I, Mudd
- Episode aired Nov 3, 1967
- TV-PG
- 50m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
3.8K
YOUR RATING
Harry Mudd returns with a plot to take over the Enterprise by stranding the crew on a planet populated by androids under his command.Harry Mudd returns with a plot to take over the Enterprise by stranding the crew on a planet populated by androids under his command.Harry Mudd returns with a plot to take over the Enterprise by stranding the crew on a planet populated by androids under his command.
Bobby Bass
- Android
- (uncredited)
Bill Blackburn
- Android
- (uncredited)
Marlys Burdette
- Female Android
- (uncredited)
Roger Holloway
- Lt. Lemli
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Gene Roddenberry
- Stephen Kandel
- David Gerrold(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaA third-season appearance of Harry Mudd was planned but axed due to the producers' desire to move away from comedy episodes. However, Roger C. Carmel would reprise the role of Mudd as a cartoon voice in Mudd's Passion (1973). Mudd was considered for a return during the Star Trek movies in the 1980s, but Carmel's failing health nixed that.
- GoofsThe color shirt of the android who takes over the ship is blue. He keeps skipping medical appointments and Bones is concerned. However, the blue shirt is Science and Medical, which means that if anyone is transferred to the ship, both Spock and Bones would have received paperwork on the individual. They both should have known who the person was and what their purpose was on the ship. Yet, in the opening scene, Spock doesn't know him at all and Bones can't get him to keep a medical appointment.
- Quotes
Captain Kirk: Well, opinions?
Chekov: I think we're in a lot of trouble.
Captain Kirk: That's a great help, Mr. Chekov. Bones?
McCoy: I think Chekov's right, we are in a lot of trouble.
Captain Kirk: Spock, and if you say we're in a lot of trouble...
Spock: We are.
- Alternate versionsSpecial Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song. Highlights include a more detailed look at Norman's "innards."
- ConnectionsFeatured in Star Trek Logs: An MTV Big Picture Special Edition (1991)
Featured review
Harry Mudd and the Androids
The return of Harry Mudd finds him as the presumed ruler of a planet populated by some 207,809 androids, the vestiges of a now extinct extra-galactic civilization. This is one of those intentional comedies from Trek, like the later "A Piece of the Action" and, of course, the popular "The Trouble With Tribbles." The absurdities begin early on in a rather subtle manner. We last saw Mudd a year earlier, in "Mudd's Women." Since then, he'd found himself on the run after pulling one of his scams and, ship damaged, lucked onto this planetoid of obedient android servants. Sometime after that point, the android Norman managed to somehow become a Starfleet officer and came aboard the Enterprise a few days before the episode begins. I suppose nothing is quite beyond an android's formidable abilities if he/it puts a mind to it, meaning an adjustment of computer records or something, but Starfleet and the Enterprise crew seem very blasé about requirements for being on board, as if anyone in a proper uniform can stroll in if they felt like it. No futuristic versions of X-Ray machines, no screening methods like we have at our airports now? All Norman has to do is avoid a medical exam by McCoy for a few days.
Anyway, that's the beginning of Kirk's troubles in this episode. This may be the only original episode to bring back a major guest star for a 2nd go-around. The actor Carmel is as hammy as ever as the scoundrel Mudd, turning out to be a good foil for Kirk, Spock, and all the regulars - sort of an original Trek version of old home week. Mudd seemed out of place in his previous Trek episode but someone got the idea he'd provide decent fun in some calculated amusement - and they were right. And there's more for the regulars to do in this one than is usual: Scotty, Uhura and Chekov get to ham it up a bit almost as much as the main trio. The last act of this episode sort of has to be seen to be believed - the closest we'll ever get to 'Trek on acid' - and it was a bit risky as everyone could have made fools of themselves. Shatner was always even more adept at comedy than drama, so this was a natural for him, but all the others appeared very relaxed in their turns at bizarro behavior. Nimoy as Spock, of course, had to resort to a more dry sense of comic timing, but he also made it work. A very nutty flavor to this one, especially in the 2nd half, and we get to enjoy it. Take note, also, that the Norman android has more than a passing resemblance to Data of 20 years later on the TNG show.
Anyway, that's the beginning of Kirk's troubles in this episode. This may be the only original episode to bring back a major guest star for a 2nd go-around. The actor Carmel is as hammy as ever as the scoundrel Mudd, turning out to be a good foil for Kirk, Spock, and all the regulars - sort of an original Trek version of old home week. Mudd seemed out of place in his previous Trek episode but someone got the idea he'd provide decent fun in some calculated amusement - and they were right. And there's more for the regulars to do in this one than is usual: Scotty, Uhura and Chekov get to ham it up a bit almost as much as the main trio. The last act of this episode sort of has to be seen to be believed - the closest we'll ever get to 'Trek on acid' - and it was a bit risky as everyone could have made fools of themselves. Shatner was always even more adept at comedy than drama, so this was a natural for him, but all the others appeared very relaxed in their turns at bizarro behavior. Nimoy as Spock, of course, had to resort to a more dry sense of comic timing, but he also made it work. A very nutty flavor to this one, especially in the 2nd half, and we get to enjoy it. Take note, also, that the Norman android has more than a passing resemblance to Data of 20 years later on the TNG show.
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- Bogmeister
- Sep 2, 2006
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