Post by TrekGuide.com on Aug 6, 2003 10:52:34 GMT -5
In many discussions, people are confusing the terms "canon," "continuity," and "quality." These three terms have NOTHING to do with one another, and their mingling together in the same discussion is far too often abused.
"Canon" -- What has been shown in any and every Trek episode, regardless of quality or continuity. As opposed to "non-canon," which means derivative works such as books, comics, and games.
"Continuity" -- When one episode makes reference to facts established in another episode. ALL episodes are canon, so that is not a factor in determining continuity. There are numerous continuity errors in all canon episodes, from 1966 to today. No series has a monopoly on continuity errors.
"Quality" -- This is a subjective judgment, whether you personally like an episode, actor, or entire season of episodes. This rarely has anything to do with either "canon" or "continuity." People just love some episodes, whether or not they have continuity errors, and people just hate other episodes, whether or not they have continuity errors. The only difference is, people tend to expend more energy nitpicking continuity errors in the canon episodes they hate, while ignoring the errors in the episodes they love.
Let's try to keep these terms straight. Continuity clearly does not determine quality ("Enterprise" has far fewer continuity errors than any other Trek series, regardless of its "quality"), and quality certainly does not define canon ("SPOCK'S BRAIN" and "The Best of Both Worlds" are BOTH canon, as is every episode of "Enterprise").
"Canon" -- What has been shown in any and every Trek episode, regardless of quality or continuity. As opposed to "non-canon," which means derivative works such as books, comics, and games.
"Continuity" -- When one episode makes reference to facts established in another episode. ALL episodes are canon, so that is not a factor in determining continuity. There are numerous continuity errors in all canon episodes, from 1966 to today. No series has a monopoly on continuity errors.
"Quality" -- This is a subjective judgment, whether you personally like an episode, actor, or entire season of episodes. This rarely has anything to do with either "canon" or "continuity." People just love some episodes, whether or not they have continuity errors, and people just hate other episodes, whether or not they have continuity errors. The only difference is, people tend to expend more energy nitpicking continuity errors in the canon episodes they hate, while ignoring the errors in the episodes they love.
Let's try to keep these terms straight. Continuity clearly does not determine quality ("Enterprise" has far fewer continuity errors than any other Trek series, regardless of its "quality"), and quality certainly does not define canon ("SPOCK'S BRAIN" and "The Best of Both Worlds" are BOTH canon, as is every episode of "Enterprise").
