The Terminator/Harlan Ellison Controversy

Also, reasons for mailing rodents

Did James Cameron steal the idea for The Terminator from two Outer Limits episodes written by Harlan Ellison? There’s enough evidence that Ellison took him to court and won a settlement, although Cameron did not fully admit to the deed. The episode Ellison focused on was called “Soldier,” while fans have also pointed to “Demon with a Glass Hand.” I’ve known of this lore for a while, but last week I looked up The Outer Limits and found out they are streaming free (with ads, if that’s free) on Pluto.

If this crazy prop doesn’t get you to watch, I don’t know what else to do. Are you a fan of the old Doctor Who? It has all the same low budget fun.

The Author/Controversy

Before I get too much further, I should say a little something about Harlan Ellison and the controversy overall.

Harlan Ellison wrote thousands of stories over his career. The situations and plotlines he created for stories such as “I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” were nothing like science fiction or literature had seen before. You really don’t know where he’s going with a story until he gets there. Based on originality and his body of work alone, he’s one of the American greats; then when you look at the influence he had on so many of your other favorites, he becomes iconic.

Personality-wise, he was known for being argumentative, abrasive, and opinionated. Creatively, these qualities help a writer craft stories without worrying about what others will think of it, which builds the confidence needed to be an original. However, it ruins most artists’ personal lives before they break through.

There was a story that long circulated among authors that Harlan Ellison mailed his publisher a dead gopher over a contract dispute. Back in the day when cheap paperback books were vehicles for selling cigarette ads in postcard-like inserts, Ellison had a deal with Ace to not allow such ads—when his book came out with the ads, he became irate. And, assuming after verbal tantrums did him no good, he did the only thing a writer can do: send a deceased animal your dog brings in from the yard¹ to the legal department. Neil Gaiman confirmed the story five years ago, and that’s good enough for me to believe it.

Screenshot from Gaiman’s Twitter. It’s still up but most of the thread is gone, like tears in the rain.

After The Terminator was complete, a journalist asked James Cameron about the origin of the idea. He said something to the effect that he had ripped off a few of Ellison’s Outer Limits episodes. The journalist, a big Ellison fan, got word back with the original interview. To add to the conspiracy, this quote was not in the final cut. But Ellison wouldn’t let go, sneaking into the premiere in the guise of Leonard Maltin’s assistant. As soon as the film was done, he began his attack.

The Outer Limits

I wasn’t an Outer Limits kid—I was born in 1969, too late for the original broadcasts, and they weren’t syndicated where I lived—I had The Twilight Zone and a few other half-assed copies like Tales from the Darkside. I don’t think I’d seen any of them at all. What better way to start in than with the two Ellison episodes?

Demon with a Glass Hand

This is the second one I watched, but it was clearly the better of the two. The camerawork and lighting are fantastic. It’s all the dark beauty of old noir films, and a little bit like Hitchcock’s black-and-white films—I’m thinking specifically of Spellbound, although I haven’t seen that in years to make sure. If you start with one episode, start with this one.

The main character just appears before us, unaware of who he is as much as we are unaware of him. We do learn immediately that he has a glass hand that is missing some fingers, and when he finds the other fingers, the computer embedded in the clear palm will be able to instruct him fully. His whole world is one building that he vertically ascends, looking for a “time mirror” and some answers. Along the way, he finds many enemies and one cleaning lady. The only real flaw in the story is that I have no idea why she is still there and all the other humans are gone.

However, without spoilers, I can tell you it’s a satisfying development and ending. This is definitely an episode to start the series with. Later, I watched the first episode of the first season, and it’s clunky and awkward. By this episode, they had found their tone and look of the show, and the glass hand prop is really cool to look at. I would have watched a whole series of this character trying to figure out his world, like The Prisoner.

The Terminator Connection

There’s an iconic hand that has to do more with Terminator 2: Judgment Day than the original. I think Cameron’s in the clear on this one.

Soldier

In the far future, two soldiers face off in a barren wasteland. Suddenly, they’re thrown down some kind of time-slide, that, like all good time slides, involves a spiral. One of them shows up first in Downtown Anytown, USA, wreaking havoc and destruction with his raygun-rifle. Unfortunately, his helmet falls off and this timeline’s life is just too damn loud and he succumbs to the noise of a construction site. He ends up going to the suburbs with a linguist, while his enemy appears in the desert somewhere and begins tracking him. The dialogue is horrible, but the episode overall is fun. The costumes have a great retro look, the way that in the past, they thought we’d dress in the future.

The Terminator Connection

Well, two guys go from the future to the past to hunt each other. And the first guy talks robotically like Arnold. But that’s about it. I can see why Ellison, a very egocentric person, was upset by it—especially with the seed planted by Starlog. But if I were the judge in the case, I would have ruled for Cameron based on this episode’s content. I’m guessing it was cheaper just to settle.

Bonus Content

YouTube vid about this whole incident, with Harlan footage

Tom Snyder makes Ellison show us his human side with the gift of a painting

An old Esquire article in which Frank Sinatra and Ellison exchange words over a pair of boots.

1. This is pure conjecture on my part. “Why a gopher?” is a question to which we will never have a true answer, only speculations.