An interesting screenplay from way back when Ellison was a writer, prefaced by his usual whining about how badly treated he was (in this case, by the entire cast and crew of Star Trek, Paramount Television and the Writer's Guild). Having read his version of the screenplay, I gotta say I liked the aired version better (the one that won a Hugo award). His had some interesting stuff, but it didn't really fit Star Trek. ( )

Here Harlan Ellison presents his original version of the best episode of Star Trek: TOS, which could have been even better had it been filmed as written. There are one or two plot points on which the televised version improved (one of which Ellison only introduced in the first place because he was told that it was required), but in general Ellison's script, the one that won the WGA award, is a fascinating study of moral inabsolutes and human flaws which can ultimately only be corrected by the not-completely-human Spock. The televised version is still great because of what remains of the original, but it is watered down in comparison.

The teleplay is introduced by a case-for-the-defense by Harlan Ellison, complete with documentary evidence. I was first impressed by Harlan's talent for a good rant before I ever read any of his work, so I enjoyed it. There are also two early treatments, a rewritten version of the early scenes once McCoy was made the catalyst for going back in time, and afterwords by several people with connections to Trek. ( )

http://home.comcast.net/~tonydal/wise... ( )

While Harlan contends that his original draft of the screenplay is the best, I would contend they both have their own merits. I know I would be pissed if someone massively rewrote something of mine, and lied about it later, but the I think that the way the episode aired was probably better television.