Scott Bakula is the nicest guy in the world.
He is just extraordinarily a thoughtful, giving person.
Never has a bad word to say about anybody.
It all comes from him. I mean, it really does.
He is a calm voice of reason,
and it's wonderful to have somebody that has that kind of insight.
From day one, having him as our captain,
and also it bleeds into real life.
He really, kind of, takes his role as captain of this show,
of the show, not just of the ship, very seriously.
I can go to him with any problem.
He, I now know, will have my back no matter what.
It's actually-- It's amazing.
His leadership is absolutely vital
to, I think, the life and the health of this show.
- Admiral? - We need to defer to their judgment.
We've been deferring to their judgment for 100 years.
- How much longer? - Until you've proven you're ready.
Ready to what?
To look beyond your provincial attitudes and your volatile nature.
Volatile?
You have no idea how much I'm restraining myself
from knocking you on your ass.
Well, I like the fact that he tends to be very emotional.
He's very much...
Very prideful.
He's very much... You know, it's about his ship.
Very, you know, in the classic kind of captains,
whether they be on old ships out on the ocean or now in space.
He's very much about taking care of his ship and taking care of his people.
If I'm gonna pull this off,
there are a few things I need to leave behind.
Things like...
...preconceptions, holding grudges.
This mission would have failed without your help.
I won't dispute that.
I was thinking...
...a Vulcan science officer could come in handy.
But if I asked you to stay,
it might look like I wasn't ready to do this on my own.
Perhaps you should add pride to your list.
Perhaps I should.
I like the kind of leader he is, and I like--
I like the kind of leader I think he's gonna become even more,
where he's going.
And I like this notion of being this, you know,
cowboy, and out there, and let's, you know--
"l wanna go through the door first. I wanna be the guy."
All the things you don't do anymore, that you're not really supposed to do,
he wants to experience it as much as anyone else on his ship.
Go.
Enterprise needs its captain. Give me the weapons.
I said, go.
He's very in it and very involved, and I like that.
When we first started,
the characters T'Pol and Captain Archer obviously were at odds.
Because I was set on there as a supervisor, a babysitter,
or somebody just to oversee
or look constantly over their shoulders.
Spewing my logic to them.
All work and no play.
Everybody should get out for a little fun now and then.
All our recreational needs are provided at the compound.
And yet they have to work together.
You find ways that work.
You find the buttons you can push, you find the things you shouldn't do.
You feel out how someone works.
So you literally learn how to communicate.
You live how-- You learn how to coexist.
And that's what's happened. That's the dynamic of the relationship.
We just learned how to coexist.
And the end result of that
is a fondness, a friendship, a loyalty.
I think that the cast of this show, of Enterprise,
is uniformly talented.
They're all pretty good actors.
I think one of the things that sets this cast apart is Scott.
He's... Not only is he terrific as Archer,
but he's a terrific team leader.
And that shows up in so many ways
that you can and cannot measure.
He's just the nicest man, I think, I've ever worked with in this business.
And, you know, I've been in it a long time.
He's just as kind and warm a guy as you'll ever meet.
Goes out of his way to remember everybody's birthdays,
makes sure that he introduces himself
to every member of the guest casts,
no matter how large or small their part.
Knew everybody's name within a week.
I mean, it's a very large crew.
The lead actor often sets the tone on stage
in a television production.
And so we're really lucky on many levels
to have Scott Bakula as our star.
I think his presence on the set--
Obviously, I mean, he's the captain, you know.
And whatever tone would be set,
would be set by the captain on the set.
And off the set, he's just the greatest guy. He sets the tone.
He's a regular person. He doesn't-- There's no airs about him at all.
He keeps everything positive, light, you know.
He might be the biggest jokester we have.
- Cut. - Today.
That actually worked.
We're going again?
I did pull a prank on Scott once.
We were doing an episode called "Dear Doctor,"
which had me providing voiceover throughout the episode,
which we would hear over the image.
And the way we managed to make sure that the image, the picture,
Iasted long enough to match the dialogue
is we pre-recorded the dialogue and played it over the scene as we acted it.
I asked them if they'd allow me to record some fake dialogue.
So the scene was me standing on the bridge,
I was supposed to say, "lsn't it marvellous
the way these humans are so kind and considerate,
stopping to help people in need here in the middle of space?"
The captain has committed all our resources to helping people
he didn't even know existed two days ago.
Instead I said, "Doesn't the captain look nice in that tight suit?
I wonder if he's wearing any underwear.
My, how I'd like to get him somewhere off to myse--"
Anyway, I went on in this vein, and everybody broke up.
You know, I learn a lot from what he does.
You know, and I look at him and how he reacts and behaves to things.
And the way in which he handles himself...
... I think, would be-- You know, it's textbook
for getting along in this business and with other actors.
And we all know other actors aren't always the easiest to get along with.
He's just such an actor's actor,
and just, you know, really-- He's a very good man.
And, you know, when you've got someone
who's in the big chair who is like that,
no one else can really get away with being anything else but that.
So it's... You know, it trickles down.
Archer to the bridge.
Lieutenant Reed, sir.
What the hell's going on?
We are having a little trouble with the gravity plating on E Deck.
I hope it hasn't caused you any inconvenience.
Oh, no, no, no. Not at all.
Any idea when you might get it back online?
Commander Tucker says it should be any minute now, sir.
Thank you.
I want to be an absolute prima donna,
but Scott won't let me.
Scott is where I'm going.
Scott's been on series, he's done his guest stars and his co-stars,
as well as leading a series, obviously, Quantum Leap,
and doing features
and just being able to have himself grounded within all of this.
Because quite honestly, it can be very overwhelming.
The reason I'm in this business is because I like working with people.
I like acting with people.
And I've grown to really appreciate and understand the crew
and the environment that goes on around us,
and realized very early that it really didn't matter in this medium
if I gave the performance of a lifetime. If it was out of focus,
if I missed my mark, if the dolly hit a bump,
whatever, we'd have to do it again.
So it made sense to me that the more we all work together,
the better the product would be.
These days are long, you spend lots of hours here.
And for me, you know, if it can't be fun and you can't have a good time,
then we're taking it all too seriously, because we're entertainers.
And for my money, everybody who's making this entertainment
should be having a good time also.
It shouldn't just be for the actors to get up and carry on, so...
And it works for me.
And, you know, so the day is energetic,
you get to feed off somebody else's energy
and somebody else's enthusiasm.
And people have a good time, and it's not...
There's not a lot of tensions. There's tension
when we're under the gun for the clock and those things.
But overall, the enthusiasm is all focused on the same thing,
which is, you know, doing good work, and we all do it together.