Wrap Party Showcases Sorrow and Relief

Photos and news from the Star Trek: Enterprise wrap party, which took place at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on April 13th, revealed a cast and crew who feel nostalgic but ready to move on. It was, to quote series co-creator Brannon Braga, "bittersweet."

StarTrek.com posted official photos of the actors and creative staff, as well as brief snippets of chat with several cast members. "I've had a great time," said Scott Bakula (Archer), who added that he had no plans at the moment for any long-term acting projects and was working on remodeling his house. "We had four great seasons, and I know we got better every year. I'm proud of the work we've done...I'm sad to say goodbye to everybody, all these great, talented people, but we had a ball together."

These feelings were echoed by several other actors, many of whom said that they felt they needed a break before launching new projects. Anthony Montgomery (Mayweather), who had been in his home state of Indiana helping to renovate his high school, said, "I've been locked in for four years, so I'm okay to take a little break." Over the next several months he wanted to complete projects that he had begun during Enterprise but did not have time to focus upon.

"It was a great ride, and it changed my life," said John Billingsley. "The people, the steady gig, the fans — all that was great. If it had continued on for another three years, I'd have been happy." Now, he added, he was taking a break from auditions for a six-week vacation across the US and Europe.

The show's newest executive producer, Manny Coto, revealed taht he will begin work as a writer and co-executive producer on Fox's 24 next month. "It's a different direction from Star Trek, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm a big fan of that show," said Coto, who was also a longtime Trek fan when he came on board the Enterprise staff. Braga has been working on the CBS pilot Threshold, while Rick Berman is involved in the early stages of a proposal for an eleventh Star Trek feature film as well as in producing other television shows for Paramount, to whom he remains under contract.

Nearly all the writing staff and production personnel attended the party, as well as guests Vaughn Armstrong (Forrest), Gary Graham (Soval), Jeffrey Combs (Shran) and Brent Spiner (Data, Arik Soong), as well as director LeVar Burton (LaForge) and Nemesis screenwriter John Logan. Combs told TrekWeb that he was sorry to see Enterprise end, but that he greatly enjoyed it while it lasted. "I cherish my time with Scott Bakula and the rest of the cast," he said. "It's a class franchise, and I'm deeply proud to have been a part of it." TrekWeb obtained brief interviews with several cast members about why the show did not last, which can be seen at Crave Online.

The IESB attended the wrap party as well and has posted video interviews with many cast and crew members. Linda Park (Sato) said that her favourite episodes were the ones they had just filmed in the alternate universe, which had allowed them to visit a ship from Captain Kirk's era. Dominic Keating, who was fighting a sore throat, said that he was glad Malcolm Reed had come out of his shell over the course of the series and that his backstory had emerged. Interestingly, though he said to TrekWeb that he thought his best performance had been in the episodes in which Archer discovered his secret dealings with Section 31, he told the IESB that "Similitude", the episode in which Tucker was cloned, was his favourite episode.

StarTrek.com wrapped up its coverage by quoting video supervisor Denise Okuda, who admitted that she had been very sad to leave. "Paramount's been our home for so many years, to walk away from the stages and to walk away from the lot was very difficult. But, you know, I'm optimistic for the future and I'm optimistic for Star Trek."

StarTrek.com's coverage is here; TrekWeb's coverage begins here; and the IESB's video clips are here.

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