Harlan Ellison

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Was he involved in TLADIS? And if not, will he be involved in B5: LOTR if (and when) it becomes a series?

Footnote: It's sad that Sci-Fi can keep us hostage as we pray and cross our fingers in hopes that LOTR gets past the first movie, but they have no problems in immediately greenlighting pieces of crap like the Chronicle. But that's a topic for another thread.

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"Now get the hell out of our galaxy!!"

-Captain John Sheridan to the Vorlons and Shadows

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>...but they have no problems in immediately greenlighting pieces of crap like The Chronicle.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Chronicle has a contemporary setting, and is therefore probably cheaper to produce. And the pilot may have tested well with a desirable demographic. That makes it less of a risk. And it is still on, despite your (and my) opinion, so I guess the ratings are good, which means they did the smart thing. Rangers would be an riskier proposition in several respects, so they're being more cautious.

Regards,

Joe

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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
joseph-demartino@att.net

 

[bakana]

If you accept that Chronicle is Light Humor with tongue firmly in cheek, it works quite well.

I find it perfectly acceptable. Who says that every piece of SF has to be about SAVING THE UNIVERSE!?

Chronicle is fun, well acted and funny.
And cheap to produce, so it's undoubtedly making a profit.
That profit gives them more money to produce Rangers.



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Do not ascribe your own motivations to others:
At best, it will break your heart.
At worst, it will get you dead."

 

[Fineous]

Yes, I actually enjoy it a bit myself. I don't go out of my way to watch it, but if it is on I don't turn it off. It is supposed to be campy, and I think it works. It is entertainment, not a great work of literature.

Err, what were we talking about. . .

Oh yeah, Harlan Ellison. Now I for one don't care for him. Am I alone in this? I have met him at conventions and have found him to be. . . Well, various words come to mind that are not pleasant, so I will not use them. But, you can probably get the gist. And above and beyond that I have found that his writing just doesn't do anything for me. His smug sense of superiority seems to come through on everything he does, and I just don't think his stories are that good. Obviously others disagree with me, but sorry, that is how I feel.

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"In the Beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move."
-Douglas Adams 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'

 

[GaribaldisHair]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Oh yeah, Harlan Ellison. Now I for one don't care for him. Am I alone in this?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Probably not ...

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>And above and beyond that I have found that his writing just doesn't do anything for me ... and I just don't think his stories are that good. Obviously others disagree with me, but sorry, that is how I feel.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes I do ... novels are complete pants, but I have found some of his short stories very impressive. Not to mention he wrote "City on the edge of Forever" - the finest episode (in my opinion) of the original Star Trek.

I thought B5 benefitted from his presence in that it gave JMS a fellow writer to bounce ideas off which is always a good thing in any walk of life.

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DaveC
"Want to talk socks?"

 

[Fineous]

That is one of my favorite episodes, and it promted me to read more of his fiction, which then put me off of reading any more of his fiction. Never tried the short stories though.

And hey, if bouncing ideas off him helps JMS, then I am all for it.

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"In the Beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move."
-Douglas Adams 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'

 

[bakana]

Harlan Ellison's greatest strength is his Short Stories.

He's also got a "Take no prisoners" sort of personality.
You either like him or hate him.

He is noted for being incredibly obnoxious at times.
He'll also sometimes follow up 5 minutes later by doing something incredibly generous for someone he doesn't even Like.
Tell Harlan that "So&so is sick and has no insurance", he'll empty his wallet and organize a fund raiser.
As I said a couple lines earlier, he's been known to do it for a couple people he doesn't even Like.
His definition of Family extends to these people.


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Do not ascribe your own motivations to others:
At best, it will break your heart.
At worst, it will get you dead."

 

[Gus Lynch]

Im a big Ellison fan. I love the fact that he comes off as a bit of a bastard. C'mon! Hes the sci fi Hemmingway!
Looking for some top flight short stories? Check out Deathbird Stories. And pick up Angry Candy. If after reading those you still dont like his short stories......well, then Id say youre unconvertable to the ranks of Ellison junkies.

I certainly hope he'll be involved with a Ranger series, although I have no information one way or the other.

Gus, the Drazi literati


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"Save your pity for toothless tigers and dancing Bears."
--Telly Savalas
Combat!

 

[LondosHair]

"The sci fi Hemmingway"... LOL, never thought of it that way, but it fits!

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-Londo's Hair
"Vir, intelligence has nothing to do with politics!"

[This message has been edited by LondosHair (edited January 24, 2002).]

 

[Gus Lynch]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gus Lynch:
Looking for some top flight short stories? Check out Deathbird Stories. And pick up Angry Candy. If after reading those you still dont like his short stories......well, then Id say youre unconvertable to the ranks of Ellison junkies.




<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Should that be inconvertable? Lets settle on....you're not likely to be converted to the ranks of Ellison junkies.

Sounds right.

Ever the self editor,
Gus



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"Save your pity for toothless tigers and dancing Bears."
--Telly Savalas
Combat!

 

[LondosHair]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Should that be inconvertable?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Usually, when I come across a spelling snafu, I check dictionary.com. However, it seems to be down this morning for some reason. Guess there's a first time for everything...

"Inconvertable" does sound right... but then, "eleventeen" sounds right sometimes, too.

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-Londo's Hair
"Vir, intelligence has nothing to do with politics!"

 

[channe]

I first read "The Dragon On The Bookshelf" (which was a collaboration with Robert Silverberg) back in middle school, when I was devouring Anne McCaffrey's Pern novels like little girls today devour pictures of N'Sync.

Well, someone handed me a copy of Shatterday a few years ago.

nd then, I picked up Deathbird Stories.

And then, I went for Love Ain't Nothing But Sex Misspelled, and then it was Slippage...

And then I ran out of Ellison collections in the local library, and I had to go to Borders and sit there for a few hours reading Angry Candy.

Yeah, can you tell I'm hooked?

The simple fact that he has about twenty-seven short story collections out (and, oh, three novels, all of which were written before 1970) should tell you something about what he's better at than anything else - and if I was as good at the short story as Harlan Ellison is, I'd be a very good writer.

Harlan Ellison often does not play nice. Harlan Ellison thinks the Internet is a load of schlock. If I asked a question of Harlan Ellison he'd most likely tell me I'm an "amateur, tyro, boneheaded poltroon" and mutter about how I'm a pinhead on the 'net. (Yay! I love that word! Poltroon!)

But... he has one of the best ways with words of any author out there, speculative fiction or not. Some of his sentences are just amazing - I wouldn't think to say something like that in a million years. Trying to write speculative fiction after reading an Ellison book is like reading Toni Morrison and then going home to write "Dick and Jane play ball. See Jane play ball. Play, Jane, play."

Well, uh, I guess the whole important thing about this post is that I like Harlan Ellison's stories.

Yeah.

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channe@cryoterrace | "I wonder," said Frodo, "but I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale."

 

[bakana]

Channe, actually harlan has a pretty good reputation for being Nice to people when he first meets them.
He doesn't rip into people unless they do or Say something he considers stupid.
He has No Patience with stupid, though.

Harlan also used to be well known for inviting Total strangers into his home.
Ring the doorbell and tell him you liked his books and he'd invite you in for lunch, dinner and a place to sleep if you needed it.

The repayment for his generousity was to catch these same people trying to Leave with all sorts of Harlan's property.
He lost a lot of valuable books, comics, even Artwork that way.
When he Did catch people stealing from him, most of them would act like He OWED them whatever it was they were stealing because they were "his fans".

This sort of thing actually went on for Years because Harlan continues to greet strangers as potential Friends.

I understand his Wife, OTOH, has put a stop to inviting strangers into the house. I guess she prefers to let them Prove their friendship first.

Of course, there is the thought that the sort of person who goes to a total stranger's house unnanounced and uninvited IS more likely to also have "Taking Ways" and other Narcissistic habits.



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Do not ascribe your own motivations to others:
At best, it will break your heart.
At worst, it will get you dead."

 

[channe]

Bakana -

The first Harlan Ellison I got to know was the no-holds-barred, people-are-fucking-STUPID author in some of his introductions. I didn't know about the rest of the stories surrounding him until a while later.

Harlan Ellison is one of my biggest writing influences. I cite him up there with Toni Morrison, Jack Kerouac, Thomas Pynchon, and Flannery O'Connor. If I met him I'd probably sit there, stammer, say something like "Um, I think you're cool," and run away to hit my head against the wall.

Well, it wouldn't be THAT bad. But it's that big an influence.

And now that I've proven myself one of the most provincial and fennish people on this messageboard, I'm going to go slink away in shame.

Toodles!

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channe@cryoterrace | "I wonder," said Frodo, "but I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale."

 

[taichidave]

Ellison's one of the greats, no doubt.

His short stories are phenominal, but I enjoy his essays more than anything else.

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"We are (not) all Kosh."