Rest In Peace, Harlan Ellison

[calliopes_pen]

Harlan Ellison passed away in his sleep, at the age of 84. May he rest in peace.

I wasn’t really a fan of his work, but he did write one of my favorite episodes of Star Trek: TOS: The City On The Edge of Forever. I also recall that before I became interested in Star Trek, my first exposure to him was in the 90’s, when he was ranting at length during episodes of The Sci-Fi Channel’s Sci-Fi Buzz.

I managed to find his very first tirade for Sci-Fi Buzz, all the way back in 1993. For the curious, other segments from his time on that show (I don't know if it's every episode or not) can be found on this playlist.

Comments

[spikewriter]

It wasn't every episode -- the husband (who was then the boyfriend) and I watched the show regularly, in large part for those rants. I'll confess the times we realized he wasn't going to be on an episode, we'd end up switching to something else part-way through. (The show itself was not a good one.)

[calliopes_pen]

Thank you! I had wondered.

I was 12 (in 1993) when it was airing, so for me it was at least something that talked about science fiction stuff. I believe later on, that show was how I ever even heard about Highlander: The Series, because they discussed the season 5 finale.

Yeah, I made a point to stay tuned for Ellison's rants, too. I just knew him as "that angry guy that hated everything in the world," since I had never even heard of him before that show.

[goss]

my first exposure to him was in the 90’s, when he was ranting at length during episodes of The Sci-Fi Channel’s Sci-Fi Buzz.

Weirdly enough, mine too!

Back in the 90s, our local tv station in Trinidad would switch over to some kind of pirated streaming of the U.S. Sci-Fi Channel after midnight. They showed The Outer Limits, Tales from the Dark Side, Amazing Stories, and I remember rants from this guy too.

RIP Harlan Ellison.