Personally, I go by "only what gets aired is canon". Sure, Word of God is interesting, but the final product is the result of many influences ranging from Executive Meddling to the very Creators changing their mind later (or even outright lying to the fans- they're fallible human beings too you know.) And if you have multiple creators in a show with clashing opinions...
The most open and honest creators (and executives, not that these sadly ever are) are, the best. But only as long as they don't spoil things beforehand.
edited 3rd Jan '14 6:39:05 AM by NapoleonDeCheese
Avatar - I had hopes for a story that would show that Aang was not the last Airbender. But it was confirmed that Aang was the only living Airbender until Tenzin came along
Not sure why this was surprising, given that it's in the show's title. ;)
Anyway, I think it's a good thing in almost all cases. I mean, you can always ignore it if you don't like it, because you're the one deciding the scope of canon as the audience member. And, a lot of times, it provides interesting or useful information.
As many of us know, there have been quite a few shows out there that have occasionally had the creators themselves at the very most or members of the crew at the very least actually confirm something about the show's plot, story or characters. But is that good or bad?
For me, i'm kind of on the fence about it:
On one hand, hearing/reading these confirmations does help answer a few questions and grant me some closure to a degree.
But on the other hand, in certain instances, they do sort of torpedo any hopes and expectations i might have for a show, and sometimes, it's for reasons i don't understand.
e.g.:
1. Avatar - I had hopes for a story that would show that Aang was not the last Airbender. But it was confirmed that Aang was the only living Airbender until Tenzin came along
2. Ben 10 - This show has confirmed a lot of things that i felt slightly uncomfortable with, but the biggest blow to me was to actually read about Derrick J. Wyatt actually confirming the reason for breaking up Ben and Julie. I want hold onto my belief that they will get back together, but at this point, that feels kind of "in-denial-ish".
3. Teen Titans - So far, i've learned that the creators of that show once confirmed that Beastboy and Raven would not end up together and that there would be no crossover with any other DC show
What do you think?