# Harlan Ellison, skewered at last. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 23, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148 "2003-05-23T23:48:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/61 "2003-05-25T15:06:33Z")
There was a “good episode” of _Lust in Space_? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/62 "2003-05-25T15:29:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*No, seriously. From what I’ve seen of the Doctor (on PBS), it seems to be on the level of a good episode of _Lost in Space_. \*\* Ah, but which ones did you see? Bad _Dr. Who_ can be very bad. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/63 "2003-05-25T15:31:10Z")
Oh, and _Lost in Space_? Pfft! ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/64 "2003-05-25T15:58:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > \*\*Oh, and _Lost in Space_? Pfft! \*\* Hey now! Don’t be dissin’ **Lost in Space** (the TV show)! When I was 10, I really had the hots for Angela Cartwright (Penny Robinson)! And Dr. Smith was my role model. I became a physician because of him! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/65 "2003-05-25T16:02:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* > \*\*Cite? > > No, seriously. From what I’ve seen of the Doctor (on PBS), it seems to be on the level of a good episode of _Lost in Space_. \*\* My God, man, you haven’t even told us _which Doctor!_ How can we diagnose the problem if you won’t tell us the symptoms? If you were watching C. Baker or McCoy, then yes, you are a man of exceeding taste and sophistication. If you are disparaging the Pertwee or (mostly) T. Baker eras, though, then there’s no help for you. Go back to your **Far Out Space Nuts.** A helpful guide: Hartnell: looks like John Quincy Adams Troughton: Beatle hair, your Grandma’s coat Pertwee: dresses like Vincent Price T. Baker: large scarf, teeth Davison: cricket wear, celery\* C. Baker: “What the hell…?” McCoy: Panama hat, pratfalls - for detecting gases in the praxis range of the spectrum! What, you think those gases are good for you or something?! ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/66 "2003-05-25T16:21:59Z")
Oh, and **Harlan Ellison**? Anyone who mails his publisher a dead gopher in order to make a point is alright in my book. We could use more of this guy, he desperately needs cloning. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/67 "2003-05-25T16:39:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > \*\*There was a “good episode” of _Lust in Space_? \*\* The early B/W episodes were good, just like with _The Man From U.N.C.L.E._ We’re very lucky that the shadow of the Batman TV show didn’t fall on Star Trek… ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/68 "2003-05-25T16:47:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terrifel \* > \*\*Oh, and **Harlan Ellison**? Anyone who mails his publisher a dead gopher in order to make a point is alright in my book. > > We could use more of this guy, he desperately needs cloning. \*\* I feel a bit sorry for the postal workers, personally. The gopher story has always been part of my problem with Ellison. He seems so self-absorbed in his own moral stances, that sometimes they cease to have much value. Think of the SF con in Colorado, soon after the anti-gay measure was passed. Rather than do what anyone else would do (namely, decline to attend,) Ellison attended, but made a big brouhaha about how he wouldn’t contribute one cent to Colorado’s economy. So he brought a mobile home full of food that was bought out-of-state, blah blah blah. Of course, Colorado wasn’t interested in Ellison as a tourist- they were interested in him as a draw for the convention. So in the end, everyone was happy. Colorado got the tourist draw they wanted, and Ellison got to fantasize to his own morality porn. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/69 "2003-05-25T17:24:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Michael Ellis \* > \*\*Ah, but which ones did you see? Bad _Dr. Who_ can be very bad. \*\* Don’t know the actor, but it’s the one with the curly hair. One of the eps I saw involved the Tardis being boaded by some sort of lizard-men who walked like zombies (arms straight out, moving slowly). Now, I can appreciate low-budget British sci-fi, I’m a big _Red Dwarf_ fan, but the costumes were beyond low-budget. Hell, the crotches were hanging down to the knees! I guess it’s a case of a bad first impression. And, yes, I remember the cheesy costumes of _Lost in Space_. Especially the alien with a giant walnut for a head. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/70 "2003-05-25T21:41:27Z")
Hmmm. **Moriah** , I may be name dropping, but I’ll give it a shot, although I haven’t met any really big names. These people I’ve met more than once (although one of them I know very little, and that’s as much as I want to!). **Sarah Zettel:** Neat, fun human being who’s a lot of fun to do filk with in the wee hours of the morning. **Will Tenn:** Amusing, guy, good raconteur who tells wonderful stories about his days in the Silver Age of Science Fiction. If any of you folks are at a con with him, get him to tell the story about the time he took a girl to have dinner with Theodore Sturgeon on their first date. **John DeChancie:** He’s the one I mentioned. A jerk of the first water who has poisoned my opinion of him to the point where I’m more likely to buy a book written by L. Ron Hubbard. **William H. Keith, Jr.:** Wonderful guy, warm human being, fun, smart, vastly underappreciated as a writer, but not by his friends. Gives good hot tub and massage, and even better conversation. He is also, in real life, a very dear, close friend, as well as the guy who told me the Harlan Ellison story. So, out of four, I know three good-to-great human beings, two of whom have been to my home (Will Tenn’s the other one), and one who would be welcome here any time. The other one, well, life ain’t perfect. CJ ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/71 "2003-05-25T22:09:05Z")
\*Originally posted by Mr. Blue Sky \* **Don’t know the actor, but it’s the one with the curly hair. One of the eps I saw involved the Tardis being boaded by some sort of lizard-men who walked like zombies (arms straight out, moving slowly).** [/QUOTE] Could be _Invasion of Time_. Not one of the better episodes to start out on. \*\* > [@](#): > > I guess it’s a case of a bad first impression. > \*\* Definately. Now go find videos of either _Pyramids of Mars_, _Talons of Weng-Chiang_. _Robots of Death_ is out on DVD in the US now, its a fairly nice murder mystery story with some well designed (well, for low budget TV at least) robot costumes. Peter Davison’s final episode _Caves of Androzani_ should be out on DVD in the US now as well. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/72 "2003-05-25T22:17:04Z")
Bad Doctor Who may be really bad, but even the worst Doctor Who is better than the very best Star Trek. ---
**Author:** ![Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df788c/32.png) [@Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ben)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/73 "2003-05-25T23:59:47Z")
Didn’t Jon Pertwee have curly hair? The lizard episode sounds a lot like the one with the Silurians. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/74 "2003-05-26T00:42:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ben \* > \*\*Didn’t Jon Pertwee have curly hair? The lizard episode sounds a lot like the one with the Silurians. \*\* Except the TARDIS wasn’t featured in that episode at all, or even referred to by name. Which I think is the only occasion in the entire series that’s happened. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/75 "2003-05-26T02:33:52Z")
I disliked Ellison ever since I read an account of an author visiting his house. Apparently, it was like this crazy love den, with very young girls walking around in panties stoned out of their minds, etc. Ellison at the time would have had to have been in his forties or fifties. The guy just sounded like an obnoxious sleaze. Good gig if you can get it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Skillet38](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Skillet38](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skillet38)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/76 "2003-05-26T02:59:46Z")
3 words The Glass Teat let’s talk about Vonnegut instead, he’s much more interesting than Ellison oh, and don’t mention “Still Life with Woodpecker”, because it’s by neither… thanks for your indulgence ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/77 "2003-05-26T03:25:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*And **Farnham’s Freehold** is a tad less icky than **The Number of the Beast** , but in a quantity than can be measured only in nanoangstroms. \*\* Have you been hitting yourself on the head with skillet again? **Farnham’s Freehold** is a coherent story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. It was also quite daring and progressive for its time, turning on its ear the prejudices of America towards blacks. **The Number of the Beast** like **The Cat Who Walks Through Walls** starts off like it’s going to be good, and then wades into an unreadable morass of self-indulgence, and in the case of **Beast** , total incoherence. **Farnham** is no masterpiece, but it is light years better than **Beast.** ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/78 "2003-05-26T04:04:23Z")
When **Polycarp** gets back, you guys are going to make him cry. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/79 "2003-05-26T04:16:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\*When **Polycarp** gets back, you guys are going to make him cry. \*\* Sorry for the hijack, but where _is_ **Polycarp**? He hasn’t posted for like two weeks. he hasn’t been on the PP board either. Is he on vacation. I’ve just been sort of curious. This place doesn’t seem right without him. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148/80 "2003-05-26T04:24:40Z")
Someone posted that he had latched onto an opportunity to help some community in upstate New York (his old stompin’ grounds) put together a financial proposal (his specialty). I don’t recall whether it was to seek aid or to let out bids. If he’s out of the house, he probably has no puter with which to post. If he’s under a time constraint to write and sheepdog the proposal, he probably has no time to sign on from a library. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harlan-ellison-skewered-at-last/177148.md?page=5)