High Concept:
A prequel to the original Star Trek- set 100 years before Capt. James T. Kirk- Enterprise explores the history of human space travel leading up to the formation of The Federation.

Major Players:
Rick Berman and Brannon Braga (creators/executive producers); Scott Bakula, Connor Trinneer, Jolene Blalock, Dominic Keating, Anthony Montgomery, Linda Park and John Billingsley.

Why Should You Watch:
Besides the fact that "perfect-choice-for-captain" Bakula leads the cast, this Trek incarnation looks to be funnier, sexier and more action-packed than any of the 24th century predecessors.

Reasons To Be Concerned:
Because the tone is more irreverent than that of series past, diehard fans may take offense at this reinterpretation of the Trek universe. Plus, the series has forsaken the legacy of having Star Trek in the title and instead witll be known merely as Enterprise, which irk fans.

"About five years ago we did a feature film called First Contact, which took place in the 21st century, and was about an Earth that was in pretty lousy shape," says Enterprise cocreator and executive producer Rick Berman about the premise of the new series. "But it was about the first contact between humans and Vulcans and about the first human that managed to achieve warp speed. And we knew that between that period there was 200 years where Earth went from this kind of muddy little village in Montana to the world of Kirk and Spock. We have chosen a place halfway in between to sort of create the world of 'How did it all begin?' and 'What was it like for the people who truly were the first to go where no man has gone before?"
And thus the stage has been set for the latest Star Trek adventure to grace the small screen. Set in the 22nd century, Enterprise explores the early days of deep space exploration, a time when interstellar travelis in its infancy and the United Federation of Planets is still decades away. Unlike the seasoned, sometimes infallible-officers of the 24th century, the crew of the SS Enterprise exhibits a sense of wonder and excitement, as well as a little trepidation, at the strange things they encounter. "The Picards and even the Kirks of the world tended to take meeting alien races for granted," says Berman. "This was their daily work. For these seven, its' a pretty spooky occasion. It's always something that's filled with awe, excitement and a little bit of fear. It's really like any one of us finding ourselves in the situation where we're about to run into an alien species."
Scott Bakula helms the ensemble cast as Captain Jonathan Archer. He is the prototype for all Starfleet captains to come and is making history with every light year he travels. "Rick [Berman] was quoted as saying [Archer is] 'healthy and available," jokes Bakula. "He's kind of a free-spirited guy. He's not afraid to say what he thinks. He's not afraid to buck authority. This character is bold and brash and closer to Kirk than any of the other captains."
The series also stars Connor Trinneer as Chief Engineer Charles Tucker III, a brilliant engineer who has very little first-hand experience with alien cultures. Dominic Keating as Lt. Malcolm Reed, a British Armory Officer who is a professional, reserved and loves munitions, Anthony Montgomery as Ensign Travis Mayweather, the young helmsman with an instinct for space travel, Linda Park as Ensign hoshi Sato, an expert linguist serving as the ship's translator, John Billingslingly as Dr. Phlox, an eccentric alien who practices a unique brand of "intergalatci medicine", and Jolene Blalock as the Vulcan Sub Commander T'Pol, an austere but sensual Vulcan science officer whose job is to "oversee" the crew's progress.
"I seem to suck the air out of the captain's hankering for adventure and I don't mean to do that," says Blalock of her character's inclinination to lock horns with Archer. "It's just that you can be zealous, crave adventure and want to go boldly where no man has gone before, but there's also protocol. There's a way to go about things. So reatlly, T'Pol is the voice of reason, she's the voice of experience; she's the voice of responsibility. And usually, in the midst of all this joy and thrill of adventure, the last voice you want to hear."
As with every incarnation of the franchise, Enterprise pushes the visual envelope with the kind of state-of-the-art special effects that have made Star Trek a global phenomenon. However, this poses a bit of a 21st century challenge when trying to imagine a universe set 100 years before a series utilizing 1960's-style special effects.
"There's a great irony about developing things in that you don't want to be more advanced than things you know are going to come in the time of Kirk," Berman says. "That's a problem that we have right now. The computer that sat on Captain Janeway's desk was bulkier than the one that sits on my desk now. There are cellular phones that are farm more compact that the communicators that Captain Kirk used." Still, the executive producer believes that the fun in seeing some of Treks's more memorable creations will outweigh any visual continuity issues that may arise. "We think that one of the fun elements of this series, especially for our fans, is going to be watching all of the things like transporters and phasers and tractor beams," Berman continues. "We're having a lot of un with seeing these things when they don't operate perfectly- when they're being developed and perfected."
So what are some of the technological wonders audiences can expect to see employed? "Well, we don't have shields," explains Enterprise co-creator and executive producer Brannon Braga. "We have something called hull plating. Photon torpedoes don't exist. There's some sort of torpedo that is very like a hi-tech missile. We do have a transporter that's just designed for cargo. It's been approved for people, but nobody wants to see it. They're all nervous about it."
Other Trek staples include the introduction of phaser pistols. ("This is stun; this is kill. Don't get them confused," quips Lt. Reed in the pilort) and a not-so-sensible universal translator. "Part of what's fun for us is there are universal translators, but they don't always work that well," laughs Berman. "They have a lot of problems and they break a lot. So we have [Ensign Sato], who is a brilliant translator, to step in very often to smooth things over when the translator either doesn't work or works improperly." The most interesting departure from Trek technology, however is the "holistic" style of medicine practiced by ship's doctor Phlox. "The sick bay is full of these weirdo little critters," says Billigsley. "He's got bats and newts and leeches. I leech people when they're sick, which I think is great! and I think people are kind of reluctant to come to me for treatment. It's lotions and potions and powderss. They certainly have the 22nd century technology as well, but his own take as having been somebody who traveled the universe more is "You know, this herb can have ahell of a lot more potency than anything you've conjured."
Ultimately, however, Enterprise is about characterization- it's about achieving Gene Roddenberry's vision through a combination of classic science fiction and witty political allegory. "I'm an avid fan of the original Star Trek," says Blalock. "I grew up on it. There was such utter loyalty between Spock, Kirk and Bones. They would give their life for each other. I love the way they worked together."
As such, the actress is pulling from her repertoire of favorite classic Trek episodes to draw inspiration for her -character. There is the obvious influence of Spock, but Blalock actually turns to a lesser-known character for source material. "I'm playing the character as T'Pau," says Blalock. "It's not written that way, but I'm playing it that way. T'Pau was a Vulcan High Priestess in one of my favortie episodes, 'Amok Time.' This is completely a personal choice; it has nothing to do with the writers. It just made an impression on me, and after getting the part, that's what I wanted to portray." Interestingly enough, there is another element fans may remember from that particular episode that Blalock hints may arise in Enterprise- an element that may that may take her relationship with Captain Archer to another level.
"There's something that's been established already and it's called pon farr," says the actress of the Vulcan mating ritual. "I don't know if you saw 'Amok Time,' but Spock was itching and they had to take him back to Vulcan." Bakula backs up this innuendo, noting yet another way in which the series differs from its predecessors. "I think it's going to be overall a sexier show than there's been in a while," says the actor. "Its' much more physical. I'm going to mix it up a lot; there's more action in it."
All of this said, there are a number of difficulties inherent with acting within the Star Trek universe that the cast must tackle. Take the complicated dialogue, for instance "It's challenging in terms of the memorization," says Bakula. "I don't know that it'll get easier because a lot of it is technical jargon that you have to kind of find a way to memorize. It has probably been a little harder than I thought it would be to get the words out and invest them with some kind of truth."
Working with 22nd century props made from 21st century materials also poses a formidable challenge. "This EV (environmental) suit is the most difficult thing," says Keeting, a.k.a. Lt. Reed. "The backpack that holds the batteries that made the helmet light up and pumps the air has got to be about 40 pounds, and it's wighted so that it pulls you back and cuts into your clavicle bone. Even with the padding that they give us and all the efforts they make to try and make it palatable, it's a long day in the suit."
However, nothing is as difficult as working under the trademark Star Trek alien makeup. Or is it? "It takes just shy of two hours to get in full wardrobe and makeup," says Blalock of her Vulcan makeover. "But you don't fell the ears and you don't feel the wig. They're very well made. And once I'm in costume, I am T'Pol. It's very empowering, if anything."
Billingsley, on the other hand, belays his makeup woes by focusing on the realities of an ensemble series. "The nice thing about an ensemble show is that Scott is going to be carrying, obviously, a tremendous load," he says. "The rest of us will have our episodes and there will be episodes when we're not called on to work as much. From doing The Others, [I know] there were weeks when I came in twice and there were other weeks when I was working every day. But I'm not concerned in the least."
Interestingly, the makeup used for the series' Klingons will stay in line with the look established by Worf and all of the Star Trek films following The Search for Spock, putting the show at odds with the look of the 'classic'-era Klingons in the first sereis. Perhaps the biggest challenge awaiting the cast of Enterprise is acclimating to what can very easily become a seven-year assignment. Couple that with the tremendous amount of attention they will receive from diehard fans and the result is a weight difficult for even Atlas to bear. "As far as being prepared for what's coming, I'm using something that works for me and that's called 'denial," jokes Blalock of her impending fame.
As for the daunting prospect of being tied to the series for an indefinite period of time, Montgomery echoes a sentiment for the majority of the young cast. "It's great, man!" he explains, "I haven't done it as long as Scott- none of us have- so if there's a chance that this is going to last forever, hey, let's ride it forever."
The more seasoned Bakula, who already has a large fan following for his genre turn in Quantam Leap, takes the potential commitment a little more humbly. "At this point in my career, one thing I've learned is you never count on anything," says Bakula. "If we get through thefirst 13 and we're still rolling, I'll be happy. At the end of the day, they put a two-hour script in front of methat I just thought was fantastic, and a character that I really wanted to play. I thought, should it go for a while, there would be a lot of opportunity for this character. To me, it's like a gift that this kind of job exists in the town. If it turns out to be a show that last for a long time, that I get to do and is a franchise that I love, it seems all a good thing."
With this year marking the 35th anniversary of Roddenberry's original dream, the exploration back into the franchise's past seems a fitting tribute to a show adored by a world audience. "After 500 episodes taking place in the 24th century, moving to another century is very helpful for us," says Berman. "We knew we wanted to do a show about people- humans- going out and exploring. But rather than just taking another 24th century spaceship, giving it another name and throwing seven characters onto it, we decided to go back to a period where it all began- where our characters could be closer to contemporary characters and thus a lot more accessible. These guys wear baseball caps sometimes, and they wear jeans and sneakers, and they're a lot less perfect than your Jean Luc Picards, So I think we've sort of found a refreshing new direction to take Star Trek after Voyager."
The irony of this statement, of course, in that the series noticeably lacks the words 'Star Trek' from its main title. However, Berman is quick to explain what many believe to be a blatant exclusion. "If you think about it, since The Next Generation, we've had so many Star Trek entities that were called 'Star Trek' something," explains Berman. "Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection- it's just been one after another. Our feeling was, in trying to make this show dramatically different, which we are trying to do, that it might be fun not to have a divided main title like that. I think that if there's any one word that says 'Star Trek' without actually saying 'Star Trek,' it's the word 'Enterprise." - Eric Moro

The article is accompanied by the color Cover Photo of the faces of Archer and T'Pol; a half page color photo of Scott Bakula as Captain Archer- CAPTAIN ON THE DECK- "The whole idea of the ship is to make it more submarine-like," says Enterprise captain Scott Baula of the title ship, "The idea is to make it more of a welcoming oasia and not quite as sterile or formal as the bridges have become,"; A small color photo of T'Pol standing- Jolene Blalock as Vulcan Sub Commander T'Pol; a half page color photo of an action scene with Jolene, Connor Trinneer and Linda Park- READY FOR ACTION: Enterprise crew members [left to right] Blalock, Connor Trinneer and Linda Park on an away mission.