The legendary and historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in the heart of Tinseltown was an appropriate venue for last night's series-ending wrap party in honor of the cast and crew of Star Trek: Enterprise. The party, serving as both a celebration and a way to say goodbye for the people who worked together on the show for the last four years, provided plenty of festive treats for those in attendance. (The only main cast unable to attend were Jolene Blalock and Connor Trinneer.) Gag reels, bloopers, speeches, and the obligatory food and drink provided a night's entertainment that will serve as a final goodbye for most. And, as series executive producer/creator Rick Berman noted, for over 20 people this was the culmination of 18 years' worth of work on Star Trek.

The significance of the venue cannot be overlooked: The Roosevelt is over 75 years old and was the setting for the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929 when a Paramount film, "Wings," took home the Best Picture honors. Stories and legends of the Roosevelt Hotel (named after President Theodore) are legion, such as the one about the ghost of Montgomery Clift appearing on the ninth floor when nocturnal winds blow. Other notables who resided here include Marilyn Monroe, who occupied a second-floor suite on numerous occasions, and a penniless British actor named David Niven who once lived in a room so small it was called a broom closet.

Up the tile steps to the fabled lobby, the stars arrived one by one amid a hail of flash bulbs and interviewer's microphones. The gregarious John Billingsley was the first to arrive, with his wife Bonita Friedericy ("Regeneration"), and he proceeded to regale the reporters for the next half hour before making his way into the party.

"Que sera sera!" ("Whatever will be, will be") was John's sentiment about the final wrap-up of the show. "That's what I basically think. It was a great ride, and it changed my life. It's something that will last forever for me." The only thing he was glad to say farewell to were the 2½-hour makeup sessions. "The rest of it — the people, the steady gig, the fans — all that was great. If it had continued on for another three years, I'd have been happy." But John has still been out there, auditioning for movies and TV pilots, and did a guest stint on Cold Case. But now he's preparing for a six-week vacation across the country and over to Europe. "Gettin' outta Dodge!"

Before long a steady stream of other cast members, production personnel, and special guests made their way toward the party, but not before stopping by the press line to talk about their experiences and feelings.

"I've had a great time," said series star Scott Bakula. "I felt like we did some great shows. We had four great seasons, and I know we got better every year. I'm proud of the work we've done. You know, I'm sad to say goodbye to everybody, all these great, talented people, but we had a ball together." Except for a benefit stage performance on May 20 (related story), Scott has nothing specific on the horizon, acting-wise. "Not doing anything right now. Just trying to finish the remodel of my house!"

Anthony Montgomery had just flown back in town six hours earlier from his home state of Indiana, where he has started a foundation to help renovate his alma mater high school. For the time being he is not pursuing a new series or other long-term commitment. "I've been locked in for four years, so I'm okay to take a little break," Anthony said. "I've actually given myself three to six months to just complete projects that I've already started, and then I feel like I'll be fine to get out there more."

Enterprise co-creator Brannon Braga displayed some of his usual dry wit. "I feel, as I'm sure most people do, bittersweet — a little more bitter than sweet right now, but a couple of drinks will make it a little more sweet than bitter." Braga himself has already moved on from Star Trek, his home for most of his adult life, by having just completed a pilot for CBS and Paramount Television of a new sci-fi/supernatural series called Threshold. "We're now waiting to see if we're going to be picked up for Fall," he said.

His fellow executive producer, Berman, has been busy still overseeing post-production on the last three Enterprise episodes, but he is looking ahead on a couple of fronts. One, he is involved with a potential 11th Star Trek movie, one that was initiated by another producer. "It's a project that was initiated by a wonderful producer named Jordan Kerner, and I am involved with it, and it is in the very early stages of development," said Berman, although he refrained from giving any likely release details. In the meantime, he is remaining on the Paramount lot to develop new television projects — "the kinds of projects where people wear sneakers and drive cars," he joked.

The fourth-season showrunner Manny Coto arrived with his close friend Peter Weller, the star of Coto's previous sci-fi show Odyssey 5 and guest star of an upcoming two-parter of Enterprise. Coto's feelings echoed the tone of the evening. "I miss Star Trek! And so do we all!" he lamented. But he still felt excited. "You know, I'm very proud of everything we did. I'm glad we had such a great season. So I guess on that level I feel great." Though he would love to continue with Enterprise, Coto has his next gig lined up: He will be a writer and co-executive producer on 24, and he starts in about a month. "It's a different direction from Star Trek, but I'm looking forward to it. I'm a big fan of that show."

Weller plays the villain "John Paxton" in "Demons" and "Terra Prime" airing next month. How did the star of "Robocop" and "Buckaroo Banzai" get himself involved in Star Trek? "Manny browbeat me, browbeat me and browbeat me into coming to Enterprise to guest star in a couple of episodes. When he finally told me they're going to be the last two ever on Planet 'E' [Earth], I said I might as well put my feet in the cement of immortality and go to the Paramount lot and shoot the last two episodes ever of Enterprise!" (Last two, that is, before the series finale.)

Other Enterprise guest stars who came to the party included Brent Spiner ("Arik Soong") — who did not speak to reporters because of a case of laryngitis — Jeffrey Combs ("Shran"), Gary Graham ("Soval"), Vaughn Armstrong ("Forrest") and Brian Thompson ("Valdore"). LeVar Burton, a frequent Enterprise director, was also there.

Combs reprised his Andorian character for the final time in "These Are the Voyages..." and had strange feelings about being in the series finale. "Y'know, it was sort of a surreal blur to me," he said. "I mean, you're just kinda doing the scene work and yet at the back of your mind, you're constantly thinking, 'Wow, this is the last time I will stand here, talking with Captain Archer,' or, 'This is the last time I'll be on Soundstage 18 in blue makeup.'" But will he miss wearing those remote-controlled antennae? "You know, right when they got 'em comfortable! Right when they finally figured out how to keep them comfortable, I don't have to wear 'em anymore! That's showbiz for ya!"

There were many special guests present, and among the most notable was John Logan. Why was the screenwriter of "Star Trek Nemesis" at the Enterprise wrap party? "I bugged my friend Rick Berman," Logan confessed. "I said, 'Gotta go to the party'! And that was it!" Though he was not directly involved with the show, he feels a strong connection to it. "I got very close to Rick, and he and Brannon were developing Enterprise when we were still working on 'Nemesis,' so I was there and I got to hear about the characters and the premise very early on." Did he have input on the creation of the show? "I had opinions! I had opinions, absolutely! As all writers do, I had plenty of opinions." Riding high off the success of "The Aviator," which he scripted (he was nominated for an Oscar), Logan is working on another epic film revolving around airplanes — about the Battle of Britain, to be directed by Michael Mann and starring Tom Cruise. Ironically, Logan is not particularly a fan of planes. "I don't even like flying!"

Another special guest at the party has actually become part of the Star Trek family recently. Gabriel Koerner, the young superfan depicted in "Trekkies" and "Trekkies 2," has built a career in visual effects and has recently found himself doing sequences for the final episodes of Enterprise. "I finished one gig and called up the place doing the effects for Enterprise, just looking for a job to fill a month, and holy cow, now I'm doing stuff for Star Trek! It's a dream come true!" Having had years of experience doing space-related visual effects, Koerner was given the opportunity to create the surface of Mars for "Terra Prime," and one of his shots will be an homage to the 1997 Sojourner probe which is currently sitting idle on the Red Planet (related production report). But what he's most proud about is that he was given the opportunity to re-create the Enterprise-D to be seen in the finale, which will be faithful in every detail to the original miniature. "It's in the final shot of the final show," Koerner beamed giddily. The cancellation of the current show doesn't dampen his enthusiasm an iota. "I have a lot to thank Star Trek for. It'll be back someday. It's just taking a break."

Among the other behind-the-scenes stars of the show were the writing staff, including Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, who were the new kids on the block this past year. "It was surreal just to be there at all. And it was such a fast thing because we were only there for seven months," Judith said. "Yeah, we landed on the treadmill and just kept running, and then it was over," Garfield added. But they have plenty to occupy themselves: They're doing a Sci-Fi Channel movie with William Shatner called "Alien Fire," and a four-hour dramatic miniseries for the Discovery Channel called "Race to Mars," plus they're finishing off their 9th book with Shatner with two more in the works.

Mike Sussman recently gained kudos which he was very shy in acknowledging — one of his episodes, "Twilight," last week aired as the fans' favorite of the entire series, per a UPN poll. "That was a very nice honor. I'm glad people remembered it and liked it, and voted for it," Sussman said. "Although I think most of the votes probably came from a high school in the Palisades, so I don't think it was really a very fair competition," he joked. But the upcoming mirror-universe episodes which he helped to conceive and write "were the most fun I've had in the five years I've been here, since I started on Voyager." As for his future plans, Sussman was non-specific: "I've cleaned out my office and I'm ready for new adventures!"

The majority of the attendees were production personnel, coming to have one final blowout as a family. The overriding sentiment was probably best expressed by video supervisor Denise Okuda. She and husband Michael Okuda, scenic art supervisor and technical consultant, had just cleared out of their offices a week ago. "That was tough," Denise confessed. "It was really tough to leave. You know, Paramount's been our home for so many years, to walk away from the stages and to walk away from the lot was very difficult. But, you know, I'm optimistic for the future and I'm optimistic for Star Trek. I think it'll be back someday, I really do."