Star Trek: Enterprise Cast Was “Not Happy” The Series Was Canceled After 4 Seasons, Confirms Co-Creator

Image via Paramount Published Sep 15, 2026, 7:01 AM EDT John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Star Trek: Enterprise executive producer and co-creator Brannon Braga describes how unhappy the cast was when United Paramount Network (UPN) canceled the prequel series after only four seasons. Enterprise was the fourth and last Star Trek series executive produced by Rick Berman, who co-created the first Star Trek prequel with Braga. When Enterprise ended in 2005, it marked the end of Berman's 18-year era overseeing Star Trek, and no new Star Trek series aired on TV for the next 12 years. Enterprise was the only Berman series that didn't run for 7 seasons, the precedent set by Star Trek: The Next Generation, and continued by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager. Image via MovieStillsDB Appearing on The 7th Rule podcast hosted by Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk, Brannon Braga discussed his tenure as producer and writer on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and his opinion that TNG could have run 10 seasons instead of ending at 7. When Husk mentioned the also wished Star Trek: Enterprise could also have run longer, Brannon talked about the cast's reaction to Enterprise ending with only 4 seasons. Read Braga's quote below: Brannon Braga: “By the way, on the seven season thing, the Enterprise cast was f***ing… they were not happy. [Enterprise] was planned to go seven seasons, but we had new people in charge [of UPN] who didn’t know what they had… But everyone on that cast expected seven years. That was kind of the thing.” Watch Brannon Braga's interview on The 7th Rule below: Braga wanted to say something else about how Star Trek: Enterprise's cast felt before adjusting to how the actors were "not happy," but his point was made. On their podcast, The D-Con Chamber, and its predecessor, The Shuttlepod Show, Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating have spoken about their expectations that Enterprise would run for 7 seasons like their Star Trek predecessors. This was also backed up by Braga and Berman when they were Keating and Trinneer's guests. Star Trek: Enterprise feature films were also a pie-in-the-sky idea for after the show's TV run ended. But, as Braga said on The 7th Rule, UPN had a change of leadership, with the outgoing executives who were Star Trek fans replaced by newcomers who were not. Enterprise's ratings also struggled for all four seasons, and this was due to UPN's relatively limited national reach, poor advertising, and local affiliates' tendency to pre-empt Enterprise or change its time slot. ​​​​​​ Scott Bakula reportedly met with UPN executives to secure a fourth season, but during production of the two-part episode, "In a Mirror, Darkly," word came down that the network had axed Enterprise. This necessitated Berman and Braga's controversial decision to write Enterprise's series finale, "These Are The Voyages..." as a Star Trek: The Next Generation-centric farewell to Berman's entire era, a decision that also angered Enterprise's cast, including the affable Bakula. Since Star Trek: Enterprise never gained the greater fan support enjoyed by Star Trek: The Next Generation, its cancellation was met with a shrug from Trekkers. Fans were then angered by "These Are The Voyages..." centering on Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and the decision to kill off the popular Commander Trip Tucker (Connor Trinneer), which is still a sore spot over 20 years later. However, Star Trek: Enterprise just celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2026 and is more popular than ever. Enterprise benefited from streaming and binge-watching during the late 2010s and 2020s, as a new audience discovered Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and the NX-01, while longtime fans finally sampled Enterprise and enjoyed the show after all. Star Trek: Enterprise is no longer the 'red-headed stepchild' that 'killed the franchise.' Although, it took two decades for the crew of the NX-01 to get their recognition for their four seasons of boldly going where no man has gone before. Star Trek: Enterprise is streaming on Paramount+ Release Date 2001 - 2005-00-00 Network UPN Showrunner Brannon Braga Cast Scott Bakula Jonathan Archer Directors David Livingston, Allan Kroeker, Michael Vejar, David Straiton, Roxann Dawson, LeVar Burton, James A. Contner, Robert Duncan McNeill, James L. Conway, James Whitmore Jr., Michael Grossman, Marvin V. Rush, Patrick R. Norris, David Barrett, Jim Charleston, Michael Dorn, Rob Hedden, Terry Windell, Winrich Kolbe, Les Landau, Manny Coto Writers Chris Black, Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Judith Reeves-Stevens, David A. Goodman, Alan Brennert, André Jacquemetton, Brent V. Friedman, Fred Dekker, Ken LaZebnik, Maria Jacquemetton, James Duff, Jonathan Fernandez, Paul Brown, Stephen Beck, André Bormanis, Manny Coto, Michael Sussman, Allan Kroeker, Brannon Braga, David Wilcox, John Shiban, Judith Reeves-Stevens, Phyllis Strong, Rick Berman, Tim Finch Franchise(s) Star Trek Creator(s) Rick Berman, Brannon Braga, Gene Roddenberry