CRANKS AND CONSPIRACIES
Harlan Ellison played a great joke on science fiction fans and we didn't even know it.
It began for me when the April 1994 issue of CINEFANTASTIQUE reported that Ellison (known for writing award-winning scripts for THE OUTER LIMITS and STAR TREK) would be writing two scripts for the upcoming BABYLON 5's first season. One of the scripts was a crossover with Ellison's classic OUTER LIMITS episode "Demon with a Glass Hand," which starred Robert Culp as Trent, who came from the far future with no knowledge of his true identity.
"Demon with a Glass Hand" is one of my favorite episodes of any science fiction television series (in fact, it makes POWER STAR's Top 100 list next year). To hear there would be a sequel and that it would be a part of the BABYLON 5 universe was incredibly good news. I couldn't wait and was really excited - a new Ellison script for television would certainly be another award winner. To say that this news made my heart soar is the best way to describe how I felt.
BABYLON 5 is finished and the scripts never materialized. The answer given at various SF cons was that Ellison couldn't finish the scripts.
Well, Ellison recently revealed that the two proposed episodes were "fabrications" on his and J. Michael Straczynski's part and that there was NEVER any intention to produce them. From what I can figure, Straczynski really did want to have Ellison write a "Demon" sequel, and Ellison teased him with the promise of such a script. Now Straczynski's no dummy - he knew Ellison was just joking around and so he played along with him.
There were clues going as far back as that CINEFANTASTIQUE article. There was a comment by Ellison from the San Diego Comic Con in which he said Robert Culp would play Trent again in the sequel. Now without giving away the ending for those who haven't seen the episode, there's no way Culp could play Trent again (the actor's age is at question for one thing). Ellison said, "No one on this planet will play this role but him." Maybe that's because no one else was going to play Trent again at all.
The same article also mentioned the second proposed script as being titled "Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral." Straczynski gave no details. A year later, a story by Ellison using that title was published in HARLAN ELLISON'S DREAM CORRIDOR, a comic book series from Dark Horse Comics that adapted the author's short stories. "Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral," which dealt with mermaids and Atlantis, was a brand new story that had nothing to do with B5. Could Ellison have been working on this story at the time the proposed scripts were announced and he just used the title as part of the joke, saying it was a B5 script when it wasn't?
Ellison has said countless times in the past that he doesn't do sequels. NIGHT AND THE ENEMY comes the closest. It was a graphic novel put out by Comico that contained illustrated short stories about the Earth/Kyba War (the conflict mentioned in the "Demon" episode), but not the Trent character. Also, Robert Culp has tried numerous times over the years to get "Demon with a Glass Hand" made as a feature film to no avail.
(Interestingly enough, the last name of Shari Belafonte's character in the THIRDSPACE movie was Trent.)
I'm used to this kind of false information from fans on the Internet (remember the April Fool's Day joke about Harlan and his friend Walter Koenig remaking the abysmal STARLOST series?), but not from the actual people who are involved with the production of the show. Now, the more I think about the official title for the next STAR WARS movie (THE PHANTOM MENACE), it makes me wonder if it's not just another prank.
I'm still an admirer of your work, Mr. Ellison. You're one of the great fantasists of our time (maybe that's why this "news" worked so well and we all believed it), but I just want to know WHY?!
Back in '94, it was news that "made my heart soar." Now it's news that's left me heartbroken - for an episode that will never be.
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Who says the only STAR TREK books are the endless formulaic novels and Nitpickers' Guides? I direct your attention to two books that deal with TREK in a whole new way that's both insightful and intelligent.
HAMLET ON THE HOLODECK: THE FUTURE OF NARRATIVE IN CYBERSPACE is like getting a textbook and reading it because you want to read it not because you have to. Author Janet H. Murray must be a Trekker because not only does she refer to TREK in the title but throughout the book, in relation to new interactive media forms, as well as making references to TEK WAR, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, X-MEN, and BABYLON 5 (love her JERUSALEM 6 idea).
WARP by Lev Grossman is as much an exploration of twentysomething angst as it is about STAR TREK fans. It's an honest portrayal of those young fans who feel that their lives are going nowhere and yearn for the kind of romance and adventure they see and fantasize about on their favorite TV show.
This is good stuff.
The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the entire Power Star staff.