Scott Bakula, who plays Capt. Jonathan Archer on "Star Trek: Enterprise," recently expressed hope that UPN would renew the show for a fifth year.

He called upcoming story arcs on the show "complicated and intense, not to mention emotional" in a mid-season interview in issue 184 of TV Zone, a British science-fiction publication.

While ratings continue to be a problem for "Enterprise," Bakula said he prefers to focus on what's working well.

"There's still plenty of character work and discovery that this cast can get into," he said. "So I'm excited.

"The TV world ... it's not the same as it was 11 years ago when 'Star Trek: Voyager' started," he said. "You can't go around thinking that anything is automatic."

Bakula cited stronger numbers for UPN on Friday nights as a positive sign for the show's return even though those ratings are down slightly from when the show aired on Wednesdays.

Bakula also praised Manny Coto, the show's executive producer, for his commitment to "more in-depth storytelling and character development." In fact, he said he feels that Coto's script for the two-part season opener, "Storm Front," set the tone for the entire fourth season and its multi-part storylines.

"His script had some big ideas and we were able to pull them off," he said. "Fans really enjoyed the Xindi arc, so there's been a commitment to do mini-arcs, or three-story acts."

Bakula called the "Storm Front" guest stars "a pleasure to work with" as well, and said he had also greatly enjoyed working with "Star Trek: The Next Generation's" Brent Spiner on the three-part "Augments" storyline.

Bakula said he also has been impressed by the upcoming trilogy featuring a number of alien races from the original "Star Trek," as well as the return of Jeffrey Combs as the Andorian Shran, whom Bakula said he feels "lucky to be working again with" again.

What about a love interest for Capt. Archer? Bakula doesn't seem to think there is one in the near future. In fact, the actor discounted the love-interest aspects of "Home," in which the crew finally returns to Earth after the encounter with the Xindi. In that episode, Archer goes rock climbing with Capt. Hernandez, an old flame. Instead, Bakula said he feels Hernandez was idealistic and optimistic, much like Archer himself was when he first set out aboard Enterprise.

"It's always an eye-opener when any of us holds a mirror up in front of ourselves and takes a good hard look," Bakula said. "Archer has traveled to places, both literally and figuratively, that he never thought he'd have to go."

"Star Trek: Enterprise" airs Friday nights at 8 p.m. ET on UPN.