scott bakula star trek return

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Scott Bakula Explains How ‘Enterprise’ Could Have Run 7 Seasons; Says He’s Open To Returning To Star Trek

| January 16, 2023 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 149 comments so far

We are still looking over all the great panels held during the weekend TREKtalks2 fundraiser livestream event. The event ended with a rare appearance of Scott Bakula. The Star Trek: Enterprise star doesn’t do a lot of conventions or Star Trek interviews, but he showed up for his former co-star John Billingsley to support the Hollywood Food Coalition . Bakula touched on some of the same issues covered in last week’s TrekMovie interview with Billingsley , and offered some hope that he would actually return to the role of Jonathan Archer.

How Enterprise could have run for 7 seasons

One of the issues Bakula discussed was how he sees Enterprise ‘s cancellation after 4 seasons due to problems at UPN. He points to changes at the Viacom-owned network during the 2001-2005 era when Enterprise was on the air, affirming his belief the show would have matched the 7-season runs of the three previous Star Trek series if it had been distributed through syndication (like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine ):

Had we been syndicated, we would have gotten an easy seven, easy breezy. And our numbers were beyond what anybody else had done when we started out, but the nature of network television… it was just a different animal. There were lots of changes in the hierarchy, of not only Paramount but of the network. And we were there at an kind of an unfortunate time. And yet I still have to say, gratefully, we got four seasons. But yeah, it would have been nice to do more. We certainly had more stories to tell, we have places to go, but it didn’t work out. You can’t really point a finger at one person or another. There were so many elements to the beginning of UPN and the transition there in terms of [UPN President] Dean [Valentine] leaving [ in 2002 ]. And just people at Paramount left also. A lot of champions that were Star Trek folks kind of left during the course of the four years. It was a strange time and volatile time. But we slugged our way through it. And I’m so glad that we got the four years because there was a moment when we were only going to have three and that would have been a real shame.

One year after Enterprise was canceled, UPN ceased to exist. The network combined with The WB to form The CW, a joint venture between CBS and Warner Brothers. Only a handful of former UPN shows made the transition to The CW, with Veronica Mars being the sole scripted drama to do so.

Scott Bakula with UPN president Dean Valentine at the UPN TCA party in 2001 (Getty)

Open to returning to Trek

When asked if he would follow in the footsteps of Patrick Stewart and other Star Trek veteran actors to return to the role of Jonathan Archer, Bakula was open to the idea. The actor says that if he got a call from executive producer Alex Kurtzman, he would hear him out:

I’ve been doing this too long to ever say never or no to anybody. I talk to everybody about stuff. So, sure.

He also indicated he is open to following other legacy actors in lending his voice to an animated Trek show:

I’ve done a bunch of animated voice-over work and animation, so I enjoy it. It just hasn’t come across my desk. But I do appreciate being referred to as “legacy” as opposed to “old Trek.” That’s very nice.

Bakula being open to a return to Trek may be a surprise to his former Enterprise co-star John Billingsley, who last week told TrekMovie he didn’t see that happening, at least not as a regular. Bakula made big news last year when he chose not to participate in NBC’s reboot of Quantum Leap , so he has a history of saying no.

Talking in general about how the Star Trek franchise continues to create new shows, Scott discussed why he still sees the franchise as relevant:

The reason that it stays relevant, sadly, is that we have most of the same issues still exists on our planet. We have not made the jump to figuring out that we’re all in this together… that’s straight out of the Trek playbook. And we got to settle that on this planet first, and we’re a long, long way from that, apparently, judging by how we’re living amongst each other. So those stories, they remain relevant and poignant. And however they’re parsed out in all these different incarnations, they’re valuable. I’ve always loved Trek because you gloss it over with the space stuff, but then you sneak all the hard stuff right through the middle of it. It’s a thing of beauty. It still is.

Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer in “These Are The Voyages”

Thrilled to see new fans discover Enterprise

The actor also said he was pleased to know that people are still discovering Enterprise through streaming:

When we were in the midst of making the show and when we… got our fourth season done, we all talked about hoping that the show would be more appreciated as time went on. Because I felt like we achieved something pretty wonderful in those four years, especially, in my opinion, in the last two and a half years– that kind of building through the Xindi element and with the 9/11 component fusing the writers’ brains and minds and hearts. We were always hopeful, all of us. We had done a lot of good work and that we would hope that we would be appreciated as time marched on. I’m thrilled.

Bakula pointed to the show’s spirit of exploration as something he was particularly proud of:

I love that spirit of the show, which is what we were going for from the get-go. I liken it to the original show. And there was that that positive—my character had that going forward and that kind of wild west aspect of it all, but at the same time, let’s do something for humanity. Let’s put humanity out there in a good way. Let’s try and work with others. He didn’t go out with a lot of chips on his shoulder about who he would or wouldn’t do business with. Once he got past the Vulcan thing, I think he was pretty much free sailing. I was really, really pleased with where we ended up on the show.

Season 1 Enterprise publicity photo

Watch the full TREKtalks panel here , and if you can, donate to the Hollywood Food Coalition .

Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com .

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The CW could have followed up Enterprise with a Starfleet Academy series.

The CW settled quickly into a marketing vehicle for Paramount/CBS and WB to sell shows internationally and to streamers. In some ways it was a kind of syndication Mark II. The shows were never profitable on CW ad revenue alone.

It’s unfortunate that Enterprise wasn’t given the opportunity to be seen as an investment in that way.

The stupidest thing CW did was follow up Enterprise with a Britney Spears/Kevin Federline reality tv show. It lasted like 2 episodes.

I assume you meant UPN? Enterprise never made it to the CW.

So much Enterprise stories to tell. The Earth Romulan War. The founding of the Federation.

The Earth/Romulan war would have been a great story to see on screen. I’m sad we missed it

Yeah still plenty of stories to tell in the 22nd century. I would love to go back there one day.

we need to see Archer team up with Picard in a P+ movie ‘Star Trek Days of Generations Past’

I like the sound of that… a lot :-)

I’m not sure how much value there would be in watching Archer pushing a wheelchair around.

Don’t have to do that. You could show him in flashbacks or maybe some form of holographic recording and, of course, there’s ALWAYS time travel.

Your comment is a little odd because Bakula is almost 70 himself, no spring chicken either.

So he’d be pushing around the wheelchair very slowly, sitting down from time to time ;-)

Probably because Bakula is just more active and fit for his age in general. We all love Patrick Stewart but he does comes across as a lot more frail these days. Bakula still does actiony roles like on NCIS.

Yet Bakula turns 69 in a few months….whoops! :-)) lol

We. Need? No, we don’t. If you’d like it, that’s fine, but there are plenty of people out there who understand that Enterprise was a clusterf**k of a show.

There are plenty of people out there who understand that Enterprise was a clusterf**k of a show.

You said it. Failed series, less viewership every year (and within each season) as fans kept dropping out, deserved to be cancelled.

You have to remember this is the first enterprise ship to ever go out and explore. It looks outdated because it’s the very beginning of space travel by the Federation. You can’t expect great technology 150 yrs or so before capt Kirk.

Enterprise started out as a clusterf**k of a show but what star trek series other than TOS or SNW didn’t? They all happen that way. By season 3 and 4 Enterprise came into it’s own like every other Trek series did. It just didn’t get the chance to live on like the others did.

That opinion is not shared by everyone. As Wehmut posted today, and which I fully agree with, the first two seasons of Enterprise were actually superior to the final two. I am calling BS on the entire Many Coto Improved Enterprise narrative. The first two seasons were at least credible Star Trek, even though there were many boring eps and poorly drawn drama, while the last two seasons reeked of over-reaching fan service and dumbass storylines that were simply piss-poor Star Trek.

The Many Coto Improved Enterprise narrative is an urban legend — it’s a rewrite of history today by the small, yet vocal group of Enterprise fans who can’t accept that it was failed series. The fact is that in both of Coto’s seasons, not only did the viewership continue to be reduced from the previous seasons, but within each of those two seasons, fans kept dropping out week-to-week over the season. This is because it was bad Star Trek and as such fans were right then to bail out, and Moonvies was right to cancel it.

The thing is, Enterprise should never have had the whole future guy story. If it was going to be a prequel it should have just been that. A prequel. The whole guy from the future thing erased Enterprise completely because over the course of 22+ episodes you could never solve the resolution that people were tuning in for. and they meant it to go over multiple seasons which was never going to work. ever.

Fully agree on this point!

Remember… The Future Guy element was forced on the producers by the network. They wanted no part of it.

So we’re clear, when its said the first two seasons were superior, a decent comparison is to an old bottle of milk. The first two seasons, it just had that weird taste, before becoming a stinky, chunky mess the last two seasons.

Sorry. Manny Cato absolutely improved Enterprise. The show got noticeably better when he joined the writing staff and later took charge. This is hardly an “urban legend”. This is the consensus of fandom. Yes, the show did drop ratings the longer it ran. But one must remember the fans kept watching. They were the ones who saw the improvement after the general viewership was siphoning off. And at that point it really was too late to salvage given the goings on at the network at the time. They could have had a ratings spike and it was likely it still wouldn’t have made it through the merge.

I know there are Enterprise bashers out there. They are in the minority. Just as I am in the minority of TVH bashers. I know what that is like. But still must adhere to the reality that TVH was pretty well received by the general public.

Cato was awful. The last season was the worst thanks to him.

If you think Manny Coto is bad, imagine how others feel about Michelle Paradise and turning Discovery into a tedious bore and making it a Lifetime drama movie….in space. One of the worst show runners in Star Trek ever. She explained the Burn was due to some kid having a tantrum lol. Just so ridiculous.

There are a dozen episodes in season 4 of Enterprise I watch over and over again. Please list all the episodes you watch over and over again in season 4 of Discovery lol.

I strongly disagree. Season 1 and 2 for the most part very much felt like rejected scripts from Voyager . There was precious little ‘birth of the Federation’ stuff going on (and the few times they did are among the best episodes of those seasons.) Way too much Temporal Cold War (which never made a lick of sense) happening, and ridiculous ‘lets bring in the Ferengi and the Borg” stuff. Season 3 broke out and took on a Galactica -like gritty storyline, and then Season 4 finally lived up to the show’s original premise. On rewatch, Season 3 and 4 are much more enjoyable to me.

I agree season 3 was the break out season but I really liked season 2 as well.

I actually started to love the show by the second season. I think Enterprise got better every season. I think so many people including me was just tired in Star Trek in general by then, NOT happy it was a prequel (my biggest issue at the time) and yes the first season wasn’t great. But that’s a very common Star Trek trend lol. If it was the third or fourth show by then and not the fifth, more would’ve at least stuck around a little longer even if they still hate it by the end.

Although I will argue the new animated shows also had great first seasons, especially Prodigy.

It’s totally true that Star Trek wore out it’s welcome by that point. But here we are now with more Trek shows than on TV than ever before and it is going stronger than ever. So who knows? What I do know is that the whole future guy thing just didn’t work. If Enterprise was just a real prequel and acted as such it probably would have survived. BUt that whole future guy bs tanked it.

Because it’s only been a few years lol. Try 15 years later and then we’ll see. ;)

And we also have to remember most of these new shows only has 10 episodes a piece unlike the 25 episode seasons we used to get. The irony is we technically have more Star Trek shows but in terms of actual content it’s literally the same amount we got when two shows ran together in the 90s. And even less so because the animated shows are only 30 minutes.

And frankly people are excited to just have more Star Trek again in ANY form. I mean people complain about a lot of these new shows but they are still watching them every week. Because end of the day people want to be back in that universe again.

And while I didn’t love TCW I don’t think that was the sole reason people abandoned the show. I think there were tons of factors at the time, the biggest just being a prequel. That’s honestly I think one of its biggest issues. NO ONE was begging for a prequel at the time. No one is begging for more prequels now lol. Most people really wanted to keep going forward. Sure there were plenty of people excited over the birth of the Federation idea but I don’t think most cared at the time.

I remember people back then having the same issues asking why are they going backwards just like when it was revealed Discovery was a prequel. SNW got away with it for many reasons, the biggest being we now have four shows going forward again when it showed up. If it was the ONLY show like Enterprise was, people would still complain even if they really liked the show. Until Enterprise, people were used to going forward for 30 years at that point. Even ideas of TOS prequels like Spock and Kirk meeting at the academy never got off the ground because most people didn’t really want it at the time.

And of course that was the entire irony over TCW idea. It was the studio who pushed for it because they were afraid most fans didn’t want a prequel setting and wanted a way to still tell stories in the future if they had to. So even they weren’t convinced fans really wanted a prequel show.

Ironic about the prequel thing… I was actually excited for Enterprise when I heard it was going to be set before TOS. I thought that offered a new and fresh take over the sterile sameness we got from the other 3 spinoffs even though DS9 managed to put a positive spin on things.

I feel like you do about House of the Dragon. I’m just not interested in going back as it feels like the GoT history was well covered even in the run of the show. I’m FAR more interested in going forward in Westeros. I want to see where that world goes as they get advance in technology and in society. But that is not what we got, unfortunately.

The Enterprise premise did nothing for me when it was revealed. But I also really loved those 24th century shows. They are my top 3 shows in the franchise even now. But of course I’m just speaking for myself, I know there are plenty of people who wanted to go back and see first contact with the Klingons, wanted to see the Romulan war and all of that. I honestly never cared lol. Not remotely close. When it was revealed Discovery was going to show us the Klingon war I literally rolled my eyes…and still rolling them. ;D

But obviously I did ultimately come around. I love Enterprise today, really enjoying SNW so far and I now feel season 2 of Discovery was the best one even though I like it being in the far future. So obviously if something is good my mind can be changed. But overall I just think going forward is what Trek should be doing and obviously so do the people running it now thankfully, another reason I support Kurtzman,. But I think we’ll be getting more prequels as well. That’s fine, most of us just wanted a balance between the two, that’s all and now we got it.

It just used to really really irk me when ‘fans’ said you can’t do anything past post-Nemesis anymore and no one wants to see it anyway. I really hated these people lol. And yeah, they have been proven VERY wrong on both counts.

And I still haven’t watched the new GOT show either because yeah, like you,it just doesn’t interest me as a prequel. It’s not a Star Trek thing lol. But everyone including my brother who is a huge fantasy fan swears by it so I’ll check it out at some point.

I am watching it at the moment. But honestly, we aren’t seeing anything new. It just feels like GoT with new people. And the fact that it starts 170 before GoT… To me that is a negative. Not a positive. I’m FAR more interested in where the story goes from where GoT ended. They could even jump a generation and I’d be curious.

I never heard people say you couldn’t go forward from Nemesis. That makes no sense. It’s like saying they couldn’t go forward from TUC. (The era I WANT to see in a Trek show, just not one from Secret Hideout). There are plenty of shows that can be set in a just past Nemesis world.

I suspect like Star Trek, there will be plenty of GOT spin offs and one will be a sequel. But yeah the new show just doesn’t interest me much on that alone. But clearly it does plenty of people. It’s HBO’s biggest show since the LAST GOT lol. And I think it just won a Golden Globe for best series. So it’s obviously a really popular show. Like I said, I plan to watch it. I was going to watch it when it first started, but I keep pushing it off basically because the prequel setting just doesn’t grab me. But I’m still going to watch and decide on my own. It’s the same issue with the Lord of the Rings show. That’s a prequel too. But unlike GOT, that’s been HIGHLY mixed in terms of reviews so not really too bothered either way for those two reasons, but will give it a chance as well at some point.

As far as the ‘don’t go beyond post-Nemesis’ haters, believe me there were plenty. There is one on this thread in fact, A34. When it was just Discovery that guy went on and on how he thought anything beyond the 23rd century was a waste and said many times no one wants a post-Nemesis show and having one past that would get cancelled. We argued about it many many times lol. Now not only do we have four of them, it’s still funny Discovery ended up going forward more than any show probably will ever go forward!

Of course I expect him to post to say he never EVER said that although there are countless posts of him saying just that. This is why I wish we had ignore button but moving on. But I’ll at least be fair and it looks like he came around since he seems to like all those shows. He seems to like a few more than I do lol. So just like me with prequels, people can change their minds if the show just appeals to them.

Now I know most of those people were in the minority for sure but they were definitely around. I still remember one, can’t remember their handle, the day the Picard show was announced this guy was practically LIVID over the fact they were even making a show post Voyager lol. He got on my case directly about it because I was simply happy they were going forward again….in a show that’s literally about the future lol. This guy was so upset over it, it was bizarre. Like you do know this is all fiction right? And no one has a clue what the real future will look like 100 years or a 1000 years from now,, so what does it matter??? If you don’t believe me, find that article and you’ll see what I mean. There are just some people who thinks Star Trek just belongs in one period. Well they certainly lost that war now.

But yeah, they were obviously in the minority since we now four shows and they all seem to be popular to a degree.

I suspect like Star Trek, there will be plenty of GOT spin offs and one will be a sequel. But yeah the new show just doesn’t interest me much on that alone. But clearly it does plenty of people. It’s HBO’s biggest show since the LAST GOT lol. And I think it just won a Golden Globe for best series. So it’s obviously a really popular show. Like I said, I plan to watch it. I was going to watch it when it first started, but I keep pushing it off basically because the prequel setting just doesn’t grab me. But I’m still going to watch and decide on my own.

No spoilers, but HOTD Season 1 does include some plot twists that have huge implications for the Targ dynasty’s earlier history on Westeros *and* GOT’s ending (both Dany’s story arc and potentially Jon Snow’s ultimate fate post-GOT). This is deliberate: It’s meant to change how you interpret those major events. The show itself isn’t flawless, but it’s actually much better than how GOT eventually became, and the overall quality in all aspects is much closer to GOT’s excellent earlier seasons.

HOTD also demonstrates the ways some important GOT characters weren’t necessarily acting in isolation but influenced by established cultural and political patterns of behaviour from their society over the centuries. For example, HOTD shows there were significant historical precedents, the behaviour of some core GOT characters makes more sense now, and so on. (HOTD has a lot of foreshadowing about GOT).

So it’s worth checking out for all those reasons.

Speaking of Jon Snow, last year it was confirmed that a sequel focusing on him is definitely in the works. Apparently they’ve been secretly planning this for a few years, but they’d managed to keep it quiet.

Honestly none of that really improves the story of GoT at all. Knowing that doesn’t make that show better. Or worse. It really feels more like Solo to me. Yeah, it’s OK but… Why? I’m finishing it out because I’m now curious the exact path it goes but honestly if I could not finish the final few episodes I don’t feel like I would be missing anything I haven’t already seen before.

Personally I’m less interested in John Snow than I am about Westeros’ future as a whole but if Snow can be used as a vehicle that goes forward then I am all for it. But part of me would like to see a generational shift forward. Yes, they don’t make these things for me. Got to appeal to the masses.

First off Jai, where you been dude??????

I don’t think I’ve seen a post of yours for over 6 months at least. I guess it just means you have a life and I don’t lol. I watched all those UFO docs forever now but I don’t think I ever saw you again lol. Or maybe you posted in places I never clicked on. It’s OK, it’s just funny.

As for your assessment of HOTD, I admit that sounds pretty good. It’s so far in the past, I didn’t really expect any real influence to the original show. Maybe I’m wrong but the gap bigger than what it is between PIC and DIS now. Or maybe a little less? So OK, you won me over! I’m going to check it out now. I actually watched some of the first episode but never turned in after that. I’ll rewatch that and start watching next week! And since I watched all those UFO vids you know I’ll watch this too lol.

Eiither way, nice to see you back!!

Hi there — Sorry for not replying sooner but I was offline during the weekend.

I’ve posted comments here during the past few months, but it was only a couple of times, and it was brief stuff on threads that were already fizzling out. Thanks for watching the UFO docs too, I hope you enjoyed them; there have obviously been a few more revelations since then, and apparently more stuff is in the pipeline this year.

The gap between HOTD and GOT is around 150-170 years, I think. Season 1 of HOTD takes a little while to get used to because of the completely new characters, and there are a couple of time-jumps (and repeated recasting of the younger characters) that are a little jarring too. But the story does settle down and take off after that. Acting- and charisma-wise, the two main actresses in the grown-up versions of their characters along with with Rhys Ifans, Matt Smith and Paddy Considine are particularly good. There is some great stuff from a couple of the regular secondary characters too.

Thanks for the friendly words :) I’ll post a reply to you under one of the new Trekmovie articles when I can in case you miss this one.

It specifically states it starts 172 years before GoT. And there are multiple time jumps that are pretty jarring to the viewer. At the point where I am there have been three (or 4? I honestly don’t remember there seem to have been so many) time jumps already and since the show started we are some 25-30 years after that. Meaning we are now some 145 years before GoT.

While I, and the producers, were no fans of the Future Guy stuff, that was not why the show went only 4 seasons. There was a lot more going on. I do believe there was a bit of “franchise fatigue” going on. A break would have done the franchise some good. I like Enterprise but even I was saying they should wait a season or two before going into the next show. Also, the politics of the goings on at the studio is what I believe killed the show more than ever nowadays.

Picard apparently played with a toy of the NX-01 as a kid.

Would be fine with seeing that provided it’s done by anyone but Secret Hideout.

The romulan war could be handled within an animated series. The Rise of the Federation Novels would be a nice template for a conclusion in a regular Series.

ENT needs to return ASAP. If the X-Files could come back after a 15 year “hiatus”, ENT can do so too. This is the final thing that needs to happen to make me entirely happy.

The X-Files revival crashed and burned. If that could happen with a show that had the pedigree the original run of X-Files had, an Enterprise revival would be destined to fail.

I have to agree here. I wish the X-Files never came back. They screwed up the whole mythology 100%

Agreed. Using the X-Files revival as an example of why we should bring back Enterprise is like suggesting that we should bring back Sambos given Bennigan’s recent lackluster new start up that nobody really cares about…lol

I love Gillian Anderson and I wish she never came back as Scully

To be fair, the mythology had been a mess long before that. The revival just doubled down on the awfulness — and then some! However, I did enjoy a few of the monster of the week episodes, so it wasn’t a complete disaster.

Yeah no doubt. I was a HUGE X Files fan from literally day one when few people were paying attention to it at the time and was enthralled. But even I stopped watching after the 7th season because the mythology was just becoming an unyielding mess. To this day I have never seen most episodes in seasons 8 and 9.

I think many people thought when the revival started that they were going to basically start over to a degree, streamline it and wrap it up in a finite way and it only got worse lol.

Yeah, eventually it reached the point with the revival when the “written by Chris Carter” credit would come up that I had to brace myself for another terrible one.

He should’ve let someone else handle it. Darin Morgan maybe. His episodes were good. In my head canon “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat” is the real series finale.

the standalone eps were definitely the reason to watch the revival

And how did that X-Files revival turn out? Lol

This would be like another Sex and City movie…groan! Lol

I’d LOVE to see Enterprise come back more than anyone here I would imagine.

The problem is I absolutely do NOT want to see it come back under the ineptitude of the people at Secret Hideout. I’d rather nothing ever happen again if SH was a condition of its return.

NCIS: TREK 🤔

Law & Order: DTI (Dept of Temporal Investigations)

I said this way back when CBS said they were reviving Trek…

Starfleet JAG.

Scott is an actor worth bringing back. And there aren’t many I can say that about left now.

I thought he was great on Quantum Leap , but I never like him as Captain Archer. I think he might actually be better as President Archer, if they want to do an Enterprise follow-on like Star Trek: The West Wing or something.

Like many Star Trek fans, I enjoyed *”Star Trek Enterprise”.* It was a great show to watch, with a great storyline. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was disappointed when *”Star Trek Enterprise”* was discontinued when it was. It would have been interesting to see where the story went. How the Federation formed.

totally agree with you!

You could also feature a new cast in the time period and have Bakula as President or Senator Archer (I think he became the Andorian Ambassador first, but you get the idea) who is the mentor character.

Nah, I want to see him finally been revealed as future guy. We all want to that don’t we?

The continuation of the Future Guy story and the return of Tucker is exactly the right stuff for this crew.

Will be a great stand alone movie. Could also be successfully attached to Section 31 or Discovery.

I still can’t figure out why archer would someday become future guy when he knows what damage future guy does?

I never liked the theory that Archer was future guy. It still makes no sense to me. I always thought it should be a Romulan trying to change the outcome of the Romulan war.

I don’t like it either. Why would he do this if he experienced all the bad things that future guy did in the first place? It makes no sense

Archer goes from being a emotionally and intellectually constipated captain to an emotionally and intellectually constipated president?

Actually that pipeline sounds very reasonable now that I see it spelled out in black and white lol. Turned on the news lately? LOL.

Although perhaps the opposite of constipated? LOL

These days, it seems like every week another former Trek senior citizen actor shows that they are smelling the p plus cash. LOL

Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve had enough Archer for the one lifetime.

We don’t agree often, but we do here. File Archer under been there, done that. He doesn’t get better with age.

I’m not so sure. But with the evidence in front of us it certainly appears that Picard for sure did not get better with age.

Yes! All Star Trek characters deserve an opportunity. Absolutely. Would like very much to see crossovers with the Enterprise crew. There are a lot of good stories. The Future Guy. The Temporal Wars. The return of Tucker with T’Pol. And long due good/decent stories for Sato, Mayweather, and Reed.

A real finale. Crossovers with current productions. Mini series. Short Treks. A stand alone P+ movie. All of the above. This is something I have been waiting for decades. Really hope Archer and his crew are enlisted for upcoming projects!

I understand is all about money. But this crew really deserve better. I think I am not alone, many fans would like very much to see more Enterprise stories.

I think a healthy and logical application of discernment is in order here. No way do I just say let’s bring back ALL characters from past Star Trek shows as you are suggesting just because they can. No offense meant, but I find that ridiculous, not to mention, financially impossible. Their needs to be some intelligent filtering done here — not ALL, no way.

It should be done on a case by case basis based on both the new series being looked at and the history of both that character and the actor’s performance, and yes, the actors current age and health.

I am talking about the main cast. If they are willing to join, why not!?

It has been done with TOS, now with TNG. I am pretty sure we will see everyone from Voyager, and eventually from DS9. Lower Decks’ DS9 episode with Kyra and Quark was a really nice episode.

Some fans love Sato. Some fans Reed. I think they all deserve an opportunity for the actors and the fans.

Just to be clear. Is not bringing them just for fan service. They need a good story and they all deserve to shine.

Yeah I assumed that was what you intended, but still, not ALL of the main cast on all of the past shows should or need to be featured. Discernment/filtering should be applied. Again, as I mentioned, It should be done on a case by case basis based on both the new series being looked at and the history of both that character and the actor’s performance, and yes, the actors current age and health. Just giving a free pass to ALL former main cast members I think is ridiculous.

We are going to have to agreed to disagree on this. IDIC.

You probably heard me say this many times, but I think EVERYTHING is on the table and they all have a chance to come back. It doesn’t mean they will, but just seeing what they been doing the past few shows alone, it’s possible.

Matalas, McMahan and Goldsman has all said they either could see or like to bring back Enterprise characters in the future. Goldsman even suggested an anthology show with Archer once. Again that doesn’t mean ANY of this will ever happen. But why is he even suggesting it? Because he knows there are fans out there who would want it. No one is suggesting a Quark and Rom anthology season (but I would watch it lol).

But your main point is right, they have to come up with a good story to even think about it. And I don’t know if anyone is rushing to do anymore 22nd century stories, Enterprise or not.

All that said do I think we will see at least some Enterprise characters show up in the future? That is 100% yes ! It’s not even a question. Dude they brought back Sybok, anything is fucking possible now lol.

Four of the five classic show’s characters have all appeared on these new shows. DS9 just got their last year as you stated and more of those will come. I will not be shocked the cast Voyager ends up on Prodigy soon. But those shows all happen in those time periods.

Enterprise is obviously trickier given it’s time period, but they will find a way. Maybe they already did. ;)

Let’s test that theory. Anyone up for a Reg Barclay series? Cooking with Neelix?

How about an Ensign Kim Series: Almost Famous 2 — I am Trek Legend

Or a Neelix Series: Star Trek Into Kessness

Trust me, you will find fans who will watch those too lol.

Ugghhh Neelix is a podophile. Seriously. he dated Kes at 9 yrs old and she was so ignorant and innocent and she had no clue what was going on.

I never looked at it that way but yes I know many did and why they ended that relationship. Ethan Phillips confirmed it.

They are aliens on the other side of the galaxy 400 years in the future, they don’t live on Earth or have to think like us at all. They have a completely different biology and cultural norm than we do. That’s why I loved their relationship, it finally showed an actual alien dynamic. Let’s be honest, Star Trek has ‘aliens’ on it, but 90% of them follow Earth norms for a reason, because it’s a TV show and it can’t be too ‘out there’. But sure I understand that, it is a TV show and one in the 90s where norms were more conservative versus today.

It’s like when the Traveler gave Wesley a chance to explore with him and people were calling the guy a ‘pedophile’. I just shake my head every time. It just proves as open minded we think we are as Trek fans, we’re still humans in our very human mindset in the 21st century and not the 24th.

And he dated Kes at 2 years old lol.

Yes I know what you are saying but still… Its disgusting.

You kind of proved my point. Imagine if we had same sex aliens dating each other on TOS. You can agree fans would’ve used the same word for it. They use it for the human characters on Discovery now lol.

But yes I get your point too and probably why it wasn’t a good idea to do it.

Actually I’ll keep it on topic with Enterprise and I will say one of the things I loved about that show from the beginning was that they had Phlox and Denobulans having a bigamist culture and had multiple wives and husbands. That was one of the few times, once again, they made aliens feel truly alien.

I don’t support bigamy personally (one marriage is enough as it is lol) but obviously others do which I’m fine with. Ironically no one seemed bothered by Phlox being a bigamist so I thought that was refreshing as well.

Yeah, a total creepy, gross-out and takes me out of the eps when they are together.

Yeah, that was very creepy and still grosses me out to this day.

Lets not go there. Optics (and conspiracy theories) aside, the show made it clear Kes aged in dog years. How that would have worked clearly wasn’t thought out, as she would have had to have died of old age during the shows run, had they not jettisoned her for the Borg catsuit.

Yeah, I understand why it put people off for sure and I certainly can’t blame them. But this is literally the entire point of Star Trek, to explore, wait for it, waaaait for it, strange new worlds and civilizations. And most life they do find is really not that strange considering the amount of life they find out there. Most of the Federation members are humanoid aliens that’s has some biological and cosmetic differences but pretty much human overall.

As far as Kes and the old age thing, they were clearly setting her up to live a lot longer. One of the other Ocampans she met was 15 IIRC and still looked young. I suspect her special abilities was going to be part of that development. I really loved the idea of a sentient species living such a short life. Now everyone seems to live up to a 150 lol.

They should have been recasting the role every two years, as THE CROWN does.

That said, this was a pairing between one of the most cringeworthy characters in Star Trek (Neelix) and one of the most boring (Kes, admittedly not the only boring one that cast). The show improved immensely when they showed her the exit and brought in Jeri Ryan.

Weird that you saw it that way. You do realize that since her species only live, what was it… 7, 8 years? That it they must procreate at some point before they are 8 Earth years old. You know what? Dogs are adult and ready to reproduce at what… 1? 2 max? Do you find that gross and disgusting, too?

Neelix a pedophile… I mean… Wow.

Linda Park is a Goddess

Yes she is!

I love her so much

I am compelled to agree there.

I would like to see the Star Trek novel Federation adapted where, instead of Kirk and Picard, Pike’s Enterprise meet Archer’s Enterprise NX-01 in the singularity and pass of Zefram Cochrane from the 21st Century to the 23rd Century.

Best show. Especially liked the first two seasons. Would love to see them come back in a regular show.

I agree with you that the first two seasons were at least better than the last two. It’s funny, but the urban legend that Many Coto came in and improved the series is utter BS. The show went downhill in S3 and S4 — Coto sunk a ship that was already taking on water when he arrived.

You know what I would support — a complete reboot series of Enterprise — done right this time, with better casting, better writing, better music, and a starship design that doesn’t rewrite canon and insult my intelligence. And the universe needs to be made to look like a direct predecessor to TOS this time, not pre-TNG.

@ UpperDecks-NormalNecks – Yes, all of that. Plus better uniforms too. The boilersuit look on this show was awful too.

I’m not opposed to the idea of a reboot of Enterprise, but I think it would be a hard sell to create an aesthetic that won’t look anything like Trek.

How on earth does the starship design “rewrite canon”? With the exception of the Botany Bay, did we ever see century-old ship designs in TOS?

The ships Spock described in “Balance of Terror” are not what we saw on Enterprise. The producers basically turned the NX-01 into a scaled down Constitution class as quickly as they could.

I have to admit, it was the first season that originally put me off to this show. But second season was great (except Precious Cargo….ugh). But I like season one a lot more today. Still my least favorite but a lot of solid episodes for sure.

They screwed up the time line, from experimental warp drive vehicles to building the enterprise a just few years later.

Let’s be honest EVERY prequel show has screwed up the timeline at this point. Discovery is still the biggest culprit IMO.

Yep. Don’t get me started with Discovery… It just shows me how well ENT did in retroperspective

It wasn’t a mere few years. More like 50 to 100.

Not sure why Enterprise gets dissed but it was as good as any Star Trek series. I would have loved to see it go seven seasons

Nearly every Star Trek show gets dissed lol. Have you seen people’s reactions to Discovery and Picard here and other places? It’s the nature of the beast. I think people who hate Enterprise has VALID reasons not to like it just like people who don’t like some of these new shows. Not everyone is going to love everything. That’s OK! It’s only when someone is attacked FOR liking something (or not liking something) when it crosses the line.

I love the show today but I don’t have a single problem with people who utterly loathe it. I never understand why others feel so bothered over these things. They are just TV shows, everyone will have their own personal thoughts on it.

Enterprise was a very controversial show at the time. But to be completely honest, it feels like every show and movie since has also been controversial to me except maybe Prodigy and SNW. And there are still detractors for those shows too. It’s been a rough 20 years for Star Trek and fandom, I’ll put it that way lol.

I still think he’s going to show up on Quantum Leap. Just sayin…

No doubt he’s waiting for the cash offer to be what he wants

Agreed. He’ll be in the Season Finale, that’s why NBC has already renewed it for Season 2.

Great to read how Bakula feels about the four seasons of Enterprise.- sounds like he is proud of the work the cast, the crew and writers put together from 2001-2005. I hope he and the others have a chance to return and tell more tales of the NX-01.

For me personally, although I’m a legacy Trek fan from the 70s, I enjoyed Enterprise – especially the last two seasons. I also used the show, including the opening theme as inspiration to learn to fly and to start a new career in the commercial space industry, where I remain to this day.

Enterprise has aged very well today. There is a reason why more fans like it more today than it when it was on, including a lot of fans who didn’t like it originally like me. And the great thing is it has found a new legion of fans who are watching it for the first time today and they don’t have any baggage with it like a lot us old fans. They just watch the show. They don’t care the Borg or Ferengi showed up because it’s all new.

I was one of those fans who gave up on it early and now I’m one of it’s biggest supporters. It’s amazing how utterly ‘Star Trek’ the show feels today, especially when you compare it to something like Picard. The show also has tons of heart I didn’t appreciate enough at the time.

For me, I would take another season of Enterprise over Discovery, Picard or another movie. Well OK, the jury is still out on the third season of Picard, so that might be an exception. ;)

Haha, yeah even seasons 1 and 2 had some great stories. One of the episodes that really emphasizes the crew seeking out “new life” is Vox Sola. I especially like the epilogue when they leave the creature’s homeworld and you see the “Strange New World” where they are from!

Exactly! And I remembered being so bored watching Vox Sola at the time. Now its great lol.

For people who still think the show sucks, I definitely get why. The show DID have issues for sure…but what Trek show doesn’t??? And for the record, there are TONS of missed opportunities on this show. I don’t want it to come off like all rose colored glasses lol.

But I also think there were people like me at the time who was not only fighting the idea of a prequel but at that point it was just a feeling it had all been done before. Yeah it was in a different package but it was still things we seen before over and over again. That’s what happens when you watch something for 15 years straight lol.

But once I finally started watching the show, REALLY watching the show, 8 years after it was cancelled, I saw it with fresh eyes and I was kicking myself why did I stop watching this show lol. And this was also when STID had came out and I was sooo disappointed in not only that film, but the direction those movies were taking in generally. Again, this is the irony but I thought that the Kevin movies were going to go in the direction Enterprise did on day one and get back to exploring and feeling like the final frontier feel instead of boring uber-villains every movie. They finally did that more with Beyond (still my favorite), but unfortunately too little too late.

But Enterprise gave me that in a big way which I honestly didn’t even care about when it was on. I think they just needed to take Star Trek off the air a few years after Voyager and a lot of us would’ve saw it with different eyes and enjoyed it more.

To me a stand out from the first 2 seasons was “Dear Doctor”. That was classic Trek right there.

It’s really amazing how much I love Enterprise today. Bakula said it, the show was about pure exploration which I just didn’t appreciate enough at the time because we had so much of in multiple seasons in TNG and VOY. Frankly a lot of Enterprise just bored me in the first season. How many times have we landed on a planet and something goes wrong? And TCW just did not grab me and I love time travel stories. But I think it would’ve been nice to keep Enterprise as a true prequel. But the irony is we have not had a true prequel with any of the shows or reboots since.

I stopped watching it in it’s first season and never tried watching again until 2013. So when I say the show didn’t interest me, I mean it lol. But then once I gave it a second chance, I kicked myself for not watching it. Enterprise is the sole reason I’m (still) sticking with DIS because I didn’t want to pre-judge something so quickly again.

And today though, I watch Enterprise every week. I did a grand rewatch of the entire franchise chronologically starting New Years day 2021, Broken Bow was the first episode I started with in my 800+ hours voyage and it was pure joy watching that show. It was light, fun and full of adventure. And yes they actually EXPLORED and did a lot of it, something all the new movies and shows were missing at the time. By the time I finished, I was a little depressed because I wanted more.

And always loved Archer when I didn’t love the show. He and Pike have a lot of the same personality, except Archer definitely has a temper lol. Would love a fifth season!

It was originally planned as a prequel. First season was going to just be on Earth. The future stuff was added because of the network. Not sure how well a full season on Earth would of panned out. It was on the bluray documentaries for Enterprise.

I think doing the first four or five eps on Earth would be have been very cool, but not the entire season…then a couple eps where cool stuff happens on the shakedown cruises, then move to traditional eps.

This format could have been used to better establish the characters.

Oh yeah I know and I think that would’ve been great if they did a full season on Earth. But like you said, I don’t know how that would’ve went over too, but some of it could’ve startd on Earth at least. I think the episode First Flight gave us a nice insight into the kind of shows we would’ve gotten if it stayed on Earth. Another one of my favorites!

People complain that Enterprise was basically just TNG in the 22nd century but that’s because that’s what UPN wanted basically. Like Voyager, they just wanted more TNG. Berman really wanted each show to be its own thing but the network hands out the money and end of the day they didn’t really want a prequel show and a LOT of compromises were made over it like TCW.

In fact I found out recently UPN originally wanted a show to take place in the 26th century. They basically wanted to start over by going forward while Berman wanted to start over going backwards and you can see why there was so much friction from the start.

And I think I’m going to watch First Flight tonight now! :)

Yeah Berman and Braga didn’t know if they could write more characters that were even more “perfect ” than the 24th century characters. First Flight was a good episode. I personally really enjoyed Enterprise.

If I’m being very honest I definitely would’ve preferred a 26th century show. I think a lot of people would’ve. But I can understand by that point it would’ve just felt more of the same at that time to them just in another century. They wanted Enterprise to have a bigger hook being the show that basically created the elements of Star Trek we have today. Once I embraced that idea, I really came to love this show.

Bill and I were so proud to interview Mr. Bakula as part of this wonderful fundraising event for the Hollywood Food Coalition. The Trek Geeks certainly were aware that Mr. Bakula does not do a lot of interviews or conventions, and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to talk to him. he was so wonderful and I would LOVE top see him return in live or animation form as Captain/Admiral/President Archer!

You guys did a great job! Thank you for this and was happy he agreed to it.

Thanks for doing this — nice job!

Ditto RE the above replies! I have often read that Bakula is very fond of his time on Enterprise as well as the time he spent with fellow cast members. Thanks for confirming those stories with an actual interview.

Now let’s see if Mr. Kurtzman and company can somehow give us a true conclusion to the series and elliminate that horrible last episode from our collective memories… as if it never happened.

I didn’t have a UPN affiliate in my area at the time, so I never got the chance to get into the show while it aired. However, I do feel each season is an improvement over the one that came before. Even though it still would have (probably anyway, due to production costs) been a casualty of the UPN/WB merger, a fifth season would have been amazing.

I was a preteen when Enterprise came out and one of the biggest problems with it is that it really wasn’t that friendly to a younger audience. I will say though that it does deserve a second chance and I hope it gets one.

Plus any chance to see/hear Jeffrey Combs again is nice.

Premature cancellation always tints the past a little rosy, but I would have happily watched another 3 seasons. I do agree it was hitting its stride.

Still say Bakula is not really realistic about what the syndication market was like in the 2000s though.

My wife and I would be among those who would enjoy having ENT come back. That is the show that was on TV when we were dating so it is very special to us in many ways. Through the conventions and the cruises, we have become closely acquainted with the actors, and relish that relationship. Scott shows his professionalism by not speaking ill of UPN or any honcho at UPN, but does speak truth to power about the causes. While there are detractors of ENT who did not like the show based on an earlier time, pre Federation, or not another 100 years past TNG-DS9-VOY. Having loved Trek since 1966, I, for one, always wondered about the time from Armstrong/Aldrin stepping on the moon to when Kirk set sail on the NCC-1701. That approximately 200 years of exploration must have or could have a lot of exciting history. No reason why we could not have a follow up series in the form of ENT to tell those stories.

I think SB is right. It should have continued.

ok. Revisit the era, sure, but for cripes sake kill that Enterprise theme song. That garbage Chicago / Journey knock off did more to kill the series from day one than anything else. And I’ll gladly die on that hill :)

I agree with those who say the show kept getting better as it went on. Once Coto came on board it really started to find its footing, imo. Sadly the way they ended it was just terrible. I wouldn’t mind seeing Archer/Bakula or T’Pol or Phlox back for a limited role in one of the new shows, as long as it made sense to the story.

Another agreement. My favorite seasons in order: 4-3-2-1. So that should tell you everything and I actually started loving it in season 2. I didn’t even love DS9 or TNG that early and those are my two favorites.

Coto was exactly what Trek needed. Someone who respected the source material and talented enough to make the right decisions. I heard it said that he had big plans for future seasons. Season 5 he wanted to add Shran as a permanent crew member. He said he had an idea for an episode called “Starbase 1”. He wanted to see an early version of Stratos. I’d be very interested to see his take on that world 100 years earlier. And I had heard indirectly that he was indeed planning to take the show up to and possibly into the Romulan war.

Unfortunate to think of what we could have had. And now we have… Secret Hideout. (sigh)

Has to be my favorite series ever id watch years of it

Mr. Bakula is more than welcome for a return. He did great and was easily one of the best Captains in Star Trek history. (Don’t let me rank, it is hard to decide…)

Yes starfleet adacemy with Wesley crusher

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How Scott Bakula's Archer can (and should) return to Star Trek

Could Captain Jonathan Archer return on a current era Star Trek show?

Star Trek: Enterprise had a long road, getting from there to here. Initially the most universally disparaged of the Trek shows (aside from perhaps the unfairly maligned Star Trek: The Animated Series ), the prequel to Star Trek: The Original Series has been widely reassessed in more recent years. It’s been a long time, but could the time for the return of Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) is finally near?

Star Trek: Enterprise embraced

There is plentiful evidence from the recent batch of Franchise shows that indicate the high respect with which the creators hold Enterprise. Just one example are the many allusions to Denobulians. This alien species was introduced in Enterprise, and first represented by the NX-01’s Doctor, Phlox (John Billingsley).

In recent years, Denobulians have had cameos in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2’s 'Mugato, Gumato,' and were referenced in dialogue in the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow.' And there have been many allusions to Enterprise throughout Lower Decks, in dialogue and through other allusions (like the heavy inspiration drawn from Enterprise’s depiction of Vulcans for the Lower Decks season 3 episode 'wej Duj').

Speaking of Lower Decks, the NX-01 played a significant role in the recent Strange New Worlds crossover episode, 'Those Old Scientists.' After traveling back in time, information retained by Ensigns Bradward Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) regarding the NX-01 and 1701-nothing is integral in returning the pair of Beta Shifters to their rightful time period.

Furthermore, the important role played by Enterrprise's ship spurs the Strange Ne Worlds crew to geek out about the NX-01’s crew, with specific references in dialogue to Archer, Travis Mayweather (Anthony Montgomery), and Hoshi Sato (Linda Park). Perhaps its no wonder Pike’s crew are such fans of the NX-01 gang, considering an expanded Strange New Worlds season 2 Ready Room set revealed an illuminated image of the NX-01 (across from one depicting the Phoenix). And in addition to all this, a ship called the USS Archer appeared in the Strange New Worlds series premiere, 'Strange New Worlds.'

And Archer’s legacy is guaranteed to be remembered centuries into the future by the Star Trek: Discovery season 4 premiere, 'Koayashi Maru.' In this episode, which is set in the distant future of the 31st Century, the Federation unveils the newly constructed Archer Space Dock. In addition to taking Archer as its namesake, this reveal is accompanied by a musical allusion to Starfleet’s first cap through the melody to 'Archer’s Theme.'

Would Scott Bakula come back to Star Trek?

Clearly, the creators behind the current era of Trek have wholly embraced Enterprise. Furthermore, a cursory examination of any social media site in the wake of episodes containing these allusions reveals that Trekkies have embraced these ENT allusions. But what is the likelihood that Bakula would be willing to reprise the role nearly two decades after Enterprise left the air?

It seems likely that Bakula would consider a return. Consider his appearance on a virtual Star Trek Day panel in September 2020. During this appearance, Bakula spoke very highly of Enterprise's evolution and described his pride at his involvement with the Franchise.

Furthermore, depending on the series on which Archer makes his return, there might be a lower 'buy-in' required from Bakula. For example, if he appears on Lower Decsks or Star Trek: Prodigy, the appearance could be performed via voiceover, thus potentially allowing Archer to reappear without Bakula even having to leave his own home.

How might Archer return to Star Trek?

There are many possible ways the return of Archer could occur. In fact, there is plenty of precedent already present in Franchise canon that demonstrates how characters from previous shows can reappear in later ones, even when that seems to defy standard chronological expectation.

The first such example takes place in the series premiere of The Next Generation, in which Doctor 'Bones' McCoy (DeForest Kelley) visited the Enterprise-D. Rather than having arrived in 'the next generation' by any sort of time travel shenanigans, McCoy has simply survived to the age of 137.

McCoy wasn’t the only The Original Series character to visit the D, either. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Sarek (Mark Lenard) appeared on The Next Generation thanks to the fact that the long lives of Vulcans made this naturally possible.

And in the season 6 episode 'Relics,' a comparatively un-aged Mongtomery 'Scotty' Scott (James Doohan) is transported to the TNG era thanks to decades of suspension in a transporter buffer. These sorts of time jumps could bring Archer from the Enterprise era to the time period of any of the ongoing shows, even Discovery’s far-distant 31st Century (when he might get to visit the space dock bearing his name). And it’s worth noting that in the Picard season 2 finale, a rip in space time occurred. Now guarded by the Jurati Borg Collective, this enigmatic and so-far narratively unutilized rip in the fabric of the universe could easily afford a method of bringing disparate time periods together.

Furthermore, it is possible that Archer’s arrival in a new time period could be permanent (like Scotty remaining in the The Next Generation era timeline). However, it could also be temporary, as when the Beta Shifters were returned to their time period at the conclusion of 'Those Old Scientists.'

Another possibility is that Archer could appear as a hologram on any show. This could take the form of an appearance on the holodeck, paying homage to the still-not-all-that-we-recieved Enterprise series finale. In fact, dialogue in the Lower Decks episode 'No Small Parts' suggests Captain William T. Riker continues to visit the Enterprise crew on the holodeck. Alternatively, a simulation of Archer could appear as a special advisor program, just like Prodigy’s Hologram Kathryn Janeway.

And finally, it's always possible a crewmember from a currently ongoing series could travel back to the Enterprise era. Pike even imagined just such a scenario during his interactions with Beta Shift in 'Those Old Scientists.' Furthermore, there is precedent for this occurring both through more conventional time travel, as in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode 'Trials and Tribble-ations.' It could also happen through more abstract methods of visiting the past, as with the appearance of the USS Excelsior’s captain, Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), as well as Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney), in the Voyager episode 'Flashback.'

Where and why else could Archer return?

Finally, we'd speculate there is the possibility of a full-fledged Archer spin-off. This could be a full series, like Picard, which in its third season became Paramount+’s most successful streaming Star Trek series to date. It’s also possible that, following the pattern of the upcoming Star Trek: Section 31 event movie, Archer could headline a 'one-shot' streaming movie.

There could be a very specific narrative reason to bring Archer back into the spotlight. While many of the subplots introduced over the course of Enterprise’s four seasons were resolved by the show’s controversial holodeck-simulated time-skip finale, 'These are the Voyages,' one major thread remains unfinished.

Throughout the Enterprise seasons 1 and 2, the Temporal Cold War was a significant subplot for the series. This included a shadowy figure playing the role of puppeteer from the distant future. Ultimately, this subplot was largely abandoned, and the identity of the shadowy figure was never canonically unveiled. However, in a 2012 Tweet, one of Enterprise showrunners, Rick Berman, revealed plans for the shadowy figure’s identity to have been revealed as none other than Archer himself.

While the fact that the reveal never occurred does mean that the shadowy figure’s identity could instead be canonically revealed to be another character, it also affords the opportunity to revisit this ENT storyline in a current era show and finally unveil Archer’s fate in the future. And with the re-introduction of a temporal war in the Strange New Worlds' season 2 episode 'Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,' replete with new agents working for Starfleet’s Department of Temporal Investigations, the stage for this storyline may have already been set.

The Return of the Archer

There’s no guarantee that Archer will be returning on one of the current era Trek shows. But with the copious allusions to ENT in general and Archer specifically, perhaps it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see him return, either. If nothing else, its clear Trekkies have come to embrace the prequel series as yet another essential chapter in the ongoing human adventure depicted by Star Trek.

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Scott Bakula And Star Trek: Enterprise Actors Could Return

Written by kieran bugg.

Scott Bakula and other Star Trek: Enterprise actors could be returning.

In its 54 year hit-and-miss history, Star Trek has cemented itself as one of the biggest and most lucrative franchises in the world, spawning several movies, TV spin-offs, sequels and prequels such as Star Trek: Enterprise .

Star Trek: Enterprise was a prequel to the original series; it debuted on September 26th, 2001 and ran for four seasons until May 13th, 2005.

Moreover, it was the last Star Trek series to be released until Star Trek: Discovery premiered 12 years later.

The show was considered more of a miss among most critics and fans but it still garnered an impressive cult following.

In fact, after its cancellation, some fans even campaigned to save the show; however, it was to no avail.

Its audience wasn’t large enough to warrant a resurrection.

Of all the franchise’s pre-streaming programs, the series was probably the less liked .

Scott Bakula and Star Trek: Enterprise Actors Could Return

Image: Paramount

Given that it had fan favorite Scott Bakula in the lead, it truly had more commercial potential.

While the show itself is maybe past saving, its characters might not be.

According to a new report , Paramount is planning to bring back certain characters from Star Trek: Enterprise for future appearances in existing or upcoming planned series with the original actors possibly even reprising their roles.

The characters planned to make a comeback at this moment are Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer, Jolene Blalock as T’Pol, and John Billingsley as Dr. Phlox.

In addition, possibly even more of the Star Trek: Enterprise crew could follow, too.

That depends on if discussions at Paramount prove fruitful.

This wouldn’t be the first time the franchise has brought back some of its classic characters to its recent shows, such as Patrick Stewart’s fan favorite character, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, in his own spin-off.

This would be welcoming news to fans of Star Trek: Enterprise and the overall franchise should this come to pass.

Furthermore, it could possibly even give the series a second chance among viewers who were left underwhelmed upon its original broadcast.

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Published Jul 27, 2019

Scott Bakula, Five Years On

We spoke with Scott Bakula about life after 'Enterprise.'

StarTrek.com

This interview originally ran in 2010.

Scott Bakula doesn’t mind talking about Star Trek: Enterprise and that’s the case for several reasons. One, he rates Enterprise as a good experience despite its abbreviated run. Two, he knows that fans are still interested in him and what he’s doing now. And, three, it’s not as if he’s lacked for work post Enterprise . Since the show closed up shop in 2005, Bakula has performed on stage, co-starred with Matt Damon in the film The Informant! , played recurring roles on the television shows Chuck and The New Adventures of Old Christine , and co-starred with Ray Romano and Andre Braugher on the TBS series Men of a Certain Age . In fact, Bakula was on his lunch break from shooting an upcoming episode of Men of a Certain Age when he rang StarTrek.com for the following exclusive interview.

StarTrek.com: Five years on, how do you look back on Enterprise?

Scott Bakula: Oh, it was a fantastic experience. I had a ball. We had some fantastically talented people on all sides of the camera. We had great actors, tremendously creative effects people and set people and makeup people and… It was fantastic. You were working with some of the most talented people and groundbreakers in the industry, and I got to do it for four years.

A lot of people were not satisfied with the Enterprise finale, which pretty much wrapped everything and everyone into a Next Generation holodeck sequence. What was your reaction to it?

SB: I have to say that when I first read the script I was off-put by it. I had a long talk with Rick (Berman) and Brannon (Braga) about it and they explained their idea and philosophy to me. I don’t know that I ever… Gosh, the end of anything is always hard to write. It was a little odd, but that was their call.

What went incomplete so far as Captain Archer?

SB: Things were dictated by the times, by it being post-9/11, but I wanted us to hopefully get back to having a little bit more fun on the show and to get out of that whole Xindi thing. That would have been fun. I think we were pointing in that direction. I think the group was ready to go. The cast was ready to get there, and I think we could have had a blast. But we just didn’t get to go there.  And I wanted Archer to kind of grow up and lighten up a little bit.

J.J. Abrams phones you and says, “Hey, we’ve come up with a great way to get Archer into the next movie. Are you interested?” What would you say, yes or no?

You tend not to repeat yourself in terms of projects or roles. So, what for you was unique about Men of a Certain Age and about your struggling-actor character, Terry?

SB: I always start with a script, and the pilot for this show was so great. And they’ve done such a good job since then. The character of Terry is so different from me, and that’s what you look for as an actor, the chance to not be yourself. The only question early on was getting in a room with Ray and (co-executive producer) Mike Royce and making sure we were all on the same page and had a little bit of chemistry with Andre. That all fell into place. There’s nothing like it on television.

Season two of Men of a Certain Age will premiere in November. What can viewers expect to see?

SB: Well, I’m going to be working for Andre at the car dealership, trying to figure out the ins and outs of selling cars, which has been pretty crazy so far. Ray’s character is pursuing the idea of trying to make the senior (golf) tour and he’s trying to juggle his life with all of that. And, of course, Andre is now trying to run the car dealership in the shadow of his father.

You had a nice arc going on Chuck as Chuck’s dad, Stephen Bartowski. How was that experience and what did you make of the character’s sudden demise?

SB: I had a ball on the show. They have a great bunch of people over there, including a lot of Enterprise people, which was fun for me also. I thought the scripts and the character were well written, which is what got me over there. I’d been a fan of the show and continue to be. Zac Levi leads a great group of actors over there and we had a good time. When they called me to come back and get killed they explained to me what they were trying to achieve, and the idea was that my death would help this young man grow up. They wanted to shock Chuck into that, and killing his father seemed like a good way to do it. I think they executed it – pardon the pun – very well. I think it played well and I think it had a profound effect on the series and on Chuck. I’m curious to see where they’ll go with it.

Does dead mean dead-dead-dead on Chuck?

SB: What they say is you’re never dead on Chuck , so we’ll see. And I’ve already been back in a flashback. So, you never know. I’m thrilled they got picked up and are back and if I get a chance to come back again I’d love to do it.

Every time we turn around there’s some tidbit of news or some rumor about a Quantum Leap revival. Where are things at? What’s the latest?

SB: This is all I know. I have spoken with Don (Bellisario, who created the show) and he’s been approached by a producer to write a script and produce a Quantum Leap film. He’s intending to do that and has begun work on it. And my understanding is that Dean (Stockwell) and I may have a small cameo element to the movie. But it hasn’t been written yet. So we’ll see.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

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• Space Exploration

Picard creator wants to return two classic characters to Star Trek canon

But not the ones you think.

Underrated Star Trek captains need love too. Although Kirk, Picard, Sisko, and Janeway get the lion’s share of Trekkie attention, there are some other Starfleet legends who could easily return to the final frontier. And according to Akiva Goldsman, co-showrunner of both Picard and Strange New Worlds , he’s figured out a way to bring back Captain Archer (Scott Bakula) and Captain Sulu (George Takei). This is actually something Trek has tried before.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SCI-FI MOVIE? Tell us now for a chance to get paid to write an article for Inverse .

Scott Bakula in Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005)

Tales of the Federation

In an expansive feature for SFX — the print magazine affiliate of GamesRadar — Goldsman dropped an intriguing idea for an anthology series that would pave the way for the return of at least two great Trek captains: Jonathan Archer from Enterprise and Hikaru Sulu, who became captain of the USS Excelsior in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country .

“I'll call it Tales of the Federation , where you would just do one-offs, right?” Goldsman said. “So you could bring George Takei back for an hour, and do a show about Sulu as an older man, or find Jonathan Archer having now retired from his Enterprise and being on Earth ... You could grab anybody, from all the shows, because it's really hard to find enough for a series.”

To be clear, there’s no indication that Tales of the Federation will actually happen, but Goldsman’s idea is compelling. He also noted that anthology shows are “are finding their way back,” into the mainstream. Notably, what made the original Star Trek so groundbreaking is that it was one of the first mainstream sci-fi shows that wasn’t an anthology show, as opposed to series like The Outer Limits and The Twilight Zone .

The cast of Star Trek: Picard : Isa Briones, Patrick Stewart, Michelle Hurd, Evan Evagora, and Jeri Ryan.

Picard was almost a Short Treks

Ironically, the concept for Star Trek: Picard was originally part of an unmade Short Treks idea, which is a Trek anthology that actually exists. CBS All Access ran the series, which was mostly set in the Discovery and Strange New Worlds era, from 2018 to early 2020. However, when that anthology format was still being workshopped, Discovery writer and Picard co-creator Kirsten Beyer had an idea: A Short Treks episode in which an older version of Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) met a younger version of Jean-Luc Picard. In 2020, Kirsten Beyer told TrekCore :

“So, at the very, very beginning, we were talking about ‘Short Treks’ for the first time, and what kind of stories you could tell — and we were actually beginning with an Uhura story, and the idea was that we very much wanted to see we could bring Nichelle [Nichols] back in at this point in time, and then see what kind of stories [Uhura] might tie in to. And then Patrick’s name came into the mix, and could we get him, would he be interested… so the very first idea was a meeting between Uhura and Picard — a very, very young Picard.”

That idea eventually morphed into Star Trek: Picard . Obviously, we never saw an older Uhura in Picard , but we will see a much younger version of her in Strange New Worlds , now played by Celia Rose Gooding.

A scene from “The Trouble With Edward,” one of the three Short Treks which are quasi-prequels to Strange New Worlds.

Will Short Treks ever return?

While Goldsman's idea for an anthology series called Tales of the Federation sounds fun, it’s interesting that Paramount+ already has a format to do anthology one-offs featuring Sulu, Archer, or pretty much anyone. Some episodes of Short Treks are nearly 20 minutes in length, meaning you could do justice to these classic characters within that existing format.

But will Short Treks ever return? It’s unclear. In 2020, Star Trek boss Alex Kurtzman said he “hopes” more Short Treks will happen, but since then we haven’t heard anything. Like the Star Trek: Section 31 series, it’s unclear if more Short Treks has been permanently moved to the back-burner. Though if Goldsman’s idea bears fruit, maybe Short Treks could morph into some stand-alone Treks that aren’t so short.

Star Trek: Picard Season 2 hits Paramount+ on March 3, 2022. Here’s the full schedule of Star Trek in 2022.

• Science Fiction

Scott Bakula Thinks This Is Why Star Trek: Enterprise Was Doomed

" Star Trek: Enterprise " was the first "Star Trek" series I watched to completion and loved unequivocally. It was the first installment that locked me firmly into the franchise's tractor beam. Unfortunately, "Enterprise" hasn't enjoyed as much praise in other corners of the fandom. The series is infamously regarded as the black sheep of "Star Trek." It was marketed as the angsty prequel to the original series that started it all and set 100 years before the voyages of the starship piloted by James T. Kirk — which could have given fans a perfect window into the tumultuous beginning of Starfleet.

But "Enterprise" was by no means perfect. At best, it was rife with missed opportunities. The series tried to deliver on its prequel premise, but largely abandoned enticing "here's how this happened" storylines in favor of extraneous threads. Some of its most promising episodes were those that dealt in the gritty reality that humans faced in lawless space, but those narratives were few and far between. Plus, its theme song apparently sucked (I'm not ashamed to say I loved it, though).

The series finally started to find its footing in its fourth season, but sadly, it wasn't enough to save the "Enterprise" crew from a decisive end. So much was working against "Enterprise" from the get-go. In fact, according to Scott Bakula, who starred in the series as Captain Jonathan Archer, it was plagued with even more tumult behind the scenes

These were the ill-fated voyages...

The early 2000s were a time of total reformation. Network TV was about to reach a sort of apex, but as a result, many networks were struggling to catch the wave. The United Paramount Network (UPN) was one such network, the one that "Enterprise" called home. UPN was jointly owned by ViacomCBS and Paramount when "Enterprise" premiered in 2001. "We were kind of their big star representation," Bakula told Bob Saget on his podcast, " Bob Saget's Here For You ."

Though the series was one of UPN's prestige projects, it still struggled more than the "Star Trek" series that came before. "Enterprise" was the first of the franchise relying solely on a network; every other "Star Trek" show began in syndication. "We were subject to the whims of the network and the advertisers," Bakula recalled. To the actor, this was a major factor in their cancellation:

"All the other [Star Trek shows] ... set up their deals with all the little stations all around America for seven years, and they went and made a TV show for seven years. Which we would have done also if we had been syndicated."

The plight of the Enterprise

In reality, syndication was the least of the show's worries. By 2005, the partnership between Viacom and Paramount was crumbling. Both UPN and its sister network, The WB, were struggling financially. When Viacom and CBS split up the following year, the networks merged to create The CW, sending so many shows into jeopardy. "Enterprise" itself had been culled months before, but Bakula remembers the "political" turmoil that contributed to it.

"Networks [were] being bought and sold and studios [were] changing personnel completely," the actor said. Even the series' original showrunners, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, were unceremoniously replaced in the final season. Ironically, many have named said season the strongest of the four . On paper, "Enterprise" really was hitting its stride, only to face the ax before the dawn of a new network.

Still, for all its flaws and missed opportunities, so many "Star Trek" fans enjoyed "Enterprise." It's one of the few series that's enjoyed a consistent, dogged campaign for a revival, including a new petition that  started circulating in 2021 . In a lot of ways, it's as good a time to bring "Enterprise" back as any. JJ Abrams' 2009 revamp helped breathe new life into "Star Trek," and since then the franchise has rebounded on television in a big way. Even Viacom and CBS have made up, rebranding decisively and simply as Paramount.

With a new banner for all the "Star Trek" shows, could "Enterprise" actually secure a fifth (or even sixth) season? I wouldn't hold out much hope for one, but anything is possible after a well-timed corporate rebrand.

Screen Rant

What happened to mirror universe captain kirk in star trek.

Star Trek: Discovery returns to the Mirror Universe, which raises questions about what happened to the Terran Empire's Captain Kirk after TOS.

WARNING: Contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery, season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors".

• In "Star Trek: Discovery", new information about the fate of the Mirror Universe Captain Kirk is provided by the return of the ISS Enterprise.
• Mirror Kirk may have faced execution or plotted violent opposition against Spock's peaceful reforms.
• A planned William Shatner comeback in "Star Trek: Enterprise" involving Mirror Kirk's return was shelved due to financial reasons.

Star Trek: Discovery has just brought back the ISS Enterprise from the Terran Empire, raising the question of what happened to the Mirror Universe's Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) after the end of Star Trek: The Original Series . In Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors", written by Johanna Lee and Carlos Cisco, and directed by Jen McGowan, the next clue to the Progenitors' treasure is found aboard the ISS Enterprise , trapped inside a pocket of interdimensional space. As Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Book (David Ajala) explore the Mirror Universe's version of the starship Enterprise , they learn more about what happened after TOS ' "Mirror, Mirror".

In "Mirror, Mirror", the Mirror Universe version of Captain Kirk switched places with his Prime Universe counterpart. While in the Mirror Universe, Prime Kirk inspired the Mirror Universe variant of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) to embrace the possibility of a more peaceful future. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine revealed that Spock's more peaceful approach led to the downfall of the Terran Empire at the hands of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance . However, DS9 was vague on what happened to the ISS Enterprise, Spock, and Kirk. While Star Trek: Discovery has now revealed the fate of the ISS Enterprise, the fate of Mirror Kirk is something of a mystery.

Star Trek: Discovery’s Burnham Fight Makes Michael Even More Like Kirk

What happened to mirror universe captain kirk after star trek: the original series.

Star Trek: Discovery reveals that the Terran High Chancellor was killed for trying to make reforms, which is presumably a reference to Mirror Spock . In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 23, "Crossover", it was confirmed that Mirror Spock rose to the role of Commander in Chief, and the peaceful reforms led to the Terran Empire being unprepared for war with the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. While Discovery seems to confirm that Mirror Spock was executed for this failure, it remains tight-lipped on the fate of Mirror Kirk after he was beamed off the USS Enterprise at the end of "Mirror, Mirror".

The fate of Mirror Kirk after Star Trek: The Original Series has spawned multiple comic books and novels over the years, including the Mirror Universe trilogy by William Shatner, and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.

Many speculated that Mirror Kirk was either imprisoned or put to death by Mirror Spock, even though that doesn't correlate with the Vulcan's attempt to make peaceful reforms . However, career progression in the Mirror Universe is ruthless, so it's certainly possible that Spock would have had Kirk executed, so he could take control of the ISS Enterprise to cement his rise to power. Another possibility is that Kirk survived, and was one of the many Terrans who objected to Mirror Spock's more peaceful reforms, perhaps even being the one who killed him in Star Trek: Discovery 's new version of events.

Mirror Kirk’s Aborted Star Trek: Enterprise Return Explained

Mirror Kirk was an integral part of a William Shatner comeback pitched for Star Trek: Enterprise season 4. In Shatner's pitch, co-conceived with writers Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Mirror Kirk was put to death by Spock following the events of "Mirror, Mirror", by being placed in the Tantalus Field. However, it would be revealed that the Tantalus Field didn't kill its victims, it placed them inside a pocket universe, where they would be discovered by Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the crew of the Enterprise NX-01. Mirror Kirk and his comrades would then launch a hostile takeover of the Enterprise, pitting Shatner against Bakula.

Another pitch for a William Shatner episode of Star Trek: Enterprise would have seen him play the NX-01's unseen chef, who would be revealed as an ancestor of James T. Kirk.

William Shatner's return in Star Trek: Enterprise would have been a ratings smash, but it was nixed by Paramount . The reasons behind Paramount aborting Shatner's Star Trek return were said to be financial, with both Manny Coto and Rick Berman telling "The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek" by Peter Holmstrom that the actor's fee was more than Enterprise could afford. With the Mirror Kirk episode abandoned, the fate of Captain Kirk's Terran counterpart would have to remain a mystery. However, Star Trek: Enterprise did return to the Mirror Universe in a season 4 two-parter involving the USS Defiant from Star Trek: TOS .

Enterprise’s Mirror Universe Episodes Marked The Sad End Of The Star Trek Prequel

Star trek: discovery reveals what happened to mirror captain kirk’s enterprise.

Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 5, "Mirrors" may not reveal the fate of Mirror Kirk, but it does reveal what happened to his Enterprise. Investigating the abandoned ISS Enterprise in search of Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis) , Burnham and Book learn about what happened after Spock's reforms. Following the death of the Terran High Chancellor, a group of Terrans boarded the ISS Enterprise in search of the Prime Universe, perhaps inspired by the hopeful words of Prime Kirk in "Mirror, Mirror". The refugees were led by Mirror Saru (Doug Jones), who had become a resistance leader following Discovery season 1 .

Saru is one of the few Star Trek characters to be a good guy in both the Mirror and Prime Universes.

However, the ISS Enterprise became trapped in the interdimensional fold encountered by the USS Discovery in the 32nd century. Forced to abandon ship, the refugees made it through the wormhole into the prime Star Trek universe. One of the refugees was Dr. Cho, who became part of the Federation's team that investigated the Progenitors' technology alongside Dr. Vellek (Michael Copeman) and Jinaal . Dr. Cho is the only named refugee in Star Trek: Discovery , but it creates the fascinating possibility that Mirror Saru, and maybe even Mirror Kirk found their way to the Prime Universe in the 24th century.

Star Trek: Discovery streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

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Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Original Series follows the exploits of the crew of the USS Enterprise. On a five-year mission to explore uncharted space, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) must trust his crew - Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Forest DeKelley), Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Sulu (George Takei) - with his life. Facing previously undiscovered life forms and civilizations and representing humanity among the stars on behalf of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets, the Enterprise regularly comes up against impossible odds and diplomatic dilemmas.

Weird Star Trek Novels That Are Enjoyable To Read

I n February 1970, Bantam Books published the first original Star Trek novel. James Blish's Spock Must Die! received mixed reviews from critics, but it laid the foundation for many hundreds of further novels . Perhaps the golden era of Star Trek prose was under Pocket Books, who produced an ambitious continuation of TNG and DS9 long before Star Trek: Picard .

Some of the tie-in novels are good, some are bad, and some are just plain strange. From vanity projects to starship-sized plot holes, Star Trek's authors went where no one had gone before (and sometimes where they shouldn't have gone). Though they may be on the stranger side, here are a few books that fans of the franchise will doubtless enjoy.

The Enterprise War - John Jackson Miller

John Jackson Miller's 2019 novel answers a pertinent question: where was the Enterprise during Star Trek: Discovery 's Federation–Klingon War? Miller shows Pike's Enterprise caught in a different war between the Boundless and the Rengru, aliens who hope to use the starship to tip the scales in their favor.

RELATED: Most Charismatic Star Trek: The Next Generation Characters, Ranked

The Enterprise War has an exciting plot, but stumbles slightly when it comes to reconciling the Pike era with the rest of contemporary Trek. Spock's references to Michael Burnham seem out of place alongside obscure characters from Star Trek 's failed pilot, while the Enterprise 's saucer separation recalls TNG rather than TOS or Discovery . Miller's novel walks a fine line between anachronisms and tropes. The result is a weird blend of eras, but one that readers are sure to enjoy.

The Good That Men Do - Andy Mangels & Michael A. Martin

Few fans were impressed when Star Trek: Enterprise ended by killing off one of its crew. In terms of both scriptwriting and direction, the noble sacrifice of engineer Trip Tucker is an anticlimax. This shortcoming inspired authors Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin to consider an alternative: what if Tucker's death was a hoax?

RELATED: Star Trek: The Relationship Between Vulcans & Romulans, Explained

The Good That Men Do (2007) claims that Tucker never died; instead, he left the Enterprise to work for Section 31 . This coverup allowed him to investigate a new threat posed by the Romulans. The book holds a strange place in Star Trek canon: it is as much an apology as it is a novel, although the Romulans' machinations make for an entertaining read.

Disavowed - David Mack

While the Star Trek Relaunch series provided fans with some franchise highpoints, it had started to stumble by the time of David Mack's Disavowed (2014). Six years earlier, Mack had torn up the status quo with his Destiny trilogy, focusing on a massive Borg invasion . The trilogy is excellent—but its fallout left subsequent novels unsure of where to take the series.

Mack's story, centered on Julian Bashir, reinvents the Star Trek novel as a tense espionage thriller as the Starfleet doctor and Section 31 operative travels to the Mirror Universe to halt a scheme by the evil Breen. Mack's prose is propulsive, but Disavowed represents the Star Trek world at a crossroads. The book's weirdness lays not in its writing, but in its attempt to reinvigorate the series with a focus on espionage rather than exploration.

Broken Bow - Diane Carey

Star Trek 's writing has been the subject of parodies aplenty, from shows like The Orville to movies like Galaxy Quest . In 2020, the franchise itself got in on the fun, with cartoon series Lower Decks spoofing on Star Trek 's tropes. Yet Lower Decks was not the first time that Star Trek' s own writers took a swipe at the franchise. The 2001 novelization of "Broken Bow" derided the Star Trek: Enterprise episode it was meant to retell.

RELATED: Star Trek: Enterprise Actor Slams How Her Character Was Written

Author Diane Carey wrote extensively for Star Trek 's novels (the hero of her 2000 novel Challenger was written to resemble Enterprise 's Scott Bakula, though the book predated his casting). Yet when it came to novelizing Bakula's first real adventure, Carey was so unimpressed with the script that she used the characters' internal monologues to criticize the story's plot. The author was allegedly blacklisted for her mischief, but she turned an otherwise by-the-numbers novelization into a sneaky practical joke.

A Singular Destiny - Keith R.A. DeCandido

Readers might expect a sequel to TNG and DS9 to feature a hero like Captain Picard, or a fan favorite like Kira Nerys. Yet although Keith R.A. DeCandido's 2009 novel does feature DS9 's Ezri Dax, its star is diplomat Sonek Pran, a wholly original character. This stylistic deviation allows A Singular Destiny to interrogate the state of the Relaunch universe . The Borg may be gone, but a new threat is rising in the form of the Typhon Pact, an alliance of several hostile states including the Breen and the Gorn.

Despite the scope of its universe, Star Trek can become bogged down by revisiting the same characters and tropes. DeCandido's novel bucks this trend, making this immersive political thriller an essential chapter in the Relaunch saga.

Fearful Symmetry - Olivia Woods

Viewers of DS9 may recall the episode "Second Skin," in which Bajoran Kira Nerys was disguised as a Cardassian. Fearful Symmetry claims that the woman that Kira impersonated, Iliana Ghemor, was also altered to look like Kira, but fell into the clutches of Gul Dukat , who imprisoned and abused her. Driven mad, the impostor plots her revenge in Olivia Woods' 2008 novel.

While it's odd that Dukat never mentioned his prisoner, the novel's true weirdness is its two-in-one physical format. Fearful Symmetry is made up of two narratives: the front cover depicts Kira, while the rear is an alternate cover showing Ghemor. Starting the book in one direction shows Kira's investigation into her duplicate, while starting in the opposite direction provides the troubled life of Ghemor. This parallel structuring allows the novel's form to mirror its content, a clever gimmick.

Killing Time - Della Van Hise

The possibility of a deeper, potentially romantic bond between Kirk and Spock has intrigued fans for decades (the term "slash fiction" is attributed to stories about the pair), but Star Trek 's writers were unwilling to offer any confirmation. Father of the franchise Gene Roddenberry was particularly opposed to the idea. He was displeased, to say the least, when author Della Van Hise snuck suggestive material into her 1985 novel.

RELATED: Captain Kirk's Redemption Of Spock In The Mirror Universe

First editions of Killing Time (which involves the Romulans altering history to try and defeat the Federation) were recalled and destroyed, although some were purchased by fans. A revised edition removed the offending content. Rumors circulated that an even more explicit version existed, although Van Hise denied these claims. If nothing else, Killing Time demonstrates the importance of checking a book before it's sent to the printers.

The Return - Garfield Reeves-Steven & William Shatner

Actor Leonard Nimoy was so impressed by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , in which his character died, that he asked for Spock to return from the dead . William Shatner, on the other hand, was so unimpressed by Kirk's death in Star Trek: Generations that he decided to take matters into his own hands, co-writing a series of novels in which a resurrected Kirk continues the fight against evil.

The resulting Shatnerverse (comprising ten novels by Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Steven) is generally considered non-canon even by novel fans, with some regarding it as an ego trip for Shatner. Kirk's transition into a quasi-Messianic figure certainly has all the hallmarks of a vanity project, as does his role in the total defeat of the Borg in 1996's The Return . The Shatnerverse novels may not fit into any version of canon aside from their own, but they represent an interesting diversion for those who like their books heavy on fan-service and light on common sense.

MORE: Best Starfleet Ships Of The 23rd Century

Scott Bakula's Star Trek: Enterprise Casting Almost Didn't Happen

The artistic team behind "Star Trek: Enterprise" always knew they wanted Scott Bakula to portray Captain Jonathan Archer. The "Quantum Leap" star was unquestionably their man — their only man — and director James L. Conway said as much during a late 2023 interview with "The Shuttlepod Show." Despite their confidence, however, "Enterprise" came dangerously close to entering production without him. 

As chronicled in "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams," the second volume of Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross' self-described "complete, uncensored, and unauthorized oral history" book, Bakula signed his contract a mere handful of days before filming began. "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," said Conway. "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." 

Conway went on to say that the actor quickly proved himself worthy of their efforts at the first table read. Sure,  Bakula's hair created a huge problem for "Enterprise"  during the pilot episode, but Conway regrets nothing, and neither does Bakula. 

Scott Bakula loved Star Trek and is open to reprising his role

Although there's a small asterisk for the "Star Trek: Enterprise" finale, Scott Bakula looks back on his time filming "Enterprise" with fervent pride. During an early 2023 interview with TrekMovie.com , he expressed deep admiration for Captain Jonathan Archer, whom he considers to be a positive representation of humanity in a fictional world. Bakula also shared how the artistic team behind "Enterprise" banded together in a way that honored the core philosophy of "Star Trek."

"When we were in the midst of making the show ... we all talked about hoping that the show would be more appreciated as time went on. Because I felt like we achieved something pretty wonderful in those four years," said Bakula, "especially, in my opinion, in the last two and a half years ... with the 9/11 component fusing the writers' brains and minds and hearts. We were always hopeful, all of us. We had done a lot of good work and [we hoped] that we would be appreciated as time marched on. I'm thrilled."

In the years since "Enterprise" ended in 2005, Bakula has returned to the "Star Trek" franchise only once — in 2006 for the video game "Star Trek: Legacy." The actor told TrekMovie.com that he would be open to returning if executive producer Alex Kurtzman ever asked. Should that ever come to fruition, Bakula's "Star Trek" return could happen in "Strange New Worlds."  If not, it's not like the franchise is going anywhere anytime soon.

David Ajala Explains Star Trek: Discovery Seemingly Ending Cleveland Booker's Story In Season 4, And Why He’s Glad He Returned For Season 5

This worked out really well for all involved.

Watching Star Trek: Discovery 's final season, I find it hard to imagine what it'd look like without David Ajala's Cleveland Booker in the mix. Fans were delighted to see him return in early trailers, to the point where Sonequa Martin-Green was surprised by his reveal , given what happened to the character in Disco 's Season 4 ending . I was just as baffled at the time, but the actor was fortunately able to set the record straight on Book's return, and why he's glad it all worked out.

David Ajala was kind enough to speak to CinemaBlend ahead of another Booker-heavy episode that'll make this month's Paramount+ subscription cost worth it. I mentioned how heavily his character's story has been incorporated into Season 5, and asked why Star Trek: Discovery seemingly wrote him off back when he was sent to help refugees as penance for his betrayal of the Federation. Ajala cleared up the situation, recalling both Booker's fake-out death in the finale and his eventual punishment that sent him away from the ship:

It's funny because I remember reading the [Season 4 finale] episode and thinking, ‘Oh, so Cleveland Booker is out of here,' and then, you know, seeing the reveal. It was fun because it was such a superb dramatic beat. But I was only meant to be on the show for two seasons, Seasons 3 and 4. As fate would have it, the stars aligned, and the producers and powers that be wanted to flesh out Cleveland Booker's story a little more and gave me the invitation to come back, which I graciously accepted.

There were no guarantees that David Ajala would remain with Star Trek: Discovery after his contract was up, so it seems that story decision was landed on as a way to offer wiggle room to the writers to explain away his absence had the actor not been available to return. Fortunately, it all worked out, and while we don't know exactly when the decisions were made, Ajala confirmed to CinemaBlend in December of 2022 that he would appear in Season 5. Suffice it to say, this fan was not shocked to see him in the trailers.

As is widely reported at this point, no one involved in Star Trek: Discovery knew Season 5 would be the final outing when it was in production, so it's a blessing David Ajala did agree to return for another season. The actor continued, sharing why he's been so grateful for this additional story, and how it benefitted the character of Cleveland Booker overall.

And I'm so happy that my ‘yes’ was yes because we've been really able to dig into a much more well-rounded individual. Not perfect, well-rounded. Whose strengths and weaknesses have been so publicly displayed, and whose fall from grace has been so publicly displayed. I think it shows great character with his leaving Booker because he's able to bounce back and still be of service to many people.

Star Trek: Discovery fans still have more to see from Cleveland Booker, and at least some confirmation from star Sonequa Martin-Green that we'll get a sense of where he and Michael stand . David Ajala also teased to CinemaBlend that he's very excited for fans to see a particular scene , and I'm really curious if it involves Booker and the lead of Discovery .

The top brass shared the reality of doing a modern Star Trek show.

I'm hoping to see as much of Cleveland Booker as I possibly can, knowing that there may not be much room for him on Star Trek television in the future. Unless Book joins Starfleet, I don't really see him appearing on upcoming Trek shows like Starfleet Academy , which is also set in the 32nd century. Stranger things have happened, however, and it's hard to believe that at least one or two stars from Discovery series won't be a part of this in-development spinoff.

As for what's coming for Cleveland Booker in the immediate future, it seemed he managed to gain some headway with rival courier Moll, who is the daughter of his mentor, the original Cleveland Booker. Perhaps she and L'ak can ultimately be shifted into allies, rather than enemies who intend to hand a dangerous technology to the Breen in exchange for their freedom. Hopefully, he can convince them to work with Starfleet before it's too late.

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Star Trek: Discovery continues its final season on Paramount+ with new episodes on Thursdays. Don't miss the back half of this season, as the action is only sure to heat up as we head to that big finish filmed after the show was canceled.

Mick Joest is a Content Producer for CinemaBlend with his hand in an eclectic mix of television goodness. Star Trek is his main jam, but he also regularly reports on happenings in the world of Star Trek, WWE, Doctor Who, 90 Day Fiancé, Quantum Leap, and Big Brother. He graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Radio and Television. He's great at hosting panels and appearing on podcasts if given the chance as well.

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