Harlan Ellison suing over new Trek movie

[Dr Mordrid]

Harlan Ellison is suing Paramount over rights to elements in his ST-TOS story "City on the Edge of Forever", more specifically those elements related to the "Guardian of Forever" time gate.

The new film uses a "Guardian" device to allow future characters to go back to the days of Kirk & Co's at the Academy and their first mission.

Ellison, irascible as ever, no doubt thinks he has a big pay-day coming, so he wants in on the merchandising. Referencing a similar action against Pocket Books in 2006 over their "Crucible" trilogy, Ellison stated on his website;

If they play nice and tug their forelock and acknowledge where the material came from and pay me a trailer-truck full of cash, I will not sue them in Federal District Court…

[KRSESQ]

I read Ellison's original COTEOF script. It was a piece of crap.

Actually, that's not fair. It might have been a fine episode of Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits. But as Star Trek it was junk.

Ellison's problem is, as an atheist, he couldn't accept that in the Star Trek universe, Gene Roddenberry was God. Roddenberry had final say over how the characters (in this case, Kirk and Spock) should be developed, and his vision was quite different from that put forth in Ellison's original script. Ellison had Kirk ready to throw away the entire future of humanity by rescuing Edith Keeler, and Spock being forced to restrain HIM.

Ellison had Kirk acting like a love-struck adolescent rather than as a highly trained starship commander, something that just wouldn't fly. Then he got all pissy when Roddenberry changed the ending. He's a big crybaby. Jesus, Harlan, it's been over 40 years. GET OVER IT!

Kevin