From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos
From Address: will.dockery{at}gmail.com
Subject: Re: IDW Does Harlan Ellison

On Tuesday, July 15, 2014 11:23:40 AM UTC-4, 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-harlan-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??
I mentioned it, since the J.J. Abrams ST universe is suitably dark and
confused that all the weirdnesses of Harlan Ellison's original vision could
be recreated from the script fully.
Plus, time has been changed already, meaning Kirk and Spock's meeting with
Edith Keeler would be different, also. 
Not ST 3 maybe, but sometime in the future, just a possibility.
> Not a chance.  Nobody's going to touch it.  They don't need the almost
> certain litigation.  
Yes, you mean taking what they want from the original and turning it every
whichway but loose, like they did with Khan... oh, yes, Harlan Ellison
would and should just sue and sue and sue if they did that.
My thought is that a completely faithful version as written by Ellison is
/possible/ now, if the $$$ H.E. would demand could be paid. 
> 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.)
If they did use the story, they'd of course need Harlan Ellison's
permission, probably would need to hire him, and of course pay him.
Attempts were made to hire Ellison back in the 1980s, and Ellison himself
showed interest in working on Star Trek a couple of years ago, but
apparently he wasn't taken that seriously... after all, he's what, pushing
90 by now?
I have a feeling we'll be seeing the Tribbles before we see a return of
Edith Keeler for now.
Nick Meyer has also stated he'd be willing to direct another Star Trek,
also, for what that's worth.
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