Star Trek remains an acclaimed IP and continues to collect accolades in 2024. Just recently, many franchise stars were on hand to celebrate the series being the recipient of the Institutional Peabody Award at the organization's 84th awards ceremony. There's one particular franchise alum that truly caught my attention, though. Enterprise star Scott Bakula was on hand for the event and his appearance, in particular, has me psyched for a few reasons.
Scott Bakula famously played Captain Jonathan Archer on Enterprise, which had a controversial ending that even its co-creator won't defend. With so many upcoming Star Trek shows on the way, I can't help but wonder if there are plans for the actor to make a return based on his appearance onstage at the event (which was posted on YouTube) and a couple of other key reasons.
Almost Everyone On Stage Has Been Recently Involved With Star Trek, So Why Is Scott Bakula There?
As mentioned, Scott Bakula was far from the only Star Trek actor in attendance at the 84th Annual Peabody Awards. Yet he was one of the only ones who hasn't worked in the franchise in recent memory. Here's a rundown of who all showed up to support the franchise on the acting side of things:
- Patrick Stewart
- Anson Mount
- Rebecca Romijn
- LeVar Burton
- Jeri Ryan
- Tawny Newsome
- Ethan Peck
- Wilson Cruz
- Doug Jones
- Sam Richardson
- Scott Bakula
Two interesting factoids stand out about this list. One, Scott Bakula was the only actor featured who hasn't worked on a Star Trek project in recent memory. Two, Sam Richardson was invited but hasn't officially debuted yet as part of the Section 31 cast.
If one actor was invited to appear despite their latest project not having aired yet, would it also be possible for Scott Bakula to have received an invite for some future project we don't know about yet? Sure, he might've been invited simply to have some Enterprise representation but, if that were true, wouldn't we see someone from Deep Space Nine on the stage as well? Bakula's presence could be insignificant but, as a fan who just saw him sidestep any involvement in the Quantum Leap revival, I think it's interesting to see him in this context.
Alex Kurtzman Hinted At Surprises Coming To Star Trek
Another detail that has me suspicious about Scott Bakula representing Star Trek at the Peabody Awards is that Alex Kurtzman confirmed surprises were on the way that fans don't know about. As much as I love watching old episodes of Enterprise with my Paramount+ subscription, I am bummed it never received a proper finale and wish the franchise would fix that.
Given that this IP is now loaded with stars who are Star Trek superfans, I would reckon I'm not alone. With another live-action show like Discovery finished, there's room for a miniseries or movie starring Jonathan Archer that could give a more conclusive ending to the Enterprise series than the one we received decades ago.
Even if nothing is currently on the table, I'd like to think that Alex Kurtzman or at least one of the other creatives in attendance have broached the subject with Scott Bakula. Fans want to see Jonathan Archer again and, with so many stars being welcomed back in recent years, why shouldn't he be offered the same opportunity? With so many ways to bring him back in shows via holodeck or temporal distortion, this feels like something that would be easy to work out. Assuming the actor is interested and other tricky variables aren't at play here, there's no reason Trek couldn't pursue this.
Until Scott Bakula is announced to be returning to Star Trek, we can only continue to stream Enterprise on Paramount+. Who knows, maybe conversations are happening behind the scenes that could result in fans seeing more of Captain Archer in the future, along with others members of his crew.
