Throughout its run, the Star Trek prequel series Enterprise went through more than a few crises of identity — but apparently there was one we never heard about.

It seems that when the producers originally pitched the series to the studio and the UPN network, the first season was supposed to be entirely Earth-based, focusing on the construction of the Enterprise and getting viewers acclimated to everything from alien-human politics to the Federation.

Sadly, the studio axed the idea because it wasn't exciting enough, which is why we headed into deep space immediately.

This reveal, along with many more, came about as part of the series’ second-season Blu-ray release, which the folks at Ain’t It Cool News put through an exhaustive review to come up with 100 awesome tidbits. It's well worth a read, but this one stood out above the rest.

Here’s the excerpt:

Braga and Berman originally pitched that the first season of “Enterprise” would be essentially Earthbound -- and the NX-01 would not leave Earth orbit until the first-season finale. The first season would deal with the building of the ship as well as everything that was in the pilot: Earth’s first encounter with a Klingon, the Vulcan politics, and the gathering of the crew. Studio execs firmly rejected this idea.

It’s fascinating to think how the series could’ve evolved if given this much time to breathe, with the epic build-up to launch day. What do you think? Could this different start have saved the show?

(Via Ain’t It Cool News)