A Question Of Canon

[Humphrey Hacker]

I was watching an episode of Still Open All Hours earlier and it got me thinking about canon. Specifically is it just a sci-fi thing or can it be extended to other kinds of programming?

[bananaman]

The term comes from religion I think (which Biblical texts are canonical and so on) so isn't necessary limited to sci fi but it probably turns up more there because Star Wars/Doctor Who have more spin off media which is readily discarded by later Film/TV installments.
You could probably apply it to anything that disregards a previous installment - eg did the revival of Will and Grace effectively render the previous ending non-canon?

[Blubatt]

The term comes from religion I think (which Biblical texts are canonical and so on) so isn't necessary limited to sci fi but it probably turns up more there because Star Wars/Doctor Who have more spin off media which is readily discarded by later Film/TV installments.
You could probably apply it to anything that disregards a previous installment - eg did the revival of Will and Grace effectively render the previous ending non-canon?

And Rosanne can be added to that. Wrote off an entire season with one episode, and then wrote that episode off with their last season

[Neil Jones]

I was watching an episode of Still Open All Hours earlier and it got me thinking about canon. Specifically is it just a sci-fi thing or can it be extended to other kinds of programming?

Canon applies also to books and all manner of fiction of whatever genre. if a book series is popular and runs for long enough it gets an entire universe that the future work builds on/adds to and is part of its canon - its characters, storylines, premise, etc.

In fiction, canon is the material accepted as officially part of the story in an individual universe of that story. The alternative terms mythology, timeline, universe and continuity are often used as well. TV programmes (typically soap) generate a canon of their own that they make, break or completely ignore based on the whim of the storyline and the availability of the cast. Of course in some cases (like Star Wars) its anybody's guess what is canon and what isn't, considering George Lucas can't leave the damn thing alone.

[Steve Williams]

I was watching an episode of Still Open All Hours earlier and it got me thinking about canon. Specifically is it just a sci-fi thing or can it be extended to other kinds of programming?

Judging by several threads on here, it certainly applies to Chums.