Star Trek: Enterprise got a bad rap from fans early on but why?
Star Trek: Enterprise often gets a bad rap from fans who cite it as boring and, well, boring. That isn’t the case though for many. Many really enjoy Star Trek: Enterprise, the problem is, most of us (myself included), only saw Enterprise for the first time thanks to services like Netflix; long after the show had stopped airing.
When I first saw Enterprise, I was done right out of the gate. Firstly, it was a prequel, I hate prequels. Secondly, it was a prequel. Why would I care about them? I spent 10 years watching three different Star Trek shows with tons of crossovers. I just saw the end of Voyager and was hoping, foolishly so, that the next Star Trek series would follow the Power Rangers formula (the early formula anyway), and bring over several of the past actors into the next show and pepper in some in some new actors as well.
The Next Generation had just about every Original Series actor pop up at some point (save for one or two). Deep Space Nine brought in Worf to star and a bunch of TNG actors as guest stars. Voyager even brought in some names as well, though they were a bit harder to pull off due to the show’s dynamics. So when Enterprise was a prequel, ending the story that we’ve been following collective across three series, it was a kick to the gut.
I wasn’t the only one who opted out of Enterprise before giving it a real chance. Voyager debuted on UPN with 21 million viewers, an impossible number to hit every week, but had roughly seven million viewers per week for a long time. The show even ended with 8.81 million viewers. Enterprise debuted with 12 million viewers and quickly fell to four million by the end of the first season.
So why did Enterprise fail? Some will say specific story arcs, and the like, but upon rewatch, most of them weren’t bad. They just weren’t what fans had hoped for. There is a difference. If I order a steak and get a pizza, it may still be good but I’m disappointed. Enterprise is a good show, but it disappointed.
We’re going to see if we can’t figure out why fans were so hard on it early on.