Two stars of Star Trek: Enterprise held a panel at the ST-SF convention in San Francisco last weekend. Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating covered a lot of ground, discussing some of the ups and downs of the series, their hopes to appear in new Star Trek, and the future of their podcast.
Finale was a “misstep”… wanted more Trip/T’Pol and Section 31 for season 5
After four seasons, Star Trek: Enterprise was cancelled, ending 17 years of original Star Trek programming (and four series) that had started with The Next Generation in 1987. Executive producers Brannon Braga and Rick Berman decided to turn the finale (“These Are The Voyages”) into a what they called a “love letter to Star Trek” by bringing in Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis to reprise their Next Generation roles, framing the story. This decision proved controversial with fans, and both actors agreed it wasn’t a proper finale for the series. Dominic Keating talked specifically about how a recent rewatch made him feel:
“I just watched that episode on [Star Trek: The Cruise VII]. I had seen it in times past and it has not bothered me. This time, I have to say it really bothered me… Particularly—and I love Jonathan and Marina—but to see them jauntily wafting around our last episode like nothing’s going on, and it ticked me off. It didn’t in the instance. I guess as an actor, I was like ‘We’re done’ so I was moving on to get another job. But when I look back now twenty years on, yeah it was disrespectful—I think to Scott and to our cast. I understand that Rick and Brannon were wrapping up a very long sojourn of an unparalleled TV accomplishment of 17 years on a variation of a theme. It is incredible. But I think it was a misstep. We should have had a standalone episode to end our series.”
That being said, both agreed they had fun working with Frakes, especially in the scenes when he was playing Chef in the galley.
Had the series continued, both actors had some thoughts on where they would have liked to have gone with their characters:
Trinneer: “I would have been interested to see what kind of relationship that Trip and T’Pol would could have actually had. That would have been an interesting storyline. They were going to try once every seven years to have a baby, so that would have been interesting.”
Keating: “That Section 31 stuff was quite fun, wasn’t it? That would have been worth some exploration. I believe they’re actually in Toronto now exploring it without me. And you know, Malcolm was always good to be captain eventually. Good British captain, I would say.”
Connor Trinneer at ST-SF 2024 (Photo: TrekMovie)
Ready for more Star Trek… any Star Trek
There were a couple of funny moments when the idea of returning to Star Trek came up. First was this exchange with moderator Ryan Husk…
Husk: I don’t know how aware you are of the new Star Trek shows going on…
Keating: We are aware of them. We are legacy, you know.
Husk: So the question is, they come knocking on your door or texting your…
[simultaneously cutting him off] Trinneer: Yes! / Keating: Yes! [laughing]
Husk: Would you be willing to not reprise your roles but play a different role?
[simultaneously cutting him off again] Trinneer: Yep, yep, yep. / Keating: Absolutely, keep talking… This is so easy.
Later a fan returned to the subject with a specific idea…
Fan: My question is a follow up… I’ve always thought that the best way to continue an animated series. If Paramount came calling…
[simultaneously cutting him off] Trineer: Yes. / Keating: Yes. [laughing]
Fan: Where would you like to see the stories go?
Trineer: I don’t care. I just want that Paramount check.
Keating: Probably in space, but I don’t really mind.
Trineer: It could be broken in the shop the entire time.
Keating: Animation is fun to do, you can show up in your shorts and tee shirt. Ask the Lower Decks people.
Connor Trinneer as Charles “Trip” Tucker and Dominic Keating as Malcolm Reed in Star Trek: Enterprise (Paramount)
That time Bill Gates came to the set
When asked about funny or strange things that happened on set, Connor recalled a specific visit.
“Early on in season 1, I was taking a nap in my trailer and a PA knocked on the door and said, ‘Bill Gates is here.’ I was sleeping and I was like, ‘Who?’ ‘Bill Gates, he wants to take a picture.’ And I was like, ‘Can I stay in my robe?’ And I did.”
Both agreed that the billionaire founder of Microsoft didn’t care what people were wearing: “He could not be happier.” So if you’ve ever seen the picture of Bill Gates on the set (below), now you know why Connor is in a robe.
Bill Gates visits the set of Star Trek: Enterprise
Future of their podcast
Two years ago, Trinneer and Keating began The Shuttlepod Show on YouTube, which mostly featured the pair interviewing various Star Trek guests. In December, Keating announced he was leaving the show and last month Trinneer did the same. The subject of the future of the podcast came up a couple of times during their panel and Keating gave some context as to what is going on:
“As you know The Shuttlepod Show—let’s address the elephant in the room—has had to go away in its current iteration for Hollywood reasons. But we are talking about bringing it back. I think we’ll be back within six to eight weeks or something like that. So please watch that space… It was just untenable in its current status, that’s as much as I can say. But I hope you can forgive that and come and support us again when we reemerge like a phoenix rising out of the ashes.”
Later on, Keating indicated that details on a return have to be worked out.
“This weekend is going to be the first weekend we’re talking seriously with some people. Whether or not we come back? We’re not sure. [Connor injects: Wait and see] Yeah, wait and see. It would be sort of different. I’m not sure what we’ll call it right now. We might call it something different.”
Dominic Keating at ST-SF 2024 (Photo: TrekMovie)
More to come from ST-SF
Stay tuned for more from the Creation’s Trek Tour ST-SF convention, and check out our previous reports:
