As Capt. Jonathan Archer in the new “Star Trek” series “Enterprise,” Scott Bakula has something that sets him apart from other Starfleet commanders.
He has pockets.
“I know it!” says actor/director Jonathan Frakes, who played first-officer Riker on the first spin-off series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and in several feature films. “I made a big deal out of it when I went over to introduce myself. My envy was palpable.”
“He said he would have given anything to have these,” says Bakula. “He looked and said, ‘Oh, man, you’ve got pockets, you’ve got zippers, no stirrups.’ He was very funny.”
“Enterprise” launches with a two-hour episode at 7 p.m. on Wednesday on UPN. It’s the creation of Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, veterans of the “Trek” spin-off series and feature films, who picked up where original creator Gene Roddberry left off.
Joining Bakula (a science-fiction veteran from his years on the time-travel series “Quantum Leap”) are Connor Trinneer as Chief Engineer Charles Tucker III; Jolene Blalock as Vulcan Sub Commander T’Pol; Dominic Keating as Lt. Malcolm Reed; Anthony Montgomery as Ensign Travis Mayweather; Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi Sato, and John Billingsley as alien Dr. Phlox.
While “Enterprise” continues the saga into the 21st century, it’s just as much a journey back in time. It’s a prequel to the original 1960s series, set in the 23rd century. The new series takes place in the 22nd century, about 100 years before James T. Kirk assumes command of the starship Enterprise.
While Kirk’s crew took alien encounters and space phenomenon for granted — and, in Roddenberry’s vision, were more evolved, enlightened types than us — Archer’s crew isn’t quite so used to the wonders of deep-space exploration. “They are Gene Roddenberry’s humans,” says Braga, “we can’t just dispense with that. It’s part of what makes this franchise so special.
“But they are like you and me in that they’ve never seen aliens before. This is all brand-new to them. They’re not used to being cooped up in a little tin can hurtling at warp speeds. They can make mistakes. They are striving to achieve emotionally their place in the universe.
“Ultimately, Archer has a long way to go before he’s in (‘The Next Generation’s’ Captain) Picard’s arena. Picard was a seasoned space traveler, who had decades of experience from the captains before him, and Archer’s making history with each light year.
“So if you think of the ‘Star Trek’ evolutionary scale as going from proto-hominids to Picard, Archer falls somewhere in between you and me and Kirk, so he’s got a way to go.”
“I’m hoping he’s a pretty interesting fellow,” says Bakula of Archer. “He’s a Starfleet brat, grew up in the system. His dad was an engineer, worked on the Warp Five engine, very closely with the Vulcans, to create the technology that we used to get here.”
