Harlan Ellison's Watching 56

Harlan on the gaming of Hugos and Nebulas.
©1995 The Kilimanjaro Corp. All rights reserved

[@Norvo82]

You know a Harlan Ellison commentary is gonna be golden when the network nervously flashes that big bright "COMMENTARY" sign.

[@mikedonovan8811]

My mother is a retired gastroenterological nurse. She never went around saying, "rectal suppository" anywhere near as often as Harlan Ellison.

[@Bizarronumber4]

RIP Harlan Ellison.

[@stevensenski2134]

Considering the gaming that occurred with this year's Hugo noms, this was positively prescient.

[@Teabonesteak]

Love this guy.

[@artemisvsvenus]

I love my uncle harlan

[@Zagadka42]

For the longest time awards like the Hugo and the Nebula existed in relative obscurity, and despite the cache that these awards afforded to the recipients of these honours received within the culture that surrounds the genre, there was no real monetary reward for having received them. Recipients of these awards found themselves not much more widely known in the general marketplace and were still outsold by the purveyors of literary dreck and pablum (i.e. the Danielle Steeles of the world). Unfortunately, I also find that these days most award ceremonies have little to do with the actual product or performance and are more about who can kiss the most ass and pimp themselves out the best. I can no longer see these events as anything more than self-congratulatory, masturbatory exercises in "Hey, Dig Me!"

[@ru4realzzz]

when you're selling copies "hey, dig me" tends to get more asses in seats than waiting around for nothing turning down awards.

[@TheKevinmkirby]

2015 will bring the Hugo ceremony back out to the West Coast again. I could see going to that one.

[@ProfessorMurf]

I love the Land of Skippy.

[@kzinful]

With the political circus and all the incompetent twits that run through the beltway, Harlans death was but a blurb on the media. I remember seeing Harlan with Tom Snyder talking about book signings and hoping that he would mention being in Houston ( the week before, as I was there for a signing ) and he did : he bitched about no one giving him water, and his fingers cramping, etc. Yes, he could be a jerk( lol), but he had big heart, he railed against how stupid humans could be, the potential we waste. And I loved this Son Of A Bitch, we knew this day would come ( as it will for all of us ) he wasn't in good health and death ended his pain. He left us on June 28th and he requested that any unfinished work of his to be destroyed, he was a great writer that will be missed ( well, except James Cameron ..lol !) . Good Night Uncle Harlan

[@Dante9377]

Goodness, that's disgusting. That's the most common way of voting now though, so people begging for votes on the internet, asking for spare change and some such money for content on the tube, and it's all sickening. It hurts that meaningful awards were caught first in the craze.

[@psf334]

is it me or did they bleep out the word "gyp." i understand why, but if you're going down that path, don't you also have to bleep "chinese whispers"?

[@aquelescaraaaaaaaaaa]

Sadly the same thing has been happening to oscars for a long time.

[@mzmadmike]

Given the growth in SF, it's hard to keep track of releases and dates. I wouldn't call promoting oneself "gaming." Now, one year, someone sent in a stack of ballots with matching votes and sequential money orders. THAT was gaming.

[@TyroVogel]

I'm curious what Harlan thought about the story "Spar" which won the Nebula in 2009. I mean, it was okay, I suppose, but where are Jason Sanford's Hugos and Nebulas? That is all. Good night. Hello to the people of the Maldive Islands.

[@JonasPlanck]

Oh, wow. He invented the humblebrag!

[@fredkiesche4411]

Which year was this first broadcast?

[@fredkiesche4411]

It had to be roughly parallel with the run of B5.

[@tuxguys]

(I'm merely a reader, not a fan, so anything I have to say here is suspect.) I think that there are too many awards, in too many areas, and none of them mean anything anymore. In my opinion, if Ellison had not been the most honored SF writer in history (at that time), his work would have been perceived as multi-genre, and he would have received even more respect and notice than he did.

[@SusloNick]

Pretty much the campaigning and gathering cliques for massvoting undermined the value of awards. Especially in these times when people vote for political reasons instead of quality of the works.

[@obbeachbum69]

Sadly the Hugo's have become as irrelevant as the Nobel Peace Prize; another vehicle for *political activists*. Think I'm being a reactionary? Consider one of the winners last year: "In the near future water falls from the sky whenever someone lies (either a mist or a torrential flood depending on the intensity of the lie). This makes life difficult for Matt as he maneuvers the marriage question with his lover and how best to "come out" to his traditional Chinese parents." -The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere. John Chu This passes for *science fiction*??

[@thewretchedexcess3203]

***** youre using a synopsis to judge something as science-fiction ... reactionary would be a flattering term to describe you with

[@obbeachbum69]

niel b I don't take literary advice from someone who ends a sentence with a preposition.

[@thewretchedexcess3203]

wow, i sure am impressed that you know an archaic grammatical rule. lets hear more about your opinions on science-fiction ... posted under the video of a man responsible for what you're gripin' about in the first place.

[@obbeachbum69]

niel b "archaic grammatical rule" Begone child

[@thewretchedexcess3203]

"begone child for i am not yet done complaining about jews and sjws in the comment sections of youtube videos"

[@affablevagrant]

Who's the unnamed and unworthy author?

[@ViscountAlexOfTheHorsePeople]

Anyone who's had a Hugo since about 1999

[@zarkoff45]

Anyone know who is the "vastly untalented" writer that won a Nebula award that Harlan talked about?

[@MrPatrick1980]

I suspect it's Lois McMaster Bujold. She won the Hugo that year.

[@zarkoff45]

Patrick Sanders Bujold? Is she considered a productive hack? I think I read one book by her. I can't even remember if I liked it or not.

[@rolandf1]

Patrick Sanders Bujold won Hugos and Nebulas before 1995.

[@zarkoff45]

rolandf1 That does seem to contradict Patrick Sanders theory.

[@MrPatrick1980]

Then I got nothing. =)

[@Joeyal123]

This is very sad. Is nothing sacred anymore? I hate this everyone gets trophy generation.

[@scottjoseph9578]

As a person, Ellison was an ass. As a writer, he was Nobel quality.

[@hyperbitcoinizationpod]

Have the Hugo awards become like super cringe and woke these last years? Where are these Harlan types? Is there still some high quality SF being produced? Yes. Gone. No?

[@plaidchuck]

Read dangerous visions if you think woke is something new.

[@hpbecraft]

hubbard was amazing so, maybe this could be a little "strange and horrendous"

[@coprographia]

Beg your pardon?