Eventually you need to give up on canon and whip out the Nikon.
How Do You Interpret "Canon"?
- Thread starter BillJ
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Artìsticu, cànon, canone, cânone, kaanon, kanon, kánon, kanonas, kanonik, kanonon, kanons, канон, kēnana, Kiercherecht, libukeng, loka, noram, odongwe, ovomerezeka, panuntunan, qanun, seakafuridzirwa, xeerkoodu, njengeziyingxenye yohlu lwezincwadi zeBhayibheli.
All legitimate interpretations of "canon".
All legitimate interpretations of "canon".
My take is that everything I see or read "counted"/happened within the fictional universe but when events or descriptions contradict each other I acknowledge that they were made by different people and choose the version I like better.
I generally do avoid thinking of Reboot Trek when I watch the episodes as they have quite different interpretations of time travel but OTOH I'm able to both acknowledge and ignore, without diminishing enjoyment, that the original series implies human's space exploration is newer than Enterprise or FC said it was (and that the original was occasionally inconsistent about when it was set).
I generally do avoid thinking of Reboot Trek when I watch the episodes as they have quite different interpretations of time travel but OTOH I'm able to both acknowledge and ignore, without diminishing enjoyment, that the original series implies human's space exploration is newer than Enterprise or FC said it was (and that the original was occasionally inconsistent about when it was set).
I interpret what I see on screen as great entertainment. If I look too deep the holes in the plot would crack open.
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This is only a problem if you believe that only *one* mechanism for time travel exists. But once one accepts that time travel is possible at all, I see no particular reason why there couldn't be multiple models for it that all work. Perhaps the Guardian allows one to change the past along one's own timeline, but the slingshot effect and whatever happened to the transporters in "Past Tense" put you into a pre-destination paradox every time, and whatever the heck that anomaly was in ST:2009 not only flings you back in time but also shunts you to a nearby (from a quantum perspective) parallel universe - so things are pretty much guaranteed to be different.
I watch the episodes I like, that's canon enough for me. 
People lose their heads over canon--like that guy in The Patriot.
The Star Trek canon is the live action TV and movies. I think that's fairly well established at this stage.
Continuity is something quite different, and is to do with contradictions and things which don't add up.
To draw a parallel, the contradictory nature of the Biblical commands that you both should, and must not, marry your brother's widow, are still both canonical.
Continuity is something quite different, and is to do with contradictions and things which don't add up.
To draw a parallel, the contradictory nature of the Biblical commands that you both should, and must not, marry your brother's widow, are still both canonical.
In reference to television shows and movies: Anything that shows up on screen.
Not fan theories, not speculation, not comments from producers (especially when Abrams is one of them), not novels, not comic books, not actors giving their opinions on their characters or storylines. Just whatever shows up on screen. Period.
Sadly, very few shows/films work hard at keeping their own canon in check and mistakes, revisionism, and just blatantly writing things that just don't make sense within their own internal logic is way too common. That's the only time it bothers me, especially when it's both blatant and a regular occurrence <cough Legends of Tomorrow cough>.
Canon is something that doesn't count for jack unless you are professionally involved in writing or producing new material for the franchise, and receive specific guidelines on what should and shouldn't be used as background for the new stuff.
If you are a fan, then just enjoy whatever you want to enjoy, based on your own preferences.
Kor
If you are a fan, then just enjoy whatever you want to enjoy, based on your own preferences.
Kor
Agree. All seven television series [including TAS and 2017 series ] and all thirteen movies.
In fairness, the definition of canon becomes more blurred these days with directors cuts, special editions, extended editions, downloadable content, webisodes, Blu-ray only scenes, X Rated Too Hot For TV editions, officially licenced fan films ( 
) it's hard to say what is the 'official' version.
) it's hard to say what is the 'official' version.
For me, it's not so complicated.In fairness, the definition of canon becomes more blurred these days with directors cuts, special editions, extended editions, downloadable content, webisodes, Blu-ray only scenes, X Rated Too Hot For TV editions, officially licenced fan films (
I consider every motion picture production that's been officially released for TV, theater, and home video to be canon. So, every TOS episode, both as originally aired in the 1960s and as remastered with new CG VFX are canon. Similarly for TNG.
Similarly for movies. There are theatrical versions and directors cuts.
That admits different contradictory versions for the same event into canon. For example, in one version of "The Ultimate Computer" the space station resembles K-7, whereas in another version it looks totally different and is designated as Starbase 6. In one version of the events of TMP, the computer speaks in a male voice and the cloud is roughly 82 AU in diameter, whereas in another the computer hardly ever does that and the cloud is only about 2 AU across.
TAS is canon.
As said by others, canon is different from continuity.
When consistent continuity matters, which is rarely, I generally go with what I like best and makes the most sense to me. I'm perfectly willing to assume, for example, that when Spock refers to "hyperdrive" in "The Cage," he means warp drive. However, hyperdrive is the canon.
All of the X-Rated "Too Hot For TV" versions.In fairness, the definition of canon becomes more blurred these days with directors cuts, special editions, extended editions, downloadable content, webisodes, Blu-ray only scenes, X Rated Too Hot For TV editions, officially licenced fan films (
And "Threshold."
That's it.
Ah. So, in universe, the Enterprise D actually did have little jokes posted on all the doors. I guess even in the future people need a good laugh.
Not to mention all the costume/set/prop errors being official.
Yes. Again, canon doesn't have to be consistent or make sense, it is just the collection of official works.
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