On Sunday I looked at the web-series StarTrek Continues. Today I’ll look back at the many different television series that spun off the original series. We’ll start with arguably the least popular series, Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Voyager that featured the first female Captain in a starring role.
Star Trek: Enterprise debuted in September of 2001 and ran for 98 episodes ending in May 2005. Unlike its predecessors, this series would be a prequel to the original. Here we will get see the humble beginnings of Starfleet. The show centered around Captain Jonathan Archer played by Scott Bakula who commanded the first starship to be named Enterprise. Joining Archer is Commander Tucker (Connor Trinneer) and a female Vulcan Sub-Commander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock).
Although Enterprise started strong with its solid storylines, the first season ended on shaky ground with both the critics and fans alike. To be honest, it might have been doomed from the start. You see this was the fourth series since The Next Generation arrived in 1987. To put that into some perspective, in the 14 years prior to Enterprise, 526 episodes had been made between TNG (178), Deep Space Nine (176) and Voyager(172). Not to mention five feature films during that same time period. That’s a lot of programming and even the most loyal of Trek fans must have felt that it had become too much.
Enterprise came close to being cancelled after only two seasons but in true Trek fan form, a letter writing campaign saved the series but only for two more seasons. Ironically as the show’s reviews started improve, the ratings continued to decline forcing the network to cut the episode order for its final two seasons. Perhaps the biggest disappointment that symbolically sums up the series’ inability to connect with its fandom was the series finale that showcased characters from The Next Generation and included the death of Commander Tucker. There was no rhyme or reason for either of those things to happen. What started out with promise ended with a discouraging fizzle.
STAR TREK: VOYAGER
Debuting in 1995, Star Trek: Voyager tells the story of the USS Voyager that gets stranded in the Delta Quadrant on the far side of the Milky Way while pursuing the renegade Maquis, a terrorist group of former Starfleet officers. It is estimated that it will take the crew 75 years to reach home. This was the first Star Trek TV series to feature a female captain, Kathryn Janeway played by Kate Mulgrew. The legacy of Star Trek has always been one of breaking barriers this was one of those times.
The reality of their situation forces Janeway to form a truce with members of the Maquis even making its leader Chakotay (Robert Beltran) her first officer and B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson), a half-human, half-Klingon the ships chief engineer. Rounding out the crew is Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ), helm officer Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill), Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang), a holographic doctor (Robert Picardo) and Nelix (Ethan Phillips) a Talaxian scavenger native to the Delta Quadrant. During their 75-year trek (no pun intended) back to Federation space and the Alpha Quandrant, the crew of Voyager encountered various species including the dreaded Borg. It is here during season four that the last member to join the crew will be Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan).
Star Trek: Voyager had a solid 7-year run resulting in 172 episodes and ranking third amongst all Trek series. It was the signature series that launched the United Paramount Network (UPN). As with every series before it, Voyager tackled many social issues and has often been referred to as the most feminist show of all-time. Of course that’s all subjective. Personally, I thought this series was a bit underrated. The greatest strength came in the form of Mulgrew. She was the perfect captain for the right crew, at the right time. And not because she was a woman but because she exudes what a captain should be through incredible leadership and a desire to put the needs of the many ahead of the few or the one.
May the Dork be with you,
JPB
The Dork Knight
