
A scifi-wank!
At the risk of being too "wanky" let me continue the scenario somewhat...
...
After two (okay, really 1 and a half) seasons of Firefly, the show has become a major success and is one of UPN's main attractions by the end of the 2003/2004 season. The idea of having a gritty character driven science fiction show is seen as a real possibility and a way to bring in more fans. The success of the recent Battlestar Galactica miniseries thusly, attracts real attention from the UPN execs who are eager to add another "hit" show to their lineup. Whereas other networks are wary of picking up the expensive show, UPN jumps on the opportunity and does so slightly earlier than OTL. Thus the show will be ready for the beginning of the 2004-2005 season.
Galactica makes it's debut replacing Star Trek Enterprise on Wednesday nights at 9:00. Echoing the marketing of Firefly it does quite well considering it is up against stiff competition from both Alias, American Idol, and the West Wing. Nevetheless, Galactica quickly ends up averaging between 5-6 million viewers (more than it ever had on Sci-Fi and similar to what Firefly is getting in TTL). Galactica's success further increases UPN's favor towards science fiction shows. Furthermore both Firefly and Galactica gain considerable critical acclaim and attract significant interest to the station.
The success of Firefly and Battlestar Galactica however is not shared by UPN's other flagging science fiction show, Star Trek Enterprise. Despite attempts to "go dark" in Season 3, and a renewed focus on the Temporal Cold War in Season 4, the ratings just aren't there. However, given UPN's success with science fiction shows, the execs aren't ready to completely give up on Enterprise.
When deciding what to do with the show, someone notes one of the initial draws towards doing a prequel. Early on in the development of Enterprise, someone pointed out that if the show wasn't doing well, that they could end the story arc with that ship and that crew and move forward to another incarnation of the Enterprise (an OTL concept IIRC). Noting that this concept is especially pertinent to Enterprise's current format with the ongoing Temporal Cold War, this person proposes that the current season of Enterprise focus on ending the Temporal Cold War with the intent of "rebooting" the series in 2005-2006. Though many are not enthusiastic about the developments, the decision is made and the latter half of Enterprise season 4 is focused on ending the Temporal Cold War (the driven nature of the plot actually leads to an increase in viewership). Furthermore this last half of season 4 is used to test out new directors and writers resulting in several excellent episodes.
With the finale of Season 4 the Temporal Cold War is brought to an end and the Star Trek timeline reverts to "normal". At the very end of the episode a glimpse is given into what fans quickly term "Enterprise 2.0" a much grittier, low tech version of the previous show with an almost completely different cast. This creates significant buzz which continues throughout the summer as through Battlestar Galactica and Firefly, UPN has discovered the value of using the internet to connect with fans. That being said many Star Trek purists revolt against the direction of the new show dubbing it "Battlestar: Enterprise" or "BSG Lite".
The 2005-2006 season sees UPN debut it's new line up anchored by 3 major science fiction shows makes it the new go to Sci-fi channel effectively out competing it's predecessors. Both Firefly and Galactica get off to strong starts the latter beginning the story arc involving New Caprica. Yet for many fans the biggest hype is over the relaunched Enterprise which hearkens back to classic "Trek" (no cheesy pop song at the beginning) while incorporating many new elements brought in from experiences with Firefly and Galactica. Season 5 sees a totally new cast in the much more primitive EES (Earth Exploration Ship) Enterprise. The two-part pilot episode wastes no time getting into the thick of things with the EES Enterprise witnessing the beginnings of the fabled Earth-Romulan War. Due to considerable hype, ratings for the new show are quite high and remain so for the rest of the season. Though many fans complain about the season's new direction, most applaud the choices made and see Season 5 as "The Way Enterprise should have been".
Yet despite the success of Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, and Season 5 of Enterprise, UPN is still hemorrhaging money (albeit less than OTL). Viacom ends up making a similar decision to OTL to quietly merge UPN and the WB into a new network known as the CW. As none of UPN's hit sci-fi shows fit into the new direction for the new network they are all let go. However the flagging Sci-fi channel sees an opportunity and immediately jumps in beginning production of the shows next seasons. The Sci-fi Channel is immediately revitalized as it's viewer ship skyrockets.
In 2006-2007 Battlestar Galactica comes to an end, however a prequel series is planned, Caprica, set prior to the Cylon War to debut in the future. Both Firefly and Enterprise continue on just as before. As mentioned previously Firefly ends in 2009 after it's seventh season. Enterprise 2.0 follows the Romulan War to the beginning of the Federation. A season portraying the first voyage of the recommissioned USS Enterprise (with alien crewmembers) is a dud leading to it's cancellation at the same time as Firefly.
Thoughts?
"You may call me a dreamer, but I'm not the only one..."