I know people who haven't regularly followed Trek in 10 or 15 years, but who would tune in to see Shatner return as James T. Kirk. They aren't represented on these boards, but are a great untapped audience.
Some of them would stay around and provide a great ratings boost, enhancing Enterprise's chances at a Fifth Season.
Kirk is a great fictional icon like Batman or Sherlock Holmes. If Conan Doyle could "kill off" Holmes, and bring him back, it would certainly be plausible in a sci-fi TV show with ongoing time-travel elements for Kirk to return.
But Shatner as a new character would defuse much of the excitement, buzz and momentum.
All fields of entertainment include crossovers: Music, Games, Books, Comics, Movies, TV-Programs, even stage shows. Why? Because people love them. The key is to harmonize properly and the fact that "the powers that be" are pushing in that direction with Star Trek is a sign of maturity and good health. Fans and the general public soak up Star Trek crossovers, especially ones with TOS actors, like bread soaks up barbecue sauce. Even a bad job of writing a crossover makes people happy. Actor crossovers are enjoyable but character crossovers are the best. The last Trek character crossover was in Broken Bow, but that was portrayed as an Archer memory. The last genuine character crossover, with characters side by side in the story, was Endgame. The last great one, IMHO, was Trials and Tribble-ations. Here's hoping they do a great job with the next CHARACTER crossover.
...as long as he's playing Kirk. But they're likely to have him playing Chef or something.
Every interview I read with B or B they tout how wonderful their show is and how the show isnt doing well, not because they have driven the franchise into the ground, but by other things like oversaturation of genre TV or their time period now he says he thinks Enterprise will do good like X-files on Friday? Brother? Keep Dreaming Rick.
And the idea that he has to get old Trek actors wreeks of Desperation. If Leonard and some of the others didnt like the other incarnations in the last few years and stayed away, they arent going to come flocking to this. Do we really need to see them in this Trek universe playing their Great Great Grandfather/Mother? No, we dont, just like we dont need seeing any of the other familiar villians or characters.
The whole idea of this show, like Voyager, was to start with a clean slate and it isnt long before they fall back on old stuff to get them by.
Remember when this show was going to be about The forming of the Federation and Boldly going where No Man had gone before?
Berman needs to go jump off a high bridge somewhere.
Oh my, where to start?
Bringing back Shat as Kirk: reeks of desperation. Would require more lame-ass time travel crap. Would be just another one-episode ratings stunt (like the Borg), and then they'd go back to the embarrassing spectable of Trip and T'Pol's rub-down sessions. But the most compelling reason of all not to bring him back as Kirk? Because Shatner himself is no longer the same man who once played the iconic hero. He's old, he's fat, and he's cultivated a public persona in recent years as a bumbling buffoon, a sad and pathetic caricature of his already ridiculous real-life personality. Shatner is now impossible to take seriously as an actor or a hero.
Shatner as another character, either an ancestor of Kirk or completely unrelated: Utter stupidity. Shatner will forever be just one character in the minds of Trek zombies - Kirk. It would be like bringing Duchovney back to the X-Files as someone other than Mulder. Sure it's possible to bring Jeff Coombs back as multiple characters, but not Shatner.
Bringing back the other TOS actors: Frankly there aren't as many to choose from as there once was. Kelly is dead, Doohan is about to join him, Nichols had her swan song in Snow Dogs. The only viable options are Sumu and Check-Out. Sumu won't do it, he's still pissed that TPTB passed on the Excelsior series idea. That leaves Check-Out. Yeah, bring him back as the distant descendent of one of the Beatles or the Monkeys!
As for Enterprise itself: crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. Any and all credibility this lumbering, arthritic "franchise" once had went swirling down the bowl (leaving a prominent skid-mark on the way down) with the alien Nazi cliff-hanger. Hello! We've now entered Battlestar 1982 territory!
Don't get me wrong; I think James T. Kirk is the definition of "hero" when it comes to the Star Trek franchise, and it would be wonderful to see him back in action on the small or big screen. But I have yet to be convinced by anyone who's posted so far as to why James T. Kirk needs to be brought in to breathe life back into Enterprise. Do you mean to tell me that among the writers and the fans who have written outstanding Trek fiction, there's not one original idea or concept worthy enough to replace the rather soap-opera-like plot of bringing a past character back from the dead? Are we so at a loss for something new and exciting that we'll settle for a ratings tactic? And, you know damn well that's what it is. Why else would Rick Berman even consider the notion of bringing William Shatner and other TREK icons back on Enterprise? Because he needs to lure the disgruntled amongst us back to Enterprise in order to save it from the cancellation axe next season. It's all about ratings, folks. Forget intelligent storylines, compelling dialogue, gripping action...if it doesn't get the numbers, Enterprise might as well bend over backwards and kiss its own ass goodbye. And do we really want Kirk's return to be handled that way, as a desperate ratings ploy? It should be grand, explosive, bold, like Kirk himself.
I know we all hated Kirk's death, and the way it was handled, but that doesn't change the fact that it happened. To bring him back in a believable and acceptable way would take a great deal of forethought on the part of the writers, and I think it's a rather precarious task for Enterprise writers to take on. It would demand quality storytelling because you know damn well no one will settle for less. I'm not saying Enterprise's staff of writers aren't capable of this. But I think that idea is something best left for its own entity, like a movie or miniseries event. It doesn't really fit on Enterprise. Besides, wouldn't Kirk's presence in Archer's time period qualify as a continuity error, and don't we complain about continuity enough already when it comes to Enterprise? So, what are we saying here, that the fact that Enterprise had an episode featuring the Borg is horrible and reeks of continuity tampering, but having Kirk come back to life on Enterprise is a keen idea? People will moan and groan about the fact that the Xindi were not mentioned in any other Trek yet were responsible for a devastating attack on Earth, but we'll accept without question the return of James T. Kirk on the same series? Sorry, folks, you're still not sellin' me on that one.
Yes, Kirk should come back. The fans want it, William Shatner wants it, and Rick Berman knows it should be done. But his return has no place on Enterprise. Shatner can play anyone on that series and make it good, because that's what Shatner does. People like StillKirok may not believe that, but I do, because Shatner cares enough about Star Trek to put effort into the work. But Kirk deserves his own spotlight, while Enterprise should exist on its own merits rather than hinge all its hopes for any kind of future on the exploits of someone else. Despite what the bashers may say, Enterprise deserves better than that.
...why are Berman and Braga still working on Trek??? There were rumours afloat a few months ago that their days were numbered...
Now we have these awful statements from "King Hack" Berman that he's working on a "prequel" movie and now these ludicrous statements about bringing back Shatner (not that I have a problem with Shatner being back...just BERMAN bringing Shatner back) and other old cast members...
It's just ridiculous. Paramount...do the "right thing" and give the axe to Berman and Braga.
They suck.
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Quack!!!
I'll admit upfront that I don't have the profound affection for Kirk that most people here have. I grew up watching the show in reruns, sure I liked Kirk, but I still think that bringing Shatner back as Kirk would be an obviously desperate and rather silly move, especially if they start bringing back other Trek characters as well. Trek actors fine, but really how many ancestors or time travel stories do we really want to see. Alot of people decried the Nazi alien storyline and the addition of more time travel plots, but yet so many are eager to see Kirk? [maybe it isn't the same people, but that's my impression]. So what exactly are those who support Kirk's return envisioning? He'll come rescue Enterprise from some stupidity on their part or galactic disaster and then what? Return to his time? Take a shuttlepod into space? Die again?
I'd rather see some good episodes focusing on the Enterprise crew than some desperate ratings-ploy ressurection. Sure next year will probably be Enterprise's last, but does that mean it should stop focusing on its own characters and plots? I don't think so.
Just another perspective.
The sound of Wagner's 'Ride of the Valkeryies'....
The helicopters appear on the horizon then sweep over the set...
And as they deliver their payloads of TNG and TOS guest stars the solitary figure of a bare-chested man named Rick Berman stands on the beach set. He watches various actors look around the new lower-budget sets and smiles in the knowledge that this will get the ratings up...hopefully?
I love the smell of desperation in the morning.
Nowhere in the article does Berman mention Captain Kirk's return. He says Shatner's return to Star Trek. The actor, not the character. Expect to see William Shatner play a prominent role in one or two episodes (Shatner has his own series now so I doubt he'll be a regular) as a guest star, but I wouldn't hold my breath expecting the return of Captain James T. Kirk.
And the whole "bringing back other previous Star Trek actors and characters to Enterprise" smacks of pure desperation on the part of B&B. Maybe if we can get LeVar Burton to play Geordi's great great grandfather, the ratings for that week will go up. Maybe if we get Rene Auberjonois to play a Changeling who gets sucked into a time warp and is sent into the past from the 24th century the ratings for that week will go up. Hey, maybe if we get Michael Dorn to guest star as a Klingon for a week or two we'll get ratings to go up. B&B are desperate.
Like I've said in other posts, expect the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise in May of 2005. Expect to hear nothing more from Berman and Braga in regards to Star Trek (as I doubt Paramount is going to green light another Star Trek feature film with Berman at the helm, regardless of what he says). And expect Paramount to bring in someone else to run their storied franchise. I'm hoping for JMS but we'll just have to see.
Kirk's death was merely at someone's whim, it wasn't crucial to the Generation's story. Star Trek is a fictional entertainment, not reality as yet, so the death of any character should not be immutable. So many continuity errors have been made (ie, no Romulan War, the existence of the NX-01 itself, the pre TOS technology at parity with TNG) that restoring Kirk may be the fix that reconciles all the other mistakes. In addition, Captain Kirk was the soul of Star Trek in that he never gave up, never compromised. Yes, that's tough to do in life, but this is television. Throwing away one of the greatest, most beloved characters in television history made no sense. That was called "eating the seed corn", and it unnecessarily hurt Star Trek. I think Mr. Shatner and Rick Berman can find a reasonable way to resurrect the character, surely the fans could suggest myriad possibilities.
Berman has managed to do an enormous amount of damage to Star Trek already. Enterprise destroyed the Borg, the Ferengi, and the Romulans, as well as wasted a huge opportunity to develop this time period. He has sent Star Trek down the drain in both popularity and quality. And now he wants to take on an even greater task: Destroying Captain Kirk.
First of all, bringing back a dead character is stupid, unless there is a really good reason to and a point made out of it. Spock's rebirth in The Search for Spock was incredibly meaningful and well worth it. Bringing back a second dead character sets a terrible trend. If Captain Kirk is brought back, who's to say that he can't always be brought back. Who's to say that anybody can't be brought back? So the next time Star Trek character dies, especially if its Kirk, it will be totally meaningless from a dramatic standpoint, because if they've already brought back two characters from the dead, why wouldn't they do it again? Thus Kirk becomes immortal, and people's favorite Kirk quote about risk looses all meaning, and we can never be sure that a character is truly dead once they die. Even if you think it was a bad idea to kill Kirk, that doesn't mean you have to disagree with this.
And as if all that wasn't bad enough, Berman has ruined so many other great opportunities and plotlines. Just look at Nemesis, Enterprise, and Voyager to see wasted opportunities. Now he will bring down Captain Kirk as well.
Rick Berman = Enemy of Star Trek
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Kor: You of the Federation, you are much like us.
Kirk: We're nothing like you. We're a democratic body.
Kor: Come now Captain, I'm not referring to minor ideological differences. I mean that we are similar as a species. Here we are on a planet of sheep, two tigers, predators, hunters... killers. And it is precisely that which makes us great. And there is a universe to be taken.
--Commander Kor of the Klingon Empire, on the United States of America
Quote:""Bill luckily has landed a wonderful role on the new David Kelley spin-off of THE PRACTICE, but Brannon and I have plans within the next few weeks of sitting down with Bill and discussing some possible ways of his being involved in this season of ENTERPRISE"
He is the "Shatman". He is everywhere these days.
In the grand scheme of things Shatner has fame and Berman has nothing. Shatner will always be remembered and Berman is a nobody. They better bring a truck load of money and knee pads to the meeting.
I personally don't give a shit about some stupid blue Nazi ending. This whole time travel diarrhea is boring. I don't care if ENT is now 'Quantum Leap". All I want to see is the RETURN of Captain Kirk. Nothing else matters!
I don't feel the character will be done justice by the current producers. If he's going to play someone else, then, whatever. I'll be ok with that. But not as Kirk.
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