XPost: alt.startrek, alt.tv.star-trek, alt.tv.star-trek.enterprise   
   From: spam@wonderful.spam   
      
   Moonves: A Break Good For Trek?   
      
   Leslie Moonves - co-president and co-chief operating officer of Viacom, the   
   parent company of CBS, UPN and Paramount - told SCI FI Wire that it may be   
   time for Star Trek to take a break, though he added that no decision has   
   been made on the future of UPN's ratings-challenged Star Trek: Enterprise.   
   Speaking in an interview at the CBS/UPN winter press tour in West   
   Hollywood, Calif., Moonves said: "It's hard to say right now. The ratings   
   aren't great. It may be a franchise that should be rested a year or two. I   
   know the diehards are not in favor of that, but I think if we rested a year   
   or two, it might be a better thing. But we'll see what happens the rest of   
   the year."   
      
   Persistent rumors say the show is on its last legs, that UPN has cut its   
   season order from Paramount, which produces the show, and that star Scott   
   Bakula (Capt. Jonathan Archer) is ready to quit. All untrue, cast members   
   told SCI FI Wire. "I'll be disappointed if we wrap up this year," Bakula   
   said in a separate interview. "I'd hate to see it end this year. ... We're   
   waiting to hear. It's a funny place to be in. I love the crew. I love the   
   cast. The work situation has been tremendous. We're doing creative work,   
   still, I think. And I know we have a lot of fans out there. So ... as a   
   television gig would go, it's a great, wonderful gig. And I'm loving it. So   
   I will be disappointed. But we'll see. It ain't over until it's over."   
      
   Bakula and other cast members told SCI FI Wire that they expect, if UPN   
   decides to cancel the show, the network will give producers enough notice   
   so that they can write a finale to the series. But as the writers are   
   currently writing the 21st of 22 season episodes now, that notice would   
   have to come in short order. "We've got to know soon," Bakula said. "So I   
   don't know. They're not under any obligation to let us know. They can do   
   whatever they want to do, and they may. .. We don't call those shots."   
      
   Even so, Bakula said, "The indication was [and] has been often that this   
   would be our last season. But then ... we were told we were going to get an   
   early indication of that so we could wrap the show up in a nice way. And   
   here we are, it's the end of January, and I know that they've broken   
   stories through the 21st [episode]." Enterprise wraps production in March;   
   an announcement about cancellation could be delayed as late as May.   
      
   Some spoilers.....   
      
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   Moonves said that a final decision will depend on how Enterprise performs   
   in the ratings for the rest of the season, which will include new episodes   
   exploring the "mirror universe" introduced in the original Star Trek series   
   and a two-episode arc explaining why Klingons went from smooth foreheads to   
   bumpy ones. How well would the show have to perform to be renewed? "I don't   
   make predictions on what level," Moonves said. "It depends on what   
   development is and what the rest of the schedule is like." But, he added,   
   "I think the show this year has been much better [creatively] than last   
   year. I like the changes that have been made. ... [As for the ratings,]   
   when you're dealing with UPN, you're dealing with different expectation   
   levels." Star Trek: Enterprise airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.   
      
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