Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Star Trek down for the count

The last episode of Enterprise, the fifth Star Trek series, is set to air next week and after that there will be no new Star Treks in the space dock for the first time in 18 years.

Both the New York Times and the Washington Post have published their obituaries for the long running series.

UPN pulled the plug on Enterprise after just four seasons, which is still better than the three seasons that NBC grudgingly allotted to the original Star Trek series, but it falls far short of the standard seven-season run established by ST: The Next Generation, ST: Deep Space Nine and ST: Voyager.
Combine that with the measly $40 million box office take of the last Star Trek movie “Insurrection”, which cost more than $100 million to produce (the first “bomb” of the movie franchise) and we find the Star Trek universe suddenly run aground with no immediate prospects for the near-term future.

Well, I am disappointed but not surprised. Enterprise had its faults and weak spots, but it was still better than most of the dreck that passes for entertainment on TV today. And I also would not count the franchise out just yet. You can bet there will be another movie out eventually and I’d bet another TV series will come along as well. This will be a temporary hiatus.

No comments:

Post a Comment