Star Trek: Enterprise - Production

Production

In May 2000, Rick Berman, executive producer of Star Trek: Voyager, revealed that a new series would premiere following the final season of Voyager. Little news was forthcoming for months as Berman and Brannon Braga developed the untitled series, known only as "Series V", until February 2001, when Paramount signed Herman Zimmerman and John Eaves to production design Series V. Within a month, scenic designer Michael Okuda, another long-time Trek veteran, was also signed. Michael Westmore, make-up designer for Trek since Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), was announced as working on Series V by the end of April. Returning as director of photography would be Marvin V. Rush, who had been working on various Treks since the third season of TNG. For visual effects, Ronald B. Moore, who had previously worked on TNG and Voyager, was brought in.

However, the biggest news would wait until May 11, 2001. The title of Series V was revealed to be Enterprise, with Scott Bakula, of Quantum Leap fame, playing Captain Jeffrey Archer, a name that was quickly changed to Jonathan Archer due to fan feedback. Four days later, the rest of the main cast was announced, though the character names would not be announced until the next day. Berman explained the decision to initially exclude the words "Star Trek" from the show's title:

Well, you know, if you think about it, since The Next Generation, we've had so many Star Trek entities that were called "Star Trek"-colon-something 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. And I think that if there's any one word that says Star Trek without actually saying Star Trek, it's the word "Enterprise".

"You all are witness to a show that guarantees instant attention, recognition, anticipation and most importantly, success Star Trek is the most popular science fiction franchise in the world. - Tom Nunan

On May 14, 2001, shooting began for the pilot episode, "Broken Bow", on stages 8, 9, and 18 at Paramount Studios. Three days later, Tom Nunan, entertainment producer at UPN, held a press conference formally announcing Enterprise to the world at large. Featuring a video on the history of the Star Trek franchise, Nunan held up previous installments of the franchise as proof-of-concept that Enterprise would succeed.

On September 26, 2001, the premiere episode of Enterprise, "Broken Bow", aired on UPN with an estimated 12.54 million viewers.

Through the life of the series, Star Trek: Enterprise would mark several milestones for Star Trek television production. Enterprise was the first to be produced in high-definition; the first to be broadcast in HDTV, beginning on October 15, 2003, midway into the third season; the first to be filmed on digital video (season 4); and the first science fiction television or movie production in history to use video footage taken on another planet (the Sojourner rover approaching the Yogi Rock, taken by the Mars Pathfinder lander and used in the opening credits).

A number of episodes of Enterprise were directed by Star Trek alumni:

• Star Trek: The Next Generation star LeVar Burton directed nine episodes
• TNG and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine star Michael Dorn directed one episode
• Star Trek: Voyager star Roxann Dawson directed ten episodes
• Voyager star Robert Duncan McNeill directed four episodes