Subj : Re: IDW Does Harlan Ellison To : All From : David Johnston Date : Tue Jul 15 2014 09:28:46 From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos From Address: David@block.net Subject: Re: IDW Does Harlan Ellison On 7/15/2014 9:23 AM, A Friend wrote: > 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. You DO know that this whole thread is about a comic book adaptation of the original script, right? --- Synchronet 3.15a-Linux NewsLink 1.92-mlp * Origin: A noiseless patient Spider (1:2320/105.97) --- SBBSecho 2.12-Linux * Origin: telnet & http://cco.ath.cx - Dial-Up: 502-875-8938 (1:2320/105.1) .