H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this film

[Jackson_Roykirk]

In a video interview on Trekmovie.com, Harlan Ellison says that the "Guardian of Forever" is NOT part of the story of this film.

You can see the video in the below link. Harlan first talks about the writers' strike, then he is asked about the GOF.
http://trekmovie.com/2007/12/10/harlan-ellison-talks-strike-dispells-guardian-rumors/

Warning...video contains cursing...Not work safe
(thanks DrunkenSanta for pointing that out)

 

[Outpost4]

Ellison is a riot!

WARNING: Definitely not work-safe.

 

[StCoop]

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!!

And I bet he doesn't even feel the least bit of regret over making his stupid outburst based on internet rumours.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Ya gotta love it!

The same internet that Ellison lambasted regarding the original GOF rumor was the one he used to spread his angry response to the world. He could have just as easily written a private letter to Paramount/Abrams, explaining his concerns about his 'ownership' of the GOF.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I love that guy.

 

[The Squire of Gothos]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

The video quality is horrendous, I though you could squeeze better out of Veoh, but the content is great. Would Ellison have stayed out of the Tower of London for long if he'd been around in Shakespeare's day?

 

[23skidoo]

StCoop said:
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!!

And I bet he doesn't even feel the least bit of regret over making his stupid outburst based on internet rumours.

Actually his bitching - which was based upon him being contacted by trusted sources, don't forget - was in this case completely justifiable. If I found that something I created was going to be reused in a movie without due credit or compensation I'd be complaining too. Especially in light of the WGA strike.

Ellison's reaction might have been premature but I actually feel he was on the side of the angels this time. And as one who said, aloud, "grow the hell up" as I read page after page of his griping regarding City on the Edge of Forever (in the book of the same time from about 10 years ago), I don't find myself siding with him very often.

Hopefully this isn't another case of misdirection as the rumored GOF storyline was something I really didn't want to see happen anyway, especially since as described it was basically the same plot as Enterprise's Temporal Cold War arc with a healthy sprinkling of First Contact.

Cheers

Alex

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

StCoop said:
And I bet he doesn't even feel the least bit of regret...

No reason he should. He was right to complain, and he's right about rumormongers on the Internet as well. :thumbsup:

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Pole-aris --

I must respectfully disagree.

On one hand, Mr. Ellison complains about "every idiot..now has a soapbox..and anything they hear, whether it's true or not, they report", then on the other hand, he himself uses the internet to tell the world of his angry response to the rumor that Paramount is using the GOF without his permission before he knew the facts.

As I said in my previous post, if he really felt that way about the internet, then he should have personally and privately confirmed that Abrams/Paramount was using the GOF before sounding off to the rest of the world.

In fact, in his internet tirade, Ellison thanked the person who pointed out the GOF rumor to him, and blasted Abrams and Paramount for their "unilateral arrogance", and said that this was "yet another gimmegimme grab by Paramount and the Star trek franchise that makes billions, but withholds recognition or recompense to the artists who labored in that vein."

Granted, he did say "IF Abrams [is using the GOF]...", but that "if" gets lost in the angry tone of what followed.

If the GOF isn't part of this movie, it sounds to me like Ellison owes Abrams and Paramount an apology for publishing that ONLINE admonishment before he himself knew all of the facts. He had become one of those rumormongers that he detests so much.

I'm sure Abrams would have taken his or his agent's phone call.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

Say what you will about Ellison, he still keeps things lively and entertaining no matter what.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

I'm glad to hear it. I was disappointed when I heard that plot rumour. Just seemed to be a rerun of City ..., First Contact, Peter David's Imzadi novel and Dalla Hines' Killing TIme, The Terminator (which Harlan also sued over!) and numerous other Trek stories or unrelated movies. It could have made for a good movie, but I'm hoping that Abrams & Co make a more original one.

 

[USS Excelsior]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

I had a sneaking suspicion it might not be time travel, but instead a program run on the holodeck by Nimoy's character.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

^
^^
I personally would not like that (a la ENT:'These are the Voyages'). I don't want to see Nimoy's Spock reminiscing. I feel that would be a bit of a cliché.

I would rather see him intimately involved with the plot of this film, whether it be from his own (post Nemesis?) timeframe, or if he somehow traveled back to young Spock's time.

Maybe they will use the "Backstory" plot device of which Abrams and his 'Lost' cohorts are so fond (and so am I, to tell you the truth)

 

[Rat Boy]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

And in other news, L. Ellison says "Oracle of Forever" is NOT in this film, either.

See, I didn't even need to start another thread.

 

[Samuel T. Cogley]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

So he denounces the idiots on the internet while at the same time flying off the handle after relying on false claims made by one of those same idiots on the internet.

Well, at least he's entertaining.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

23skidoo said:
If I found that something I created was going to be reused in a movie without due credit or compensation I'd be complaining too.

When did Paramount/CBS say that Ellison would not be credited or compensated?

Ellison is the one who insists that the details for his due credit and compensation are spelled out in his TV contract from the 60s (and that his contract was different to the standard contracts of all other TOS writers?). His recent beef seemed to be (as with the "Crucible" novel trilogy) that the current owners of ST (and the current editors at Pocket Books) didn't know that they had to ask him first for permission. And because the writers of "Yesteryear" (TAS), "Yesterday's Son", "Time for Yesterday", "Imzadi" and "Triangle: Imazdi II" knew - or fluked it because they were already friends - that they had to ask him first, and that act of asking is supposedly why Ellison didn't charge Paramount $$$ for those particular uses of the Guardian?

I'm willing to bet that the author of "Ishmael" didn't ask him first, because that novel went to print with barely enough time to get the clearances for the use of characters from TV's "Here Come the Brides"!

But if Ellison was ever to be owed credit or compensation, he'd be getting it. He is pissed because JJ Abrams dared not to ask him first?

That's what the Paramount bean counters and lawyers do all day. Work out how much Paramount owes people. Why would anyone assume they wouldn't honour an existing contract? If it's all in writing, then it's a simple arbitration. No need for any bluster or free publicity, which is wht Ellison ended up giving the project.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

Captaindemotion said:
Dalla Hines' Killing TIme

Della Van Hise. That novel was pulled from shelves for a quick re-edit, but not due to Ellison.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

^ Thanks for the correction. Been a long time since I read the book and I knew that didn't look right.

 

[ClayinCA]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

Therin of Andor said:
I'm willing to bet that the author of "Ishmael" didn't ask him first, because that novel went to print with barely enough time to get the clearance for the use of characters from "Here Come the Brides".

If memory serves, Ishamel actually got published before anyone at Paramount even knew about the "Here Come the Brides" connection.

You know, the rumored time-travel/altered history storyline could still be the story of the movie, whether the Guardian is in it or not. It may just be that Future-Spock and/or the Romulans use a different time-travel method (one that requires less explanation as well as not being owned by Harlan Ellison).

 

[Therin of Andor]

Re: H. Ellison says 'Guardian of Forever' is NOT in this fil

ClayinCA said:
If memory serves, Ishamel actually got published before anyone at Paramount even knew about the "Here Come the Brides" connection.

No. The editor, when she was told about the connection, assumed the show was owned by Paramount because it was made at Paramount, but the rights had reverted to somewhere else and the paperwork was completed barely in time - according to recent interviews in "Voyages of Imagination".

However, it was too late to insert a copyright notice in the book for the owners of "Here Come the Brides". They could have insisted on it being pulled for correction, but they didn't.