Starcrossed Author:Ben Bova "The Starcrossed" is a wildly satirical look at the entertainment industry, telling a true story with a thin veneer of science-fiction flavoring. — Author Ben Bova was involved in the early 1970s as the technical consultant for a science-fiction television series called "The Starlost," which was based on a premise by science-fiction author and al... more »l-around rakehell Harlan Ellison. A number of boneheaded executive decisions, cost-cutting and general ineptitude on the staff's part led both Bova and Ellison to quit the show, which has gained a reputation in science-fiction circles as a virtually unwatchable mess.
Bova - normally a "hard" science fiction writer, produced one of the most enjoyable satires in the genre.
In the near future, volatile, blacklisted Hollywood writer Ron Gabriel (representing Ellison) is trying to sell his idea of a spaceborne Romeo and Juliet series; engineer Bill Oxnard (representing Bova) is trying to raise funding for his laboratory on the strength of a new, static-and-flicker-free 3D television system. When a struggling studio picks up Gabriel's story premise as a testbed vehicle for Oxnard's flicker-free 3D, the avalanche starts as various studio forces try their best to scuttle the show while, at the same time in circular logic fashion, try to make money off it.« less