Did Harlan Ellison ever give an opinion on the spinoffs?

[Nerys Myk]

Given that Harlan's original version of "City on the Edge of Forever" featured drug dealers among the Enterprise crew, it would come as no surprise to me that JJ's more relatively gritty and downbeat portrayal of Star Trek's future would appeal more to him.

Gritty? Downbeat? Did we watch the same movies?

Gritty? umm, lessee ... engineering being mostly crude 20th century leftovers, throwing away exotic assembled in orbit approaches in favor of hammering ship together on the ground, articulating phasers that look like water hose sprayers they are so 'advanced' in appearance ...

Downbeat? Vulcan turning into a GHOSTBUSTERS logo, casual eradication of entire pre-Abrams Trek reality (something I guess Abrams wanted to do with the merchandising as well)

It may have been "crude" but it was clean and actually worked. And most of the ship was bright and clean. Gritty isn't just about the level of grim on a machine or the tech, but a general attitude of the story and characters.

If death and destruction had never been part of Trek prior to Abrams, you might have a point. The "pre-Abrams Trek reality" hasn't bee eradicated, casually or otherwise and anything that "existed" prior to 2233 is part of both timelines.

 

[Drone]

I'd be surprised if Ellison even bothered to watch more than a few hours of BermanTrek -- probably just eps of folks he was friends with.

This^^ Without employing the customary barrage of brickbats that many folks use to describe him, I would simply say that he probably wouldn't see the need to give the vast majority of post TOS Trek, deracinated as he would likely see it from the significance and context of the genuine article, the proverbial time of day. A bare palimpsest, beset by and immersed in far more lugubrious "production" considerations than had to be dealt with back in the day.

Just a guess though....

 

[Sector 7]

Harlan Ellison's opinions .. don't care.

Seconded.

Third.

I have to admit I kinda feel the same way. Somewhere along the way, I think ol' Harlan crossed the line from "grumpy but amusing curmudgeon" into "ill-tempered and unpleasant old man" territory.

Agreed.

 

[drmidnite66]

I only recall his thoughts before the Next Generation premiered .. He had D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold on the radio show he was hosting, "Mike Hodel's Hour 25". They were talking about the basic premise of the show and about the new characters (Wesley was a girl called Leslie then...) all three seemed very friendly and he kept prodding his guests to admit that Roddenberry had nothing to do with the creation of the new show, that it was all their work. It would have been too much of a "brain drain" on Gene he asserted. Gerrold and Fontana insisted it was all Roddenberry's creation, that they were there to clean it up and produce the show's "Bible"

Years later Gerrold sued to get credit that he had created Next Gen not Roddenberry...

 

[T'Girl]

I met and spoke with Ellison years ago - I found him to be rather pleasant and engaging in person.

So I take it he didn't subsequently sue you for no particular reason?

 

[JarodRussell]

My impression of H.E. is that he sat through all of Trek, eagerly waiting for an opportunity to file another copyright lawsuit.

The first thing I read about his reaction to Abramstrek was that he heard about Guardian of Forever rumors and threatened to sue immediately.

 

[trevanian]

I met and spoke with Ellison years ago - I found him to be rather pleasant and engaging in person.

So I take it he didn't subsequently sue you for no particular reason?

Wouldn't it be more reasonable to ask if he had gotten sued by HE for a particular reason?

 

[trevanian]

If you read up on how much it took to get the relatively landmark eval that the CITY script was Ellison's to republish in the 90s, you'd probably see that this is only protecting his rights, and a total legitimate course for him to pursue given the available information.

 

[Mudd]

I'm vastly more interested in Ellison's opinions about almost anything than I am in the opinions of most folks on the Internet. Ironically enough, Ellison largely avoids the Internet.

HE has a history of suing folks who ought to be held to account. Good on 'im.

 

[Amaris]

For some reason, every time I see this thread title on the main page, I think it reads "Did Harlan Ellison ever give a fuck?"

 

[HIjol]

I remember reading in "Variety" some years back that was suing Paramount for Licensing and Merchandising rights related to "City on the Edge of Forever" and some other writing, as well as a talking ornament...Maybe he lost and was pissed???

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Maybe he lost and was pissed???

Harlan is always pissed about something.

 

[mos6507]

I'm vastly more interested in Ellison's opinions about almost anything than I am in the opinions of most folks on the Internet

If that's the case, why do you spend so much time interacting on forums? Just to tell people how much you're disinterested in their opinions? That's kind of the definition of a troll, isn't it?

 

[AustNerevar]

Can someone please explain to me whoHarlan Ellison is and how he relates to Star Trek?

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Maybe he lost and was pissed???

Harlan is always pissed about something.

Harlan's been angry ever since Josef Stalin died. (Or was that someone else? )

 

[Nerys Myk]

Can someone please explain to me whoHarlan Ellison is and how he relates to Star Trek?

A well known Science Fiction author, who wrote the TOS episode "City on the Edge of Forever".

 

[Shaka Zulu]

Third.

From what I read and heard about the man, the only one who truly cares about Ellison's opinion, is Ellison.

Considering how Ellison has acted recently while at the Hugos, and also considering he still had/has no inkling of how a TV show operates by the way he acted on the set of TOS, I also could care less about him; he should have suffered for that in the TV industry afterward.

I only recall his thoughts before the Next Generation premiered .. He had D.C. Fontana and David Gerrold on the radio show he was hosting, "Mike Hodel's Hour 25". They were talking about the basic premise of the show and about the new characters (Wesley was a girl called Leslie then...) all three seemed very friendly and he kept prodding his guests to admit that Roddenberry had nothing to do with the creation of the new show, that it was all their work. It would have been too much of a "brain drain" on Gene he asserted. Gerrold and Fontana insisted it was all Roddenberry's creation, that they were there to clean it up and produce the show's "Bible"

Years later Gerrold sued to get credit that he had created Next Gen not Roddenberry...

Hey, at least he was right about this one; Roddenberry wasn't the wunderkind that fan legend made him out to be. And who would'a thunk that he'd like Star Trek & Star Trek Into Darkness?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ He did? Harlan Ellison actually LIKES something? Stop the presses.

 

[Maurice]

Can someone please explain to me whoHarlan Ellison is and how he relates to Star Trek?

G O O G L E

 

[JarodRussell]

I'm vastly more interested in Ellison's opinions about almost anything than I am in the opinions of most folks on the Internet

If that's the case, why do you spend so much time interacting on forums? Just to tell people how much you're disinterested in their opinions? That's kind of the definition of a troll, isn't it?

No.