Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

[lance_sibley]

I'm a little late with this news - I didn't get home from work until 9:15, and our Internet access was out at work all day, so I couldn't even sneak a peek at my friendslist - but terri_osborne posted this little gem this morning:

IESB.net leaks the plot of Star Trek XI

This was followed by some interesting posts at Unca Harlan's Art Deco Dining Pavilion.

Now, Paramount, take a letter. There are four things you JUST. DON'T. DO.:

1. You don't tug on Superman's cape;


2. You don't spit into the wind;


3. You don't pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger;


4. You don't piss off Harlan Ellison.

Now, this was followed by this article at SyFyPortal, to which Harlan has responded by saying that they've vastly exaggerated his reaction (in fact, he calls himself an "enormous admirer" of J.J. Abrams), but hey, the man does have a reputation for flying off the handle somewhat. So while he may not be pissed off, item #4 above can be amended to include "Or aggravate him, or even mildly annoy or irritate him. You won't like it."

Those of you who have heard the story of my telephone conversations with Harlan are, no doubt, aware that I exaggerate one small part of the story for the purpose of humour - the bit about changing my underwear. However, nobody to whom I have told the story has ever disputed that I might have had to do that. There's a reason for that... it's plausible.

Off to have dinner now while I watch the circus come to town...

Comments

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Why not piss off Harlan? The free press provided by Harlan and his legions of fanatical worshipers whining and ranting irrationally will be good for business. He's just an overrated author after all.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Well, he does still have a legion of followers who wield some power in fandom (if only by being able to influence other fans). Irrational or not. Paramount has to tread lightly as it is, in trying not to piss off the fan base, because everyone seems to be looking for an excuse to boycott the movie (simultaneously, they're holding their breath hoping it turns out well, but there's a lot of pessimism).

For the record, I don't consider myself as one of Harlan's acolytes, though I do respect the work he's done throughout his career. He may not have the brilliance he did in the 60s and 70s, but he is a Grand Master. And since there are only 24 of them, the title does mean something.

He's more bark than bite these days, but his bark is still quite loud. If he threatens legal action (and he's still quick to do that - I know he's sued a few people recently), Paramount could just decide to cut their losses and cancel the project.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

I think you seriously overestimate the influence of the basement dwelling set. Actually Paramount would be wise to TRY to piss off their fanatical Trek fans rather than tread lightly around them. They'll whine, yell, boycott, and the movie will do gangland business. Why? Because in the end they're not only a tiny sub-set of a sub-set, but they're actually a good predictor of what will not work at the box office. Trying to satisfy the fanatical fans puts a business in the same position as the comic book industry, slow steady march to irrelevance. This is a perfect example of the fanatical fan's attitude towards anything announced. Most people who love Trek don't care a flying fig for Harlan "My Ego Ate Cincinnati" Ellison.

And as for a lawsuit... that would be amusing. I can see no bad from a lawsuit unless Ellison actually manages to get money out of them for his hackwork from decades gone by.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

I wish people would stop giving this man attention (she said ruefully).

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

I don't think that'll ever happen - he'd start kicking and screaming. As much as I personally think he's a fantastic writer, he's quite the attention whore. :)

And from what I've read, it sounds like his contract for "City on the Edge of Forever" may very well mean that he has a case.

[leahbobet.livejournal.com]

I was thinking that if he kept kicking and screaming and everyone went "oh, do we hear something? nah" and went about their lives, eventually it'd die down. It works with small children, after all.

[randomyst.livejournal.com]

Hey babe, just an FYI (although I caught myself and stopped reading) please give a spoiler warning if you're going to talk about plot regarding the movie. No need for cuts or whatever as I can just skip your entry. But don't bury important real world stuff in there either. LOL

(I'm even avoiding who is signed up to play whom, although I'm not fanatical about it. LOL)

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Sorry - I wasn't thinking about that.

10 lashes with a wet noodle for me.

[whitesangria.livejournal.com]

OH MY GOD. What did we say about this particular ep and the characters in it at the board meeting?

And yes, this ANOTHER reason why I won't be seeing the film.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

But wait, it gets better!

Today's rumour is that Jennifer Morrison will be playing either Number One or Kirk's mother. (Yesterday's rumour was that she's playing Carol Marcus. Last week's rumour was Christine Chapel. The only thing we know for sure - assuming Abrams is being honest - is that she's not playing Janice Rand.)

[legostargateman.livejournal.com]

Wow - a trek movie about time travel. They have such a great track record with time travel - only 1 really good episode. Oh wait, they're about to ruin that one as well.

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Well, Voyage Home was pretty good. And I didn't hate "Assignment:Earth", "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" or "Trials And Tribble-ations" - in fact, I rather liked them, particularly AE and T&T.

("Little Green Men", OTOH, was probably better off not being produced, and while the Temporal Cold War arc on Enterprise could have been awesome, it suffered from Berman and Braga not planning anything ahead of time.)

[legostargateman.livejournal.com]

Good point, I think I just have those nasty Enterprise eps stuck in my head.

[elizard100.livejournal.com]

wookiemart and I were looking at pictures of Star Wars geeks online tonight and he sent me a link of Will Wheaton wearing a Star Wars t-shirt and his comment, in all innocence, was "kinda reminds me of lance".

Here's the picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonniegrrl/1534645167/in/set-72157601052049704/

[boywhocantsayno.livejournal.com]

Sure, I can see that...

Though perhaps it's bad enough that my fannish nickname is "Wesley" (thanks to being in a fairly responsible position on various concoms at the age of 20) - I don't need it getting out that I look like him too. ;)

I don't seem to have any good pictures of myself pre-highlights and pre-beard that we could use for comparison. This (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=219174&op=1&o=all&view=all&subj=520376022&id=659606481) one (taken at TT17) is about the closest one.

(Here's (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=237066&op=1&view=user&subj=520376022&id=520376022) another, from TT3, though I had the perm then.)

[elizard100.livejournal.com]

I'd never noticed it before but yeah, in that picture the smile and the eyes for sure. And the t-shirt of course is something I could see you in. lol