The City on the Edge of Forever

By: Harlan Ellison

Narrated by: full cast, Orson Scott Card, Bonnie MacBird, Richard J. Brewer, Ryan C. Britt, Richard Gilliland, Larry Nemacek

Length: 8 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

The original teleplay that became the classic Star Trek episode, with an expanded introductory essay by Harlan Ellison, The City on the Edge of Forever has been surrounded by controversy since the airing of an "eviscerated" version - which subsequently has been voted the most beloved episode in the series' history. In its original form, The City on the Edge of Forever won the 1966-67 Writers Guild of America Award for Best Teleplay. As aired, it won the 1967 Hugo Award.

The City on the Edge of Forever is, at its most basic, a poignant love story. Ellison takes the listener on a breathtaking trip through space and time, from the future all the way back to 1930s America. In this harrowing journey, Kirk and Spock race to apprehend a renegade criminal and restore the order of the universe. It is here that Kirk faces his ultimate dilemma: a choice between the universe - and his one true love.

This edition makes available the astonishing teleplay as Ellison intended it to be aired. The author's introductory essay reveals all of the details of what Ellison describes as a "fatally inept treatment" of his creative work. Was he unjustly edited, unjustly accused, and unjustly treated?

For a full cast/character list and table of contents, please visit www.SkyboatMedia.com.

©1975 Harlan Ellison. © 1995 by the Kilimanjaro Corporation. Afterwords © 1995 and 2016 by the authors (P)2016 Skyboat Media, Inc.

The real reading starts in chapter 5.

Chapters 1 through 4 are endless complaining and airing of behind the scenes fighting. Chapter 5 is where you start the readings of the various versions of the script. Chapters 1 through 4 get only 1 star. 5 stars for the rest of the book.

You aren't buying this for what you think you are buying it for...

No, while Harlan Ellison's original screenplay is poignant, poetic, and beautiful, what you are actually buying this for is listen, spellbound, as Harlan spends literally hours eviscerating all those who have wronged him in the past. Of course this is primarily Gene RoddenbJerry, but also those that supported him. These parts are actually recorded by Ellison and you can feel the relish in his voice as he sets the record straight, and he has receipts. It's classic Ellison. I imagine he must have been a very hard man to be friends with, but he is certainly an incredibly gifted, if cantankerous, writer.

A fascinating look at what could have been.

Experiencing this original draft of this classic Star Trek episode "The City on the edge of Forever" was quite interesting in and of itself, but all the supplementary material was fascinating. (to use a Spock term) It's a journey into, not only an alternate world where a markedly different version of the story took place , but a journey into the behind the scenes drama trying to get the story finished and produced. Writer Harlan Ellison's frustration at all the rewrites he was forced to do and subsequent drafts without him are understandable when one reads (or hears in this case) his first draft. Though I still enjoy the televised version, I can now see the greater strengths In his untouched work. Besides this, is the story of Harlan's feud with Gene Roddenberry over the whole affair and his surprising bad treatment by Gene in later years for no good reason. I'm glad Harlan finally got to tell his version of the story on both accounts. It's well worth a listen or a read!

Interesting twist

I enjoy Harkin Ellison, I am a big Star Trek fan. It was nice to hear the original version of this story. I really could have done without all the whining, blaming and shaming that preceded the storytelling. REALLY! Can one be that petty? Enjoy the tale and skip the introduction.

An absolute joy to listen to!

If you could sum up The City on the Edge of Forever in three words, what would they be?

Passionate, morally complex.

What other book might you compare The City on the Edge of Forever to and why?

None. Harlan Ellison is one of a kind.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Spock at the end tells Kirk that "No woman was ever loved as much Jim, because no woman was ever offered the universe for love."

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Better then the original aired episode, buy your ticket now!

Any additional comments?

Enjoyed so much about this audio book:
Ellison reading his own delightfully candid introduction.
The full cast giving life to the Award Winning Teleplay.

Mostly it's just having this treasure on audio.

5 Stars Really? for this belly full of kavetching?

well...yes.

if there is one thing Harlan Ellison is good

at,   it's being pissed off.


I own the neigh definitive Ellison collection.  He is a genius. 
He's hard core.  
Passionate.

Driven.  

Rebellious.
Ellison seems a man perpetually on a mission. 


I've listened to him read his own work, 
**NO ONE ELSE SHOULD READ ELLISON BUT ELLISON.**

enjoyed the result of his consult in Babylon 5, and faithfully watched ALL of the Sci-fi Channel's (that's SCI-FI, not sy-fy)  Sci-Fi Buzz commentaries. 


Preface to sayng...he is now older than dirt...and pissed off to an order of magnitude appropriate to time for said experiences in culminated in this iconic brand of pissed-off-ed-ness.


This missive is drowning in epic pissed-off-ed-ness.



 To call this a "rant" would be to diminish the intensity of the epic pissed-off-ed-ness for which Ellison is known.

From his first statement read himself,  it is evident,  this has been a point of contention. ... for a VERY long time. 


 1966 was a fair piece ago. 

 This reader was but 7 years of age... and Star Trek was the best thing on television, and City on the Edge of Forever was the best of the best. 

That's a long time to be ticked...and in his intro, it ALL comes boiling over. 

Couldn't he just give us the facts and story without the tirade?

Just the info without ripping the collective guilty to shreds in bloody spectacle of enraged verbosity?


If he did, it wouldn't be Ellison. 

...and we wouldn't care to read / listen to it. 

It's a long time to hold the grudge. 

Today, 30 years after the fact, Ellison is older than dirt and still above it.

His diction is slurry. 

His voice is gravel. 

His complaint is complete. 

His voice,  from the immutable edge,  is rapier sharp.

And the bitterness is deadly. 


if you REALLY want to know,  here are the facts. 

If you haven't read it.   (and if you haven't Ellison's original script for City on the Edge of Forever, how can you call yourself a Trekkie?)  here it is. 

If you like bonuses like alternate versions and endings,   here ya go. 



WARNING! 
The facts are delivered with BITE. 

The expletives and blasphemy are exactly what any Ellison reader...even the reader of but a single tale... will be expecting. 

 I didn't say "like", but you know it's coming. 


I won't bid you, "gentle reader", a good read / listen, though I doub'r you will ever forget even a single encounter with Ellison. 


I will tell you the roller-coaster has no safety belts or bars!


 I will tell you to hold on for your life!!!


THIS IS ELLISON, AND HE NEVER, EVER, HOLDS BACK. 


Anything less would not be Harlan Ellison. 

Anything less would not be worth the effort. 


This, for better and worse, is the master of wit, and edge, and words.

As salty as ever and more: Harlan Ellison.




Foofighterubu Wargame Terrain Studio

Much ado about something.

I'm not a writer--just a fan. I loved the version that aired. I think D.C. Fontana said it best, when she said (I'm paraphrasing), 'the original was great, but not for Star Trek.' I never thought of everyone being "perfect" in the show, but that they strove for perfection. I understand Harlan's points, but in the end, isn't that "Hollywood"?

Rashomon Meets Trek

I work in the motion picture industry, so I'm well aware of the constant rewriting a script goes through (including picture editing) before the general public experiences the final product.

The dynamics of a show runner/producer, network executives, the physical realities of time & budget, a pool of staff writers, and the original writer who creates the first draft can be intriguing.

That this is an infamous script which won a Writers Guild award for its original draft for a beloved episode of an iconic TV series makes this worthy of the deep dive provided.

Yes, Ellison rants for hours presenting the misinformation he's contended with for years while he shares his side of the story -- but this is his work and reputation in display and the purpose of the book/audio production. He displayed the full personality his reputation implied.

His script is performed in its many stages to show the process, followed by perspectives from a range of people in the world of Trek. I was most grateful for D.C. Fontana's bottom line/inside scoop from the writers room about the many revisions to make a workable script balancing the needs of the many powers that be.

In the end, I'm glad to have gotten a multifaceted exposure to the original writer's vision to compare and contrast with the episode I still recall from so many decades ago

Vintage Harlan. Ya gotta love it.

We’ve all heard the stories behind this episode. Now Ellison sets the record straight as only he can. It’s a fun listen. You won’t regret it.

Glad I Read It. Holly wired is Nuts

The fact that many people are included in putting together a full story that eventually ends up on the big screen is evident in most productions. It is interesting to see how an original concept is changed throughout the production process, how ego is involved, and how many people want to take credit for someone else's original idea. "The City On The Edge of Forever" my favorite Star Trek episode. In my opinion, and it is my opinion, what was eventually filmed was better than the original storyline. I did like the original concept and the original story, but I still hold that what ended up on the screen held to the Star Trek franchise and held true to the characters.