New Love for ENTERPRISE?

[ShannaG]

As I have been looking through my Twitter feeds, and talking to some other folks associated with Trek.fm, I've been noticing lately that there seem to be a lot more people paying attention to Enterprise now. Some fans are giving it a second chance and deciding they like it now, and others are discovering it for the first time.

I was wondering if anyone else had noticed this, too? And do you think that it's finally stopped being fashionable to hate Enterprise? Or are people just that hungry for new Trek that they're willing to give it a chance?

[creek_chub]

I recently discovered ENT and it was because I stumbled across a marathon on the SyFy channel. I don't know how long SyFy has done this, but if it's a recent practice, perhaps it's working to draw in new viewers?

[Aquarius]

They've been doing the marathons for a long time. In fact, that's how I got back into it in 2008 -- home from work on a sick day and the ENT marathon was the only thing on. I was hooked.

I think at the heart of the question is, why are fans as a collective giving it a chance now when they weren't before?

Will scan my Twitter feed a little more closely to see what I can suss out.

[EntAllat]

It's a good question. I got into it late as well, in 2008, after seeing it on HDNET. But it's only recently that I've felt the same thing, as if there was a surge of people giving it a second chance (rather than just new fans).I have no idea why.

I do have to say, I've seen reruns of TNG and ENT in circulation almost constantly since 2008. But it's been YEARS since I've seen any DS9 reruns, and Voyager isn't currently in reruns, though I briefly saw it. Maybe that has something to do with it?

Sometimes I feel the current fans of the show are better or more dedicated about promoting it than UPN was at the time it aired. So maybe there's that. (I could be biased.) I also mention to open-minded friends who haven't seen it or didn't like it when they first caught a few episodes to watch the third and forth seasons first, then go back and catch all of season 1 and 2.

I have seen a couple of times on blogs and tweets someone offhandedly say that they met/listened to Trinneer or Keating at a convention and thought they might have to check out the series now. But I couldn't find those references now if you threatened me.

[Honeybee]

Oh, I think there's definitely a resurgence and new interest. A lot of people are giving it a chance. I recently looked at the reviews on itunes, and they are almost universally positive - with fans decrying the negativity that surrounded the show during its airing.

I think it became fashionable in certain quarters to hate the show, but its becoming fashionable to like it, thankfully. Those of us who do, we feel like we're letting people in on a secret that's been in plain sight.

[Kathy Rose]

I think it became fashionable in certain quarters to hate the show, but its becoming fashionable to like it, thankfully. Those of us who do, we feel like we're letting people in on a secret that's been in plain sight.

I've noticed the same thing. I was a fan right from the start when it originally aired, and I was appalled at how much hate developed for it. Voyager also was in the same boat (pardon the pun!) of having a large "fan" base that actively criticized it during its original run.

I wonder if part of the resurgence of liking Enterprise is that there is no new Trek, other than the recent movie.

[entkayjay]

I'm at the age where I can afford this kind of perspective. Although I won't admit liking it.

The Trek fans who flailed and hated (and still do in certain quarters) are getting older. TNG fans, who often felt overwhelmingly negative about Enterprise to me, are now beginning to have to defend their show because after thirty years even it is looking dated and a bit drab. (Draping an entire series in neutral colors will tend to do that, but neverfear, everything old is new again eventually.) It's not so fun to be on the receiving end of fandom disgust and negativity, and not to say that's the only reason but I'm sure it may have something to do with it. Takes a LOT of energy to be on the defensive, even internally.

Also, watching the influx of both NEW and "new" fans to Enterprise over the last decade, as well as the rise of social media which make interests even more transparent and easy to find over a broad base (Twitter and Tumblr, for example), it's been an absolute joy to see people who either don't know about the earlier hate or don't care. I cannot tell you enough how difficult it was to be a fan and enjoy the show in the first two years, unless one had a strong cadre of like-minded friends from... somewhere. I was lucky enough to find the right places at the right times, and at the very beginning of broadening use of social networking... YahooGroups, LiveJournal, AIM... as well as lucking into a bunch of crazy wimmin to nurture me at a time I really needed it.

But it was also painful to watch a few of the early adopters not only turn away, but begin to actively criticize and grouse enough to make me doubt my own enjoyment. I'm still in touch with some of those folks, mostly through LJ, and I genuinely care about them. But I don't have a lot of fannishness in common with them anymore, and that's a dimension I miss.

The resurgence in interest, I think, has a lot to do with the newer generation coming into fandom in general. Fan fiction is not only accepted now, it's almost a rite of passage for geeky girls (and guys? I have no idea.) Comics are huge movie fodder. Slash is almost mainstream compared to ten years ago. Same-sex marriage, polyamorism, bisexuality and all the wonderful letters of GLBTQ et al are accepted by the young as simply a part of life, and allows them to explore their own place in it much more easily. For geeks, it's usually through a fannish thing.

So Enterprise is well-placed to be rediscovered by people who, ironically enough, have fewer preconceptions about the show to work through. They see the show, they like the show, and they easily find others who feel the same way. It's closed canon, they can't be Jossed, and there is an entire decade of world-building from those of us who really have gone before them.

Gives me hope, it does.

[JackYum]

I think Enterprise's gaining popularity is due to all of the above reasons. It was hated before but of course, time heals all wounds and I think it is being revisited by many with kinder eyes. Maybe also newer fans who were introduced to Star Trek by the 2009 movie read about the "Admiral Archer" line and wanted to see what the legend was all about! I truly believe that in a few years or so ENT will be as accepted and beloved as any of the other series.

[Brandyjane]

I've definitely noticed this. I've looked at the reviews on Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu, and they are overwhelmingly positive. There are a few haters, but really not many. Many of the reviews mention that Ent is their favorite or second-favorite Trek series.

I wonder how Enterprise is going to age, and if that is going to affect its trajectory with fans. I have to admit that I'm one of the people who thinks TNG looks kind of cheesy and very, very eighties. I like it, but I also can't help but laugh at it at times, too. I think Ent will be helped out a lot by its better CGI and by the very fact that it's so much closer to us. It almost seems like it's less geeky (not that geeky is bad - I'm geeky) than some of the other series since things like the uniforms are more realistic and down-to-earth.

[Honeybee]

I think the design of Enterprise has held up surprisingly well. It still look futuristic, though more "primitive" than TNG's 80s aesthetic. I also thought it was pretty clear in the reboot that the design took its cues from Enterprise, although updated.

I love all the series, even Voyager which is the one I connect to emotionally the least, but I do think fans will continue to discover what's good about Enterprise. I still maintain its flaws were no worse than any of the other series.