UPN's Faith In 'Enterprise' Paying Off

Star Trek: Enterprise is showing gains in the ratings as the third season progresses, improving in total viewers and the 18-49 and 18-34 demographics.

According to Zap2It, the show rallied after facing stiff competition from post-season baseball playoffs. "Similitude", which aired November 19th, drew an audience of 4.6 million viewers, significantly higher than season 2's average of 4.03 million viewers per episode.

Executive producer Rick Berman says he is happy with the results of the changes to third season, which include a season-long arc and a new villain, the Xindi. "We're pleased that the ratings have been holding on, and we're pleased that the shows have been terrific. A lot of fans seem to agree," Berman said. "We made a decision to develop a unique, season-long arc, which we are nearly half-done with, as far as shows that have been completed, and two-thirds done with, in terms of shows conceived and written."

Executive producer Brannon Braga also expressed his pleasure at the direction Enterprise is taking. "There are two things that are really working for us creatively and, it appears, for the fans. There are strong science-fiction components to this arc--the mystery of the spheres, the five-species Xindi, great time travel--and also, the emotional stakes have been raised quite a bit," Braga commented.

The producers also hinted at what was ahead for the characters. Though not much has happened thus far with the rumored Trip (Connor Trinneer)/T'Pol (Jolene Blalock) pairing, Braga revealed that "there's a lot of really tantalizing stuff happening between Trip and T'Pol, though not quite the way you would expect. So yes, that dynamic is going to go somewhere, but it's not going to end up in a wedding or anything predictable."

Berman promised further development for T'Pol in the coming months. "We're also going to find out, in episode 19, I believe, that there's a specific reason why T'Pol's behavior might be a little bit different than we would expect it to be," he said. "I can't tell you any more than that." Braga added, "Real shocking things are going to happen in that arc."

Enterprise's creators also spoke about Trip, whose character changed greatly after his sister was killed in the Xindi attack on Earth at the end of season 2. Trip's demeanor became more serious and focused, and his joking, lighthearted attitude was toned down somewhat. "That was something that we did intentionally, that we talked to Connor about," Berman commented. "As soon as Trip's sister was killed and this new mission began, we pulled that back extensively."

When they addressed the issue of the show's name adjustment, from Enterprise to Star Trek: Enterprise, neither saw it as a major change for the show. "Brannon and I both believe that it has made absolutely no difference," Berman said about UPN's desire to add "Star Trek" to the name. "They've been very supportive, so I didn't feel it was worthwhile to object. Anybody who had any interest in Star Trek knew that Enterprise was a Star Trek series, so putting the name Star Trek in front of it to seemingly attract potential Trek fans, I think, didn't serve much of a purpose."

To read the original article, please visit Zap2It.

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