Q3. In your opinion, what are the benefits of adhering to canon? What creative potential exists in jumping off from it? Where has Star Trek (or other similar franchises) done it well or poorly?
IMHO, the major benefit of adhering to canon is that you have a straight storyline which can be consulted whenever necessary. If any discrepancy is found, you can find what actually is going on in the storyline.
When one bifurcates from The main storyline, they get the creative license to do almost anything. They can try to do poetic justice by introducing new characters, maybe give solid plots for some arcs, you know where I’m getting at.
Star Trek : the Original Series into such a benchmark standard for other Sci-fits that one tries to watch TOS to get a hang of their creative potential.
sci-fi.monk 