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Harlan Ellison

GKarsEye

Regular
Ellison's name came up in another thread and I've been reading his short stories, so I'm curious as to his contributions to Babylon 5. He was a "consultant," IIRC. What did he consult? Does anyone know of any specific contributions to story ideas, character arcs, concepts, etc?
 
What did he consult? Does anyone know of any specific contributions to story ideas, character arcs, concepts, etc?
I could be wrong, but my impression was that for the most part JMS used him to bounce ideas off of and talk through things with. It may be that, for the most part (and with a few exceptions like the one mentioned above), even HE and JMS might not be able to give very definitive answers as to what things were Ellison's ideas.

But I'm really just speculating.
 
From what I've read he was a sounding board and threw an idea in here and there.

Also from quotes I've read asking Ellison that question is not likely to result in an answer, maybe a book thrown at you but not the answer you want. I think he's tired of answering it.
 
He's credited as co-writer of the story of "A view from the Gallery"
 
Ellison was, as noted, a sounding board, but he also contributed ideas, stories and just generally provided a different take on things. The Ombuds were one of his suggestions, because a place like B5 would need something more than ad hoc military courts martial to deal with matters of law and justice, yet wouldn't likely have a full-scale court system. I think he may have had some input on Abbut the ViCR, and her certainly suggested the basic story idea of "A View from the Gallery" - an episode seen through the eyes of the normally invisible support staff.

Ellison's standard response to the question of what he did on B5 was always, "Whatever Joe asked me to do." Once upon at time someone actually lured the notoriously computer-phobic Ellison into a live on-line chat. I remember the site that hosted it posting a list of questions Ellison get asked everywhere he goes and "pre-recorded" answers. The instructions for the chat said to at least read the quesitons in advance so we'd all know what not to waste his time with. The B5 question was one of them. I'm trying to find a transcript of a URL to the site that hosted the chat. I do remember somebody during the chat asking Ellison one of the questions on the list. If you think JMS can pin a fan's ears back when he thinks a line has been crossed, you ought to see the master at work. Compared Ellison, JMS at his most righteously-indignant is Mr. Rogers. :)

Regards,

Joe
 
Ellison was also the person JMS would go to to deal with any media reporter that couldn't seem to structure their article in any other way than 'How would you compare Babylon 5 with Star Trek?' Those responses would be a hell of a lot of fun to see. :LOL:

My favorite Ellison quote comes from a 'Science Fiction/Science Fact' panel discussion he was on that is included on the Dune director's cut DVD set.
We have technology that far outstrips the intellect or the ability of the people that are using it. It's literally like giving a shotgun to a baby. And, ah, which many people in this country don't think there's anything wrong with. I-I, ah, being a life-long, knee;jerk liberal, I find myself having the kinds of thoughts that the worst, reactionary, right-wing rednecks have and, and it makes me crazy. But I look at the population and we seem to have more imbeciles per square inch then we have ever had before.

That, to me, is pure Harlan Ellison. :D
 
Or the lovely Einstein quote:

"Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the former."
 
Ya'll are forgetting G'Kar's famous quote:

"The universe is composed of three primary elements - matter, energy, and enlightened self-interest"

More on Mr. Ellison - didn't he also play a few bit parts in the series. A senator role comes to mind
 
There were rumors he played this and that in the series. I wish I could remember, but I think he did play one small part once, didn't he? The rest are actually other actors who sounded a bit like him, IIRC.
 
There were rumors he played this and that in the series. I wish I could remember, but I think he did play one small part once, didn't he? The rest are actually other actors who sounded a bit like him, IIRC.

As far as I know we only saw Harlan once, as the Psi Cop talking to Bester about reprograming Garibaldi in 'The Face of the Enemy'. We *heard* him as two other 'characters', though. First as Sparky the computer AI in 'Ceremonies of Light and Dark' and then as Zootys Machine in 'Day of the Dead'

Jan
 
Ah, so he played the irate computer voice, eh? :LOL:

He is remarkably good at sounding annoying, isn't he? :)

Annoyed *and* annoying. ;) Interestingly, though, he can sing pretty well. At a panel at DragonCon he and Peter David put on quite a good performance. They were supposed to have a much bigger show later in the con that I missed but just them with a piano player were quite good.

Jan
 

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