Subj : Re: IDW Does Harlan Ellison To : All From : A Friend Date : Tue Jul 15 2014 11:23:40 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos From Address: nope@noway.com Subject: Re: IDW Does Harlan Ellison In article , Daniel wrote: > On 15/07/2014 12:30 PM, A Friend wrote: > > In article , Jim G. > > wrote: > > > >> A classic revisited, just as Harlan envisioned it... > >> > >> The City that Never Sleeps or Goes Away: Harlan Ellison and Star Trek, > >> Again > >> > >> > >> http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/07/the-city-that-never-sleeps-or-goes-away-ha > >> rla > >> n-ellison-and-star-trek-again > >> or http://preview.tinyurl.com/l4sppdm > >> > >> QUOTE > >> Adapted for the comics by IDWrCUs primary Trek writers Scott and David > >> Tipton, and with beautiful art by J.K. Woodward (who did slick work on > >> the Doctor Who/TNG crossover a few years ago) everything about this > >> release is totally legit. In the debut issue of this limited run (there > >> will be five in all) IDW Trek editor Chris Ryall writes fondly about how > >> this venture was his idea, and one that took some convincing of > >> everybody to go along with. In his words, over time rCRnosrC# turned into > >> rCRhmmmms.rC# > >> END QUOTE > >> > >> Okay, so how long until Ellison sues IDW over something about this? > > > > > > I read the original script about 35 years ago, and I don't remember > > anything about a Bizarro World Enterprise. > > > > The article asks the question, "And yet, now nearly 50 years later, > > with numerous Treks behind us, the question still nags: would EllisonrCOs > > original script for rCLThe City on the Edge of Forever,rCY have been better > > than what ended up on screen?" I don't think so. The story is not > > about Beckwith, it's about Kirk and Edith Keeler, and Kirk's duty to > > history and the future. The story didn't require Beckwith or anybody > > like Beckwith. Accidentally overdosing McCoy gets things rolling quite > > nicely. > > > > Ellison's ending -- with Beckwith stuck in a time loop getting > > annihilated every few seconds inside a nova -- is beyond melodramatic. > > In the show as seen, Kirk's final line, "Let's get the hell out of > > here," is powerful, especially in a day when saying "hell" on U.S. tv > > was a very rare thing indeed. > > > > BTW the really confusing thing about City is just how history was > > changed. Everybody thinks McCoy saved Edith from getting run over by > > that truck, and that wasn't the case. The creepy little guy at the > > rescue mission (his name in Ellison's script is Rodent) eventually > > rapes and murders Edith. He doesn't do so in the changed history > > because he fiddled with McCoy's phaser and disintegrated himself. The > > significance of this was purposefully obscured, but that's why the > > phaser scene is in there. What's also not explained is why Kirk and > > Spock simply didn't take Edith with them into the future, which would > > have effectively "killed" her in 1930. Neither story ever explains why > > Edith's death was necessary. > > > > Also, Clark Gable didn't make a movie until 1931. > > > Hasn't the Edith Keeler story line been mentioned here as a possible ST > 13 re-do storyline?? Not a chance. Nobody's going to touch it. They don't need the almost certain litigation. Even the Pocket Books novels and various comics don't use or refer to City. (One exception, I think: Peter David used City in something after asking Ellison for permission, which he gave.) In any case, there's nothing to add to City, and there's no reason to re-do it. I think they found out with the 2013 movie that remakes of old Trek shows just won't cut it. --- Synchronet 3.15a-Linux NewsLink 1.92-mlp --- SBBSecho 2.12-Linux * Origin: telnet & http://cco.ath.cx - Dial-Up: 502-875-8938 (1:2320/105.1) .