Why One Of Star Trek’s Most Respected Writers Walked Away From Voyager

Braga, it should be noted, is one of the co-creators of “Enterprise,” so his vacation from “Star Trek” didn’t last terribly long — “Voyager” ended in May of 2000, “Enterprise” debuted in September of 2001 — but a vacation was taken. Braga knew that young upstarts and fresh ideas were required to keep the franchise fresh and, well, he simply didn’t have those ideas anymore. He said:

“‘Star Trek’ always needs fresh blood. I left before ‘Enterprise;’ I just said, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ I remember where I was and what I was working on and where I was standing and at what point in time when I officially burnt out on ‘Star Trek.’ I decided not to do the seventh season of ‘Voyager’ and then I was asked to create ‘Enterprise.’ Rick had a really cool idea for it and I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to do this one more time.’ One could argue maybe I shouldn’t have. Rick was a really good overlord, but even he needed fresh writers. One could argue maybe we both should have left earlier.”

Braga’s dismissive language regarding “Enterprise” stems from the show’s overall low popularity. Ratings were always an issue with “Enterprise,” a show set a century before the events of the original “Star Trek” series, and post-9/11 audiences weren’t in the mood for Trek’s optimism. Unlike NextGen and “Voyager,” which ran seven seasons each, “Enterprise” was canceled after only four. Braga seems to feel that having the exact same creative team behind yet another “Star Trek” series perhaps harmed “Enterprise.” 

But Braga, when looking back, loved working on “Enterprise.” He said he couldn’t bear to write another story set in the 24th century, but the 22nd was appealing.