I remember how hearing Star Trek: Enterprise’s theme for the first time was shocking back in 2001. Created by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, Enterprise was Star Trek’s first prequel series. Set in the 22nd century, a hundred years before Star Trek: The Original Series, Enterprise (its original title minus ‘Star Trek’) was about the pioneering voyages of Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) of the NX-01 Enterprise, the first starship to bear that name.
Airing from 2001-2005, Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled after 4 seasons on United Paramount Network (UPN). I was an early adopter of Enterprise, and I watched all 4 seasons on UPN. Enterprise’s ratings were low for a variety of reasons, and many Star Trek fans decided to skip the prequel series. In the last decade, thanks to streaming on Netflix and Paramount+, audiences have begun to rediscover and reassess Star Trek: Enterprise. Yet a general dislike for Enterprise’s theme song remains. Still, if you weren’t watching UPN on September 26, 2001, you didn’t experience the shock of hearing “Where My Heart Will Take Me” for the first time.
Enterprise’s Theme Song Was A Huge Shock When It Aired In 2001
It was a true Star Trek “Wait, what?!” moment
Less than three minutes into Star Trek: Enterprise’s premiere, “Broken Bow,” the opening credits began with the now-familiar lyrics, “It’s been a long road… Getting from there to here…” I would guess that my jaw wasn’t the only one that dropped watching Enterprise’s opening titles set to “Where My Heart Will Take Me” sung by Russell Watson. The syrupy track accompanied the dazzling visuals of ships named Enterprise throughout history, the human race becoming astronauts, and the launch of the NX-01 Enterprise. It was – and remains – unlike any Star Trek opening credits before or since, and it was puzzling to experience for the very first time.
Star Trek TV series’ opening titles are usually set to grand orchestral themes composed by luminaries like Jerry Goldsmith. Enterprise had a pop song and one that was adapted from the movie Patch Adams, to boot. Enterprise’s creators, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga, wanted something different for the prequel and chose “Where My Heart Will Take Me” because the lyrics lent themselves to the spirit of human exploration. Berman and Braga have taken flak from fans for Enterprise’s theme ever since, and the song generally remains derided, although some Star Trek fans (myself included) admit to liking or even loving “Where My Heart Will Take Me.”
Enterprise’s Theme Song Immediately Confirmed It Was A Very Different Star Trek Show
Enterprise broke the Star Trek mold
Star Trek: Enterprise’s main titles were a clear signal that the prequel would be unlike any other Star Trek series that came before. After producing hundreds of episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager, plus three TNG movies at that point, Rick Berman and Brannon Braga hoped to tell different kinds of Star Trek stories with Enterprise. The original concept for Enterprise was even set on Earth before UPN demanded a more traditional Star Trek show. But Berman and Braga tried to break Star Trek’s mold as much as possible.
From Captain Archer and his crew wearing baseball caps, to Archer bringing his beagle Porthos with him into outer space, to the NX-01 Enterprise’s primitive grappler technology, lack of shields and phasers, and imperfect transporters, Enterprise did what no other Star Trek show had before. Enterprise was also sexier, from the amount of skin Subcommander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) showed to the series’ lurid decontamoination scenes. But “Where My Heart Will Take Me,” which played in nearly every episode and was recomposed to be more upbeat in seasons 3 and 4, was a weekly reminder of how unusual Star Trek: Enterprise was that always elicits a reaction.