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34		     THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER
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WRITER:	Harlan Ellison

GUESTS: Joan Collins (Edith Keeler)
	Bartell LaRue
	John Harmon

AIRED:  April 6, 1967

HACK-MAN rating: .992
Usenet rating:   .968

QUOTES:
=======
 - "Since before  your sun  burned I  have awaited a question."  --Guardian
   (the question  was not  asked of it,  and  other  questions  were  asked
   before, but it didn't answer those.)
 - "[My friend here is obviously Chinese.]   I see you've noticed the ears.
   [Well, they're]  easy to explain.  --Kirk    "[Perhaps  the  unfortunate
   accident I had as a child...] --Spock    "[Yes, the unfortunate accident
   he had as a child...   You see,  he got his head caught in a mechanical]
   rice  [picking machine.   Fortunately,  there was an American missionary
   nearby who was really a skilled plastic surgeon]..." --Kirk
 - "I'm a  surgeon,  not a psychiatrist."  --McCoy  (but he HAS a degree in
   psychiatry).
 - "I am attempting to make a [neumatic|pneumatuc|mnemonic]  memory circuit
   [using] stone knives and bearskins." --Spock
 - "Let's get the hell out of here." --Kirk
 - "He knows, doctor.  He knows." --Spock


		     THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER

PLOT:
=====

The Enterprise  is  orbiting  a  planet  with  ripples  in   time.    While
investigating, McCoy  (suffering from  an overdose  of cordrazine) vanishes
through a  time  portal   (The  Guardian   of  Forever,   a  giant  talking
donut-shaped rock) and somehow changes the past.   One side  effect is that
the Enterprise and Star Fleet no longer exist, but for some reason the crew
that are on planet still do.  Kirk and Spock follow him to Earth's 1930s in
an effort to rectify whatever it is that McCoy has done.

FACTS:
======
 - Tricorder says the Guardian is ten million years old.
 - A 2030 A.D. novelist from a star  in  the  left  side  of  Orion's  Belt
   advises "Let me help"  over  "I love you"  as the  three most  important
   words.
 - Ellison wrote the original version of "City on the Edge of Forever".  It
   had McCoy  drugged *NON*-accidentally among other things.   It was a bit
   of a different story than what the aired version turned into.  It needed
   major re-writing  because most  of the characters were  out of character
   (as they had  been defined  in earlier episodes),  the script  had to be
   re-written, Ellison didn't like that,  and the rest is history.   If you
   get a chance, read both versions of the script.
 - Kirk falls for Edith Keeler.
 - First time "hell" was used on television as a ___.
 - Seven people beam up at the end (on to a transporter pad that hold six).

OPINIONS:
=========
One of the best-written stories in science fiction.  Period.

Probably the  best  acting  I've  seen  out of DeForrest Kelley.  Excellent
portrayal of someone accidentally shot up.

I'm not sure who was filling in for William Shatner this week, but the part
of Kirk was played to perfection.  The viewer can actually GET  *IN* to the
part, FEEL what Kirk felt for Edith, and HURT inside  when he  had to watch
her die.  One of the few episodes that can send chills up your spine.