“I, Mudd”

Stardate: 4513.3
Episode: 41
Original US Airdate: 3 November 1967

Summary

In this rollicking adventure/farce, an android (Norman) masquerading as a human signs aboard the Enterprise and within 72 hours wreaks havoc in Engineering and kidnaps the ship and crew, taking them to a planet ruled by intergalactic rogue Harry Mudd and populated by 207,809 androids (including 500 identically beautiful Alices; several Barbaras, Maisies, Trudies, Annabelles, Hermans, and Oscars; and one replica of Mudd's shrewish wife Stella).

Mudd plans to use the Enterprise to escape the androids and strand the crew on the planet, offering them a virtual paradise (an eternally beautiful android body for Uhura, a state-of-the-art medical lab for McCoy, an advanced machine shop for Scotty, and androids programmed to function as "real girls" for Chekov). The androids, however, decide that humanity needs to be "protected" against itself and seize the Enterprise in order to occupy and overtake the galaxy. A desperate Mudd cooperates with the crew to defeat the androids, using illogic and a bizarre "performance" to confuse the Alices and Norman (the androids' controller)—even Spock gets into the act and manages a few paradoxes.

After the androids are defeated, they are reprogrammed and Mudd is entrusted to their care (including 500 Stellas with no "off" switch).

The Guest Star

Roger Carmel's portrayal of Mudd is less grating and more polished than in "Mudd's Women"—but what kind of accent is that anyway?

Six Degrees of Lucy

Carmel also starred in the 1967 NBC sitcom The Mothers-in-Law, which was produced by Desi Arnaz, whose ex-wife's company (Desilu) produced Star Trek.

Anachronism

Chekov: "This is even better than Leningrad"—is there a second Bolshevik Revolution to come? [After the fall of Communism in the 1980s, Leningrad was renamed St. Petersburg.]

Bons Mots

"I am not programmed to respond in that area." (a response for all occasions)

Mudd: "Typical police mentality—they've got no sense of humor; they arrested me!"
McCoy (sarcastically): "Oh, I find that shocking."

Kirk: "Who caught you?"
Mudd: "That, sir, is an outrageous assumption!"
Kirk: "Yes. Who caught you?"

Spock: "You went to substantial risk and effort to bring a starship here. Logically, you must have a compelling motive."
Mudd: "Spock, you're going to love it here! They all talk just the way you do."

Mudd: "They won't let me go! They want to study me; they want to learn more about human beings."
Kirk: "They picked a fine representative."

Mudd: "I'm no scientist!"
Kirk: "No, you're an irritant. You'll stay here and provide a first-class example to the androids of a human failure. They'll learn by close observation how to avoid ones like you in the future."
Mudd: "How long?"
Kirk: "As long as you continue to be an irritant, Harry; it's up to you."

Video Captures

(From the "I, Mudd" laser disc; click thumbnail to see full-sized picture)

Course change	Title Screen	Title Screen	Bemused Kirk	Stella Mudd
Alice 118	Squeeze for Uhura	Alice 118 crashes	Scotty is “killed”	"I am not programmed…"
Farewell to Mudd

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