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White to move and mate in two #519 -- Harlan Ellison's [1]

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Date: 2024-06-06  

The City On The Edge of Forever

The Original Teleplay That Became The Classic Star Trek (R) Episode

With an expanded introductory essay by Harlan Ellison

Afterwords by Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelly, George Takei, Peter David, Dorothy C. Fontana, David Gerrold and Melinda Snodgrass

Harlan’s script was brilliant. Always a master of words, his language conjured the images of the desolate planet “as if some cosmic god had flicked an ash and it had grown into a world,” the enigmatic Guardian of Forever, and the Time Vortex. The streets of 1930 Earth were described artfully — deep in the Depression, peopled by characters like Verdun veteran Trooper and the vivacious Edith Keeler who could see beyond this moment into a hopeful future. What man wouldn’t lose his heart to her (except for Mister Spock, of course)?

If “The City on the Edge of Forever” had been written for an anthology such as Outer Limits, undoubtedly it would have been shot almost without change. As written, it stands shoulder to shoulder with Harlan’s bleak study of future warfare, “Soldier,” and his twisting, turning, character-rich “Demon with a Glass Hand.”

...

While it was masterfully written, full of passion and emotion, in Gene Roddenberry’s opinion, the script wasn’t Star Trek enough. It would have to be rewritten. ...

In the Star Trek offices, however, the immediate question was — who would rewrite “The City on the Edge of Forever”? Now the story can be told because Harlan has mellowed over the years. Used to be, his temper burned at such a low firing point and with such high explosivity that it devastated buildings for ten square miles around ground zero when it went off. (You’ve heard of the “H Bomb”?) There are still places on the Paramount lot where nothing will grow. ...

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