What a great week! TV Guide was long on interview if short on pictures but Entertainment Tonight more than made up for it. The series begins to coalesce pleasantly, so much so that I'm already fighting my pessimist friends about it. I like that.

Let's start with Berman's interview. He's got a good grip on the handlebars and that's comforting, especially regarding the impact of continuity. His confident use of creative license serves the budding series well. Why should Kirk's communicators (by example) hobble Archer's crew with a device inferior to one mass produced many years previously?

My friends object that time-tripping (Berman's "temporal cold war") may become the Series 5 deus ex machina but time (!) will tell. Also, since in Archer's day space-faring species zip back and forth past our little trailer park planet I hope the temptation is firmly resisted towards casting human achievement in a disparaging light.

The substantial debut of the new ship and her captain made the ET dollop quite satisfying. Having never watched Quantum Leap, I sure like Scott Bakula now. His calm approach to the interview highlights his confidence with the role. And how can a crew not follow their captain?

Then there's the ship. Herman Zimmerman and the production department deserve serious applause. The ambiance of the "new-old" Enterprise is exactly that. Control panels apparently at home on an Apollo mission appear side-by-side with artful plasma displays. The living space is no-nonsense and evocatively functional. The modular approach restores the drop-in design technique seen elsewhen in Starfleet. And she's spacious! Certainly such roominess represents even more creative license over practical packing but it's terrifically eye-pleasing.

(The thirst of the treknologist in me, not surprisingly, has barely been slaked. How many such ships are there? If not capable of a "five year mission" just how far can it go? What's up astern with the nacelles? Is safety a concern on these missions? Offed from a measly crew of seventy, red shirt depletion could become a serious issue. Though maybe it's the color of the sneakers this go-round!)

As a TV show about a ship on a trek to the stars, it sure sounded like Star Trek to me. Now, reassuringly, it looks like it too. That leaves only the stories. To the extent that the show opens a believable, interesting, and inspiring view to our future it should succeed. Star Trek stories always succeed when they entertain, and the human adventure - with emphasis on human - remains the best trek of all.