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As I was surfing around at the official Star Trek Website, I stumbled across something that many may think I would be happy about. I came across the news that Enterprise is going to be cancelled. (See the full article here.) I have to say that in all honesty I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, the Star Trek I grew up with, the Star Trek that shaped who I am, the Star Trek that I grew to love is no longer going to be hacked to pieces in a weekly series. The hopeful side of me can see that we can now try to move past this unpleasant and irritating time in the Star Trek lineage (like many would argue about TAS - "the animated series" for those of you that may be unfamiliar) and get on to bigger and better things. It may be just the break the producers, writers, et al may need to find the vision of Star Trek anew. But... On the other hand, the realist (or cynic, depending on who you ask) side of me can also see this as a sign that Paramount may well be giving up on the franchise alltogether. Oh, sure, they've made billions over the years on it, but it's quite obviously run its course and will no longer be popular. Hell, the fans that made the franchise what it was a decade ago are dying out or losing interest anyway (I'm speculating on what they're thinking, I don't believe that myself of course). Better to cut losses now before we start losing money on it. We can not let that happen. Enterprise floundered because the producers lost contact with the fans. We, the fans, decided that we were not going to waste our time (or money, as evidenced by the dismal box office returns for Nemesis) on something that was no longer special, and no longer our own. They stopped giving us the stories, well-developed characters, and interesting backdrops we came to love and expect. In that, they lost us to the plethora of other SciFi movies and shows available out there. Some of us started showering more of our attention on Star Wars, for example (or, well, insert whatever big SciFi movie you want here - Star Wars was the first one that came to mind). Others, like myself, paid more attention to regular weekly SciFi series like Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, or Battlestar Galactica. Galactica in particular fueled my desire for good storytelling and very well-developed characters that has been missing from my SciFi experience as of late. But I digress. In the end, it's the fault of the producers, not the fans, that this show failed. I know that all of us Trekkies gave the show at least one chance, and if it didn't live up to our very high standards, we changed the channel. We need to send the message that we still love Star Trek, and want to see it succeed, but on our terms. To that end, I did run across some other information while on the net the other day. I can't for the life of me remember the page, but rumor has it that there is a Star Trek XI in the works. I couldn't find much information about it, but it's either going to be a prequel (prequel to what, I don't know, but they're hot right now, aren't they) or a continuation of the 24th Century lineage with a mis-mash of TNG, VOY, and DS9 characters. This also brings mixed feelings. If it's a prequel, I'm pretty sure I know what they're going to do and I for one don't want to see it (think four seasons of a show that failed miserably in the ratings and is now being cancelled). If it's a 24th Century story, then I have cautious optimism that it'll be something good. Last I heard it's supposed to be out sometime in 2006, but if that's true they'd have to be in the planning stages now and we should've heard something about it (right?). At any rate, the realist in me sees that we have one more big shot to prove to Paramount that Trekkies live, and we have lots of disposable income to blow. For the love of whatever you happen to believe in, write letters. E-mails are fine, but corporations tend to give more weight to written letters snail mailed to them. Write at least one letter. Please. We need to save Star Trek before it ends up in the back of the movie vault at Paramount. Click on the "Assist Federation" button at the bottom of the page. I try to make sure that the addresses listed are accurate, but if they aren't, someone please let me know. For those of us into gaming, there will be a new Star Trek game coming out. Unfortunately for many of us, it's not going to be a starship simulator or first-person shooter, but it's going to be an online RPG similar to Final Fantasy. I have mixed feelings about this, too. The fact that it's coming out at all (beta testing is starting sometime in 2006) is encouraging because it shows that at least a few people still believe there are millions of Trekkies out here willing to spend money on something we love. I do like the fact that I may finally be able to become a Starfleet officer in more than just an closed-ended game with all interactions pretty much pre-determined. On the other hand, the prospect of plunking down $50.00 or so (I think Final Fantasy costs that) for a game that I can't play without paying a monthly fee is a little upsetting. Couple that with the fact that updates to the game require the purchase of $30.00 (give or take) expansion packs, and I get a little more wary. Still, it might be something I give a try. Heck, I can't lose any more of my life to that game than I did to The Sims (yeah, yeah, I know... you don't have to tell me). (You can read more about this game here.) I did digress a bit, but please keep what I said in mind. It was a letter-writing campaign that saved TOS in the 60's, it was a letter-writing campaign that saved Enterprise for one more season, and it's a letter-writing campaign that's going to save Star Trek for all of us. Of all the things I can think of that we
will leave our grandchildren, Star Trek is the one that I am most proud
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