Talk:Rogue Planet (Star Trek: Enterprise)

Previous article history
This episode article from 2021 is based on a version that existed previously. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rogue_Planet_(Star_Trek:_Enterprise)&oldid=1019863521

That older version of the article had history back to 2005. Maybe at some point the edit histories will be merged, maybe it isn't worth the hassle. For most of its existence the article contained little more than a plot section and an Infobox. I made only a few very minor changes to the plot section, so credit to all the editors who came before.

The original version of this page was swapped out and replaced with the new Draft. In the process some of the some comments I made on the article talk page were also swapped out, but some of them are still broadly relevant so I'm going to repeat them below. -- 109.79.81.165 (talk) 20:33, 11 July 2021 (UTC)


 * So apparently there's a template to request a history merge, here goes:

History merge
 * -- 109.76.202.35 (talk) 13:48, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

Dark
I tried to find details about what it was like to do an episode in the mostly in the dark, it seemed like a particularly unusual aspect of this episode. While I did find some comments about the dank conditions on set, unfortunately I haven't been able to find more Production information about filming a dark episode, didn't find anything from Allan Kroeker or D.P. Marvin Rush.

I was reminded that Star Trek Voyager did an episode called Night set in a mostly dark region of space. Maybe the dark setting wasn't so unusual, and this episode only really used the Rogue Planet concept as incidental background. -- 109.78.208.111 (talk) 15:01, 6 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Really if more Production information of any kind can be found and added to the article that would be great. -- 109.79.81.165 (talk) 20:33, 11 July 2021 (UTC)
 * The concept of a Rogue Planet was used in the original series novel Planet of Judgment. No real relevance to this episode though, except maybe to show the increasing difficulty of doing anything in Star Trek that hasn't already been done before. -- 109.78.204.110 (talk) 00:42, 20 August 2021 (UTC)

Found a source:

That should help fill in some of the gaps I felt were missing. It talks about the difficulty of showing a planet without a sun to light it, the challenge of shooting in the darkness on the surface, and Marvin Rush even gets a mention. It also mentions some of the creature design, the boar-like creature, and the wraith. Not enough time to do it properly now though. -- 109.76.143.155 (talk) 05:21, 27 April 2022 (UTC)
 * I have added the VFX information to the Production section. I think that now there is nothing obviously missing from the article and that most things you could reasonably expect to find in a TV episode article are covered. -- 109.78.206.86 (talk) 02:50, 8 May 2022 (UTC)

Ratings
I've already added the ratings (final weekly ratings) to the article but I've also found the overnight ratings. The preliminary Nielsen ratings were 4.9/7 (zap2it ) Survivor was the big show of the night (moved to Wednesday because of college basketball). TrekWeb noted the overnight rating put the episode slightly below the episode Fusion, and left Rogue Planet "the lowest overnight rating that the new series has generated" to date. [P.S. (May 2022) The final ratings were slightly better, and Fusion was the lowest rated episode of season 1.]

TrekWeb also commented on the final weekly ratings based on an article from TheFutonCritic but that site is excluded from the Internet archive and they don't provide their own archives back that far, so I was unable to find a copy of that original report, and I cannot be sure if TrekWeb is repeating commentary from TheFutonCritic or adding it's own. TrekWeb noted the final ratings of 3.3/5 and 4.7 million viewers represented a 63% decline since the pilot episode "Broken Bow". They also explained that evening many sci-fi and genre shows were preempted or repeated, so among genre shows Smallville finished first, Dark Angel second and Charmed was rated above Enterprise (some other show I'd never even heard of called Glory Days (2002 TV series) was in distant fifth place).

Even if we don't include the overnight ratings (because they're confusing) it might still be possible to include some of this commentary to give the final ratings numbers more context. -- 109.78.208.111 (talk) 00:10, 7 June 2021 (UTC)


 * The irregular scheduling can't have helped much either, the previous episode Fusion aired on February 22, and Rogue Planet did not follow until three weeks later on March 20, 2002. Other sources mention the problems the series had in general, inadequate publicity, episodes being preempted for sports, and frequent reruns. That all add up to this being one of the lowest rated episodes of the season (possibly the lowest but the differences between the overnight ratings and the final ratings has made it difficult for me to confirm that for sure). -- 109.79.175.162 (talk) 15:41, 15 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Both Detained and Rogue Planet "seem to suffer from the period of reruns directly previous." -- 109.79.176.128 (talk) 01:50, 27 June 2021 (UTC)
 * I'm still undecided about adding a bit more context to the Ratings. I may revisit this at some point in the future. -- 109.79.81.165 (talk) 20:33, 11 July 2021 (UTC)

In case anyone queries the use of Trekweb as a reference I want to preemptively state clearly now that Trekweb was restating the facts of the Nielsen listings in plain English. Trekweb was used carefully and deliberately in a strictly limited way, no opinion or interpretation. Using Trekweb helped to avoid any mistakes or misinterpretation that might have otherwise inadvertently resulted from an editor attempting to translate the Nielsen ratings list into understandable meaningful prose. The upstream primary source of the information is the Nielsen ratings, Trekweb was merely an extra reference to make it easier for editors and readers to make sense of it all. -- 109.78.206.86 (talk) 02:50, 8 May 2022 (UTC)

Picture
The talk page header above includes a request to include a picture. I think the article would be best improved by an image of the woman Archer sees, also referred to as The Wraith, portrayed by Stephanie Niznik. This would a need to be a screen capture from the episode and as such would be a non-free image, but if readers have not seen the episode I believe it is the most part of the episode and essential to readers fully understanding the episode. Other images such as the Rogue Planet itself or the bioluminescant creatures or the gastropod are interesting but I don't think any of those are essential to explaining the story. -- 109.78.204.110 (talk) 00:59, 20 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Web Archive copy of StarTrek.com list of publicity images particularly this one of the wraith might be suitable. -- 109.79.64.54 (talk) 04:40, 4 May 2022 (UTC)

Wikipedia Commons includes an artist's impression image of a rogue planet File:Planemo.png but I decided against including it. -- 109.77.192.135 (talk) 18:50, 26 June 2022 (UTC)

Bormanis
Andre Bormanis responded to criticism of the scientific basis for Rogue Planet in an interview with TrekWeb.com. -- 109.79.172.124 (talk) 13:31, 3 February 2022 (UTC)