• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Star Trek and Cannon... darned confusing!

Status
Not open for further replies.
I don't know. The practical realities are the same.
Are they though? Trek only runs into this problem because of their near-obsession with doing prequel material. On the other hand, Rogue One shows that you can totally make a new story match the look of a decades old property without issue.
 
Rogue One shows that you can totally make a new story match the look of a decades old property without issue.
The thing about Star Wars, the OT especially, is that most of what we saw was meant to be outdated in-universe. So a modern production can go back to the 1970s designs and get away with it.
 
Are they though? Trek only runs into this problem because of their near-obsession with doing prequel material. On the other hand, Rogue One shows that you can totally make a new story match the look of a decades old property without issue.

Rogue One is a good counter-example, to be sure. Although one could argue that there was kinda of quantum leap in SF production values between "The Cage" and STAR WARS. And that, to some degree, DISCO had to catch up with the sort of snazzy modern SF visuals--complete with holographic displays--that modern audiences have come to expect from SF movies and TV show in the post-STAR WARS era.
 
According to TOS, there were only 12 Connies in the 2260s, so I doubt the Connie was the the only ship class in service. That wouldn’t be enough to patrol Federation space.
In the interior of Federation space, it is probably safe with transportation/trade being the main space vessels. Important planets probably rely on fixed planetary and orbital defenses, and not on spaceship defenses. I think there were only about 12 Starships at least on the frontiers to handle the dangerous explorations, the important investigations, the frontier patrols and the military role. Every time a outer Federation planet, colony, outpost or SS type spaceship was in real danger, there is never any evidence of any local spaceship defenses, just shuttle-size stuff. No, they have to wait for a Connie to warp in. Sometimes they even had to wait days to months. If there were many other class ships that have significant military power, why are they waiting for help. I see them like today's aircraft carrier fleet where you deploy one or two aircraft carriers and their support task forces to a trouble spot, but in the TOS era, you deploy just one or two Starships to a trouble spot (without any other support ships; they couldn't keep up the Enterprise away). The Connie Starships are very special and rare ships.

I can't remember. Did ENTERPRISE ever explain why we didn't see the Suliban or the Xindi running around in Kirk's time?

(Besides the obvious, real-life reason that they hadn't been invented yet.)
What the Temporal Cold War giveth, the Temporal Cold War taketh away? :confused: I think Kirk was just bouncing around with the Romulans, the Klingons and the new Galactic frontier.:vulcan::klingon::eek: The Suliban and Xindi were hundreds of lightyears behind him, and I don't think they joined the Federation.
 
Although one could argue that there was kinda of quantum leap in SF production values between "The Cage" and STAR WARS. And that, to some degree, DISCO had to catch up with the sort of snazzy modern SF visuals--complete with holographic displays--that modern audiences have come to expect from SF movies and TV show in the post-STAR WARS era.
And I totally get that argument. I'm just one of the people who believes that you can fully embrace the TOS aesthetic without sacrificing your ability to do "new 'n cool".

...But wait, isn't a quantum leap actually an extremely small advancement? :)
 
But
...But wait, isn't a quantum leap actually an extremely small advancement? :)

But it's also a leap to a whole different energy level.

(Or so I recall. My college physics are decades behind me at this point.)
 
I've seen three articles today with Kurtzman talking about Canon and how everything will sync up by the end of Discovery Season 2 and that the Picard show will continue plot points that begin in Discovery. They really are gung ho for the Canon at CBS. It's no wonder its such a hot topic with the fans. As far as those in charge are concerned we're supposed to care about canon. I do, to a point, but I don't believe in trying to fit square pegs into a round hole. I'm willing to let the Canon be TOS, TAS, TNG, DS9, VOY, the first 10 movies, the Kelvinverse being an offshoot of the main universe, Picard's new show and maybe I'll let Enterprise slide in. Discovery asks too much and isn't worth bending over backwards to fit into canon. Not so far anyway. I might change my tune if Season 2 is good. Otherwise it's just a Reboot to me.
 
To me it's a matter of balance. Lean too hard on visuals and not a single thing adds up, not even TOS to TOS. Go to the other side and only the events matter and miss out on the technology and the pieces that fill out the world. On top of that is the inescapable reality that this is a media production and an art form that will be informed by its creators.

For my money, Star Trek is not as consistent as many would like it to be, from TMP to TNG and onward. Discovery is simply one more cog in the machine. I personally can use my head canon well enough to explain the differences to suit personal interest. This will vary from person to person and, after reading this thread, I'm skeptical that anyone will change.
 
To me it's a matter of balance. Lean too hard on visuals and not a single thing adds up, not even TOS to TOS. Go to the other side and only the events matter and miss out on the technology and the pieces that fill out the world. On top of that is the inescapable reality that this is a media production and an art form that will be informed by its creators.

For my money, Star Trek is not as consistent as many would like it to be, from TMP to TNG and onward. Discovery is simply one more cog in the machine. I personally can use my head canon well enough to explain the differences to suit personal interest. This will vary from person to person and, after reading this thread, I'm skeptical that anyone will change.

There is very little about Star Trek fandom that surprises me these days...but the fact that people are still engaging in this argument after all this time truly baffles me.
 
I can't remember. Did ENTERPRISE ever explain why we didn't see the Suliban or the Xindi running around in Kirk's time?

(Besides the obvious, real-life reason that they hadn't been invented yet.)
According to a Trekdocs thing I cannot find right now, the original plan was to introduce the Suliban as nomads in the final season of Voyager, and explain that the Borg annihilated their homeworld in the 23rd century.
 
I don't know. The practical realities are the same. How do you keep a vintage franchise from looking dated to modern audiences? You keep up with the times and the expectations of the present generation.

If that means fudging the "canon" sometimes, so be it.
I am curious how they plan to depict 2399 as more advanced than Discovery in The Picard Show. Now holograms, Nemesis-style forcefields, androids, site-to-site beaming and a working infinite speed drive exists in "The Cage" era, what difference will there be?
 
There are no androids in DSC, also there were androids in TOS.

If you’re referring Airiam, she’s some sort of mechanically augmented human or alien depending on who you’re taking to from production. Either way, no one has called her an Android.

And the holograms in DSC are clearly less advanced than TNG, and holograms also existed in ENT, TOS and TAS.
 
Last edited:
I am curious how they plan to depict 2399 as more advanced than Discovery in The Picard Show. Now holograms, Nemesis-style forcefields, androids, site-to-site beaming and a working infinite speed drive exists in "The Cage" era, what difference will there be?
All of those things existed in TOS or TAS in some form.
 
I am curious how they plan to depict 2399 as more advanced than Discovery in The Picard Show. Now holograms, Nemesis-style forcefields, androids, site-to-site beaming and a working infinite speed drive exists in "The Cage" era, what difference will there be?
They'll put quantum in the front of a few words and make up a new warp scale. The usual stuff.
I don't think the Picard show is going to be a tech show, though.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top