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A review by mkpatt
The City on the Edge of Forever: The Original Teleplay by Harlan Ellison
4.0
Wow, where do I start on this? Well, the book itself treats us to a two-hour rant by Ellison complaining about how his original script was re-written by other writers and that he had an ongoing feud with Gene Roddenberry over Gene's assertion that Ellison had Scotty dealing drugs. Of course, Ellison didn't have Scotty dealing drugs, but he did have an Enterprise crewman dealing drugs. Ellison thought this lent reality to the script but he clearly hadn't read the writer's guide because Star Trek was Roddenberry's utopian vision and his creation. If he didn't want drug dealing officers on his ship, that was his prerogative. There were plenty of other baddies in the galaxy to do those things (e.g., Harry Mudd).
That being said, Ellison's version was good. Not necessarily better than the aired version, but it was good. Ellison pines away for characters he created like Trooper, Beckwith, and Lebec. But, in my opinion, they didn't really add much to the actual story and the focus is and was on the core cast. Ellison complains that an experienced surgeon like McCoy would never stick himself with a needle the way McCoy did, but I call BS on that. It's quite common my doctor friends tell me.
Ultimately, Ellison's complaints were childish and immature. His story was good, and I really liked it. That having been said, when you're in the industry, you're going to be edited. If you're such a prima donna that you don't think your story should ever be changed, you don't last very long and he was around long enough to know that.
The book has four different versions of The City on the Edge of Forever. It's fascinating to watch the evolution of the story. The things I liked most about and wished they would have done more with - Janice Rand got to do more than serve coffee. Uhura and Rand should have been in the story. Making the Guardians a single machine rather than 3 aliens was a cost-saving measure and Ellison himself told GR to do stuff with special effects to save money.
Did Roddenberry lie about the Scotty selling drugs issue - okay, I suppose you could certainly conclude that. But he misses the point that whether it was Scotty or some Enterprise crewman - it was the selling drugs on the ship that was the problem! Gene's vision was humanity was now some sort of utopian society and the bad guys were the people who weren't the Federation.
You can argue about the details, but City was written by Ellison, he got the credit (and the residuals) for it and it was lauded by his peers and the science fiction community and to this day is still one of the most respected Star Trek episodes. It was an interesting listen, marred only by the first couple of hours of incessant childish complaining.
That being said, Ellison's version was good. Not necessarily better than the aired version, but it was good. Ellison pines away for characters he created like Trooper, Beckwith, and Lebec. But, in my opinion, they didn't really add much to the actual story and the focus is and was on the core cast. Ellison complains that an experienced surgeon like McCoy would never stick himself with a needle the way McCoy did, but I call BS on that. It's quite common my doctor friends tell me.
Ultimately, Ellison's complaints were childish and immature. His story was good, and I really liked it. That having been said, when you're in the industry, you're going to be edited. If you're such a prima donna that you don't think your story should ever be changed, you don't last very long and he was around long enough to know that.
The book has four different versions of The City on the Edge of Forever. It's fascinating to watch the evolution of the story. The things I liked most about and wished they would have done more with - Janice Rand got to do more than serve coffee. Uhura and Rand should have been in the story. Making the Guardians a single machine rather than 3 aliens was a cost-saving measure and Ellison himself told GR to do stuff with special effects to save money.
Did Roddenberry lie about the Scotty selling drugs issue - okay, I suppose you could certainly conclude that. But he misses the point that whether it was Scotty or some Enterprise crewman - it was the selling drugs on the ship that was the problem! Gene's vision was humanity was now some sort of utopian society and the bad guys were the people who weren't the Federation.
You can argue about the details, but City was written by Ellison, he got the credit (and the residuals) for it and it was lauded by his peers and the science fiction community and to this day is still one of the most respected Star Trek episodes. It was an interesting listen, marred only by the first couple of hours of incessant childish complaining.