When did canon become such a hot-button issue?

[Amasov]

I've been trying to put my finger on when Trek fans became so obsessive over the consistency of the Star Trek canon/continuity. The time I started to notice this happening was probably when ENTERPRISE was announced as a prequel and then nearly every Star Trek production being a prequel after that.

Personally, I get so exhausted having conversations with eagle-eyed fans who let canon get in their way of enjoying a new Star Trek series or film. I've found that when it comes to both ENTERPRISE and DISCOVERY, it's not so much there are violating the Trek canon, but that it's perceived as so simply because they were two starships not ever spoken of before in the earlier shows.

I could go on and on, but I won't.

 

[Lord Garth]

I'd say 2001 and with ENT.

 

[uniderth]

There was definitely discussion of it before Enterprise, specifically in regard to The Animated Series. Though I think the 2001 time frame was a huge catalyst on multiple levels. There was a new series announced. Also The internet as a social medium was becoming more mainstream and with it discussion boards. That gave a place for people to voice their concerns. For me personally it was when I transitioned from just accepting whatever I was told Star Trek was, to having my own opinions on it.

Personally, I get so exhausted having conversations with eagle-eyed fans who let canon get in their way of enjoying a new Star Trek series or film.

If we actually ever got a new Star Trek series or film then I'd probably enjoy it.

I've found that when it comes to both ENTERPRISE and DISCOVERY, it's not so much there are violating the Trek canon, but that it's perceived as so simply because they were two starships not ever spoken of before in the earlier shows.

If you think that "because they were two starships not ever spoken of before" is the reason people don't like these shows, then you've missed the entire point.

 

[ScottJ85]

If we actually ever got a new Star Trek series or film then I'd probably enjoy it.

There have been three films and a series since the end of Enterprise.

 

[Kemaiku]

There have been three films and a series since the end of Enterprise.

With 5 more series and potentially at least one film if negotiations are resolved at some point.

 

[SITZKRIEG!]

I've been trying to put my finger on when Trek fans became so obsessive over the consistency of the Star Trek canon/continuity.

My guess (as I wasn't around back then) would be around the time of the Season 1 Episode 2 premiere of TOS. That's probably when the first nit was picked by a fan. Trekkies gonna trek after all...

 

[JoeZhang]

I've been trying to put my finger on when Trek fans became so obsessive over the consistency of the Star Trek canon/continuity.

TMP or TNG - take your pick - there were just few ways to be a public blowhard about it.

This is from Compserve:

 

[BillJ]

Terminology has changed, but continuity has always been a hot button issue for folks.

Though canon doesn't even mean continuity or timeline, it is just the collected official work.

 

[JoeZhang]

Plus TNG was garbage - it will never last!

 

[ScottJ85]

Good to know people were just as pointlessly angry then as they are now.

 

[Finn]

I think it always has existed. It seems more apparent with all the message boards, internet sites, all that...

 

[RuthlessNate]

If you think that "because they were two starships not ever spoken of before" is the reason people don't like these shows, then you've missed the entire point.

There are certainly people with valid criticisms of the show, but there's no denying that there is a very vocal group of fans who seem to hate it for reasons including, but not limited to, perceived canon inconsistencies, too much diversity/inclusion (the "SJW-ification" of Trek), the idea that is must be bad because someone who worked on the reboot movies is involved, etc.

 

[JoeZhang]

Also that Q character SUCKS.

 

[BillJ]

Also that Q character SUCKS.

To be fair, he did have a valid complaint at the end about Wesley Crusher.

 

[Vger23]

Plus TNG was garbage - it will never last!

This shit is frigging hilarious. It really (honestly) makes my day.

It's like nothing ever changes.

 

[NewHeavensNewEarth]

There's never been such a thing as a unified fan base, but the main difference now is all the ways people can make their grievances public and seen by the masses via the internet. It gives the perception that there's more disagreement nowadays, but I think 1960s chat forums would've been just as interesting or more so.

 

[Redfern]

Recently, someone supposedly dug up a letter addressed to the BBC dated around the first of December 1963 expressing concerns about the second broadcast of "Doctor Who". The viewer expressed "concern" about the tonal shift between the first episode set in "contemporary" London and the second set at the "dawn of time". (I think it was displayed on screen as part of a YouTube video.) If legit, it clearly demonstrates fans have always been "picky".

I wonder what letters Arthur Conan Doyle received about Sherlock Holmes? I mean, it is documented many readers were upset by Holmes' "death" and the complaints resulted in his return (much to the frustration of Doyle who wanted to write other things). So yeah, it's always been "a thing".

 

[Greg Cox]

I would pay good money to never hear the word "canon" again.

What started out as reasonable respect for continuity has turned into a pernicious (and frankly) monotonous obsession. It's turning into some kinda fundamentalist religion in which the Sacred Canon must be preserved at all costs.

 

[Jayson1]

Not really until "Discovery" People have always been interested in canon and continuity but for the most part all the Berman shows tend to connect very well, including Enterprise and TOS took place in the 60's and also like 80 years before those other shows and like 50 years before TOS in regards to Enterprise so it's easy to see it's unique look and style as being apart and very different from the rest..

The Kelvinverrse has the alternate timeline to sort of insulate it but Discovery tried the new look that TNG did when it followed TOS only they didn't give enough of a time gap because people have a harder time seeing that amount of change happening in 10 years as opposed to 80 years. They could have saved them lots of outraged fan complaining at least on this issue if they just called it a prequel in the Kelvinverse or another alternate universe but they wanted to say Prime to lure in old school fans while doing enough changes to bring in new fans. Which was kind of pointless because the old school fans were always going to give a new Trek show a look. People noticed and thus you get people outraged because they feel their canon is being replaced or simply not caring because most people aren't going to like or dislike a show for those reasons.

Jason

 

[Vger23]

I've said this before and I think it holds true:

Continuity has always been important to people to varying degrees (see also: reactions to TMP, TNG). However, it was significantly magnified during the era that Rick Berman oversaw...when you had cross-over in writers, producers, designers, etc etc etc all working on shows and films that overlapped with each other and took place in the same timeframe.

That created the illusion of a universe that is very visually and narratively continuous. It's especially powerful for people who grew up on that era of Trek. With my being a 70's TOS fan...I was way more used to change (again, TMP, TWOK, TNG, ENT, etc) and those kinds of jarring things don't bother me. But, for others who were conditioned differently, it's a very different lens they view the world through.