Star Trek: Every title sequence ranked

#7 Enterprise (2001)

It’s been a long road (sorry, I had to use it at least once) since Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled in 2005 after only four seasons. The poorly received follow-up to Voyager is a bit of a red-haired step-child among Trek television efforts.

A Star Trek series set before the founding of the United Federation of Planets had a lot of promise, as the period between the first warp-engine flight and the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his loyal crew had not previously been explored in any series or film.  “Where My Heart Will Take Me” is the first and only pop-song to serve as a Star Trek show’s opening theme. The song’s use for a Trek opener was widely panned by fans and critics.

The title sequence takes us through all ships in real history to have the name enterprise, from the 18th-century sailboats to NASA spacecraft, to the show’s namesake starship the Enterprise NX-01.

Enterprise as a show promised to give audiences the story of the first warp-capable starship to bear the name Enterprise and the events that led up to the formation of the Federation. Except it took Enterprise three whole seasons to get around to doing just that.

On top of the fact that the show took so long to get interesting, its main cast is Trek‘s most forgettable, and the production values gave the show a cheap look compared to its predecessors.

The problem is that it’s a sappy pop song. It has an optimistic tone and the connection to real human history is a novelty for the franchise, but that doesn’t overcome how over the top and sentimental the song is. Also, the choice to use a modern pop song slaps a date on the show that’s supposed to take place… You know… in the future.

Enterprise‘s opening theme is now the second-worst title sequence of a Trek show, mostly thanks to the aforementioned totally forgettable Picard. At least the theme is catchier than Picard‘s, and who doesn’t like to be reminded that real-life space exploration also is a thing that happens?