Mudd's Women (episode)/background information

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“Mudd's Women”
Star Trek: The Original Series  Episode
Mudd's-women-title-card-01.jpg
In-Universe Details
Stardate1329.8
Date29 Apr 2266  (Terran)
LocationUSS Enterprise
PlanetRigel XII
SystemRigel
SectorRigel
QuadrantAlpha
Background Information
Mudd's women transporter.jpg
Production
Story byGene Roddenberry
Teleplay byStephen Kandel
Directed byHarvey Hart
Produced byGene Roddenberry
Robert H. Justman (AP)
EpisodeTOS: 1x3
Production No.6149-04
Date aired13 October 1966
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"Mudd's Women" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series, Star Trek. Written by Stephen Kandel (based on a story by Gene Roddenberry) and directed by Harvey Hart, it first aired on October 13, 1966.

It is the first of three episodes to feature Harcourt Fenton Mudd, an interstellar con man, who is transporting a cargo of female humans, i.e. Mudd's Women. Mudd would appear again in “I, Mudd” and in The Animated Series episode, “Mudd's Passion”.

Story and script[edit | edit source]

  • The origins of this story can be found in Gene Roddenberry's early 1964 series outline, Star Trek is..., as a story proposal entitled "The Women". That synopsis reads, "Duplicating a page from the 'Old West'; hanky-panky aboard with a cargo of women destined for a far-off colony."
  • This story outline was a candidate for being the first Star Trek pilot, alongside “The Cage” (which was eventually chosen) and "The Perfect World" (which became “The Return of the Archons”).[1] In the revised story outline for this episode (dated 23 July 1964), there were five women, rather than three.
  • NBC did not choose this episode as the second pilot mostly because they were worried about the central theme of "selling women throughout the galaxy" and the guest stars being "an intergalactic pimp" and "three space hookers".[3]
  • Teleplay writer Stephen Kandel recalled of this episode, "Gene had the idea of using a personal enhancer-allure drug, and I provided the character [of Harry Mudd]. We spent an afternoon talking about it, and out of the conversation evolved the story idea and then, of course, I wrote the story. Gene went over it in great, meticulous and obsessive detail, and then I wrote the script."[4]
  • In a story memo excerpted in The Making of Star Trek, associate producer Robert H. Justman wrote, "On page 55 we see Benton riding a digging machine toward his cabin. Let's eliminate this device right now."
  • A lengthy monologue in which Harry Mudd attempted to persuade Uhura into taking the Venus drug was also excluded from the episode. The scene's removal was because it was deemed too wordy and long.[5]
  • Roger C. Carmel was extremely disappointed by the deletion of this monologue, later describing it as "wonderful". He explained, "I remember being very disappointed because I felt the monologue was very effective and very much to the point of the show's philosophy." He nevertheless liked this episode, just as much as he liked the second season outing “I, Mudd”.[5]

Cast and characters[edit | edit source]

  • Although Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) does not appear in the episode, she was on the set during filming, trying to observe everything and get comfortable with the sets and the mood.[6]
  • Eddie Paskey appears in green coveralls for the only time in the series, as "Connors" in sickbay.

Costumes[edit | edit source]

Makeup[edit | edit source]

  • Although Karen Steele and Maggie Thrett were given makeup and facial appliances to make them appear ugly as the Venus drug wore off in Harry Mudd's quarters, Susan Denberg appears not to have been similarly made up; her hair was simply disheveled. [citation needed]

Sets and props[edit | edit source]

  • The quarters used by Mudd and his ladies is the set for Kirk's quarters, with all of the furnishings removed.
  • This marks the first appearance of the sound stage cyclorama used for different planets throughout the series, which was lighted with different colored filters, to give an appearance of many unique-colored atmospheres. Associate producer Robert Justman came up with this idea after realizing that reusing the same cloudy background from the two pilots, over and over again, would result in all planets looking the same. Justman personally decided the backdrop colors for each episode. Problems often arose when the colored gels either faded or burned up after a short while in front of a hot light, and the burning gels made an unbearable odor on the set.[7] The backdrop lighting used in this episode for Rigel XII, with tornadic streaks in it, was also utilized in “The Enemy Within”.
  • The elliptical shaped playing cards on which Eve plays solitaire in Ben Childress' home, can be seen in the Enterprise recreation room in later episodes (“Charlie X” and “The Conscience of the King”).

Production[edit | edit source]

  • Harlan Ellison visited the set during the filming of this episode. Ellison was writing his first draft teleplay for “The City on the Edge of Forever” at the time in an office at the Desilu lot. Associate producer John D. F. Black couldn't find Ellison in his office and was angered when he finally found him on Stage 10, posing for photographs and eating lunch with the cast and crew.[1]
  • Jerry Finnerman was encouraged to be creative in choosing dramatic lighting and camera angles. Bob Justman recalled that he said to Finnerman, "We're all in outer space, Jerry, and we're in color. NBC claims to be the first full-color network, so let's prove it for them. When you light the sets, throw wild colors in – magenta, red, green, any color you can find – especially behind the actors when they're in a close shot. Be dramatic. In fact, go overboard. Backlight the women and make them more beautiful. Take some chances. Nobody can tell you that's not the way the future will look. How can they? They ain't been there yet." Bob Justman was very pleased with the final results in this episode. He stated, "Guest stars Karen Steele, Maggie Thrett and Susan Denberg, good-looking in real life, looked even more radiantly lovely and ravishing as they worked their magic upon Captain Kirk and crew – after Jerry worked his magic upon the three actresses."[8]
  • The production of this episode went a day over schedule. According to Bob Justman and Herbert Solow, this was due to the intricate camera setups used by director Harvey Hart, which had good results but were too time-consuming. Hart also made things difficult for the editors by "camera cutting" the show, leaving few choices of shot available. Due to these factors, Hart was not invited back to the show.[9]

Continuity[edit | edit source]

  • This episode's final scene aboard the bridge is the series' first suggestion that Vulcans have a different arrangement of internal organs than Humans. Specifically, McCoy places the Vulcan heart at roughly the place of the Human spleen. This is later made more explicit in TOS: "The Omega Glory".
  • At one point, Scotty states that the weight of the Enterprise is "almost a million gross tons." However, the Starfleet Reference Manual by Franz Joseph states that the weight of a U.S.S. Constitution-class heavy cruiser is 190,000 tons.

Preview[edit | edit source]

  • The preview contains a Captain's Log recorded solely for the preview: "Captain's log, stardate 1329.1. The Enterprise brings aboard the survivors of an ill-fated vessel."

Syndication cuts[edit | edit source]

During the syndication run of Star Trek, the following scenes were typically cut from broadcast

  • A lengthy scene of Spock leading Mudd and his women through the corridors of the ship including closeups of the women's backsides.
  • Extended dialogue from Mudd's hearing.
  • A longer search by Harry Mudd for the Venus drug in his quarters.
  • Extended scenes of the party on Rigel XII.
  • Eve running out of the party into the wind followed by her struggling against the elements, and Childress then searching for her.
  • A more lengthy transformation of Eve when she takes the fake Venus drug.

Reception[edit | edit source]

  • Upon its initial airing, this episode was generally well received. Stephen Kandel later noted, "We got a lot of favorable response."[4] Roger C. Carmel likewise said about the episode, "It was a pretty big success and they got a lot of positive reaction from it."[5]
  • Regarding the script, Herb Solow commented, "It was very well written, it was fun, and it featured three beautiful women-hookers selling their bodies throughout the galaxy. It later became a standout and much-loved episode in the series."[10]
  • NBC Program Manager Jerry Stanley recalled that "One of the problems we had was in trying to talk [Roddenberry] out of some of his sexual fantasies that would come to life in the scripts. Some of the scenes he would describe were totally unacceptable". William Shatner noted "that NBC allowed "Mudd's Women" to be produced at all is still a minor miracle".[11]
  • However, in A Star Trek Catalog, editor Gerry Turnbull criticizes the episode as "uneven," noting that it "swings wildly between tragedy and comedy".
  • Author Paula M. Block pointed to this episode as one of the most prominent examples of sexism in The Original Series, criticizing the "How to Marry a Millionaire mindset" shown. She commented, "Take Eve, the most rational of the three women. After spending most of her life cleaning up after a bunch of unappreciative male siblings, all she wants is the opportunity to connect with a good man. Even after learning that she doesn't need the Venus drug to appear desirable, Eve can't foresee a future that doesn't involve snaring a man. The thought of serving aboard a starship never occurs to her – except perhaps as the captain's wife. So she consigns herself to life on barren Rigel XII, cleaning up for another unappreciative male (miner Ben Childress) and listening to the winds blow day and night."[12]

Production timeline[edit | edit source]

Video and DVD releases[edit | edit source]

Cast[edit | edit source]

Starring[edit | edit source]

Guest star[edit | edit source]

Co-starring[edit | edit source]

Featuring[edit | edit source]

Maggie Thrett as Ruth Bonaventure in sickbay
And

Uncredited co-stars[edit | edit source]

Stand-ins[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

External links[edit | edit source]

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