Harlan Ellison on the Writers Strike

My anti-agreement analysis wasn't quite as vitriolic as Unka Harlan's. Good god, this is why HE is my hero.

HARLAN ELLISON ON THE WRITERS STRIKE SETTLEMENT

YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO RE-POST THIS ANYWHERE:

Creds: got here in 1962, written for just about everybody, won the Writers Guild Award four times for solo work, sat on the WGAw Board twice, worked on negotiating committees, and was out on the picket lines with my NICK COUNTER SLEEPS WITH THE FISHE$$$ sign. You may have heard my name. I am a Union guy, I am a Guild guy, I am loyal. I fuckin’ LOVE the Guild.

And I voted NO on accepting this deal.

My reasons are good, and they are plentiful; Patric Verrone will be saddened by what I am about to say; long-time friends will shake their heads; but this I say without equivocation…

THEY BEAT US LIKE A YELLOW DOG. IT IS A SHIT DEAL. We finally got a timorous generation that has never had to strike, to get their asses out there, and we had to put up with the usual cowardly spineless babbling horse’s asses who kept mumbling “lessgo bac’ta work” over and over, as if it would make them one iota a better writer. But after months on the line, and them finally bouncing that pus-sucking dipthong Nick Counter, we rushed headlong into a shabby, scabrous, underfed shovelfulla shit clutched to the affections of toss-in-the-towel summer soldiers trembling before the Awe of the Alliance.

My Guild did what it did in 1988. It trembled and sold us out. It gave away the EXACT co-terminus expiration date with SAG for some bullshit short-line substitute; it got us no more control of our words; it sneak-abandoned the animator and reality beanfield hands before anyone even forced it on them; it made nice so no one would think we were meanies; it let the Alliance play us like the village idiot. The WGAw folded like a Texaco Road Map from back in the day.

And I am ashamed of this Guild, as I was when Shavelson was the prexy, and we wasted our efforts and lost out on technology that we had to strike for THIS time. 17 days of streaming tv!!!????? Geezus, you bleating wimps, why not just turn over your old granny for gang-rape?

You deserve all the opprobrium you get. While this nutty festschrift of demented pleasure at being allowed to go back to work in the rice paddy is filling your cowardly hearts with joy and relief that the grips and the staff at the Ivy and street sweepers won’t be saying nasty shit behind your back, remember this:

You are their bitches. They outslugged you, outthought you, outmaneuvered you; and in the end you ripped off your pants, painted yer asses blue, and said yes sir, may I have another.

Please excuse my temerity. I’m just a sad old man who has fallen among Quislings, Turncoats, Hacks and Cowards.

I must go now to whoops. My gorge has become buoyant.

Respectfully, Yr. Pal, Harlan Ellison

A Man and His Film

There's a great, ranging interview with character actor/writer/director LQ Jones over at Rotten Tomatoes tonight. The crux of the interview is about his classic SF film, A Boy and His Dog. Now, I'm a huge fan of the trials and tribulations of Vic and Blood in all media - obviously I've read Harlan Ellison's original novella and seen Jones's film, and should even have a copy of the Richard Corben illustrated version somewhere - but I honestly never thought much of the movie. Now I know why.

I've only seen a 2:3 version, on VHS. Jones shot the film in 'scope, so I've missed more than I've seen. Fortunately, that is about to be amended, as there's a brand new print being released. If I were in LA (godDAMN I need to move) I'd be at the Nuart this Friday, but I'm hopeful it makes it to one of the art theaters here in the valley sometime this year.

Amongst the many great anecdotes and revelations in the interview, we find out that Jones *loved* working with Tiger, the dog who played Blood. Here's just a sample of what he had to say:

LQ: Jason Robards, at the time probably the best actor in our business, Jason's in the picture. So he asked about something and I said listen, "If you pay attention to Blood, and you hit your marks, and you say your lines like Blood, I'll make a star out of you." And he knew exactly what I was talking about.

I'll take you one step further, to the scene [where Vic] says we may never see each other again, they are truly parting. And if you see it on the big screen, the goddamn dog cries. Tears ran down his fur! I've been acting for fifty some-odd years, and I have a tough time crying on cue. When I cut the shot, I looked around and half the crew was in tears.

What happened to Tiger, the dog?

LQ: I tried to buy him, and they said we're making too much money with him. I said I'll give you enough, to where it's worth your while. I just wanted to retire him. I said I'll make you a guarantee, I will not be your competition, I will not let him work in anything unless I do another Boy and His Dog. But nope, they didn't want to do it. At that point in time he was maybe seven. He was dead by the time he was nine. But I would have loved to have had him for just those two years.

You've all seen Tiger before; he used to be the Brady's dog.

HE is awake and HE is pissed

Far be it from me to give, or give a shit, about Star Trek XI rumors. My days of nerdy trials and Tribblations are long past. However, this...this is possibly the funniest thing I've read all week (it is only Tuesday.)

You'll remember that Moriarty at Ain't It Cool broke big news about the plot of Trek XI, especially about how the movie concerns a group of time traveling Romulans headed to the past to wipe out James T Kirk before he ever became a thorn in their side. One of the rumors IESB is running concerns how the Romulans get back in time - they use the time portal from the classic Trek episode "City on the Edge of Forever"¹. You know, the one where Kirk lets his girlfriend get hit by a car. I usually just don't return their phone calls when I want to break up, but then I'm not half the man Kirk is.

See, I didn't know about that rumor before or I could have told them about the shit-storm that was coming.

HE is awake.

Dudes, he's got a solo title card on Terminator because he was able to convince a judge that it was based on his Outer Limits episodes "Demon with a Glass Hand"² and "Soldier". I've seen both of those multiple times, I have copies of both the short story "Soldier" and the screenplay, and I love HE. Hell, you can't know how very depressed I was that the rumored "Demon..." tie-in never happened on Babylon 5. All that said, and I've still never been completely convinced the similarities aren't coincidental.

But City? The single greatest episode of ST:TOS to be crafted? Even after Roddenberry's tweaks watered down the story, it was still good enough for HE not to give it the Cordwainer Bird. The lyrical quality of that episode would not be matched until "The Inner Light" 25 years later.

Iff³ Star Trek XI really does utilize the guardians, or the city, or anything of Ellison's, Paramount is fucked. There's no hedging on this one. No arguing that the sf tropes in use are common. That's blatant thievery. He'll kick their asses.

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1 WGA Award for Best Written Dramatic Episode, 1966.
2 WGA Award for TV Anthology, Any Length, 1963.
3 Yes, I'm a logic geek.

ARTC Radio Sound-pictures

I found a great site the other day: the Atlantic Radio Theater Company, which produces original, old-style radio drama. I was first excited to see they've got a production of Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth, recorded back in '04, featuring Harlan Ellison. If you've never heard Uncle Harlan do a dramatic performance you've missed out. He's got amazing presence and fantastic control over his vocal talent.

I was also intrigued to see there's a "2001 Dragon*Con performance of Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett, adapted for audio by David Benedict, featuring John Rhys-Davies as Lupine Wonse." Since sme and I were indirectly discussing Pratchett in comments this weekend, I thought it quite apropos.