TACTICAL ALERT!!!!!
Quote:
Article from SciFi Wire:
Moonves: A Break Good For Trek?
Leslie Moonves—co-president and co-chief operating officer of Viacom, the parent company of CBS, UPN and Paramount—told SCI FI Wire that it may be time for Star Trek to take a break, though he added that no decision has been made on the future of UPN's ratings-challenged Star Trek: Enterprise. Speaking in an interview at the CBS/UPN winter press tour in West Hollywood, Calif., Moonves said: "It's hard to say right now. The ratings aren't great. It may be a franchise that should be rested a year or two. I know the diehards are not in favor of that, but I think if we rested a year or two, it might be a better thing. But we'll see what happens the rest of the year."
Persistent rumors say the show is on its last legs, that UPN has cut its season order from Paramount, which produces the show, and that star Scott Bakula (Capt. Jonathan Archer) is ready to quit. All untrue, cast members told SCI FI Wire. "I'll be disappointed if we wrap up this year," Bakula said in a separate interview. "I'd hate to see it end this year. … We're waiting to hear. It's a funny place to be in. I love the crew. I love the cast. The work situation has been tremendous. We're doing creative work, still, I think. And I know we have a lot of fans out there. So … as a television gig would go, it's a great, wonderful gig. And I'm loving it. So I will be disappointed. But we'll see. It ain't over until it's over."
Bakula and other cast members told SCI FI Wire that they expect, if UPN decides to cancel the show, the network will give producers enough notice so that they can write a finale to the series. But as the writers are currently writing the 21st of 22 season episodes now, that notice would have to come in short order. "We've got to know soon," Bakula said. "So I don't know. They're not under any obligation to let us know. They can do whatever they want to do, and they may. … We don't call those shots."
Even so, Bakula said, "The indication was [and] has been often that this would be our last season. But then … we were told we were going to get an early indication of that so we could wrap the show up in a nice way. And here we are, it's the end of January, and I know that they've broken stories through the 21st [episode]." Enterprise wraps production in March; an announcement about cancellation could be delayed as late as May.
Moonves said that a final decision will depend on how Enterprise performs in the ratings for the rest of the season, which will include new episodes exploring the "mirror universe" introduced in the original Star Trek series and a two-episode arc explaining why Klingons went from smooth foreheads to bumpy ones. How well would the show have to perform to be renewed? "I don't make predictions on what level," Moonves said. "It depends on what development is and what the rest of the schedule is like." But, he added, "I think the show this year has been much better [creatively] than last year. I like the changes that have been made. ... [As for the ratings,] when you're dealing with UPN, you're dealing with different expectation levels." Star Trek: Enterprise airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Â
This doesn't look good, troops! But I completely disagree that we should resign ourselves to this being the last season. Moonves and Ostroff said the self-same thing last year about "disappointing" ratings., etc., etc.,
This should be a challenge to us to let ol "Less" know that we are watching but not getting counted!
Point out that since (by his own admission) the quality of the series is increasing as well as the word of mouth and positive buzz about it, it would be far better to have another year or two of quality shows to bolster the dvd's sales and syndication sales.
Also point out that it makes good business sense to allow DVD sales to drive ratings on the TV show AND to let the TV show drive sales of the DVDs.
Tell him if you are not able to see ENT on Friday night at 8 PM due to myriad sports preemptions in some of the biggest markets in the country. Remind him that none of UPN's other shows must compete against themselves the way Enterprise does due to the re-airing of the show on Sunday (Saturday) night.
Let him know that ENT is under such pressure from the press now because it has been virtually deserted by its network since the second half of season 2 - no promotion outside of UPN and virtually none within it.
Ask Moonves if he seriously expected ratings to go up when he moved the show to Friday nights... the death slot. And even so, ratings are very nearly the same level on Friday night as they were on Wednesday night. Why did UPN send out all those press releases about how much ENT was improving Friday ratings only to turn around now and say the ratings are disappointing?
It doesn't matter too much what you actually say in your letters, aside from telling him that you watch ENT faithfully, recognize its excellent quality and want to see it continue for at least another season, even if that means that Paramount must move the show to a different broadcast outlet!
But if we have any hope of seeing ENT next year, we ALL need to write those letters, frequently, and get more people to watch the show.
Here are the people to target and their addresses:
Mr. Leslie Moonves
Co-President, Co-Chief Operating Officer Viacom, Inc.
CBS Broadcasting Inc.
51 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019 U.S.A.
OR
CBS Television
CBS Television City
7800 W Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Ms. Dawn Tarnofsky-Ostroff
President
United Paramount Network
11800 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Mr. David Stapf, President,
Paramount Network Televsion
c/o Paramount Pictures
5555 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90038-3197
Mr. Sumner M. Redstone
Chairman & CEO
Viacom International
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
Mr. Tom Freston
Co-President, Co-Chief Operating Officer
Viacom International
1515 Broadway
New York, NY
10036 U.S.A.
Please write these people of your support for Enterprise and tell them you want another season of this excellent TV show.
Now is not the time to give up. Scott certainly doesn't seem to be doing that, and I'm certain the talented, hard-working cast and crew are not either.
Now is the time to let your voices be heard. Please join SaveEnterprise and Enterprise Project in this effort to keep quality science fiction and quality drama on network TV. Help Save Enterprise
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"Make just a ripple. Come on be brave. This time a ripple - next time a wave."
"I lost something out there... and I don't know how to get it back" Archer in "Home"
you are a strange case are you not? Do many other trekkies watch ENT out of loyality to teh franchise?Im as big a fan as any, but I stopped watching VOY long about season five and have only seen a smattering of ENT eps. Becasue I know that ENT simply cannot achieve even base Trek standards of quality. They can do shows that stand out in relation to ENT episodes, but the characters and the premise is far too damaged to produce anything that compares to TNG/DS9 levels. Sadly, that handicap was set in stone within the first few episodes.
I admit Cotto's continuity kick is appealing, but its no fun for me as a fan becasue Ive already written off the lasting significance of ENT canon. In a year no one will remember any of it. So I dont see the point in watching.
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"You see stars that clear have been dead for years/
But the idea just lives on..."
-Connor O'Berst
"I don't mind the streets, but it's wet tonight."--Maya Keyes, after being throw out by her father Alan Keyes for coming out
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