Beam Me Up

One of the very few shows I watch regularly is Enterprise, which is the latest Star Trek series. As a longtime Trek fan, I feel duty bound to keep up with it. Plus, I'm part of a small group of six or so other Trekkers who watch it as well, and we take turns hosting each week's episode.

The show's ratings have been less than stellar, however, and there was some doubt as to whether or not it would be renewed. UPN has finally announced its fall lineup, and fortunately Enterprise made the cut. That good news was somewhat tempered, though, when it was also learned that Enterprise was moving to Fridays from its current Wednesday night slot. My friends--and no doubt many other Trek fans--seem to be interpreting that as a sign that this is its last season. Indeed, the original Star Trek ended its three year run in a Friday night slot on NBC.

Personally I'm not so sure. While it's true that Friday nights are the second lowest TV watching night of the week, that's only because most normal people go out and do things on weekends. They go on dates, go out to a bar, head for the movies, whatever.

However, we're talking about Trekkers in this case, and in general they are the most socially inept crowd in the universe. They have no reason to go out, because they have no actual lives of their own.

So while Enterprise may have been gathering only gathering only three million viewers a week, that same three million will keep watching it in its new time slot. And while three million viewers may be downright pathetic on a Wednesday night, it's not too bad on a Friday.