Shark Bytes

Despite the theme song, I was willing to give ST:ENT the benefit of the doubt. The animosity between Humans and Vulcans, the misgivings about using the transporter, how the Universal Translator came to be, blah blah blah... The show was just beginning to explore and expand upon those themes.

But when the entire third season became a thinly veiled metaphor for 9/11, I lost interest. The "Xindi"? Are you effing kidding me? Talking insects and talking whales? Proof that all the CGI in the world can't make up for proper storytelling.

ST:TNG had the overall story arc of Q. ST:VOG had the overall story arc of The Borg. ST:ENT was gearing itself to have the overall story arc of The Temporal Prime Directive (I have no idea what ST:DS9 was trying to do, but that's only because I thought it sucked and never watched it). Even though "time travel" storylines are basically using the same cheats as "holideck" storylines, I was curious as to how ST:ENT would progress.

So long story short (too late), Star Trek: Enterprise jumped the shark with season three.

The theme song and the dog. Alexander Courage must be spinning in his grave. I wonder how they got Rod Stewert to sing it?

The captains cabin must have been pretty smelly with all that dog doo around.

Sad. I am a Trek fan, but haven't wasted my time on this piece of garbage.

Great show and it had the best all around cast of all the Star Trek shows as far as acting is concerned. I would rank it just below ST:DS9 (which I consider to be the best of all the Trek shows). Some of the stories were done before ,but even the early ones were pretty good. The series got much better by season 3 and improved again by season 4. Too bad it was cancelled just when it had started hitting it's stride. It does seem to be more popular in retrospect than when it was originally aired.

The show should have left out encounters with certain species (The Klingons, Borg, Romulans..ect) . The time traveling should be left to shows like Doctor Who(another one of my favorite shows). The Alien Nazis was a weak 2 parter as well, but overall the show was great.

I'm kinda undecided about when/if the show jumped the shark. The moment would concern the final story of the series in which one of the most popular characters dies and we are forced to watched this from the prospective of Riker with Troi making an appearance as well. Their inclusion in this story was completely unnecessary and an insult to the main crew of this show. It wasn't really a bad story, but they should have had a better ending .

This show "Jumped the Shark" (and when I stopped watching it) was when the (so called) PROUD Southerner decided to do the "PC" thing with the society that needed a third (neutral) for "joining" and he convinced "it" that they had "rights." I do not believe that this does reflects the "traditional" SOUTHERN way of thinking or of the "Prime Directive" of the Original Series.

Richard

Wow, my minions, my neo-con trolls! Thank you for trying to infiltrate every possible aspect of the net.
Thank GOD, we shot down net neutrality.

Anyways, yes, the parallels in this show are to showcase war, mainly the Iraq war, and mainly the parallels of a 9/11 moment.

But mainly its the liberal elite who wrote this show, and do coke off of urinals and such.

All I know, is this show was GREAT. ESPECIALLY in a mirror darkly.

First trek in HD. I have all 4 seasons, WONDERFUL!

Possible shark moments:

Cowboy world, hahaha oh god.
Nazi aliens, interesting, but you can see WHO wrote it, in how easy Elite forces of the Reich were shot down easily by a 1911, while a MP40 spraying 30 rounds never hit any of the heroes.

The worst one, was the Borg, after that all Cannon was thrown out.

In case there was any doubt that Berman & Braga never actually watched episodes from the Original Series, we have this show as proof. Would it have been so much trouble to hire one person who HAD seen the show to proofread the scripts first?

Andrew pretty much nailed it for me. I can put up with some pot-head politics if a show keeps it subtle, but they just lost their minds by slaming it in my face like that.

"Bush sucks, get over it"? What does Bush have to do with hack writers sacrificing Star Trek on the altar of obsessive Hollywood politics? A good third of the posts here refer to the awful invasion storyline. Newsflash: bogus political propaganda makes for lousy Trek. Hopefully the writers of the new movie will learn that lesson and keep their brain-dead conspiracy theories out of it. Save them for your drum circles and protest marches "progressives."

-Yeah Baby, Yeah!

Look at how many opinions on Enterprise we see here.

Some people thought the 1st and 2nd seasons were the best, because they had a certain 'mood' to them, lost when the darker 3rd season came in. Others believe the 1st and 2nd seasons (we can excuse the 1st for being the 1st) lacked focus, and the 3rd season arc brought a sense of focus to the show.

Some people thought the canon discrepancies (even those that were explained during the course of the show) were utterly intolerable, besmirching the memory and original vision of Gene Roddenberry for Star Trek, not only because of the canon changes, but because of the poor writing involved. Others thought they did a decent job of explaining the canon changes they effected, but maybe they spent a little too much time indulging in their every desire or reusing old props ("Hey, Rick, don't you think it'd be cool to use the BORG for an episode?" "Sure, Brannon! I think there's still some drone gear in one of the old shooting lots, too!")...

To me, it's simple. Enterprise jumped the shark on day one. And didn't. It's contradictory. It could have been on par with the Original Series, DS9 or TNG, whichever one you think is the 'best' trek - hell, it could have been more than just that, it could have become an amazing, trend-setting Trek show, blazing the trail of political and social issues (and I don't mean what they did with the poorly-conceived parallels to the real world in the Xindi storyline) like the original series, which was really a way for Roddenberry to comment on society without the networks catching on.

And that's just the problem. The networks, they caught on. They turned what was once a brilliantly-conceived piece of Sci-Fi/Social Commentary into a dumbed-down version of itself. Both the Sci-Fi and the social commentary on Enteprise is significantly weaker than in any other ST show, with the obvious exception of Voyager.

And that is why it jumped, but didn't jump the shark. The concept, the premise, hell, even the actors, sets, the starship design, even the THEME SONG, that we could have stomached. How? If they'd delivered with the writing. But Braga and Berman, thinking they knew the inside of every Trekkie's mind better than their owners decided they 'knew what was best'. And thus you have a brilliant premise, decent characters, good actors and a lot of money spent on SFX and set design gone to waste. Even if Enterprise did have some good episodes, think of what it could have been if Braga and Berman had really pushed the envelope the way Gene did with his original show. Or if they'd raised the bar with the quality of their writing, overpowering the lack of any social awareness on their show by sheer amazing writing. It wouldn't have been 'as good as TNG/TOS/DS9'. It would have been a Star Trek show in its own right, standing proudly alongside those other three, and carrying on not the 'franchise's tradition', which is really the leash the networks keep on their 'viewership', but rather the spirit of Roddenberry's vision for mankind's future - one that isn't willing to compromise to pander to ratings-crazed executives and poor and self-indulgent writers.

Enterprise jumped the shark from day one because Braga and Berman were onboard from day one. It saddens me, because I did love Enterprise. But now I realize, after reading so many different opinions on the show, that I did not love it, but rather its premise, its setting and the passion and professionalism of those who worked on it (actors, FX designers and set dressers). It's sad, but Braga and Berman managed to take those things, the stuff of any great show, and degenerate them to the point where the whole thing wasn't totally unwatchable, but only half-watchable all of the time.

I hope that one day they'll bring the setting, crew and other trappings of the NX-01 back to life, maybe even with the same cast. But if I see Braga or Berman come anywhere close to the project, I'll know it's doomed, no matter how good their starting point may be, or how devoted the others working on the project are.

Jumped as soon as the writers thought it'd be a good idea to completely trash well-established Trek canon (contact with Ferengi although TNG's 'The Last Outpost' was supposed to be humanity's first glimpse of Ferengi? "Bumpy-headed" Klingons?), use some syrupy pop ballad as a theme song, and hold on to viewers by "sexing" up the show.

The Original Series, The Next Generation and - yes - DS9 were good shows because they made us think. They showed an optimistic view of the future where humanity and aliens can peacefully (or mostly peacefully) coexist. How much thought is involved in an episode were the captain spends the entire time whining like a five year old about his stupid dog?

As a fan who has enjoyed all the series (including The Animated Series but not Voyager), I don't accept one scrap of this horrible show as Trek canon. It's not good enough to be worthy of the title "Trek Canon".

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that the show jumped, then got better and then had one final horrendous jump with the final episode.

When this show started, I only watched the first episode and was totally put off by it. Mainly because I found it to be really boring. Nothing much really happened. Also, the theme song really bugged me. I hated it from the moment I heard it and I still hate it. Thank God on the DVDs you can skip this abomination. Anyway, I never saw another episode of this series until it came out on DVD.

In a weak moment and desperate for some new Trek, I purchased the entire series on DVD (also to complete my Trek library on DVD). It took me about three weeks to watch the whole the entire series and I did finally come to sort of like the show. However, I have to say that for the most part the first two seasons were filled with mostly forgettable episodes. Nothing about season 1 or 2 really stands out to me. Well, the episode where Trip gets pregnant (there was a real stinker). It’s kind of difficult for me to figure out an exact moment that the show first jumped. I’d have to say somewhere in the middle of the 1st season it started to get pretty tedious. I found that it was rather difficult for me to charge on through the muck and boredom for the one or two stand out episodes. The first season finale was pretty good. It at least made me want to go on to the 2nd season to find out what happened.

I found the 2nd season to be just a bit better than the 1st season, but again there were not many really stand out episodes. Just before the final episode of the 2nd season, I was just about to throw in the towel. Put the sets on the shelf next to the rest of the Trek series and forget all about it. Then something happened. I watched the final episode of the 2nd season and it really made me want to trudge on. I’m really glad that I did. I happened to like the 3rd season the best. I’m a sucker for a continuing story and this one really delivered. At least on a Trek level. The direction that the series went during the Xindi story was what Voyager should have been like. Archer was doing anything he could to insure the survival of his crew and complete his mission. On Voyager, Janeway and her crew never really had it all that rough. She never had to make the ‘hard’ decision, step over any moral line or abandon her beloved Starfleet code of ethics. For all tense and purposes, Janeway and her crew were on a pleasure cruise and not really in a struggle for survival. Archer and his crew were. That, to me, is what made the Xindi story worth watching. Enterprise had the guts to go where Voyager wouldn’t. In fact, I just recently spent the weekend watching the Xindi season again and I still find it to be the best of the 4 seasons.

Season 4 of the series was good with many, many memorable episodes and stories. I understand why everyone cites the 4th season as the best. The show had a last found its direction and yes, I feel that the plug was perhaps pulled a bit too soon. However, that last episode was just rotten from the get go. The producers call it a Valentine to Star Trek. Sorry, but it was a HUGE stinker and a real insulting slap in the face for the cast of the show. For me that was the real shark jump moment and the moment the show fell into the crapper.

As a side note, I love Scott Bakula and I’ll watch just about anything he’s in. On Enterprise, it was always fun to see how they always got him and Trinnear out of their shirts for the flimsiest of excuses. I could look at Scott Bakula without his shirt forever.

I agree with bits and pieces of other comments. My take:
- The show "plan" with the temporal war became a bowl of worms.
- The failure to follow the original (TOS) foundation made it less satisfying (i.e. did not answer many questions, fill voids, etc. in original series) than it should have been.
- Lost the ****** of having two parts to each show 1) the space cowboy that gets the girl; 2) the pressing social, political, other issue underlying the plot.

This show had such opportunity...the idea of a prequel was an excellent one that was executed poorly. There were just some really bad story arcs that ruined the show for me.

There were some fun sequences as well, though. A good cast and some good writing made this series look like it could succeed. I really really wanted it to succeed. It just went places that it shouldn't have.

And the theme song sucked horribly.

This was the show where I realized Paramount & the dastardly duo of Berman & Braga were out to rape & pillage to ST franchise. As a Trek fan, more curious than faithful, I tuned in. Once the theme song came on I knew the show had jumped mightily!

Though there were some good ideas sprinkled throughout the series run (i.e. humanity's 1st steps out; Earth's relationship w/ the Vulcans; the Vulcan-Romulan relationship; the political situation between Vulcan, Andorians, & Telarites; the Klingon/Augments story; and, most importantly, the Alternate Universe arc), the show never really seemed to gel together throughout its life until its last year. Usually Trek spinoffs need 1 season or 2 to finally hit some kind of stride. By the time this one started to finally click it was far too late to avoid cancellation.

I still don't know which was worse: continually seeing them get their butts whooped on a weekly basis by some new race, or the show's repeatedly flagarant disregard for established Trek canon! Though it was great to see the show dive into and add to established franchise lore (i.e. explain why some Klingons had ridges while others didn't; exploring Andorian & Vulcan cultures; & the Surak arc) it was almost as if they were attempting to make up for things like the crew encountering Ferengi and Borg, or taking on the Romulans using technology that was beyond the capacity established by the original series.

While the Xindi War was definitely a take it or leave it arc, the involvement of the Next Generation era at the end of the series was the ultimate jump for this show.

I'll ignore the ridiculous statements of people comparing the plot of Enterprise to progressive propaganda. Bush sucks, get over it.

The show truly jumped the shark when GODWIN'S LAW went into effect: The Alien Nazi at the end of season 3. The show only got better after that mini arc. Too bad it was cancelled shortly thereafter.

There are so many JTS moments it's not even funny (some would cite the first moment of the premiere episode as a good starting point).

But for me, you just need three words:

Temporal. Cold. War.