Sci-Fi Storm

Could Spike TV, the home of Star Trek repeats and wrestling, rescue Enterprise? That’s what the Boston Herald is reporting. With the recent success of fans pledging money to fund a new season, and Spike TV already aware of the Trek fanbase, but the article seems to be based on a comment from Spike TV spokeswoman Debra Fazio, who said, “It would definitely be something we would look at, and we know how devoted the show’s fans are.” Not exactly an affirming statement. Update: As expected, Spike TV backed off the statements, saying they were “misconstrued”…

TrekUnited, which has been organizing a campaign to raise money to fund a fifth season of Enterprise, organized rallies in Los Angeles, New York, and Tel Aviv on Friday to protest the show’s cancellation, and they are calling them a “success”. UPN/Viacom have had no comment, but they have apparently gotten a pledge of $3 million from anonymous donors who supposedly helped fund a commercial space venture. Members of the cast and crew, including Manny Coto, Jolene Blalock and others joined in the rally in LA.

The SCI FI Channel has announced that Season 2 of their hit Battlestar Galactica will air this summer (start date to be determined), with the whole cast returning, and will have a full 20 episodes. The current (short) season will conclude on April 1st.

The sidebar on SCI FI Wire says that the current TV Guide reports that Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis may appear in the finale of Enterprise – are they just reporting on the previous rumor – or is this new data?

With Battlestar Galactica still getting galactic ratings for them, the SCI FI Channel has already ordered a second season. They are still working out the details on how many episodes it will be, cast, etc.

The SCI FI Channel has announced three new cast members joining its flagship Stargate series: Emmy winner Beau Bridges (10.5) will join SG-1 as General Hank Landry, the new head of the SGC (Richard Dean Anderson’s role of Gen. Jack O’Neill moves to “Homeworld Security”, and likely offscreen); Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr. (Enemy Mine) has a recurring role on SG-1 as a Jaffa competing with Teal’c for control of the Jaffa; and Mitch Pileggi (X-Files) will have a recurring role on Atlantis as a hard-nosed Colonel giving Dr. Weir and Maj. Sheppard a tough time. Not sure how he gets there though…

The other shoe finally fell. UPN and Paramount have announced the cancellation of Enterprise, effective at the end of the season, where the finale will air on May 13th. This marks the first Trek series since the original to end prematurely since the original, and it will also be the first time since the debut of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 that there isn’t a Trek series in production. I’m actually sorry to see it go – I didn’t think it was as bad as some made out. What will we do? Update 2/4: Berman doesn’t understand why Enterprise didn’t get the ratings – perhaps putting it up against SCI FI Friday was a bad idea, hmmm? I sense a clue-by-four is needed. And he also adds that the show won’t be shopped to another network.

Seems they still want to boost ratings somehow with gimmicks. TrekToday reports that the season finale may include Star Trek: The Next Generation stars Jonathan Frakes (Cmdr. William Riker) and Marina Sirtis (Counselor Deanna Troi), reprising their roles somehow. The info was first reported via Marina’s official web site, but has not been confirmed by the producers.Update: Looks like the announcement has been removed, and there are reports that Sirtis is denying it in person.

Anonymous Coward writes “Scifi are up with the ratings for Battlestar Galactica – it did very well. Second best premiere only bested by Stargate Atlantis (it also beat Enterprise for the evening)” A 2.6 houshold rating for a cable show ain’t bad – it ranked second among all cable programming.

TrekToday is reporting that new showrunner Manny Coto is denying the rumor published by SFX that the production crew have been told they will all be terminated in March and the season shortened, countering that production is supposed to wrap in March anyways. The original SFX report is here. Update 1/19: And Leslie Moonves comments that Trek may need to be “rested a year or two” don’t help…