Marc's 2nd Blog

Berman Reacts To Enterprise

Rick Berman, executive producer of the just-canceled Star Trek: Enterprise, told SCI FI Wire that he was surprised not by UPN's decision, but by the fact that viewers continued to tune out the series despite a marked improvement in quality, strong reviews and guest appearances by the likes of Brent Spiner. "Nobody is more surprised about that than we are here," Berman said of the precipitous fan drop-off in an interview conducted after UPN announced Enterprise's fate. "We've always seemed to have a big drop from before Christmas to after Christmas, which I've never quite understood."

Enterprise attracted more than 13 million viewers in its debut, but by the fourth season, that audience had fallen to just 2.9 million.

Berman added: "I think the whole network had a big drop from before Christmas until after Christmas. I am not only very proud of the shows that we've done so far for the fourth season, but the shows that we've done that haven't aired yet are undoubtedly some of the best shows that we've produced. I don't think it has to do with the quality of the show. That just might be ego speaking, but I think we've done a great job. If you look at the performance of [Star Trek] Nemesis, you see what I think was a terrific movie that did not perform anywhere near as expected. I think that's been happening with Enterprise." The 2002 movie Nemesis grossed $43 million domestically and had foreign ticket sales of $23 million, the worst performer in the film series.

Berman is the man who has been principally responsible for shepherding the Trek franchise since he was handed the reins by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. "Whether you want to call it viewer apathy or franchise fatigue or any of the cute little titles that people have come up with, I think it's the case," Berman said. "We've figured out that we've produced 624 hours of Star Trek over the last 18 years, and of those 18 seasons, seven of them we did two shows simultaneously. It's a lot of television. And each show has had the previous shows in reruns to compete with. Climates have changed. I think you can just squeeze so many eggs out of the old golden goose." Berman and Enterprise co-executive Brannon Braga are penning a series finale that will air on May 13.
Sci Fi Wire -- The News Service of the Sci Fi Channel