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Brannon Braga Addresses Criticisms of ENTERPRISE Finale, 'Kirk's Death

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By GustavoLeao / 01:31, 28 August 2005 / Enterprise

"I realize the [ENTERPRISE] finale was controversial," former STAR TREK Producer Brannon Braga told Chase Masterson in an audio interview at theFandom.com. Braga spoke frankly about fan and cast resistence to the use of ST:TNG characters in "These Are The Voyages..."

"We made the creative decision to do a final episode that was a nod to all the STAR TREKs. And we wanted to look at ENTERPRISE through the eyes of future STAR TREK. And do something that we thought was very interesting in that regard. It was not everybody's cup of tea. I would be lying if I said that the episode was a rousing success. I don't think that the actors liked it. I think it showed in their performances that they weren't happy and that the episode suffered from that. It was a noble effort but I don't think it was quite as successful as we hoped. But I still stand by the concept. It was a good idea. But I can understand why the fans were upset. They wanted their ENTERPRISE and they might not have wanted to see other STAR TREK characters in there. Some people complained about the use of the holodeck. We thought it was cool. But then again we have always loved the holodeck. Some people think it had been overused."



"You know, it was not a happy finale. We did not want to be writing this. And Rick [Berman] and I were coming to a time where STAR TREK was ending a long 18 year run and we felt 'you know what, the whole franchise deserves something.' And perhaps we were misguided in thinking that, but it is what we did."

Asked if he will be inovolved in any future STAR TREK, Braga said "If it happened right now, no. I am busy with other stuff and I think I have given all that I can to STAR TREK at the moment but, in the future I don't know. I really don't know what I would do. If they even came to me at all. I am not sure that they would."

Regarding the death of Captain Kirk, which he co-wrote with Ron Moore for STAR TREK GENERATIONS, he said "In retrospect you wonder if it was exactly the way, was it done right? Was it as effective as it should have been? Captain Kirk died on a bridge. Should he have died on the bridge of his starship? There is a lot of stuff that I personally, I can't speak for the other gentleman involved, I personally would love to go back in time, like a STAR TREK episode, and redo some stuff."

Asked if a STAR TREK "reboot" similar to the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA would work, he expressed doubts.

"First of all it's difficult to reboot STAR TREK. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA the original series was relatively, relatively speaking to STAR TREK, very short lived. And did not have anywhere near the fanbase that STAR TREK has. You can't just ignore STAR TREK. But you could certainly revamp it. But I don't think you can reboot it. And in the terms of the darker tones there are many, many people that felt that ENTERPRISE, for instance, should have been more like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and been much, much darker and grittier. And maybe that is the way to go with STAR TREK in the future. I don't know. And I personally feel that one of the things that distinguishes STAR TREK is its positive outlook, so I happen to disagree with that."

When the news hit that ENTERPRISE was cancelled, a lot of the fans seemed to direct their anger towards Braga, Masterson posed. How does he cope with that?

"Well look, who can blame them?" Braga said "You gotta blame, you gotta point your, if you are indeed angry you are going to look at the person running the show. So its not surprising. It isn't a pleasant thing to think of yourself as to blame. There are other factors involved with STAR TREK loosing its audience appeal over the years. But I would be lying if I said... I will take my share of the blame creatively. It's almost impossible for me to sit here and say 'yes I did this that and this wrong.' And I am certainly not going to get on the Internet and look at what the fans have to think because that would be ... too painful."

You can download the full interview here.



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RE: Internet Star Trek fandom and why it... Grinds My Gears! | Report this post to moderator
By: falcon (Odo's file, contact) @ 10:11:17 on Aug 30, 2005

Quote:
The mainstream media are lazy. The Internet gave them a way of gauging how the fans felt about current Star Trek whenever a piece had to be written, and the perpetually negative opinions of that fringe minority were the easiest source for mainstream entertainment journalists to look up.

Unfortunately, I also believe that those same negative comments were either ignored by Messrs. Berman and Braga, or they were belittled as "continuity porn." In addition, it may appear that Paramount paid more attention to the MSM's coverage of fans' dislike than the producers did. The internet works both ways, and had Rick and Brannon paid attention (even to the "squeaky wheels" out there), ENT might actually be preparing for its fifth season premiere.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post, Gabe. Good luck with your next project!

--------

A generation which ignores history has no past and no future. -- Robert Heinlein

PCLinuxOS

falcon

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RE: Internet Star Trek fandom and why it... Grinds My Gears! | Report this post to moderator
By: TRexx (Odo's file, contact) @ 13:10:11 on Aug 30, 2005

Quote from GabrielCKoerner:
So suddenly, the little fringe voice of fans griping about how much Star Trek "sucks" now becomes echoed in a big media loudspeaker to the public, who get their information in paragraphs and soundbites. The seed is now planted by the minority that Star Trek "sucks" and we have it as a stigma. Thanks, Internet fans!


That theory doesn't quite hold for what appeared to happen through Season Four: Online (hence, media) praise of ENT swelled while actual TV viewership continued to drop.

Methinks B&B played the online crowd like a harp, starting in the summer hiatus before S4. Coto's TOS-coated lip service worked like a Jedi mind-trick. Meanwhile, the millions of TV viewers who don't frequent these forums (nor read sci-fi magazines) judged ENT solely by what they saw onscreen, which was just more of the usual crappy scripts.


--------------
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RE: Internet Star Trek fandom and why it... Grinds My Gears! | Report this post to moderator
By: Captain Salad (Odo's file, contact) @ 12:28:13 on Aug 30, 2005

>>>That having been said, people like many of you are ONE of the contributing factors of why we no longer have new product from this franchise.

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RE: Internet Star Trek fandom and why it... Grinds My Gears! | Report this post to moderator
By: Polly_Scy (Odo's file, contact) @ 04:55:11 on Aug 30, 2005

The illogic of this passeth all understanding...

If we don't like it, turn it off, he says. Result - no more Trek because it's "lost its audience."

If we complain about the quality and keep it on, we're stuck with drek posing as Trek and risk hurting their poor widdle feewings. Result - no more Trek because the MSM has magnified our complaints and we've demoralized poor Mr. Braga.

The only choice left is "take what we're gracious enough to offer and be satisfied with it." Pfui. We have brains, sir. We may be willing to suspend our disbelief, but we'll never suspend our intellects. That's what makes Trek fans special.


Oh, and for the love of Pete, Braga hasn't "been gracious to my wife and I." He might, however, have been "gracious to my wife and me." A quibble, true, but I, the Grammar Goddess, simply can't let that pass.





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Exactly!!! by Schpock @ 17:27:59 on Aug 30

RE: Internet Star Trek fandom and why it... Grinds My Gears! | Report this post to moderator
By: Schpock (Odo's file, contact) @ 01:58:04 on Aug 30, 2005

So, are you saying that the bulk of Star Trek fans like Brannon Braga and his work? But wait, I don't want to bash him, or even talk about him. His time is over. I think that if someone else comes along and makes mistakes with the franchise, it will be easier to forgive than someone who has worked with the franchise for a long time and seems to want to take things in illogical and detrimental directions. And I thought it was bad when the fans booed David Gerrold at a Star Trek convention I attended in the 1970s. Braga had the opportunity to be a hero to Star Trek fans. Instead, he enraged them with comments and actions that spoke to his unwillingness to really "get" Star Trek.

Now, you have to realize that the internet is here to stay. And if you haven't noticed by now, human beings tend to be negative...especially people who were made fun of for being smart, geeky, interested in things like astronomy, science, and science fiction. I think that Braga has been short sighted. I know that he has to answer to the executives at Paramount, but there comes a time in one's life where a decision must be made. Either live a life that one can be proud of, or change the situation so that one can be proud of their life. If I started getting feedback at my job that I was screwing up left and right, and that my coworkers and the customers were hating the job that I do, I'd find another place to work, or another field even. If there's one thing that is a crime, it's not aiming high. I don't think that Braga aimed high enough. Life in Hollywood corrupts people's sensibilities, they're blinded by the money. I don't think that Braga really gives a fig about the fans. I think he fanned the flames that in turn caused the fans to flame him. ENTERPRISE could have been the best ever Star Trek series across the board, but there were too many problems, and a lot of denial about what the fans were feeling and expressing on the web. For every fan who said something negative about ENT on the web, there are at least four more who don't go on the internet who feel the same way, and two more who didn't even know that there was a new Star Trek series on the air.

I'm sure that Brannon Braga isn't an axe murderer. Yes, I've expressed my displeasure with both Berman and Braga, but now it would appear that they're done as far as the franchise is concerned. I think that this is a good thing. ENT was like the previous series, only done worse. It's no wonder that it did so poorly. If it were of average quality or better, word of mouth would have spread and the show would have opened new markets for UPN. But it was lackluster, and ENT was only the most recent addition to the ongoing story of the Federation, Starfleet, and humanity's stretch to the stars. In short, Enterprise is guilty of imitating it's imitators. ENT really needed to do something different. If they had surprised everyone by doing a show that featured a crew in uniforms that resembled TOS uniforms a little, with an uber-arc that relates to things that culminate later in the franchise history, with smaller stories that define the struggle humans had to overcome to eventually be the glue that holds the quadrant together, then I think that the show would be a hit.

I hope that the next installation of Star Trek isn't accompanied by the vitriol that was drawn out by the previous two series. The bile that has grown so intense is the result of the same two people doing the same old thing for too long, when one is bored, the quality of their work decreases. When that happens, I usually find a new job. If I don't find a new job, I get fired. A bored worker is unproductive. Braga's threshold will probably do alright. I couldn't imagine working in a creative capacity for more than five years at the same place...I'd go nuts...and I do have to be creative at work.

I think we all need to be ready to move on. To wait during this drought of Trek and balance our perspective about this whole thing as we do.

--------

To me, truth is not some vague, foggy notion. Truth is real. And, at the same time, unreal. Fiction and fact and everything in between, plus some things I can't remember, all rolled into one big 'thing.' This is truth, to me.

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RE: Internet Star Trek fandom and why it... Grinds My Gears! | Report this post to moderator
By: kirk, james t (Odo's file, contact) @ 21:32:25 on Aug 29, 2005

Honestly, There comes a time when things become to formulaic.. Thats why, You Should Step Aside and let fresh blood flow into the show.. Ergo Manny Coto.

I keep moving around to different departments because things become stale... It keeps me from going insane.. And my work performance increases...

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