Harlan Holsters Lawyer Daggett,
At Least Temporarily

There’s a scene in True Grit where Texas Ranger LaBoeuf, played by Glen Campbell and U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn, played by John Wayne, watch Mattie (Kim Darby) stalk away after once again threatening someone with a lawsuit. LaBoeuf says to Rooster, “Lawyer Daggett – she draws him like a gun!”

That scene comes to mind every time I read about Harlan Ellison announcing that he’s been done wrong and is about to lower the legal boom. For example, Trekmovie.com gives knows this has gone on for years:

Harlan Ellison has a long and rocky history with the Star Trek franchise. It started with the episode “City on the Edge of Forever” which is considered by many to be the best of the franchise. Ellison famously fell out with Gene Roddenberry over that episode over changes made to the script. After that they patched things up enough in the 70s for Ellison to be one of the writers to pitch an idea for the first Star Trek feature film. Most recently Ellison sued CBS and Paramount over royalties related to “City”, and that suit was only recently settled.

The wonderful thing about Trekmovie’s story is it’s really about Harlan declaring to the world that with the suit now settled he’d be delighted to get paid to work with J.J. Abrams on the next Trek movie. Said Ellison on his website:

He’s a writer I respect whose work has frequently blow the lid off my box of surpriseability. But then, he already KNOWS that. It isn’t as if I’d kept my admiration chained in the darkest cell of the basement of Bedlam.

So go, my faithful minions. Fly! Fly! Save the Olde Geezer from croaking without a killer Third Act.

[Thanks to David Klaus for the story.]