There's a lot of blame that can be tossed around on why "Star Trek: Enterprise" failed and how a successful franchise almost died short of its 40th birthday ... but don't point any fingers at former franchise runner Rick Berman, because he's too busy pointing fingers elsewhere.

"There was a feeling that 'Enterprise' was going to be a show that was a precursor to the original series, and although I've read a lot of depictions of both (co-creator Brannon Braga) and myself 'hating' the original series, that could not be farther from the truth," Berman recently told Star Trek Magazine in a transcript courtesy of Sci-Fi Pulse. "We were not obsessed by the original series. I can openly admit that I did not see all 79 epsides of the original series ... but it was something we respected and did our best to lead up to. But I think that was something that was unsettling for fans."

"Enterprise" was meant as a way to make Star Trek a little more gritty, and to make the characters and events seem more real to fans as it would be closer to the present time period than previous incarnations of Star Trek, Berman said. A lot of the goal was to remove the utopia that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had created for the original series and later "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and make it more of a human exploration project.

"We felt we could have more of a contemporary televsion show and less of a show taking place in the distant future, something a little different from the Roddenberry humans of the 23rd century or even the 24th century who were pretty flawless," Berman said. "From that point of view, these were the choices at the time that seemed very reasonable and I would probably do again. But it had pitfalls and maybe at time it becamse a bit too casual, and a bit too contemporary, and lost some of its science-fiction flavor and some of its futuristic flavor that would make it a precursor to the original series. It certainly had its problems."

However, a lot of the blame should actually fall at the feet of the former network that carried the show, UPN, Berman said.

"Looking abck, the lack of support and the lack of interest people seemed to have in UPN didn't help us either," he said. "We were working on a network that, in a sense, was completely contradictory to the nature of the show. UPN had become a network of young women and girls, and it was not a good marriage at that point."

"Star Trek: Enterprise" will debut previously produced episodes for UPN on SciFi Channel beginning early next year.