Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 07/02/2026 5:04:56 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Most stories one reads about the legendary sci-fi author Harlan Ellison tend to be about how cranky and/or litigious he was. Harlan Ellison hated Hollywood. The stories about his dissatisfaction with "Star Trek" are legendary, and he often took other writers and/or studios to court, claiming they had ripped off his idea. He once sued the makers of the obscure 1970s sci-fi cop show "Future Cop," and he famously (and successfully) sued James Cameron over "The Terminator." He sued the movie "In Time" for "borrowing" one of his ideas. And in interviews, Ellison remained cantankerous. A notable 1979 interview with the Comics Journal revealed the man's open hatred for studios' habit of stealing other authors' ideas and claiming them as their own.
In 1989, Ellison published a book of reviews and essays called "Harlan Ellison's Watching," which compiled 25 years of his ancillary nonfiction writing output. He weighed in on various pop sci-fi films and TV shows, adding his two acidic cents to the otherwise genteel conversation. It was never a secret that Harlan Ellison hated George Lucas' 1977 sci-fi opera "Star Wars," as he would make passing mention of it in ancillary interviews, but in "Watching," he got to lay his opinions bare in an essay entitled "Luke Skywalker Is A Nerd And Darth Vader Sucks Runny Eggs." As one can tell, Ellison was not about to launch into a paean about the glories of Lucas' Skywalker saga. He was about to lay out, in explicit detail, just how much he hated "Star Wars" and why.
In brief, Ellison felt that "Star Wars" was shallow and thoughtless, not interested in anything complex or adult. Because it was a mere adventure, it didn't fully exploit the depths of its own genre.
(Excerpt) Read more at aol.com ...
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
He was a jerk. He and Roddenberry, also a jerk, almost killed each other.
Harlan was talented, no doubt about it.
Unfortunately, he used his talent to attack normality and morality.
He appears to have hated western civilization.
Star Wars was not Sci-Fi any more than 1984 was Sci-fi. Okay, there’s a Death Star, and Han Solo is making his Kessel Run in record time or distance.
Star Wars is a FANTASY. Most of the planets look like they are either pre-hostoric or dark ages. There a re Princesses, and half of the droids are like Courtjesters.
It would take next to nothing to change the death star to a death catapult, and change Alderaan and Tatooine to different kingdoms on the same planet separated by an ocean, The Falcon becomes a ship, and make the light sabres into medieval fencing swords pr Katanas, and you have pretty much the same story.
You don’t need fancy science to get to the the idea ofd the hero’s journey, or the fatherof the hero turning bad, or any of that stuff.
A lot of science fiction that leans into the almost plausible and the science, often becomes tedious story-telling.
Sci Fi and cartoons are at their best when they expand the canvas of the story, but is still rooted in real human nature. Even if the characters are aliens or wascally wabbits rather than human.
Roddenberry got it right. Star Trek is Wagon Train in space. It can be enjoyed by normal humans.
Anybody could tell that as soon as they started watching it. It was fine for what it was, and I don't know anyone who thought it was, or needed to be, deep and serious. I guess Harlan Ellison was just being Harlan Ellison.
But his stories were mostly unpleasant people being unpleasant to everybody.
That is not adult. That is the play ground when the teachers are not looking.
Agree, that is a great rant.
Ellison was definitely brilliant, especially when it came to short stories and some TV episodes. But he was never “great” because he was also extremely difficult and disagreeable.
He was also kind of like Forrest Gump. In the 60s and 70s, he seemed to turn up everywhere. Fun fact: He once got into it with Frank Sinatra.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Sinatra_Has_a_Cold
‘Demon With a Glass Hand’ was cool.
I was about 10 when the first one came out. I hated it. All the other kids were crazy about it. I thought it was really stupid and not really SciFi. I had already read 2001 and other classic Science Fiction and was shaking my head at how stupid Star Wars was.
My main areas of dislike were the absolute ineptitude of the Stormtroopers and how they were basically cannon fodder. I kept wondering how did these idiots control anything? Then the major thing my 10 year old boy self hated was that it was in large part a lady in distress story, one step removed from a Disney Princess.
I know Gene Roddenberry, NBC, and the Star Trek prop department made several changes to “The City On The Edge of Forever.”
I understand he envisioned an actual city instead of just a talking arch that showed the history of the universe. The city scene was cut, and I’m not sure how important it was to the story.
I also understand he had one of McCoy’s assistants secretly addicted to an illegal drug rather than mcCoy accidentally injecting himself with an overdose.
Even with the edits, it is still one of the best episodes of the series.
I dont blame him for not liking large companies stealing the little guys ideas and claiming them as their own.
Harlan Ellison .
I can still remember when Issac Asimov considered him a new , young , and angry writer.
It’s an understandable mistake to call Star Wars “science fiction.” There’s no real science in it. It’s more mystical. It’s really a fantasy adventure set in space with futuristic trappings.
I don't think Star Wars and Star Trek are more appropriately lumped in with Lord of the Rings, then stuff based on Azimov and Heinlein.
I’d bet Ellison thought, deep down, as Lucas both won his intended audience and most of the world in one film, that Lucas had not “paid his dues” in any meaningful way. Here’s a guy who took all of the hardware and far-flung worlds of science fiction and put them in a fantasy story that would generate staggering sums of money and good will. Whose characters would become iconic and even mythic overnight. Ellison grasped. Lucas spun.
I remember being disappointed upon discovering what a bitter prick he was. In the 80s, maybe on Sci-fi channel. A rude and boring snob, blinded by his intellect. I hate rudeness in a man.
Next to 100 Days of the Dragon, my favorite Outer Limits episode. The series got a bad rap as monster of the week. Many of b it’s shows were c true sci fi.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.