Masters of Science Fiction by Todd Mason
Prelaunch: T Minus Two Days Masters of Science Fiction begins its truncated run on Saturday, Aug. 4, on ABC, at 10 pm ET/PT... after a delay of more than a year, and the originally announced order of 13 episodes reduced to six, of which only four have been scheduled to run throughout August. Nonetheless, it's more than welcome; even though some television drama has become more sophisticated in its approach toward science fiction over the years, adaptations of literary science fiction, and television (or film) that attempts to match the sophistication of the best literary sf, is still rare. Happily, all reports about these four episodes (and the two others that most U.S. viewers won't see till the DVD release) suggest that this is an example of talented people doing good work on all levels; the episodes, in chronological order, are adaptations of stories by John Kessel, Howard Fast, Robert Heinlein and Harlan Ellison, and Kessel and Ellison have told me that they are very pleased with their episodes (unfortunately, Heinlein and Fast are no longer with us). Kessel notes about "A Clean Escape": "I felt that [screenwriter/adaptor] Sam Egan did fundamental justice to my original story - that is, he got what it was about and, though he expanded, added characters and context, and some new ideas, he kept the focus on the interactions between the two principal characters, Havelmann and Dr. Evans, which was always my greatest interest in the story. I liked that it remained a story both personal and political. And I thought the acting and the directing were exceptional. Having Judy Davis and Sam Waterston play my characters is some kind of fantasy come true. And Mark Rydell elicited great performances from them. I know a lot of writers are unhappy about adaptations of their stories to film, but I have to say that this has been a completely positive experience for me. I do wish ABC had shown more gumption about this show." Kessel will be hosting a slightly early screening of "A Clean Escape" at the Raleigh, North Carolina, annual convention Trinoc*Con, on Saturday at 9:30 pm, where he'll be fielding questions afterward. For his part, Ellison has told me (in an interview I hope to have transcribed here in the near future) that he is as proud of the adaptation of "The Discarded" (scheduled to be the final episode in ABC's run, on Aug. 25) as he is of any of his groundbreaking television work so far (including such notable scripts as "Demon with a Glass Hand" for the original 1962-1964 The Outer Limits series, and others for Star Trek, the first [and only good] revival of The Twilight Zone, and many others). Ellison was suprised by some of the choices made for stories for adaptation. Approached by Keith Addis, the creator and executive producer of both Masters of Science Fiction and its Showtime sibling Masters of Horror, for permission to adapt his famous short story "'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman," Ellison counterproposed several stories he thought would work better in the framework of an hour of television with a good but not extravagant budget. His early story "The Discarded" (first published in Cele Goldsmith's magazine Fantastic in 1959) was settled upon - not the first story that comes to mind when one thinks of Ellison, but neither is "Jerry Was a Man" the first story usually mentioned when the hugely influential Robert Heinlein is discussed, nor is Howard Fast best remembered for his science fiction at all (while he contributed to sf and fantasy magazines in the 1950s and 1960s, his best-known work has been in historical fiction, ranging from the novels Citizen Tom Paine and April Morning, set in the U.S. Revolutionary War era, to Spartacus, to the multivolume family-history saga beginning with The Immigrants). Ellison was impressed by how well the "Jerry" episode turned out, even given that the adaptation was scripted and directed by Michael Tolkin, he of the great philosophical horror novel and film The Rapture, among such other notable works as The Player. In any case, I hope to be able to read or reread the short stories in question before seeing the episodes, and to note here their original and reprint appearances (courtesy of ace indexer William Contento, with his kind permission). "A Clean Escape" by John Kessel was originally published in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, the May 1985 issue. Reprinted in Meeting in Infinity (Arkham House, 1992) and The Pure Product (Tor, 1997). "The Awakening," the second episode in the ABC schedule, is based on "The General Zapped an Angel," by Howard Fast, originally published in his collection of the same title (Morrow, 1970). "Jerry Was a Man," by Robert Heinlein, was originally published as "Jerry Is a Man" in the magazine Thrilling Wonder Stories, the October 1947 issue (yes, gotta love the pulp magazine names of yesteryear). Reprinted in, among others, The SFWA Grand Masters, Volume 1, edited by Frederik Pohl (Tor, 1999). "The Discarded," by Harlan Ellison, was originally published in the magazine Fantastic, April 1959 issue, and reprinted in Paingod and Other Delusions (Pyramid 1965; new edition 1975), Alone Against Tomorrow (Macmillan U.S., 1971), All the Sounds of Fear (Panther, 1973), The Illustrated Harlan Ellison (Baronet, 1978), and The Fantasies of Harlan Ellison (Gregg Press, 1979). It's also available in electronic form from FictionWise.
