest stars [ ]

• Rene Auberjonois as Ezral
• Golden Brooks as Alicia Travers
• Clancy Brown as Zobral
• Keith Carradine as A.G. Robinson
• Bruce Davison as Menos
• Fionnula Flanagan as V'Lar
• Jonathan Frakes as William T. Riker
• Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi
• Brent Spiner as Doctor Arik Soong
• Peter Weller as John Frederick Paxton

Recurring guest stars [ ]

• Vaughn Armstrong as Maxwell Forrest / Maximilian Forrest
• Abby Brammell as Persis
• Jeffrey Combs as Commander Shran
• Steven Culp as Major Hayes
• John Fleck as Silik
• Gary Graham as Ambassador Soval
• James Horan as Humanoid Figure
• Ada Maris as Captain Hernandez
• Alec Newman as Malik
• Randy Oglesby as Degra
• Scott MacDonald as Commander Dolim
• Tucker Smallwood as Xindi-Primate Councilor
• Kellie Waymire as Crewman Cutler
• Joel West as Raakin
• Matt Winston as Daniels
• Rick Worthy as Jannar
• Kara Zediker as T'Pau

Production crew [ ]

• Rick Berman – Co-Creator, Executive Producer, Writer
• Brannon Braga – Co-Creator, Executive Producer, Writer
• Chris Black – Co-Executive Producer, Writer
• Manny Coto – Co-Executive Producer, Writer
• John Shiban – Co-Executive Producer, Writer
• David A. Goodman – Supervising Producer, Writer
• Ken LaZebnik – Supervising Producer, Writer
• Mike Sussman – Producer, Writer
• Alan Brennert – Producer, Writer
• André Bormanis – Executive Story Editor, Science Consultant, Writer
• Alan Kobayashi – Graphic Designer
• Dawn Velazquez – Producer
• Gene Roddenberry – Creator of Star Trek

Opening credits [ ]

The opening credits for Star Trek: Enterprise contained a number of images referencing modern-day as well as historical exploration and space travel leading up to the launch of Enterprise NX-01 in 2151, including the Enterprise OV-101 shuttle, named in real life in honor of Star Trek . Also used in the sequence is a clip of Zefram Cochrane 's ship, the Phoenix , from Star Trek: First Contact , and the real-life animated footage of the Mars rover .

Two versions of the opening title sequence were created, one for the prime Star Trek universe to the tune of " Where My Heart Will Take Me " which was seen at the beginning of the majority of episodes, and the other which documented the rise of the Terran Empire in the mirror universe episodes " In a Mirror, Darkly " and " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II " which was done to an instrumental.

Episode list [ ]

Season 1 [ ].

ENT Season 1 , 25 episodes:

Season 2 [ ]

ENT Season 2 , 26 episodes:

Season 3 [ ]

ENT Season 3 , 24 episodes:

Season 4 [ ]

ENT Season 4 , 22 episodes:

Proposed Season 5 stories [ ]

Related topics [ ].

• ENT directors
• ENT performers
• ENT recurring characters
• ENT studio models
• ENT writers
• Undeveloped ENT episodes
• Paramount Stage 8
• Paramount Stage 9
• Paramount Stage 18

The wrap party for Enterprise was held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, 7000 Hollywood Boulevard on Wednesday, April 13, 2005 at 7:00 pm. "Dress Festive" and notations that cocktails, dinner, and a DJ were available were on the invitations. The introduction featured the following text: " This Mission May Be Over But Let's Get The Party Started! Paramount Network Television invites you and your guest to journey back in time at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and glimpse the future in the newly-launched Theodore Restaurant and Lounge. Let's commemorate the final voyage of Star Trek: Enterprise . "

Video games [ ]

Only two official video games set in the Enterprise era have been released – Star Trek: Encounters and Star Trek: Legacy . However, these two games are not true Enterprise games, as they cover the franchise as a whole.

Syndication [ ]

With four seasons, Enterprise reached syndication less than a year after its cancellation, in some markets airing multiple times a week beginning on 17 September 2005 . The syndication run of the series features the first episode of season 1 , two episodes of season 2 , and all episodes of the final season . Notable stations cleared Enterprise in syndication for most of the run including WNBC in New York City, KNBC in Los Angeles and WCIU in Chicago. However, with the 40th anniversary of Star Trek , Enterprise was replaced in syndication by "remastered" versions of classic TOS episodes on 16 September 2006 .

Episodes are available on CBS.com and its sister site TV.com . Netflix online streaming subscribers can also view episodes.

The first three seasons are also available on the Xbox Live Marketplace (currently US only), a premium service offered with the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Each episode costs about two to three US dollars, and are available in both standard and high-definition widescreen. Two part episodes are broken up into two separate episodes and must be purchased separately.

All seasons are also available on the iTunes Store and on Amazon Instant Video in both standard and high-definition widescreen.

• Star Trek: Enterprise novels
• Star Trek: Enterprise soundtracks
• Star Trek: Enterprise on VHS
• Star Trek: Enterprise on DVD
• Star Trek: Enterprise on Blu-ray

"Archer's Theme" [ ]

"Archer's Theme" is an instrumental piece of music used over the closing credits. It was composed by Dennis McCarthy .

The theme was originally intended to be played over the opening credits of the show. ( citation needed • edit ) McCarthy, having also composed the theme for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , wrote the piece in a style reminiscent of the later Star Trek series. Even though the piece opens with a subdued but recognizable version of Star Trek theme fanfare, McCarthy wrote it in keeping with the spirit of the show to be overall less classical and more modern instrumentally.

The producers' decision to use "Where My Heart Will Take Me" in its stead was a controversial decision that the producers made in an attempt to make the series appeal to an audience wider than that of existing Trek fans. ( citation needed • edit )

Altogether four different versions of end credits were used in the show. In the pilot episode, "Broken Bow", an instrumental version of "Where My Heart Will Take Me", also known as "Faith of the Heart", was used.

In the following episode, " Fight or Flight ", "Archer's Theme" is heard in a different arrangement. In addition, there is a different closing theme in the double feature " In a Mirror, Darkly ", reprising this episode's unique opening credits music.

"Where My Heart Will Take Me" [ ]

The use of an album-oriented rock theme tune is in stark contrast to previous series in the franchise, and provoked a negative reaction in some fans, ( citation needed • edit ) to the point of protesting outside the studios.

One of its most prominent detractors is Simon Pegg . Pegg was a fan of Star Trek prior to appearing in the films, but according to a 2011 interview:

" I think that the theme music to Enterprise was probably the most hideous Star Trek moment in history. I couldn't believe that they had this great idea of sort of pre-Kirk/Spock Star Trek , and they gave it a dreadful soft-rock music start. It just seemed so ill-advised. I mention Admiral Archer [in 2009's Star Trek ] – it isn't struck off because of the terrible music. Scotty actually mentions him. But [the theme music] is terrible. I've never seen Enterprise , because I couldn't get past that music. It would still be ringing in my ears when the show starts. " [3] (X)

External links [ ]

• Star Trek: Enterprise at StarTrek.com
• Star Trek: Enterprise at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek: Enterprise at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek: Enterprise at Wikipedia
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein

Den of Geek

Star Trek: Enterprise – An Oral History of Starfleet’s First Adventure

It’s been 20 years since the Star Trek: Enterprise pilot brought us the first Star Trek prequels. With the cast and creators, we take a look back at how it all began.

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Before Discovery or Strange New Worlds , the early days of the future as postulated by Star Trek were explored in the television series Star Trek: Enterprise . Celebrating its 20 th anniversary at the end of the month, it was set roughly 75 years prior to The Original Series , during the fledgling days of Starfleet, when humanity was first venturing out into the cosmos. 

Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer captained the first starship given the name Enterprise, leading a team consisting of humans, a Vulcan, and a Denobulan. The voyage wasn’t always a smooth one, but certainly an important part of the canon. What follows, presented in oral history format, is a look back at the show’s formative days.  

BRANNON BRAGA (executive producer/co-creator): Star Trek always needs fresh blood. I left the franchise before Enterprise ; I just said, “I can’t do this anymore.” I remember where I was and what I was working on and where I was standing and at what point in time when I officially burnt out on Star Trek . I decided not to do the seventh season of Voyager and then I was asked to create Enterprise . Rick Berman had a really cool idea for it and I said, “You know what? I’m going to do this one more time.” One could argue maybe I shouldn’t have. Rick was a really good overlord, but even he needed fresh writers. One could argue maybe we both should have left earlier. 

RICK BERMAN (executive producer/co-creator): As Voyager was ending, the studio came and said, “Let’s get another one up and going.” I begged them to let the franchise have a few years’ rest. In fact, they wanted it to start before Voyager ended and I managed to get them to at least wait until Voyager went off the air. The question was, what could we do that was different? I’d been working a great deal with Brannon, and so I asked him to work with me on creating a new series. Our decision, and I still think it was a good one, was to change the time period. We had done three shows that took place in the 24th century, and I thought it was time to go to another century. To go forward meant spacesuits that were a little sleeker and ships that were a little shinier, but it wasn’t that much to invent what had come before. 

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BRANNON BRAGA: Rick called me and said, “What do you think about setting it between the film First Contact and Kirk’s time?” And I said I thought that was a great idea. We started talking about it and considered what it would give us, and it evolved from there. We never considered another concept. We thought that First Contact seemed to be more of a relatable film somehow, because it had characters from the near future versus the distant future, and it allowed a more non– Star Trek audience to embrace Star Trek . You didn’t really have to know much to enjoy that movie. 

RICK BERMAN: There was no Star Trek canon to respond to how Earth got from being in this post-apocalyptic nightmare to being in the world of Kirk and Spock with Starfleet Academy. So our feeling was to pick a time somewhere within that, when the first humans are going into space on warp-capable vessels, and they’re not as sure of themselves as Kirk or Picard were. They’re taking baby steps. We knew, with Enterprise , that we wanted to turn the ship [the franchise] around. We were dealing with the time when the first warp-drive ship was being developed for a crew of humans. There were no holodecks and people didn’t beam themselves anywhere, they just beamed cargo. It just seemed to be the right idea, so it’s the one we pursued. 

BRANNON BRAGA: The biggest challenge was that the studio wanted something, but they were dubious about the prequel idea when we went in to pitch it. I don’t think they liked it very much. They thought Star Trek should be about moving forward and not moving backward. We were asking questions like, “How did we end up building the first warp ship? What was it like to meet a Klingon for the first time?” People had ball caps and walked dogs and wore tennis shoes and are more identifiable as people than, say, a Captain Picard, who is more of an idyllic man of the future that you probably wouldn’t recognize as a person that you could ever meet today. 

RICK BERMAN: From the point of view of some fans, there’s the great sense of continuity that the shows have had, and they’re very, very particular about that. A lot of them were not happy about things that they felt were outside the canon of Star Trek . A lot of them felt that Brannon and I ignored that, which we absolutely didn’t. We tried to pay great attention to it and we had people who knew Star Trek backward and forward that helped us, but obviously there were things that had to be dealt with and adjusted.

SCOTT BAKULA (actor, “Captain Jonathan Archer”): Enterprise is The Right Stuff . That kind of energy of being the first ones out there and being a little scared sometimes and being a little overwhelmed by the experience, which I think is a great emotion to have to play with. Americans have explored our planet in a variety of different ways. Some successfully, some not. We have a wide history of exploration in this country. Certainly different experiences in Vietnam and places like that where we tried to impose our ideas or philosophies on different cultures, and still are in many places around this planet. Making it more about the experience and less about planting the flag. In other words, enjoying the experience and learning from it, rather than saying, “Now we’re here and we’re going to tell you how to do it. We’ve got good ideas and can do things better than you.” So if you’re someone out there looking to do good, and looking to explore in a healthy way, there’s a great responsibility to that. As well as a great temptation to change and alter and fix. Which became this very wonderful kind of play within the show, which is, how are we all going to deal with not only being out there, but the choices we make? 

BRANNON BRAGA: Archer is something between Chuck Yeager and Kirk. He’s anything but the fully enlightened man that Picard is.

RICK BERMAN: It was very important for us to have a captain who was not necessarily that sure of himself, because we wanted him to be different from all the other captains. The other captains got on a spaceship at warp five or warp seven, they never thought twice about it. They ran into aliens every week and they never thought twice about it. We wanted a captain who was taking those first steps out into the galaxy; we wanted him to be a little green, a leader of men and at the same time, somebody who was in awe of everything he saw. With Scott, it just seemed like the perfect fit. 

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JAMES L. CONWAY (director, Enterprise pilot): Scott Bakula was the only actor ever discussed for Archer. Problem was, his deal wasn’t closed until the table read of the script three days before production began. In fact, there were rumors he was going to a CBS comedy pilot and we got very worried. We had never met him, talked to him, or heard him do the material. All during the casting process the casting director was the only one to read Archer’s dialogue. So it was a relief and pleasure to hear Scott brilliantly bring Archer to life at the table read. 

SCOTT BAKULA: I responded to the idea of it and this character, and then I got the script for the pilot and everything just fell into place. I liked the character and it was really a return, in many ways, to what the original Star Trek was all about.

JAMES L. CONWAY: Scott brought a humanity to Archer that’s hard to put on the printed page. Also, as an actor and star of the show, Scott brought a top-notch work ethic and professionalism to the production. As star of the show, he set a great example for everyone. 

BRANNON BRAGA: The funny thing about Scott’s take on the character was he spoke in kind of an unusual cadence when he was Archer and I could never figure it out. Someone told me he was a huge John Wayne fan. I’ve never talked to Scott about it, but I think he may have been doing a little bit of a John Wayne thing. He was our only choice. 

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SCOTT BAKULA: We had a different dynamic on our show, and I’ve thought about it since then, because basically I was the older captain compared to the younger guys on the crew. John Billingsley’s in the middle there somewhere. That’s why I think the stuff between him and me was always special, even though he was nonhuman. There was a different kind of distance between characters created by the casting. We were building those relationships, but it was still from a different place. 

RICK BERMAN: John Billingsley is a character actor and somebody else who’s in tremendous demand. He’s just a wonderful guy. We wanted sort of a wise, quirky alien to play that role of Phlox. Somebody who would be our doctor, and he did a marvelous job. He’s another actor I would do anything to work with again. 

JAMES L. CONWAY: We were having trouble finding an actress for T’Pol. We read a lot of actresses, looked at a lot of names on a wish list, but couldn’t find anyone we liked. The role was critical, because she was a Vulcan and had to be able to “be” a Vulcan, yet still have sex appeal. Thankfully we saw a demo of Jolene’s work, loved it, and then met and read and loved her. 

JOLENE BLALOCK (actress, “T’Pol”): I grew up on Star Trek . My favorite was Spock. I would sit there with my dad and my brother just watching the show, watching the relationship between Captain Kirk, Bones, and Spock. My favorite relationship was between Bones and Spock, because it was just this animosity and this love-hate relationship. But overall there was such utter loyalty between all three of them. I love the way they worked together, just the way Bones would be, like, “You green-blooded fool.” Somewhere in The Next Generation , I got lost. 

BRANNON BRAGA: We wanted a Vulcan babe like Saavik, and wanted a Vulcan on board because the Vulcans were very antagonistic toward humans and she was essentially a chaperone, which really rankled Archer. Their relationship worked kind of nicely, and we saw T’Pol, Archer, and Trip as our triumvirate of characters. 

JOLENE BLALOCK: I personally believed that T’Pol should have more of her Vulcan culture. I didn’t believe she should be so desperate to be like everyone else, because the original Star Trek , which I grew up with, had a very simple message that I took from it, and that is that not everyone is like me, and I’m not perfect, and nobody’s perfect, and that’s okay. That really helped me.

RICK BERMAN: Connor was the only actor in four television series that I had to fight for. I just love this guy. I think he’s a remarkable actor, and I saw four pieces of tape on various things that he had done, and there was just something about him; that this character, Trip, that we had written, he was just made for. 

CONNOR TRINNEER (actor, “Charles ‘Trip’ Tucker III”): I wanted this job a lot . It was a good, time-tested franchise with a good audience. It had so many different things happening in it and it gave me the opportunity to play kind of a space cowboy—it was a dream job. Plus, you got to use your imagination as you’re meeting new species and races. Since this was our first time out, everything was new and we weren’t used to anything. You, as the actor, got to take in something as the audience did for the very first time, which was my experience as both an actor and a character. 

ANTHONY MONTGOMERY: It was incredible. There was an electricity that just ran to my core, and it was because I was sitting at the helm of a show, being a part of a franchise that I grew up with and knew about. I’m not a Trekkie by any stretch of the imagination, but I still understand enough about the franchise that it made me say, “Wow, this is real!” That was even more exciting and intense than when I got the call saying I got the part. 

RICK BERMAN: We were looking for an African American actor. We wanted someone young—we wanted this whole cast to be a lot more approachable, in a way; we wanted the audience to be able to relate to them more than they could other shows. Anthony was gorgeous, a terrific actor, and pretty much talked himself into the role the first day we saw him. We also wanted an Asian actor to play the role of communications officer and go back to a little listening device like Uhura had had in The Original Series . We also wanted her to be a translator of almost magical abilities. And Linda nailed it. We wanted somebody very vulnerable and someone who was not into flying on spaceships. In the first audition she completely got it and did very well. 

LINDA PARK (actor, “Hoshi Sato”): There’s a lot of growth that happened for me, not only as an actor in front of the camera, but as a businesswoman. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that part of being an actor is that you are your own business, especially when you become successful at any level; you see how you work as a business and you can’t say, “I’m just an artist, and I don’t need to concern myself with the practical,” because it’s just as important to keep your artistic tools as sharp as your business tool. That’s the biggest thing I learned. In the end, it is my career and my life that these decisions are being made about. 

RICK BERMAN: I had met Dominic on the first day of the last season of Voyager . He had the role of an English character. We were still a year away from going into production on the new series, but we were already starting to write it. He came in and I said to him, “We’ve got a role for you in a series that we’re creating that’s not going to be going on the air for eight or nine months, whatever it is, but I don’t want to use you up here.” This guy looked at me and said, “You’re right.” 

DOMINIC KEATING: I had a chat with Brannon and Rick where I said, “I’m quite excited, and honestly, I’ll say whatever you put in front of me, but I would like it that he isn’t just the talking head Brit on an American spaceship.” Brannon said, “You won’t be saying lines like ‘My dear old mum.’” When I read the breakdown, he’s described as “buttoned-down, by the book, wry, dry, shy around women.” I’m like, “Oh, crap, I’ve got to act this.” 

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JAMES L. CONWAY: The pilot of Enterprise was terrific. But then the first season was very repetitive and it felt like it was written by people who were burned out. And Brannon copped to this, saying he had made some bad choices in hiring staff and he was burned out from finishing up on Voyager . So I think that first season suffered and it took him awhile to re-steer that ship.

BRANNON BRAGA: When we were shooting the pilot and it was time for me to start writing episodes, I had a lot of things that I wanted to do. But once the ship officially set sail, I felt constrained. I felt, “Here we go again,” and I felt very challenged. Also, it was the first time I wasn’t working with people I’d worked with before. It was a large staff of ten people, and Star Trek was notoriously difficult to find writers for, because it was a hard show to write. I don’t even want to say hard; it’s unique. It just had a specific voice, and I had this writing staff that was new to the genre. Out of ten people, I think just a couple survived that first year. 

Ed Gross | @EdGross

Ed Gross is an entertainment journalist who has served on a variety of editorial staffs throughout his career, among them Cinescape, Movie Magic, Cinefantastique, closerweekly.com and…

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Season 1 – Star Trek: Enterprise

Where to watch, star trek: enterprise — season 1.

Watch Star Trek: Enterprise — Season 1 with a subscription on Paramount+, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

While some may find Star Trek: Enterprise a welcome return to a familiar universe, it's equally as likely to repel those uninterested in mining stories from the franchise's past.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Scott Bakula

Capt. Jonathan Archer

Connor Trinneer

Cmdr. Charles "Trip" Tucker III

Jolene Blalock

Subcommander T'Pol

Dominic Keating

Lt. Malcolm Reed

Anthony Montgomery

Ensign Travis Mayweather

Ensign Hoshi Sato

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Critics reviews, season info.

The History Of Star Trek's Rachel Garrett, The Enterprise's First Female Captain

At the end of the 1986 film "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," Kirk (William Shatner), having gone back in time to retrieve extinct humpback whales and save the Earth from a space monster, was "punished" with a cheeky demotion to the rank of captain . He was also given a starship to command in the newly built U.S.S. Enterprise-A. 

The following year, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" debuted, and it was set about 85 years after the events of "Star Trek IV." The new series took place on board the U.S.S. Enterprise-D. The alphabetical jump immediately intrigued Trekkies and chin-stroking began forthwith. Wither the Enterprise-B and Enterprise-C? Those ships provided a canonical mystery that wouldn't be revealed for a few years yet. 

Then, in the third season of "Next Generation," one of those ships was finally revealed. In "Yesterday's Enterprise," a time portal opened up in front of the Enterprise-D and the Ambassador-class Enterprise-C flew out of it. It seems, however, that Enterprise-C's departure from its own timeline was catastrophic, as it vanished from a crucial battle about 20 years earlier. Thanks to causality, the Enterprise-D transformed into an alternate, wartime version of itself. 

An ethical quandary arose. Should the Enterprise-C return to its own timeline and to certain doom, or should it stay in the 24th century and aid the (failing) war effort? The former decision would restore the galaxy to peace and save millions of lives, while the latter would save the lives of the C's crew. It's a trolley problem of galactic proportions.  

The decision was ultimately pondered by the captain of the Enterprise-C, Rachel Garrett (Tricia O'Neil). Garrett, like any Starfleet captain, was resolute and cared deeply about her crew and ship. She met an untimely end.

Captain Rachel Garrett: The Early Days

Captain Garrett only ever appeared in "Yesterday's Enterprise," and her name wouldn't be mentioned in "Star Trek" again until the mention of her memorial in a 2023 episode of "Star Trek: Picard," a series set in the first decade of the 25th century. Garrett, at that late date, had a statue erected in her honor outside of a Starfleet recruitment facility. Sadly, thanks to a murderous gravity weapon, Garrett's statue was also destroyed on the day of its dedication ceremony. The poor captain never gets a break. 

Rachel Garrett was the only female captain of a ship named Enterprise until Seven of Nine ( Jeri Ryan ) was appointed the captain of the U.S.S. Titan-A, which had, at the time of her captaincy, been rechristened the Enterprise-G. If one abides by "Star Trek" novels — which are non-canonical, but Trekkies are willing to entertain — Demora Sulu (played by Jacqueline Kim in "Star Trek: Generations") also served as the captain of the Enterprise-B after John Harriman (Alan Ruck) signed the Treaty of Algeron. In terms of "Star Trek" chronology, Captain Sulu may have preceded Captain Garrett, but in terms of TV air dates, Garrett was created first. As far as many Trekkies were concerned in 1990, Captain Garrett was the first female captain of the Enterprise. 

There was also a comic book wherein Kirk was born female in a parallel universe. That's too obscure to mention, though.

Little has been said about Rachel Garrett's personal life in actual "Star Trek" dialogue, though. Luckily, as with everything in the franchise, the character has novels and a vast amount of expanded universe lore to draw from to fill in the details. Notably, Ilsa B. Bick's 2003 book "Well of Souls" expands greatly on Rachel Garrett and her history.

Garrett's personal life

By "Well of Souls" and a few other mentions in "Star Trek" novels, Captain Garrett was married to a Betazoid xenoarcheologist named Ven Kaldarren whom she met while a Lieutenant Junior Grade on the U.S.S. Argo (not to be confused with Captain Picard's dumb-ass dune buggy ). The two had a son named Jason (a name perhaps inspired by her service on the Argo) before she and her husband divorced. As a Commander, Rachel Garrett served as the first officer on board a ship called the U.S.S. Carthage. In a fun repurposing of events, the Carthage was mentioned in an episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" as being present at an obscure war event called the Betreka Nebula Incident. No further details of the Incident are known. 

In the 2000 book "Enterprise Logs" the short story called "Hour of Fire" by Robert Greenberger, however, Garrett's tenure as a first officer was said to be aboard a ship called the U.S.S. Gandhi. It's possible, though, that she served as the first officer on board multiple ships.

When Garrett was promoted to Captain, she was given command of the brand-new Enterprise-C. Thanks to the events of "Yesterday's Enterprise," we also know how Garrett died: in an explosion, a chunk of metal was embedded in her head, killing her instantly. 

In the 1998 video game "Starship Creator," some other fun, incidental details were included in Captain Garrett's biography. She has a sister named Sarah, for instance, and a brother named Robert James. She was born in Madison, Indiana to parents named Judith and David. No details were provided about Captain Garrett's family. Indeed, those names are so obscure that even the writers of "Star Trek: Lower Decks" wouldn't think to mention them. 

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Published Jan 6, 2023

Nearly 20 Years Ago, One Enterprise Epic Set the Stage for Discovery

Both Enterprise and Discovery featured a new look at Vulcan culture that shook up the status quo.

StarTrek.com / Rob DeHart

When Sarek and Amanda Grayson grapple with the complicated destinies of their children on Star Trek: Discovery , it’s easy to forget that the political landscape these outer space parents are navigating is a kaleidoscope of various canonical influences from across the entire spectrum of the Star Trek timeline.

From “ Amok Time ” to “ Yesteryear ” to the lush depiction of the planet Vulcan in the Star Trek feature films, nearly every Vulcan-centric episode of Discovery pulls something from other facets of Star Trek . But, arguably, the origin of the Vulcan culture, as we understand it, was best defined in an epic three-part episode of the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise that probably doesn’t get the props it deserves.

It’s hard to believe that it’s nearly two decades since the first airing of “ The Forge ,” on November 19, 2004, but this Enterprise story would change Star Trek canon forever. Throughout its three-parts — “The Forge,” “ Awakening ,” and “ Kir'Shara " — Star Trek not only redefined the Vulcans as we know them, but also set the stage for a huge Vulcan comeback in Star Trek: Discovery .

StarTrek.com

The secret to doing this was simply making Vulcan culture seem real and, importantly, flawed . The knowledge that the Vulcans are a complicated race of people with as many pitfalls in their history as our own is one of the most important things about not only these characters, but the mythos of Star Trek in general. After all, Star Trek has proven time and again that there’s more to their recurring alien races than viewers initially perceive.

There’s a fairly hilarious scene in the second part of the Enterprise arc, where Commander Tucker and Ambassador Soval have a conversation that could have very well serve as the plot synopsis for the first episode of Star Trek: Discovery . In a tense moment during “Awakening,” Tucker asks, “How many warning shots do Vulcans usually fire?" to which Soval answers, “None.” In microcosm, these two quick lines of dialogue sum-up the relationship between humans and Vulcans throughout all of Star Trek . Sure, the Vulcans are basically pacifists, but you don’t mess with them because of their violent past; they have the ability to be as militaristic as the rest of the quadrant but choose not to. That dichotomy is deeply profound, not only for these specific two series — Enterprise and Discovery — but also for the various metaphors the Vulcans represent in real life.

While some naysayers might complain that Enterprise changed the background the Vulcans too much, the reality is the entire depiction of this culture in the series was brilliant because it added depth that was previously absent. Clearly, we have decades of fan devotion that prove that Vulcans were cool before Enterprise but they were mostly cool when they were part of Starfleet. What Enterprise did was make the whole planet into a realistic political body, and that meant there was a diversity of different political viewpoints. In other words, Enterprise got rid of the concept of a stereotypical Vulcan, and showed, perhaps for the first time, how truly infinite and diverse this culture actually is.

A good example of this is Robert Foxworthy as the war-mongering V’Las . When we meet him, V’las is hell-bent on wiping-out a religious sect of Vulcans called Syrrannites. He’s not doing this because it’s moral but, because in his own twisted logic, he’s trying to frame the Syrrannites for the bombing of the Earth embassy. His people blew up the embassy, and he wants humans off Vulcan, so “logically” he needs a scapegoat. In a sense, V’las is the beginning of the logic extremists we see in Star Trek: Discovery ; the biggest difference being those Vulcans don’t even bother framing people for their bombings. A knee-jerk reaction would be to say that V’las doesn’t act like a real Vulcan. And yet, we know that Spock can smile as seen in “The Cage,” and that his brother, Sybok, can belt out huge belly laughs and commit the crime of ‘grand-theft-starship.’ There’s an entire emotional spectrum for Vulcans, and this Enterprise puts all those feelings into harsh perspective.

At this point, the Vulcans lack the faith to believe in the existence of Katras ; the spirit of a Vulcan’s mind that is such an integral part of Spock’s journey in The Search for Spock , and Michael Burnham’s travails in “The Vulcan Hello,” “Battle at the Binary Stars,” and “Lethe.” In “Awakening,” we find out that Captain Archer is given the Katra of Surak — the spirit of the Vulcan who prevented his people from turning into the Romulans, or as they were known in ancient history, “those who marched beneath the raptor’s wings.”

On the other side of all the corrupt politics is the young Vulcan T’Pau , played in this episode by Kara Zediker, (previously famous as the elder played by Celia Lovsky in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Amok Time”). If you were to watch Enterprise before TOS (which is arguably a good way to do it), T’Pau becomes an amazing character who goes on a fairly revelatory journey. In “Awakening,” T’Pau distrusts humans to the point of prejudice, but after a human, Captain Archer, is given the Katra of Surak, T’Pau comes around to the idea that humans probably are the ticket to a saner and more stable version of her planet.

In First Contact , and throughout all of Enterprise , it’s implied that Vulcans swept in and helped save us humans from ourselves. But, by the end of part three of this story, “Kir'Shara,” it’s clearly the other way around. With a human bringing the original Surak texts back to the Vulcan High Command, and a Starfleet ship preventing an all-out war with the Andorians, the slightly irrational and less experienced human race ends up being the missing piece that helps bring logic and sanity back to Vulcan.

If you then fast-forward to Star Trek: Discovery , you find that everything about the Vulcan society Sarek, Amanda, and Michael Burnham are dealing with is still there. In “The Vulcan Hello,” we’re again reminded that Vulcans don’t fire warning shots, and in “Lethe,” a group of extremists uses terrorism as an act of xenophobia. Even though the planet Vulcan is a little more sophisticated and its government less corrupt than it was during Enterprise , the planet Vulcan of Discovery is still dealing with the same old problems. Fictionally, the Vulcans and humans are separate species, but in terms of social commentary, the moody Vulcans of both Enterprise and Discovery present a kind of dark mirror for our own political turmoils on planet Earth. Surak was able to stop all-out war thousands of years before the events of Enterprise , but extremists nearly take over the government in the 2150s. About 100 years later, Sarek is still dealing with highly prejudiced people on the one side, refusing to admit Michael to the Vulcan Expeditionary Group; and on the other side, he’s got logic extremists blowing up shuttle crafts and learning centers.

Watching this three-parter of Enterprise back-to-back with Discovery might make you feel bad for the good Vulcans. After all, in both eras, they are struggling to make sure their logical culture lives long and prospers, but are faced with more problems from within than from without. If you were just to scan the plot synopsis, the message might read as cynical - the more bad Vulcans change, the more they stay bad. But, when you watch these Enterprise episodes, there’s not a shred of cynicism in the stories at all. At this point, the Vulcans may not have gotten to the point of solid stability we see in Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Next Generation , but they’re changing and getting better all the time. This fraught Enterprise epic isn’t about illogical Vulcans behaving badly; it’s about the hope that they’ll find a way to get over all this chaos.

So if you love Spock and Michael Burnham on Star Trek: Discovery , it might be a good time to thank Captain Archer, T’Pol and T’Pau on Star Trek: Enterprise . The future might not have been rediscovered without them.

This article was originally published on November 19, 2019.

Ryan Britt's (he/him) essays and journalism have appeared in Tor.com, Inverse, Den of Geek!, SyFy Wire, and elsewhere. He is the author of the 2015 essay collection Luke Skywalker Can't Read. He lives in Portland, Maine, with his wife and daughter.

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1-4 are currently streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. Internationally, the series is available on Paramount+ in Australia, Italy, Latin America, the U.K. and South Korea, as well as on Pluto TV in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland on the Pluto TV Sci-Fi channel. It will also stream exclusively on Paramount+ in Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria later this year. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave. STAR TREK: DISCOVERY is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

Stay tuned to StarTrek.com for more details! And be sure to follow @StarTrek on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

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• Cast & crew

Star Trek Enterprise: The Definitive History

• A century before Captain Kirk's five-year mission, Jonathan Archer captains the United Earth ship Enterprise during the early years of Starfleet, leading up to the Earth-Romulan War and the formation of the Federation.
• Star Trek: Enterprise, titled simply Enterprise for its first two seasons, is an American science fiction television series created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. It originally aired from September 26, 2001, to May 13, 2005 on UPN. The sixth series in the Star Trek franchise, it is a prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the 22nd century, a hundred years before the events of The Original Series, it follows the adventures of the Enterprise, Earth's first star-ship capable of traveling at warp five, as it explores the galaxy and encounters various alien species. Following the culmination of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and with Star Trek: Voyager scheduled to end, UPN asked Braga and Berman to create a new series to continue the franchise. Rather than setting it in the 24th century alongside Deep Space Nine and Voyager, they decided to set it in an earlier period, allowing them to explore new parts of the Star Trek fictional universe. Wanting a more basic, relatable, character-driven series, Berman and Braga concentrated on a core trio: Captain Jonathan Archer (played by Scott Bakula), Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), and Sub-commander T'Pol (Jolene Blalock). — Shane Montgomery

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• How <i>Picard</i> Fits Into the <i>Star Trek</i> Timeline

How Picard Fits Into the Star Trek Timeline

I t’s been 26 long years since Star Trek: The Next Generation graced the small screen. But beginning Jan. 23, a new series centered around that show’s captain, Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), will “boldly go” to the network’s streaming service, CBS All Access. Star Trek: Picard is about our titular captain’s life many years after his last fateful mission for Starfleet.

But how does Picard fit into the larger Star Trek timeline? The CBS series is set where no Trek has gone before, well past the events of TV’s Star Trek: Voyager and the last film of the Picard era, Star Trek: Nemesis. Many fan favorite characters are expected to return, including Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Seven-of-Nine (Jeri Ryan).

For Trek nerds out there, this means Picard takes place in the “prime” timeline, which is where each of the television series and the original films live. In 2009, J.J. Abrams rebooted the series with the film Star Trek, creating a new timeline for the already confusing Trek universe. In the film, a bad guy travels back in time and destroys the USS Kelvin, killing Captain Kirk’s father, George Kirk, in the process. All three of J.J. Abrams’ movies take place in this alternate timeline called the “Kelvin Timeline,” after the annihilated ship.

To familiarize yourself with the Trek universe, here are the two timelines:

Prime Timeline

Star Trek: Enterprise (2151-2161)

Airdate: 2001-2005

Plot: Set 100 years before the Enterprise ‘s mission in the original Star Trek , this series traces the adventures of the first Warp 4 capable Starfleet ship, also called Enterprise . Scott Bakula starred as the human captain Jonathan Archer, and Jolene Blalock as the Vulcan officer T’Pol.

Star Trek Discovery (2255)

Airdate: 2017-

Plot: Sonequa Martin-Green plays officer Michael Burnham, a human who was raised by Spock’s parents, Amanda and Sarek. Burnham has suppressed her human tendencies in order to assimilate into the hyper-logical Vulcan society but tries to reconnect with her emotional side when she serves Captain Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) and then Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs).

Star Trek (2265-2269)

Airdate: 1966-1969

Plot: The original Star Trek series created by Gene Roddenberry featured Captain James Kirk (William Shatner), First Officer Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ), Officer Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan), Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) and the other Starfleet members on a mission of exploration and self-improvement. One of the most diverse shows on television at the time, Star Trek ran for three seasons and inspired future space sagas like Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica .

Star Trek: The Animated Series (2269-2270)

Airdate: 1973-1974

Plot: After the original series went off the air, Roddenberry created an animated series that continued the stories of Star Trek and reunited much of the same cast to do voice work for cartoon versions of their characters.

Original Star Trek movies (2273-2293)

Airdate: 1979-1991

Plot: Roddenberry leveraged the massive success of the syndicated series into a number of feature films starring Shatner and Nimoy. Star Trek: The Motion Picture , Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , Star Trek V: The Finale Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country continued established storylines.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (2364-2370)

Airdate: 1987-1994

Plot: Set 100 years after the events of the original Star Trek , this series followed Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew (Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton and Marina Sirtis, among them) on the fifth iteration of the Enterprise , USS Enterprise-D .

Next Generation Movies (2293-2379)

Airdate: 1994-2002

Plot: In Star Trek: Generations (1994), Captain Picard teams up with the once-presumed-dead Captain Kirk. The story unites the casts from the two Star Trek series at the time, effectively passing the baton from Shatner to Stewart. The Next Generation cast went on to star in three more movies, sans the original cast: Star Trek: First Contact , Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek Nemesis .

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2369-2375)

Airdate: 1993-1999

Plot: Set on a space station rather than a starship, Deep Space Nine focuses on the adventures of the people charged with guarding the opening to a wormhole at the end of the galaxy. Deep Space Nine was helmed by Trek’ s first black captain, Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks). It was also the first Trek series created without Roddenberry, who gave the concept his approval before he passed away in 1991.

Star Trek: Voyager (2371-2378)

Airdate: 1995-2001

Plot: After the ship Voyager gets stranded in the Delta Quadrant (the far side of the Milky Way galaxy) while searching for a renegade ship, they must make the 75-year journey home. Voyager was fronted by Trek’ s first female captain, Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).

Star Trek: Picard (2399-?)

Airdate: 2020 — ? (A second season is already in the works)

Plot: Many years after a daring mission to save a dying planet, Captain Picard — now an Admiral — has left Starfleet (or, more accurately, Starfleet has left him). But when a mysterious young woman with a potential connection to a certain beloved android shows up at his doorstep, it sets in motion events that lead Picard back into space — albeit with a crew that’s more swashbuckler than Starfleet.

Kelvin Timeline

Star Trek (2233-2258)

Release date: 2009

Plot: A bad guy named Nero (Eric Bana), angry that his planet is destroyed in the future, travels back in time and kills Kirk’s father (in 2233). He then hangs out for a long time to destroy Vulcan (in 2258) in front of old Spock who has also traveled back in time (and is played by Leonard Nimoy) because Spock failed to save the baddie’s home planet. Current-day Kirk (Chris Pine) encounters old Spock who explains all the confusing time-jump mechanics to him. Together, current-day Kirk and Spock (Zachary Quinto) become begrudging friends and save the universe.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

Airdate: 2013

Plot: The second J.J. Abrams film stars Benedict Cumberbatch as a villain that the marketing team really tried to convince people was not genetically-engineered superhuman Khan. (He was Khan.) Kirk leads a mission to capture Khan after her murders a bunch of Starfleet officers.

Star Trek Beyond

Airdate: 2016

Plot: Justin Lin took over for the third reboot film and threw in some motorcycles because he has a thing for fast vehicles. In this one, a baddie named Krall (Idris Elba) kidnaps part of Kirk’s crew in hopes that Kirk will exchange a powerful McGuffin for their safety.

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How ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Resurrected an Iconic Set

By Scott Mantz

Scott Mantz

• ‘Star Trek: Picard’ Team Built a ‘Museum Quality’ Enterprise D to Make Things as ‘Cinematic as Possible’ 11 months ago
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• How ‘Babylon’s’ Cocaine-Snorting Opening Sequence Came Together 1 year ago

SPOILER ALERT:   This story discusses major plot developments in Season 3, Episode 9 of “ Star Trek: Picard ,” currently streaming on Paramount+.

All season long, the producers of “ Star Trek: Picard ” have boldly pulled out all the stops to make the third and final season one for the books. To that extent, it seemed like only a matter of time until we finally got to see the Enterprise — that is, the Enterprise-D, the Galaxy-class starship that made its first appearance in 1987 with the premiere episode of “ Star Trek: The Next Generation .”

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Executive producer Terry Matalas went through hoops to make sure history never forgot the name Enterprise. Speaking with Variety, and sharing photos of “The Next Generation” cast on the ship, Matalas says, “Everyone tried to talk us out of doing this, because financially it’s a nightmare, and the timing was tight. To the moment we started filming, we were still gluing pieces together. But you can’t have a ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ reunion without one of its major characters, which is the Enterprise.”

As for how it was even possible for the Enterprise-D to exist after it was virtually destroyed in 1994’s “Star Trek: Generations” (only the top saucer section was still intact after crash-landing on the planet Veridian III), it turns out Geordi La Forge took it upon himself to completely restore it for the Starfleet Museum.

However, despite the prominent presence of the Enterprise-D bridge on seven seasons of the TV series that ran from 1987 to 1994 (as well as the 1994 “Generations” feature film), construction guidelines were scarce for production designer Dave Blass and art director Liz Kloczkowski, who spearheaded the project.

Blass pivoted to another invaluable resource when he recruited “Star Trek” legends Mike Okuda and Denise Okuda (from Herman Zimmerman’s “Next Generation” production design team) as consultants.

“The Enterprise from ‘The Next Generation’ was the first Enterprise on which I was the principal graphic designer,” Okuda says. “I got to work with [‘Star Trek’ creator] Gene Roddenberry on making that bridge come to life.”

But even with that deep-dive knowledge and experience, finding the source materials to reconstruct the bridge still proved to be a daunting challenge.

“The first thing we did was to go in the garage and dive into boxes and see what we still had,” Okuda says. “We had some original drawings and art, but large chunks of it disappeared. You realize you’re going to have to reconstruct a lot of this from scratch.”

It took three months and a team of around 50 people to completely rebuild the bridge, which was a physical build and not done on a green screen or in VFX. It measured exactly the same as the original set: 50 feet wide and 100 feet long.

All this work was in addition to every other set built for Seasons 2 and 3, which were shot back to back. “We were doing all the interiors of the starship Titan – like the bridge, the transporter rooms, the crew quarters, the hallways and sickbay – as well as [the enemy ship] the Shrike, Daystrom Station and the Borg,” says Blass. “So, all that all on top of each other.”

The goal was to re-create the look of the LCARS panels, as closely as possible to their appearance in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

“We took advantage of the huge advances in real-world computer display technology to make a few subtle upgrades to the displays,” Okuda says. “In a scene where one of our officers is using the science equipment, if the director wanted to show the scan itself, we would have had to insert the animation in post-production, back in the day. Now, it’s easy to do the animation and have it play back on the set, so the cast could see it in real-time.”

When it came to challenges, Blass says, the wood archway was one of the hardest pieces to recreate. “It’s a complex curve that arches and changes thickness,” he explains. “You can only get so much information off a blueprint. The construction team printed out a full-size paper plan to lay it out and then used a number of templates to shape the final piece.”

The chairs were another set piece in recreating the Enterprise-D that needed to be taken into consideration. “We had to sculpt the right shape based on the basic form, then do a deep dive on the right materials that have the right color and texture,” Blass says. “Each chair has four different materials.”

Blass adds that the infamous carpet, referenced by Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard in the episode, “was very hard to find as it’s a pattern that has been out of stock for decades.”

“That was tricky because you’re talking about lighting that was much more intrinsic to the 1990s,” Matalas says. “Now we have different cameras in a different cinematic style to the show. We had to find a hybrid of the old style and the new with our director of photography, John Joffin, and I think we found a really great sweet spot.”

When the cast saw the bridge for the first time, they got right down to business.

“This season was so ambitious, and we only had two days to shoot on this thing,” Matalas says. “It was literally, like, get everybody on, you got your four minutes of nostalgia, and then we have to boogie. But it was all very natural for them. It was like being back on Stage 8 at the Paramount lot. Patrick Stewart even did the ‘Picard maneuver,’ which he was very proud of.”

And what of the ship today?

Their work remains intact. “There were lots of interested parties who wanted to save the set,” Blass says. “Luckily it has a home in the Star Trek archives.”

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The Long-Lost Original Star Trek Enterprise Model Is Heading Home

After going missing from gene roddenberry's collection half a century ago, the very first model of the starship enterprise is back in his family's hands..

It was our first look at the vision of Star Trek ’s future: the original ship model of the USS Enterprise that zoomed across screens in the show’s opening credits. But after being loaned out during the making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , it had gone missing... until now.

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After, bizarrely, it randomly turned up on eBay last fall—the first time it had been seen publicly since it had gone missing —the original model of the Enterprise made for the Star Trek pilot “The Cage” and shooting its opening titles sequences is now back in the hands of the Roddenberry estate. After the eBay seller quickly learned just what they had their hands on, the model was handed over to Heritage Auctions for authentication, and when it was confirmed to be the long-lost Trek icon , held in storage until it could be handed over to Rod Roddenberry this past weekend. “After five decades, I’m thrilled that someone happened upon this historic model of the USS Enterprise . I remember how it used to adorn my dad’s desk,” Roddenberry said in a statement provided over email. “I am tremendously grateful to Heritage Auctions for facilitating the return of this iconic piece of Star Trek history to my family.”

The original model served as the prototype for what would become the primary original 11-foot shooting model of the Enterprise , which has had a similarly long and winding history on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum —it was damaged, then tweaked in an a restoration that was ultimately undone to restore it to its original glory just in time for Trek ’s 50th anniversary back in 2014. Like its successor, the newly recovered model will find a life outside of a private collection: Roddenberry Entertainment intends to put it on public display.

“I can’t wait to figure out how we are going to share it with my extended family, Star Trek fans around the world,” Roddenberry’s statement concluded. “We look forward to making that announcement.”

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

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Star trek: discovery season 5 brings back enterprise captain archer tribute.

The spirit of Star Trek: Enterprise's Captain Jonathan Archer continues to be felt in Star Trek: Discovery season 5 over a thousand years later.

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 1 - "Red Directive"

• Season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery pays tribute to Captain Archer from Star Trek: Enterprise.
• Archer Space Dock in Discovery serves as a hub for Starfleet upgrades and new starship construction in honor of Jonathan Archer.
• Captain Archer's legacy and impact on the formation of the Federation are essential to Star Trek: Discovery's future.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5 brought back the 32nd century Starfleet's tribute to Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) from Star Trek: Enterprise. Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Enterprise are TV series at opposite points bookending Star Trek 's Prime Universe timeline . Enterprise is set in the 22nd century and charts the pioneering voyages of the NX-01, the first Starship Enterprise commanded by Captain Archer. Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3-5 are set over a thousand years later in the 32nd century.

Star Trek: Discovery season 1 began in 2256, a century after Captain Archer's NX-01 Enterprise first set off to explore the galaxy. Although Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and the USS Discovery's crew never met Archer, Star Trek: Discovery certainly bore the influence of Star Trek: Enterprise , especially in Discovery 's early seasons. Both series were Star Trek prequels, and Discovery 's original blue Starfleet uniforms were a visual link to the distinctive blue jumpsuits worn on Star Trek: Enterprise by Captain Archer's crew .

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Returning Cast & New Character Guide

Star trek: discovery brings back archer space dock, captain archer's spirit is part of the 32nd-century starfleet.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5's premiere , "Red Directive," saw the return of the Archer Space Dock. Following a mission to Q'Mau where Captain Michael Burnham, Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), and Cleveland Booker (David Ajala) were unable to apprehend couriers Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis), the USS Discovery and USS Antares used their combined shields to protect a Q'Mau settlement from an avalanche. Afterward, a dusty Discovery jumped back for repairs at the Archer Space Dock near United Federation of Planets headquarters.

The goal of the Archer Space Dock is to upgrade the existing Starfleet and build the next generation of starships.

The Archer Space Dock was introduced in Star Trek: Discovery season 4's premiere, "Kobayashi Maru." The facility was unveiled by Federation President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) to the first new class of Starfleet Academy. The goal of the Archer Space Dock is to upgrade the existing Starfleet and build the next generation of starships. It was only fitting to name the Archer Space Dock after the Captain of the first Starship Enterprise, and the first Federation President, Jonathan Archer .

The Archer Space Dock is reminiscent of previous facilities that have built and repaired the USS Enterprise throughout Star Trek .

Enterprise’s Archer Is An Important Part Of Star Trek: Discovery Millennium Celebration

The federation began with archer a thousand years ago (give or take a few decades).

Although Captain Jonathan Archer wasn't name-dropped like Star Trek: The Next Generation 's Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was in Star Trek: Discovery season 5's premiere, Archer's spirit was evoked in the Federation's Millennium Celebration . Discovery season 5 is set in 3191, a thousand and 30 years after the founding of the United Federation of Planets . Captain Archer was a pivotal figure whose voyages forged the bonds between United Earth, Vulcan, Tellar Prime, and Andoria that led to the formation of the Federation.

Captain Archer was aware of events in the 30th century as a result of his involvement in the Temporal War in Star Trek: Enterprise.

Jonathan Archer is essentially the George Washington of the Federation . After his decade-long run as Captain of the Enterprise, Archer served as the first Federation President. There would be no Federation without Jonathan Archer, and he would be pleased to know that the Federation still endures in the 32nd century. Star Trek: Discovery is forging the future in the 32nd century, but the Archer Space Dock shows the Federation never forgets it was Captain Jonathan Archer who helped it begin.

Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Enterprise are streaming on Paramount+

Long-lost first USS Enterprise model is returned to ‘Star Trek’ creator Gene Roddenberry’s son

• Published: Apr. 18, 2024, 1:38 p.m.

The first model of the USS Enterprise is displayed at Heritage Auctions in Los Angeles, April 13, 2024. The model — used in the original “Star Trek” television series — has been returned to Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, the son of “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry, decades after it went missing in the 1970s. (Josh David Jordan/Heritage Auctions via AP) AP

• Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — The first model of the USS Enterprise — used in the opening credits of the original “Star Trek” television series — has boldly gone back home, returning to creator Gene Roddenberry’s son decades after it went missing.

The model’s disappearance sometime in the 1970s had become the subject of lore, so it caused a stir when it popped up on eBay last fall. The sellers quickly took it down, and then contacted Dallas-based Heritage Auctions to authenticate it. Last weekend, the auction house facilitated the model’s return.

Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry, CEO of Roddenberry Entertainment, said he’s thrilled to have the model that had graced the desk of his father, who died in 1991 at age 70.

“This is not going home to adorn my shelves,” Roddenberry said. “This is going to get restored and we’re working on ways to get it out so the public can see it and my hope is that it will land in a museum somewhere.”

Heritage’s executive vice president, Joe Maddalena, said the auction house was contacted by people who said they’d discovered it a storage unit, and when it was brought into their Beverly Hills office, he and a colleague “instantly knew that it was the real thing.”

They reached out to Roddenberry, who said he appreciates that everyone involved agreed returning the model was the right thing to do. He wouldn’t go into details on the agreement reached but said “I felt it important to reward that and show appreciation for that.”

Maddalena said the model vanished in the 1970s after Gene Roddenberry loaned it to makers of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture,” which was released in 1979.

“No one knew what happened to it,” Rod Roddenberry said.

The 3-foot (0.91-meter) model of the USS Enterprise was used in the show’s original pilot episode as well as the opening credits of the resulting TV series, and was the prototype for the 11-foot (3-meter) version featured in the series’ episodes. The larger model is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

The original “Star Trek” television series, which aired in the late 1960s, kicked off an ever-expanding multiverse of  cultural phenomena,  with TV and movie spinoffs and conventions where a fanbase of zealous and devoted Trekkies can’t get enough of memorabilia.

This USS Enterprise model would easily sell for more than $1 million at auction, but really “it’s priceless,” Maddalena said.

“It could sell for any amount and I wouldn’t be surprised because of what it is,” he said. “It is truly a cultural icon.”

Roddenberry, who was just a young boy when the model went missing, said he has spotty memories of it, “almost a deja vu.” He said it wasn’t something he’d thought much about until people began contacting him after it appeared on eBay.

“I don’t think I really, fully comprehended at first that this was the first Enterprise ever created,” he said.

He said he has no idea if there was something nefarious behind the disappearance all those decades ago or if it was just mistakenly lost, but it would be interesting to find out more about what happened.

“This piece is incredibly important and it has its own story and this would be a great piece of the story,” Roddenberry said.

Thankfully, he said, the discovery has cleared up one rumor: That it was destroyed because as a young boy, he’d thrown it into a pool.

“Finally I’m vindicated after all these years,” he said with a laugh.

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‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Renewed for Season 4; ‘Lower Decks' to Conclude With Season 5 (EXCLUSIVE)

"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," currently in production on its third season, has been renewed by Paramount+ for Season 4. Meanwhile, "Star Trek: Lower Decks," the first animated "Star Trek" comedy, will conclude its run on the streamer with its fifth season, which will debut in the fall.

"Strange New Worlds" - set in the years when Capt. Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) commanded the USS Enterprise, and featuring younger versions of several legacy characters, including Spock (Ethan Peck), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) and Kirk (Paul Wesley) - has been a fan favorite since it premiered on Paramount+ in 2022. Season 2 of the series, which included a musical episode and a crossover episode with "Lower Decks," made Nielsen's chart of the 10 most-watched streaming original series over multiple weeks.

"On behalf of the cast and crew of ‘Strange New Worlds,' we are thrilled and grateful to continue our voyages together," said executive producers and showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers and executive producer Alex Kurtzman in a statement. "We can't wait for you to join us and the crew of the Enterprise on another season of exploration and adventure." Season 3 of "Strange New Worlds" will premiere in 2025.

"Lower Decks" charted brand new territory for "Star Trek" when it debuted in 2020, as both an animated comedy and a series that focused on the junior officers of the USS Cerritos: Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), D'Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Set in the years following the feature film "Star Trek: Nemesis," the series has included voice cameos from many beloved "Star Trek" alumni, like George Takei, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, John de Lancie, Will Wheaton, Armin Shimerman, Nana Visitor and Robert Duncan McNeill.

Given its premise, concluding "Lower Decks" make sense considering the main four characters all received promotions in Season 4. But in a message to fans, Kurtzman and executive producer and showrunner Mike McMahon left the turbolift doors open for continuing the characters' stories following their time at the bottom of the Starfleet pecking order. 

"We remain hopeful that even beyond Season 5, Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford and the whole Cerritos crew will live on with new adventures," they said. "While five seasons of any series these days seems like a miracle, it's no exaggeration to say that every second we've spent making this show has been a dream come true."

The "Star Trek" TV universe, overseen by Kurtzman through his Secret Hideout production company and produced by CBS Studios, has enjoyed a robust expansion since "Star Trek: Discovery" first premiered in 2017. Along with "Strange New Worlds," the made-for-television movie "Star Trek: Section 31" recently concluded production with star Michelle Yeoh, and the new series "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" will begin shooting later this year.

"It has been incredibly rewarding to continue to build the Star Trek universe, and we're so grateful to Secret Hideout and our immensely talented casts and producers," said Jeff Grossman, executive vice president of Programming at Paramount+. "‘Strange New Worlds' has found the perfect blend of action, adventure and humor. Similarly, ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks' has brought the laughs with an ample amount of heart to the franchise across its four seasons. We can't wait for audiences to see what is in store for the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos in this final season."

"‘Lower Decks' and ‘Strange New Worlds' are integral to the ‘Star Trek' franchise, expanding the boundaries of the universe and exploring new and exciting worlds," said CBS Studios president David Stapf. "We are extraordinarily proud of both series as they honor the legacy of what Gene Roddenberry created almost 60 years ago. We are so grateful to work with Secret Hideout, Alex Kurtzman, Mike McMahan, Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers and the cast, crews and artists who craft these important and entertaining stories for fans around the world."

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