For the Enterprise Detractors

[Joe Dizzy]

Originally posted by mactavish
what would you do to make <i>Enterprise</i> worth watching (in your opinion)?

If I would get to run Enterprise I'd change a lot of things.

First, I'd introduce "novel" concepts such as character arcs, season arcs/themes to the show. I'd flesh out the characters, give them distinctive personalities and map out their respective journeys each season.
I'd have a look at which episodes fall into sweeps weeks and have those episodes deal with and/or address the forming of the Federation (more on that later) and generally establishing the state of the Alpha/Beta Quadrant in this era. I would do this of course with highly dramatic and attention-grabbing episodes which would heavily influence the series/season's development. I would make the series as self-contained as possible and avoid species and ideas that would only start to play a role many decades later (Ferengi, Borg, TIME TRAVEL!!)
The other episodes would focus on the crew and how they deal with being the spearhead of the human space exploration; what it means to live together with a hundred people on such a small ship. All the episodes would be sprinkled with classic sci-fi concepts: First Contact, Alien Lifeforms, Space Anomalies, you name it.
This should be the foundation of the series. I'd also fire every writer who cannot sell me his script by answering the three important questions:
1) What is the story about?
2) Why should we or the characters care?
3) How does the end of the story influence the characters or the setting?

I'd make Space much scarier. I'd emphasize the comparatively low-tech feel of this era. Unlike in decades later, there are no 5000 security redundancy systems installed on the ship making sure you're safe and sound. There's only this piece of metal between you and the cold empty death of outer space.
Ship battles would be intense and frightening. Everytime the Enteprise would get hit, people would be afraid that this is "The End".
In addition to that, space before the Federation would be a violent, barbaric place ruled by fear. There's a reason why Vulcans prefer non-interference to meddling with other people's affairs.
Klingons are far from honourable. They are nothing but cruel space-bullies, establishing their reputation as evil bastards in TOS.
Romulans are seldomly mentioned by name and essentially a big semi-mystified monster. They are ghosts which even the most hardened space traveller fears.

There's a reason why so many planets and species entered the Federation and there's a reason why the Vulcans, the Andorians, the Tellarites, the Centaurians and the Humans (or whoever the hell else it was) banded together to form the UFP.
It was in opposition to the chaotic state of inter-planetary affairs in which "Might Made Right" and the guy with less scruples would win.

The seven seasons of Enterprise (assuming it gets seven) would be about how the Federation was formed out of necessity, because someone had to make a stand and not because Archer, Soval and Shran got along so well. It would be about how humans established themselves as major players in the Alpha and Beta Quadrant. But most of all it would be about the 7 senior crew members and how their bold venture into space paved the way for peace, prosperity and progress for thousands of species. To Kirk, Picard, Sisko and all the other Captains of the later series these characters would be legendary heroes. The series should attempt to get them there by the time the series finale airs.

Mind you, this isn't what I think is wrong with the series. But this is how I would have tried to get the most out of the series concept while still tieing it thematically into Trek-lore.

Now if only I could get this across to my players.

[Phantom]

Hey Diz! Now I would watch that show, your ideas are exactly what I thought the show should be like.

[Kosst Amojan]

I think interesting characters and character development is essential to any Trek series. As a shining example, I would point out the development of Data in TNG.

I am a hardcore DS9 fan, and I remember when that show premiered being immediately drawn to the fate of the characters and taken into the show. There was a chemistry from the beginning between each character. That was something that took a couple of seasons to happen on TNG. It still isn't happening on Enterprise.

I want to care about the Enterprise characters. I want to feel like I can't miss an episode because I have to find out what is happening to Capt. Archer, or T'Pol or whoever this week. I could live with timeline incontinuity and 24th century technology seeping in if they'd just give me some people to care about!

I remember feeling emotional when Jadzia died. I remember feeling the romantic tension between Odo and Kira. If an asteroid slammed into the Enterprise and destroyed the whole crew, it wouldn't move me a bit. These characters have not engaged me. They are two dimensional.

The most important thing I would change would be adding depth to the characters. How? Look at Sisko and his history and how his life played out. From the death of his wife, to the relationship with his son, to his feelings about being the Emissary and on and on. He had D-E-P-T-H. Look at Chief O'Brien. We need characters we care about, and then the stories will come naturally.

I felt the same way often about Voyager. I never had the same emotional attachment to those characters, but they grew on me. I hope Enterprise does the same some day.

[prophetsteve]

I'll avoid comments about the series. Pretty much everyone knows my views about it. So straight to the main issue:

So what would I personally do different with Enterprise? I have discussed it before...

The Name: First of all, I would call my show Star Trek: Dauntless. Despite the new timeframe it still is Star Trek so I deserves having that title. Secondly, I always concidered Kirk's ship the first Enterprise, so the NX-01 would be the Dauntless, linking with that Voyager episode with the (fake) NX-01A Dauntless.

The Ship: It would be the NX-01A, S.S. Dauntless. A Dauntless Class Heavy Cruiser. I don't know how I would deisgn the ship - the so-called Akiraprise has grown on me of late. Maybe I would take the NX-01A from Voyager and do a retro design. Would be nice to tease future Federation elements (a saucer section, warp pylons) but go for something a bit more crude.

Like the Enterprise, the Dauntless is an experimental ship, the first with a Warp 2 engine. The Danutless was concieved by United Earth as a warship but with its reassignment to Exploration Command, it has been refitted for exploration. That means its a exporation ship with teeth, still maintaining much of its original armament of lasers and nuclear-tipped spatial torpedoes

The Premise: It is the year 2151. Humanity is finally united after the horrors of World War 3. With help from the Vulcans, and their own indomitable spirit, humanity has reached out to nearby starsystems and has a network of colonies and outposts.

Humanity's future looks bright. Until the Romulans came...

Attacking colonies without warning, the Romulans have declared war on humanity. Outnumbered and outgunned, Earth Command has scrambled its small fleet of warp-capable ships to hold back the seemingly endless armada of Romulan vessels which are slowly plodding towards Terran space.

Humanity's resources are stretched thin. They cannot fight against the Romulans, who have had decades to amass their vast armies and space ships. The Vulcans? While they possess an impressive exploration and scientific fleet, have but a few defense vessels to offer.

Enter the Dauntless. Envisioned to be the next generation of warships for Earth Command, it combines the latest in weaponry and the revolutionary Human-Vulcan Warp 2 engine. Once a purely a weapon of War, it is hastily refitted for both military and exploration mandate.

The Mission: Humanity and Vulcan cannot stand against the might of the Romulans. They need allies. Fast. The Dauntless is to push into the charted and uncharted regions of space in order make contact with potential friends and foes. To form a Federation of species that will strike back the Romulan hordes and save countless lives from the yoke of Romulan oppression.

The Feel: This series would have a more military feel than most Trek series. Think of TOS combined with Crimson Tide or Hunt for Red October. The missions would avoid simple exploration (as that has been thoroughly covered in TOS/Voyager/TNG)but would center on diplomacy and military missions.

This isn't Trek as we know it - I see it as a melding of what we know as Trek (or what will be Trek) with future-military. Like TNG was different than TOS, I would make Dauntless have a unique feel.


The Crew: I'll keep the Enterprise Crew for simplicity sake. One of the ideas of STauntless would be the conflict between the old guard and the new. Earth Command Military vs. the new breed of Starship crew, which is more reminiscent of what we have seen in TOS.

Archer, Trip, and Hoshi would be of the new breed, keeping much of their backstory that has been established in Enterprise. Trip would have been on the design team for the W2 engine and be more confortable with Vulcans than in Enterprise. Hoshi would not even be military trained at all, which would explain her initial aversion to combat and other unpleasentness.

Reid and a first officer would spearhead the old guard faction. The First Officer would have been captain of the vessel if not for Archer being assigned and is very much the Jellico-style hardcore officer. Reid is the Armory officer and besides manning the weapons, is also in charge of the Tactical Squads, which serve both as security on the vessel but also as a SEAL team.

Phlox and T'Pol would be the alien contingent on the vessel (although I would add more aliens as alliances are made). Phlox would be as written. T'Pol would be an experienced Vulcan explorer, which the Vulcans have lent as an advisor and diplomat. There is not much I would change in her, besides giving her a real uniform or clothing and ditching the bodysuit.

The Foes:

The Romulans: The big foes of the series arc. No have no apparent Warp drive, but they are seemingly able to move from system to system. No cloak but they do have some impressive stealth technology that makes sensor locks more difficult. They are a faceless, mysterious enemy and remain so for most of the seires (although the danuntless will learn more about their FTL and stealth tech).

The Klingons: This empire of warriors are little more than a group of squabbling Houses at this point. Less Mongols, more Vikings. The Dauntless will encounter the Klingons infrequently and most encounters will be violent. More TOS Klingons in dress and attitude but I would probably go with the bumpy head makeup (maybe toning it down a bit as a nod to the old-style TOS makeup).

The Orion: Fill the role of neutrals in this conflict. They trade when they have to, take and steal when they can. There is no concept of morality where trade is concerned and they are quite willing to sell weapons, drugs, slaves, and other contrand if it serves them. They would fill the role of Ferengi in the setting, but more flamboyant and vicious. Kinda like pirates in the Captain hook vein.

Andorians: Future allies, the andorians are a passionate people who respect strength, both technologically and personnally. They have met the Vulcans and concider them weak and pathetic due to their lack of military might. The Andorians would be a minor villian at first, leading quickly to neutrality and eventually to ally.

Tellerites: Argumentative and aloof, the Tellerites are another hard sell. However they are suffering the brunt of the Romulan incursion, so they are more willing to join the Federation than the Andorians.

Aliens of the Week: I would avoid too many AotW in ST: Dauntless. I would concentrate on more established races, especially those mentioned in TOS and TNG but never seen.


So that is my idea. I bit long; sorry about that.

EDIT: I edited it for clarity and for whatever grammer errors I could find.

[Sarge]

I like it, Prophet. Has kind of a TOS meets B5 feel.

[mactavish]

Now that's a show that I'd watch!

mactavish out.

[Don Mappin]

I'm going to tender an apology to mac that it appears some good discussion has come out of this thread. I still don't agree with how this thread started (or your pot shots) but that's just me.

[REG]

Hmm. I don't know, Prophet. To start the show with a heavy military overtone would not jive with many Trek fans. It has to be introduced gradually, which is something B&B has better prep themselves and the ENT production's cast & crew.

Of course, it was bad enough that a lot of whispers regarding how DS9 came about. To make the show have a B5 feel would make them perceived as copycat and having no creative juice at all (which is understandable, Trek has been on TV for over 15 years; 18 if you count TOS). While the court of law may not think so, it is the court of public opinion that decides since the jury are viewers too.

[Cochrane]

Originally posted by prophetsteve This isn't Trek as we know it - I see it as a melding of what we know as Trek (or what will be Trek) with future-military. Like TNG was different than TOS, I would make Dauntless have a unique feel.[/B]

It's Trek, Jim, but not as we know it!

[prophetsteve]

Hmm. I don't know, Prophet. To start the show with a heavy military overtone would not jive with many Trek fans.

Maybe. The whole point of my Dauntless was to make it different than the series that came before it, while maintaining some sort of continuity.

Each series had a different feel. TOS was more wild west than TNG. DS9 more military than TNG. Voyager had some of the TOS exotic exploration stuff filtered though a modern lens.

So what to do with Enterprise? B&B have sort of switched back and forth from TOS style and TNG style storytelling, which prevents the series from getting into a groove. If I were writing the series I would have chosen a particular feel and stick with it.

So why the more overt military overtones right off the bat?

To simply differentiate Dauntless from the other series. It isn't going to be the same series as TNG, TOS, DS9, or VOY. Humanity isn't that enlightened yet. Is starting to see the light, as it were, but are still very much flawed beings. They are at a turning point in history and that is one of the central themes of the show I would like to have seen explored more in Enterprise.

Basically from the first episode of Dauntless, it would be clear that the Earth starfleet wants to be different - the whole idea that a guy like Captain Archer can get command of a military vessel proves that. However, in order for them to get Starfleet, they need to get past all the old guard, many of whom were still old enough remember the decades of horror after WWIII.

In essense, Dauntless would be "fighting for the spirit of Trek".

Again, its my idea for a series - what I would have done differently than Enterprise. Nothing more

[REG]

Originally posted by prophetsteve

So why the more overt military overtones right off the bat?

To simply differentiate Dauntless from the other series. It isn't going to be the same series as TNG, TOS, DS9, or VOY. Humanity isn't that enlightened yet. Is starting to see the light, as it were, but are still very much flawed beings. They are at a turning point in history and that is one of the central themes of the show I would like to have seen explored more in Enterprise.

Um, with all due respect, Prophet, but I'm afraid I have heard that same pitch -- perhaps with different words or syntax -- when B&B tried to sell ENTERPRISE. Oh, yeah, it was different; a "temporal cold war" different. (If you do not know me by now, I have a big migraine-like headache when it comes to Braga trying tell a story using time travel.)

As much as I like the military story arc (I'm still a devoted fan of DS9 portrayal of the the Dominion War), we should not deviate from what even the most base people know about the appeal of Star Trek: Exploration and First Contact.

As I said, it should be introduced gradually, but let the crew have some adventures exploring the deep space first, probably for the first time thanks to the Warp 5 engines.

And please wrap up the TCW arc already.

P.S. For some reason, I'm hoping that Mayweather take the red pill and disconnect himself from the Star Trek Matrix. LOL!

[prophetsteve]

Um, with all due respect, Prophet, but I'm afraid I have heard that same pitch -- perhaps with different words or syntax -- when B&B tried to sell ENTERPRISE.

Perhaps. But what B&B promised and delivered are two separate things. Ulitimately with all the changes, I don't see anything really that different other Trek series. Time travel and bodysuits aren't much different than Voyger, really.

Again, its all hypothetical - Dauntless is how I would have done Enterprise. Your mileage may vary.

[bilbosmaug]

sounds like "Starfleet Year One"

great concept!

makes more sense than what happened

[prophetsteve]

Starfleet Year One was an inspiration, to be sure. Mainly on the small blurb about why the aliens had come together (the Romulan War) and the conflict between the old and new guarrd.

...and Earth Command sounded so much better than UESPA or Earth Starfleet.

I prefer Enterprises idea that humanity is particularly backwater at this point - Stafleet Year One suggested that the aliens only played a minor role in the Romulan War when I felt that Humanity needed the aliens help to fight. Still Earths war (they led the charge), but truly the first time humans and aliens had worked together in a mass scale.

[Capt.Hunter]

What I don't understand is why they've gone with the route that humans are a lot less advanced than every other race out there. There has to be some reason Zephram Cochrane was "famed throughout the Federation". Why should the Andorians have better warp drive than humans? OK, the Vulcans make sense as they obviously were out exploring in 2063, but why the Klingons? I'd feel much happier if the main bad guys were a new race that could have more advanced tech (the Suliban are right in this regard) and other "to-be-Fed" races are depicted as being on roughly the same tech scale as the humans. Hell, the NX-01 hasn't actually discovered any of the future Fed species that the Vulcans didn't already know about! How about a meeting with the Bajorans (since, at this point in their history, they have warp drive)? Would explain why the Federation is so torn about the Cardassian Occupation in TNG - a race who had already been out exploring back before Earth even had warp drive has been laid low by an oppressor.

Mind you, I'm one of those people who, when I see an article about "Why haven't alien beings made radio contact with us yet?", says "What makes you think they have to be more advanced than we are?!".