New Zealand TV Guide | March 2002 ::.::.:..

Scott Leaping into new Enterprise 

New Zealand TV Guide March 2 to 8

Quantum Leap star Scott Bakula takes the helm of Enterprise in a Star Trek spin-off as part of Prime TV's revamped Sunday night line-up. The series is a prequel to the original, which starred William Shatner, and set 100 years before Captain Kirk took up command. Ivor Davis reports.

The new skipper on the bridge of the Enterprise, Scott Bakula, follows in the footsteps of William Shatner and Patrick Stewart.

The enormously successful Star Trek series, which has been spun off into 10 movies, has become an amazing money machine and an international movie and TV franchise.

In Enterprise, which boasts an entirely new cast along with the new skipper, new jumpsuits and baseball style caps, viewers will be privy to the problems and battles that led to the formation of the space Federation.

The new starship boss Bakula, is no stranger to TV. He's got a huge following after starring from 1989-1993 in the science fiction series Quantum Leap. As Captain Jonathan Archer he's very much in charge in this new show set midway through the 22nd century.

Enterprise is the fourth series in this mega franchise created in 1966 by the late Gene Roddenberry. Star Trek: Voyager just ended a seven year run. Besides the hit TV series there have been the movies, an animated series and more than 150 novels.

Bakula spoke of his new adventures at the Paramount Hollywood studio just steps away from the sound stages where his new starship is docked.

How does Captain Archer compare to the other skippers?&
"He's a free spirited guy, not afraid to say what he thinks, not scared to buck authority. And don't forget these are the first pioneers going out in space and their experiences are all for the first time.
It's the first everything."

There's a suggestion that Archer is a bit of a ladies' man.
Is he closer to Kirk or Stewart's Luc-Picard? "I'm still getting to know Archer. He's healthy and available. He's bold and brash and closer to Kirk even though I'm a 100 years before him."

How are you finding the new assignment? "Well, all of us are trying to make all these things new because we're all familiar with what Star Trek has been. And we have to kind of unlearn all of that and start from scratch."

Did you have any doubts about taking the role?
"They put a two-hour script in front of me that I just thought was fantastic and a character I really wanted to play. I thought it should go on for a while and there would be room to do a lot of different things with it and a lot of opportunity for this character. So to me it's like a gift that this kind of job exists in this town. There are very few and if it turns out to be a show that lasts for a long time and I get to do it, it all seems a good thing."

What was your own first exposure to Star Trek?
"Well I go back to the original series. I'm an old cat. We used to watch them ad nauseum in college."

Were you hesitant about signing on for five year spaceship stint?
"At this point in my career one thing I've learned is you never count on anything. So if we get through the first 13 episodes and we're still rolling I'll be happy. I'm not approaching it as that kind of commitment. I'm approaching it as, hopefully at least a two-year job. But with this show there's tremendous anticipation."

The last series ran for seven years.
"Yes, everybody walks around saying five, six, seven - throwing these numbers out. And I'm not really pessimistic at all. I'm just - I've been doing this a long time and I know it all seems a wonderful thing. But I'm approaching this as I approach everything else."