Height: 5"
Span: 8.5"
Length: 19"

Enterprise, despite taking place before the series which have gone before, must connect with franchise preconceptions, while simultaneously presenting plots and designs that look like they are the originals. This is no easy task. As a result, NX-01 Enterprise has the familiar saucer-nailed-to-two-rocket-engines look, but is waaay slicker than the Enterprise of the original series.

Cameo appearances weren't possible from characters of the previous series (none of them have been born yet!); still, I noticed that members of the 22nd century Starfleet hierarchy include Commander Williams and Admirals Leonard and Forrest - undoubtedly homage to the Holy Trinity of original Trek, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley.

And finally, we learn the origins of the familiar "to boldly go where no man has gone before" speech.

Ridges Have Ruffled Some Feathers

One of the challenges facing Enterprise during development was how to balance respect for and consistency within the overall franchise, with the need to present a show that would bring in new fans. The original series is over 35 years old, and the sets and spacecraft look positively eight-grade-shop-class compared to modern effects technology. Since Enterprise takes place over 100 years before original Star Trek, one could logically assume that 22nd century ships, tools and uniforms might look equally as crude and primitive. Such a strategy might have thrilled the most hardcore Trekkies, but would have put off non-fans used to slicker props. As a result, the first Enterprise spacecraft looks quite sophisticated, and although the interiors are reminiscent of modern-day submarines or aircraft carriers, they still have a familiar Trek flavor. There's no way to tell from "Broken Bow," but presumably NX-01 Enterprise is considerably smaller than NCC-1701 Enterprise.

Another problem facing Enterprise decision-makers was the appearance of the Klingons. In original Trek, the Klingons were simply humans with dark make-up. The feature films, and later The Next Generation series, dramatically changed the Klingons to the ridge-headed, hippy-haired Hell's Angels most of us know and love. Again, Trek managers wisely chose to retain the latest Klingon incarnation and ignore the low-budget limitations of the 1960's TV show.