Contax Magazine
May 16, 2002

CONTAX GUIDE - May 16, 2002
By Eirik Knutzen

Scott Bakula's 'Enterprising' new UPN drama
'Warps'-up season one with a cliffhanger

Scott Bakula has boldly gone where several men and a couple of women have gone before him: The bridge of a starship constructed on a handful of old "Star Trek" sound stages at Paramount Studios deep in the heart of Hollywood.
The square-jawed, 47-year-old Bakula is Capt. Jonathan Archer in "Enterprise" (8 p.m., Wed., UPN), the "prequel" series set in the mid-22nd century some 100 years before Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock cranked up their version of the U.S.S. Enterprise for a look-see around the galaxy.
The crew of intrepid space explorers includes John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox), Jolene Blalock (Sub-Cmdr. T'pol), Connor Trinneer (Chief Engineer Charles Tucker III) and Dominic Keating (Lt. Malcolm Reed).
"I'm excited about this project, partly because I was a fan of the original 'Star Trek' show, which was in reruns five nights a week when I was at the University of Kansas," says the St. Louis native. "The Kennedy assassinations were still debated in late night TV, followed by Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scottie rolling around in the universe. Their camaraderie made them very near and dear to me.
"Those guys fought like brothers and loved each other like brothers, which is what we're trying to achieve on 'Enterprise,'" Bakula continues. "What I like about Archer is that he's a very human, emotional guy thrilled to be out there in the unknown frontier.
"He grew up in Star Fleet; his father was an engineer who helped develop the warp-five engine. His lifelong dream to captain a ship has been realized. Jonathan is a lot of fun to play because he is apt to speak before thinking and always feels like a kid in a candy store. The greatest thing about the part, for me, is that it leaves me a lot of room to grow with him."
"Enterprise" is the latest incarnation of Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek" (1966-69) - followed by "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987-94), "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (1993-99) and "Star Trek: Voyager" (1995-2001) - and executive produced by franchise stalwarts Rick Berman and Brannon Braga.
The "Star Trek" money machine (believed to have generated untold billions of dollars only known to studio accountants) also includes 10 feature films, more than 150 novels, several theme park attractions and an animated TV series.
The greatest thing about reporting to a Hollywood makeup trailer at 5 o'clock in the morning, according to Bakula, "is that I'm not running up to Canada for work every couple of months and disappearing for months at a time. The littlest ones of my kids (Wil, 6, and Owen, 2, by longtime companion Chelsea Field) may be asleep when I go to work and come home at night, but I'm consistently here and it means a great deal to us all."
Whereas the two youngest children are barely aware that their father shows up on television once a week, his older kids (Chelsea, 17, and Cody, 10) by ex-wife Krista Neumann are very much aware of his every move.
"Cody has a good sense for science-fiction, which means he's into 'Enterprise' and 'Quantum Leap' (1989-93) in a pretty big way," Bakula explains.
"But my daughter is especially into acting and following my career with interest for a number of reasons, including the fact that she loves the musical theater," says the 1988 Tony Award nominee for the musical, "Romance, Romance," who made his professional acting debut in 1976 in the musical "Shenandoah."
"She's very much a part of L.A.'s performing arts magnet high schools."
Chelsea did a walk-on in "Quantum Leap" when she was a little girl, but Bakula neither encouraged nor discouraged her interest in show business.
"I don't think that kids should work and should enjoy their childhood as much as possible - it's gone very quickly from their lives," he explains. "But everything is up to her now that she is getting old enough to make her own decisions. She certainly has the talent, a great voice and loves the theater . it's certainly where I came from."
Also on the home front, Chelsea Field is slowly working her way back into acting after six years as a part-time actress and full-time mother. She starred in a movie, "The Unsaid," opposite Andy Garcia last year and last worked with Bakula on the 1999 Tom Clancy telefilm "NetForce."
"We love being and working together, so I hope there will be room for her on 'Enterprise' sooner or later," he says. "There's room(?) for her - it's just a question of writing it for her."
While waiting for his independent comedy film "Ghost of a Chance" to be released, Bakula is heavily involved developing telefilms through his own company, Bakula Productions Inc. During the past couple of years, he has starred in and executive produced such TV movies and miniseries as "What Girls Learn," "A Girl Thing" and "Papa's Angels."
By sheer coincidence, he got the green light for "What Girls Learn" and "Papa's Angels" - both stories involving the emotional toll on children in the wake of the death of their mothers - back-to-back.
"I loved the stories, but we're not doing dying mothers movies anymore," he says. "It's time to move on. But we only look for projects that we really love, usually character-driven and very emotional. Those are the hardest ones to get made, but the most rewarding once on the screen."
Bakula, who made his mark as baseball great Joe DiMaggio in a Broadway flop called "Marilyn: An American Fable," gained recognition from Hollywood television producers for his ability to overcome such mediocre series as "Gung Ho" (1986-87) and "Eisenhower & Lutz" (1988), while sinking his teeth into "Designing Women" as Dr. Ted Shively, Mary Jo's extremely obnoxious ex-husband. Later, he scored as romantic interest Peter Hunt (1993-96) on "Murphy Brown," also a recurring role.
A serious feature film career never materialized, but Bakula has held his own in projects ranging from "Necessary Roughness" (1991) and "My Family/Mi Familia" (1995) to "Major League: Back to The Minors" (1998) and "American Beauty" (1999). The only thing his career doesn't provide is spare time.
"I love to travel and do all kinds of outdoorsy things, but seldom get the chance," he laments. "But it sure feels good sitting around on weekends with the whole family playing guitar and singing. It sounds kind of New Wavy."
On May 22 viewers will be able to see the final "Enterprise" episode of the highly successful first season, "Shockwave."
In this stunning climax, Starfleet orders Enterprise to return home when the crew seemingly causes the destruction of an alien planet they were exploring. Archer is visited by former crew member Daniels, who traveled through time to warn him that the Suliban are trying to sabotage Enterprise's mission, and the two travel through time to try to thwart the Suliban's plans.
The mission for Enterprise has been a rather perilous one throughout the first season - exploring new worlds, new races and strange phenomena - whole trying to establish certain protocols for life aboard a Starfleet starship. When you factor in a by-the-book Vulcan liaison (T'Pol) to the mix, the results are often dramatic and unpredictable.
"Enterprise" has been a solid ratings success for UPN and is set to follow in season two with some intriguing new twists and storylines. More details on when the show resumes filming, along with the air date for the conclusion to "Shockwave" later in the year, will be reported as soon as we have the details. 

Thanks to Elaine for the transcription,  Gail E. for the scans and for sharing and for ordering the magazine, and to everyone who helped us track it down. (Go, Team Bakula!)