Star Trek: Enterprise

A recording made in 12/12/2012. They talk about creating "Enterprise" (leaving "Star Trek" out of title was a conscious decision and adding "Star Trek" came later when the network wanted it more closely identified with the franchise). They also talk about the other shows as well.

Brannon Braga leads a discussion with the cast of Enterprise: Scott Bakula, Linda Park, Connor Trinneer, John Billingsley, Jolene Blalock, Anthony Montgomery, Dominic Keating & Jeffery Combs.

Interviews with Brannon Braga from 2001 and 2012 about how he became involved with Star Trek. Also featured are Rick Berman, David Livingston, Phyllis Strong, André Bormanis, Herman Zimmerman, Doug Drexler, Denise and Mike Okuda on the background leading up to the creation of Enterprise.

Rick Berman discusses the production of "Broken Bow" for Enterprise. How the casting was done was discussed. Featured are Brannon Braga, Scott Bakula, Conner Trinneer, and others.

Brannon Braga speaks about the weakness of the first season scripts. Rick Berman talks about relying on Brannon to put the writing staff together. Brannon believes he was not ambitious enough to hiring writers. Scott Bakula speaks to how the writing staff was exhausted to work on Enterprise after just wrapping "Star Trek: Voyager." Mike Sussman speaks to how hard it was to find writers that can really write Star Trek shows. Brannon lamented that some of the episodes were generic enough to be done on any of the other franchises. Connor Trinneer spoke to those episodes where Trip had significant moments. Dominic Keating had determined that he would express some of himself in Malcolm. Mike Sussman, André Bormanis, and Phyllis Strong spoke about writing the scripts.

Barry Kibrick is interviewing cast, crew, writers and producers as the filming of the episode "Vox Sola" ( the 22nd episode in Season 1) is covered. Roxann Dawson is the director and provides many insights into how she prepares for the episodes. Brandon Braga provides insight into how the writing works. There are several other interviews from the other departments. Recorded in 2002.

Interviews with several fans at a recent Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas.

Several Interviews featuring Brannon Braga, Rick Berman, Herman Zimmerman, & Marvin Rush recount how the show was created.

A behind the scenes look at the workings of the beverage dispenser in the mess hall and the warp engine in the engineering room on the set of Enterprise.

Brannon Braga & Rick Berman talk about this important episode in Season 1. Conner Trinneer & Dominic Keating discuss working with each other (as the main characters featured most of the show). A "bottle show" to save money, but it also was a favorite show of the cast and the producers.

Brannon Braga talks about adding the "Temporal Cold War" plot device to the show at the request of the studio. Rick Berman talks about how it added flexibility to stories where it added factor that can useful. Mike Okuda talks about how it makes very hard to keep a consistent time line for cannon with all the possibilities that time travel makes possible. There is several screens showing memorable parts of Star Trek that make use of time travel from both the movies and TV.

Several members of the cast and crew discuss Scott Bakula as being a leader of company as well as performing as captain of the ship.

Vaughn Armstrong (who plays Admiral Maxwell Forrest) shows his singing talent (singing "Star Trek Woman Jones"). He also talks about his recurring roles in the various Star Trek episodes and how he landed this role on Enterprise. He also talks about playing a Klingon Captain in the episode "Sleeping Dogs" as an emergency substitution during filming.

Scott Bakula talks about becoming the first captain of the first starship named "Enterprise." Jolene Blalock talks about the initial relationship between T'Pol and Captain Archer. Connor Trinneer talks about the scene with Trip and T'Pol in the decontamination room from the pilot. John Billingsley talks about the back story of Dr. Phlox and how he took the small amount of back story he got from the producers to shape the character including a bird call that the pilot director did not like and was cut out never to be heard again. Linda Park talks about Hoshi Sato and much she and the character were alike and yet different. Dominic Keating talks about how he got cast for Enterprise. Anthony Montgomery talks about his excitement the first day at the helm on the bridge set. The cast talk about working on a Star Trek show and the influence of the "Roddenberry Vision" of humanity's future.

Behind the scenes secrets with David Trotti

Jolene Blalock starts this mini-documentary off recounting the shooting of "Carbon Creek". Rick Berman continues the discussion. The discussion continues with the 2nd part of "Shockwave" with Brannon Braga and Rick Berman. Scott Bakula, Anthony Montgomery, Linda Park & Michael Sussman continues the discussion and recounts how the 2nd season began some darker themes in "Minefield", "Dead Stop" & "Vanishing Point." Michael Sussman continues the discussion recounting "The Catwalk" & "Future Tense." John Billingsley and Jolene Blalock discuss T'Pol's Pon farr resulting from a foreign agent being introduced into her system in "Canamar." Mike Okuda & Scott Bakula discuss "First Flight." Rick Berman discusses "The Expanse" as a prelude for Season Three.

LeVar Burton talks about working after The Next Generation as a producer and director. He talks about working on the Enterprise episode "First Flight" and how he approached sever important aspects of directing that episode.

Scott Bakula talks about "ship shows" that save production money (because there are few guest starts and few extra sets). "A Night in Sickbay" was one of these. Rick Berman discussed the basic premise of the episode. Ronald B. Moore discusses the CGI bat used in the episode and the filming done to create that sequence. John Billingsley talks about the humor and comedic beats in the episode.

Jolene Blalock is a fan of the original series. She recounts her education, did modeling and then got a break into acting. Conner Trinneer notes that she is a sweetheart. She didn't know much about Enterprise. Once she knew more about it, she found it intriguing. She talks about the casting process and her preparation for it. Brannon Braga talks about exploring the Vulcan culture, especially since this is earlier that what was featured in the original series (Spock, Sarak, etc.) and how T'Pol provided a way to do that in the course of the series. Brannon Braga talks about the episode "Stigma" and the analog to the AIDS epidemic. Jolene closes out the mini-documentary with how T'Pol has changed over season two and is now poised for the events in Season Three.

There is a discussion of how the changes in the leadership of the studio and the network (UPN) at the time this season was filmed had some impact on the developments of season two. John Billingsley marveled about Rick Berman & Brannon Braga was able to get Enterprise started right after doing seven seasons of Voyager. Brannon Braga and André Bormanis talked about the changes in the writer's room that affected the development of the season. David A. Goodman talked about being new to the writer's room during this season and how be believed it affected the scripts used during that season. Brannon wanted to moved into serialized story-telling. Michael Sussman questioned this a bit thinking that it should be more of a sequel show that tied into the original series. Chris Black mused about Rick Berman's notion of "The Right Stuff" in outer space. Rick Berman thought that he should keep the show aligned with the "Roddenbery Vision" and may have been too conservative.

Brannon Braga speaks to the quality of the cast and how human the characters they portrayed were. Matt Winston echoed the sense of family on the set and especially Scott Bakula. Scott Bakula and Linda Park speak to acting in TV series roles and how the writers take what they see in future scripts. Dominic Keating, John Billingsley, Conner Trinneer, and Anthony Montgomery talk about what interactions they had with the producers and the cast and crew members. Jeffrey Combs and Chris Black praise Scott Bakula's setting the appropriate tone on set.

Brannon Braga and Rick Berman recounts the impacts of the new administration at Paramount during the second season. Chris Black noted that this impacted the number of scripts that were rejected. John Wentworth offers some insight into this as well. David A. Goodman offers some more generic insight into the relationship between Brannon and Paramount. Mike Sussman highlights the impact of feedback from the Internet at this time and Brannon Braga and Chris Black echo that. Scott Bakula notes that he ignores all of that. Dominic Keating notes that is was addictive.

Behind the scenes from the shooting of the episode "Future Tense". Marvin Rush talks about the camera remote control rig used for some of the shooting. Scott Bakula talks about a photo ops with a special fan (a boy in a wheelchair). Conner Trinneer talks about the technobabble.

Brannon Braga and Rick Berman explain the basis for the plot of "Stigma." Jolene Blalock and Scott Bakula talk about the impact of the stigma of getting the disease and how to live with it.

A brief discussion of some important episodes during the third season.

This recounts the many uses of the Paramount Backlot during Enterprise (and other shows from the Star Trek franchise.

Rick Berman & Brannon Braga discuss the motivation for the Xindi Saga. Manny Coto discusses his first writing for Enterprise during this Season. Scott Bakula talks about how Jonathan Archer evolves through this story arc.

Scott Bakula starts off with a discussion on the third season story arc, the Xindi Saga, and how that pushes the series and the development of the characters in it. Phyllis Strong, André Bormanis, Mike Sussman, David A. Goodman. Brannon Braga, Rick Berman. Chris Black & David Livingston talked about the influences of the 9/11 tragedy on this story arc. There was also pressure to make the show more "edgy" and the lack of a complete roadmap for the story arc when the season started. Manny Coto talks about how he influenced the arc through the season and satisfied Brannon Braga's desire for the right alchemy in the writer's room.

Jolene Blalock begins this discussion and says she was burnt out by the third season, but still found the work stimulating. John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery & Dominic Keating continue the discussion of the change in direction during Season Three and the lack of support from UPN at the time. Conner Trinneer discusses how 9/11 affected him and Phyllis Strong believes it had an impact on his third season performance. John Billingsley laments about the changes in Archer's character during the season while finding many of episodes to be exceptional. Linda Park talks about the advantages of serialized storytelling and that allows characters to grow and change. David A. Goodman agrees and compares the season to the Dominion War during Deep Space Nine. John Billingsley also agrees but also notes that "standalone" episodes were done to allow alternatives to be possible. Manny Coto talks about his episode "Similtude" and how it stood alone, but supported the arc.

Brannon Braga starts the discussion thinking Season Three was going to be good. André Bormanis and Manny Coto speak to how the Xindi were realized in expensive digital effects of the time. Dan Curry, Ronald B. Moore and John Billingsley discuss some of the shortcuts taken with the visual effects. Randy Oglesby remembers his performance as "Degra" as well as his time playing in other Star Trek episodes. Scott MacDonald (who played "Dolim") recalls how he interacted with Randy which came to be because they worked with each other for years. Manny Coto and Brannon Braga discuss the potential of killing Archer at the end of season three and the cliff-hanger they ultimately decided on.

Matt Winston recalls how he approached playing Daniels and the Temporal Cold War. Brannon Braga speaks to how the Temporal Core War became part of the Xindi Saga. David Livingston notes that the Suliban did not work out the villain for "Enterprise." John Fleck speaks to his role as "Silik." Brannon Braga laments that they did not have time to resolve the Temporal Cold War.

Roxann Dawson hosts this on-the-set behind-the-scenes view of a day shooting from the episode "Exile" which she directed. She praises Herman Zimmerman for the wonderful sets she gets to shoot on. Roxann also praises Dan Curry for reading her drawings and turning them to usable storyboards.

Marvin Rush introduces himself. He talks about the scene from "Harbinger" he is working on. Dominic Keating talks about how they call Marvin "Uncle" on set and how he appreciates his approach to photography. Marvin talks about a fight scene involving Dominic Keating and Steven Culp.

Connor Trinneer talks about the development of the character as the show continues. Rick Berman and Brannon Braga praises the quality work that Conner does. They talked about how that influenced the development of "Trip" especially the death of his sister at the beginning of the third season. This gave rise to the development of a relationship with T'Pol. The episode "Similitude" was an acting challenge. The biggest physical challenge was in the episode "Vox Sola."

Scott Bakula and Conner Trinneer start off with a discussion of the season three cliff hanger. Manny Coto continues noting that it was his job as the new season four show runner to resolve the problem left for him by Brannon Braga and Rick Berman. He continues discussing the Vulcan story arc, which he says is his favorite. Scott Bakula continues recalling the work with Brent Spiner. Manny Coto and Dominic Keating speak about the fun they had on the set. Manny Coto then recalls the final story arc involving Terra Prime. Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens talk about the analogy of these episodes current events. Manny Coto, Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis talk about the final episode of the season. John Billingsley notes that Manny Coto makes many connections between Enterprise and the rest of the Star Trek canon.

Manny Coto wanted to do the mirror universe in an episode or two. Mike Sussman had the original idea. Manny Coto talks about building a replica of the original series sets needed for the two episodes. Doug Drexler describes his process for reproducing these sets accurately. He recalls the bridge set created for "Relics" from the Next Generation as well as the work done for "Trials and Tribble-ations" from Deep Space Nine. Michael Westmore talks about how to portray the Gorn. Dan Curry continues with the Gorn's hands. John Teska was able to build a CG creature from a maquette of the Gorn that Michael Westmore got approval for.

Manny Coto talks about the construction of the fourth season as a series of mini story arcs that would tie more directly into the Star Trek canon. Brannon Braga was burned out on Star Trek and was ready to move on. Mike Sussman recollects the brainstorming with Manny Coto in between the third and fourth season. André Bormanis recalls that Manny Coto really wanted to do more about the creation of the Federation. Garfield & Judith Reeves-Stevens spoke to their time as writers brought in by Manny Coto.

Larry Nemecek notes that Enterprise had to get good ratings. He notes that the episodes where good, but the ratings were not that good. Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens mused about the signs that the show was ending. Mike Sussman noted that the budget for season four had been reduced. He notes that was mitigated by amortizing the cost across multipart episodes. This gave rise to three episodes on Vulcan, three about the Augments, three about the Andorians & the Romulans, two about the mirror universe and the final arc about the xenophobic movement on Earth at the time the precursor to the Federation was being negotiated. Manny Coto talks about a potential of William Shatner being on Enterprise via something involving the Mirror Universe. Mike and Denise Okuda noted how wonderful the original series sets (reproduced for the Mirror Universe two-parter) are. Manny Coto notes that he wanted to do more Gorns and Tholians. Several cast members comment on season four.

The effect of UPN on the end of Enterprise. Several cast members and crew comment on the "let down" that comes with the end of the show. Jolene Blalock comments on the last episode and her disappointment with it. Conner Trinneer was happy with it. Manny Coto muses about what he would have liked to explored.

Rick Berman talks about the job of orchestrating Star Trek from The Next Generation through Enterprise. The production crew and the Enterprise cast comment on the end of the era.

Brannon Braga (who shows up late), David A. Goodman, Mike Sussman, André Bormanis, Phyllis Strong, Chris Black, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens talk about their time writing for Enterprise.

Porthos (a female beagle named Breezy portrayed this role) is featured in this retrospective.

Dan Curry recalls work to create the firefight and the news reel footage in the two episode starter ("Stormfront") that started season four. Fred Pienkos of Eden FX talks about recreating the Manhattan skyline that would have been seen at the time when this was to have took place. John Teska discusses the CG work for the Xindi Insectoids and Aquatics. Ronald B. Moore speaks to the significance of the groundbreaking work on Lord of the Rings and that impact on the CG work for Enterprise. He continues on discussing the Tholians and their appearance in season two and finally in season four. Robert Bonchune talks about the launch of NX-02 Columbia. Robert B. Moore and Dan Curry discussed the CG creation of the Xindi weapon. Pierre Drolet describes the approach he used to build the weapon in the computer.

Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens note that season four had many episodes tied into the lore of Star Trek.

David Trotti notes that there were may of the crew on screen during the final episode of the fourth season.

Michael Westmore talks about evolving Jolene Blalock's look towards a more standard Vulcan look by season four. Of the main characters, he created the look of Dr. Phlox last using some broad strokes from work done for aliens on past shows. This process turned out to be protracted because the producers would not make a decision.

The wrap party for Enterprise at the Roosevelt Hotel on April 13, 2005. Featuring comments by Linda Park, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, John Billingsley, Mike & Denise Okuda, Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Peter Weller, Jeffery Coombs, LeVar Burton, & Scott Bakula.

Jolene Blalock comments on the difference in the Vulcans in Enterprise versus those seen in other Star Trek franchises.

Visual Effects Producer Dan Curry discusses creating the look of The Klingons.

Geoffrey Mandel speaks about his work on graphics inside the alien ships that might be featured in an episode of Enterprise. He also talks about panels inside the shuttlepod and a look for the Ferengi met during the run of Enterprise. He notes his enjoyment in creating more detail for the Andorians and their ships. He was also responsible for the graphics used in the monastery set for P'Jem and Vulcan star map from "Fusion."

Scott Bakula talks about the various visitors to the Enterprise sets.

Linda Park talks about the relationship between T'Pol and Hoshi.

Anthony Montgomery recalls a visit from Whoopi Goldberg.

John Billingsley talks about the Anatomy of Dr. Phlox.

Robert Blackman talks about the development process for the Enterprise uniforms.

Mike Sussman talks about the episode "E-squared" and how those characters were reflected in the characters from the other Enterprise.

The fan protest to save Enterprise from cancellation.

Cast Introductions with intro by Rick Berman