Ancient Geeks, episode 67: Harlan Ellison, part 3, the TV episodes

We continue our in-depth look at Harlan Ellison, the man and his works, with some of his most famous television scripts. "City On The Edge Of Forever" is, of course, one of the most famous and beloved episodes of the original Star Trek TV show. "Soldier" and "Demon With A Glass Hand" are two episodes written by Ellison for the science fiction anthology show, The Outer Limits. All three are at the apex of Ellison's writing for television, a medium with which he had a...how to say it...complicated relationship. He battled with Roddenberry over his Star Trek script. His Outer Limits episodes were the basis of a law suit against James Cameron.  We cover those backstories, but we also review the episodes themselves. Both of us enjoyed the heck out of these shows when we first saw them. How well do they stand the proverbial test of time (which is something, considering all three episodes involved time travel)? Were these quintessential Ellison stories? And which version of "The City On The Edge Of Forever" do we prefer, the one that Ellison wrote, or the modified version that was filmed? We also cover Ellison's TV appearances, playing himself, on talk shows at the height of his career. Time-traveling soldiers! Time-traveling robots! Time-traveling aliens! Time-traveling Shatners! A demure Joan Collins! Tom Snyder! Glorious black and white TV! Even more glorious color! It's all here. And stay tuned for the next episode, the last in this series, where we discuss first, a movie adaptation, and second, a TV series that Ellison completely disavowed.   Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of popular culture. We were geeks before it was chic! For feedback, contact [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, Reddit, and Bluesky. Also, check out the Ancient Geeks blog on Substack! And if you like what you hear, please tell a friend. Also, we always appreciate a review on the podcast platform of your choice. © 2026 Tom Grant and Steven Taylor