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Brannon Braga on ENT's Ratings Woes: Producer Says Interest Tough to Maintain

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By GustavoLeao / 15:55, 16 July 2004 / Enterprise

STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE executive producer Brannon Braga speaks in the current issue of Dreamwatch magazine about the show's dwindling ratings over the course of its three-year run.

"It's an enormously complicated issue," Braga told journalist Ian Spelling. "There can be no doubt we've lost viewers, as have all the networks in general. You've got to put it in the context of ratings in general if you're going to compare the numbers for ENTERPRISE to the numbers for THE NEXT GENERATION, which is what most people do, without putting it in context. Very few people had cable and there was no satellite TV. Things are different now."

Braga admits, however, that ENTERPRISE has lost a significant amount of viewers since its early episodes.

"Having said that, we have lost a lot of our audience since ENTERPRISE premiered, and you can't deny that," he says. "Do you think it's because it's a bad show? Of course not. Even if ENTERPRISE is not your cup of tea, it's not a bad show. It's a quality show. I think the fall in ratings is just because people have had enough of STAR TREK. Even when we do an episode like Twilight, it's still the 700th episode of STAR TREK."

Braga says he values the show's loyal audience and wonders whether a TREK series could ever regain the type of popularity seen at the height of TNG.

"All we can do is do the best job we can and value the four million people who are still watching ENTERPRISE loyally every week, which is nothing to sneeze at. It's not the glory days, but how could it be after so many years of continuous STAR TREK?"

Read more from Braga in his full interview in the issue #118 of Dreamwatch.



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RE: In defense of Brannon | Report this post to moderator
By: Cymro (Odo's file, contact) @ 23:12:48 on Jul 17, 2004

There's that, plus the fact that DS9, VOY and ENT alienated a big chunk of the audience by being developed on a different premise to what Star Trek was originally about. Even though Voyager is called TNG-lite, it lost those things that made it recognisably Star Trek. It wasn't on the enterprise, it was no longer about exploration, and rather than use the humanity themed formula of TNG and TOS, went with "random space adventure" stories, which rarely produced anything good. Same problem with Enterprise before B&B tried turning it into another DS9.

DS9..quality show with character development and a long story arc...TOS and TNG didn't focus on these things, and ultimately, DS9 lost viewership because space wars are boring compared to stories about omnipitent beings consumed by guilt for destroying an entire species, or two people who hate eachother because their skin is black on differet sides.

--------

Dig deep piles of rubble and ruins
Towering overhead both far and wide
There's unknown tools for World War III
Einstein said 'We'll use rocks on the other side'

No survivors!

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RE: In defense of Brannon | Report this post to moderator
By: neo2004 (Odo's file, contact) @ 11:55:37 on Jul 19, 2004

Quote:
I'm also going to defend ENT. It IS a quality show.

Sorry Steve, but the West Wing is quality. ENT is NOT.

Quote:
they hate Brannon no matter what he says.
It's not Braga people hate It's his how-did-this-get-on-the-air quality of his writing.

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RE: In defense of Brannon | Report this post to moderator
By: MaxPower (Odo's file, contact) @ 18:21:33 on Jul 18, 2004

Quote:
I'm also going to defend ENT. It IS a quality show.

Something I was always afraid to say because I knew my head would be stuck on a pike if I did LOL. Not that I mind, but it would serve no real purpose other than the cheap thrill of being yelled at by nerds.

Like I said about Stargate:Atlantis; seeing that show and so many other shows on TV that just make me sleepy, I realize that ENT really is a quality show. A show that is flawed but certainly not the trash heap that so many uber nerds claim it to be.



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RE: In defense of Brannon by Rhett Quacklah @ 17:23:18 on Jul 20
RE: In defense of Brannon by spacebeluga @ 19:34:18 on Jul 18
    RE: In defense of Brannon by MaxPower @ 20:26:07 on Jul 18
       RE: In defense of Brannon by spacebeluga @ 21:26:38 on Jul 18

RE: In defense of Brannon | Report this post to moderator
By: Polly_Scy (Odo's file, contact) @ 22:57:11 on Jul 17, 2004

The subtext I see in his comments is that he's bored with Trek. How can he foot himself that he should continue to run things if he's lost his own enthusiasm?

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RE: In defense of Brannon | Report this post to moderator
By: Rhett Quacklah (Odo's file, contact) @ 21:23:45 on Jul 17, 2004

Quote:
I think fans forget that because they get so caught up in this world where they hate Brannon no matter what he says.

Wrong. What you call "vitriol" is frustration because the guy won't go get another job and quit ruining Star Trek! We don't like what he's doing with Star Trek. Put aside your brownosing aspirations (we know you have some kind of ties to Braga) for just a second and you might be able to see Trek the way we see it.

Even more, you might be able to see what our beef is with Braga...he needs to go.

Paramount should put JMS in charge!

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Quack!!!

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RE: In defense of Brannon by Krazy Joe @ 11:53:57 on Jul 19
RE: In defense of Brannon by TRexx @ 13:09:48 on Jul 18
    RE: In defense of Brannon by Rhett Quacklah @ 17:18:24 on Jul 20

RE: In defense of Brannon | Report this post to moderator
By: Rhett Quacklah (Odo's file, contact) @ 21:23:32 on Jul 17, 2004

Quote:
I think fans forget that because they get so caught up in this world where they hate Brannon no matter what he says.

Wrong. What you call "vitriol" is frustration because the guy won't go get another job and quit ruining Star Trek! We don't like what he's doing with Star Trek. Put aside your brownosing aspirations (we know you have some kind of ties to Braga) for just a second and you might be able to see Trek the way we see it.

Even more, you might be able to see what our beef is with Braga...he needs to go.

Paramount should put JMS in charge!

--------

Quack!!!

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RE: In defense of Brannon | Report this post to moderator
By: Rhett Quacklah (Odo's file, contact) @ 21:22:39 on Jul 17, 2004

Quote:
I think fans forget that because they get so caught up in this world where they hate Brannon no matter what he says.

Wrong. We don't like what he's doing with Star Trek. Put aside your brownosing aspirations (we know you have some kind of ties to Braga) for just a second and you might be able to see Trek the way we see it.

Even more, you might be able to see what our beef is with Braga...he needs to go.

Paramount should put JMS in charge!

--------

Quack!!!

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What Confuses Me | Report this post to moderator
By: Jean-Luc (Odo's file, contact) @ 14:03:31 on Jul 17, 2004

is that they're going to make a prequel film after that statement about people being tired of Trek. Was that determined to be untrue? I haven't heard anything else to the contrary. And does the 'tired of Trek' theory hold water if 5yearmission.com has had 6 million downloads of it's first episode?

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"Outer Space: The Last Frontier.
These are the trips of the Star Trek Enterprise. Its five year plan calls for us to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly fly where no man has gone in space. Live long, and be happy."


Patrick Stewart--SNL, Stardate 9402.05

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RE: In defense of Brannon | Report this post to moderator
By: StarFleet Captain (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:39:48 on Jul 17, 2004

You are so right. ENT is only one of 4 shows that I do watch on TV. And thats because I find everything else to be crap, though admittedly, I havent sat down and given every show a fair chance due largely to time constraints. But a lot of shows that I do watch hen I have free time are dumb. They only get the ratings they do because of the advertising---which ENT lacks.

I will also say that Brannon is full of shit because he knows damn well that he and his partner are partly to blame. Your writing is less than perfect (It sucks). But, come on, do you really expect either of them to say it? Would you if you were them? Do you really expect GWB to say that he fucked up in Iraq rather than point the finger at someone else? Will Kobe Bryant ever realize that he can't play ball as well as he thinks? So many unanswered questions.

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