Series V levers the existing Trek mythos. It establishes expectations of soaring to the same heights as its predecessors, rewarding the audience in similar ways. TOS never pandered to a demographic and as such was unusually entertaining. This may not rise from a reluctance to pander on Roddenberry's part as rather that there simply wasn't enough time to sell out.

When a show violates its initial premises and no longer satisfies its fans that show is said to "jump the shark." (Check out www.jumptheshark.com including all five Trek incarnations.) This is often a symptom of creative exhaustion and true enough, if TOS jumped at all then it happened during season three, clearly the worst of the lot. Bottom-scraping this season is arguably the worst episode ever made, "And The Children Shall Lead."

For those fortunate enough to miss it, a group of freckle-faced children come aboard to threaten Kirk's crew (after slaughtering their colony parents). They shake their fists, chant a silly poem, and summon the Gorgon - a pirate alien like a fat Ferengi with a robe but without the ears. In my opinion TOS jumped the shark when those kids shook their fists.

It's possible the short span of Series I contributed positively to its inevitable and unique success. We remember mostly good material because it simply didn't survive to produce an overwhelming amount of bad. And both treknology and characterizations deserve this credit.

Roddenberry brought a conglomeration of good things from science fiction and humanity to television. This included a new guy with green blood and pointed ears: Spock, a half-human half-Vulcan, stoic, logical, bringing a new perspective to his emotionally-charged human crew. Did Star Trek succeed because of Spock? You tell me.

"Enterprise" also has a Vulcan, a pure-blooded one at that, but she is emotional and cannot easily be distinguished from a human without checking her anatomy. (The series goes out of its way to do this.) Will Enterprise succeed because of T'Pol's sexuality and emotionalism? You tell me.

Of course, ENT has barely had time to jump, though it's certainly possible that it might do so long before the traditional seven-year run expires. Way back when, a letter drive spawned from love for the show breathed a final year of life into the progenitor of all Trek. It would close the cosmic circle to have another such drive, similarly spawned from love, but directed at euthanizing the franchise. Should it jump the shark, shall we all just shake our fists and make it go away?


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