Season 1
Episode 3: Mudd's Women
Filmed: June 1966
First Air Date: October 11, 1966 (6th episode aired)
Karen: Sex and drugs in space? You better believe it. This episode always struck me as such an oddity. Reading about its genesis and production in Marc Cushman's These are The Voyages Volume 1, it only became stranger. This was essentially a story of prostitution, with three 'mail order brides' that seems better suited for a Western than for Star Trek. It also involves the use of a drug (the Venus drug) which makes a man or woman irresistible. How in the world did any of this get past the censors back in 1966? Cushman posits that part of the answer may lie in the addition of the lovable con man Harry Mudd to the script. As played by actor Roger C. Carmel, Mudd was a larger than life rogue whose comedic behavior distracted from the fact that he was basically a pimp.
Karen: Another thing that got past the censors: the incredibly daring outfits on the women. Trek's wardrobe designer, Bill Theiss, put together some 'barely-there' costumes for all three of the actresses. Apparetnyl this was at the direction of producer Gene Roddenberry. Cushman quotes the show's star, William Shatner, as saying, "Somehow Gene always showed up for the fittings to make his own design adjustments. He'd like to add his own two cents. 'A little less here,' he'd ask Bill, 'A little shorter there.'" Trek Associate Producer John D.F. Black said, "The basic problem we had with 'Mudd's Women' was not the script so much as the wardrobe, as designed, getting it past the censors. It was a very overtly sex-oriented piece."
Karen: That's probably the main reason I never cared for this episode as a kid, and even today, it isn't one of my favorites. I can appreciate some of the ideas but there's nothing about it that says "Star Trek" to me; with a few minor changes it seems like it could be a Western or a contemporary drama. It just goes out of its way to titillate without providing any really interesting plot. Although I will grant that Mudd himself is a well-drawn character, and I enjoyed him in his return, in the second season episode, "I, Mudd."
Karen: Sex and drugs in space? You better believe it. This episode always struck me as such an oddity. Reading about its genesis and production in Marc Cushman's These are The Voyages Volume 1, it only became stranger. This was essentially a story of prostitution, with three 'mail order brides' that seems better suited for a Western than for Star Trek. It also involves the use of a drug (the Venus drug) which makes a man or woman irresistible. How in the world did any of this get past the censors back in 1966? Cushman posits that part of the answer may lie in the addition of the lovable con man Harry Mudd to the script. As played by actor Roger C. Carmel, Mudd was a larger than life rogue whose comedic behavior distracted from the fact that he was basically a pimp.
Karen: Another thing that got past the censors: the incredibly daring outfits on the women. Trek's wardrobe designer, Bill Theiss, put together some 'barely-there' costumes for all three of the actresses. Apparetnyl this was at the direction of producer Gene Roddenberry. Cushman quotes the show's star, William Shatner, as saying, "Somehow Gene always showed up for the fittings to make his own design adjustments. He'd like to add his own two cents. 'A little less here,' he'd ask Bill, 'A little shorter there.'" Trek Associate Producer John D.F. Black said, "The basic problem we had with 'Mudd's Women' was not the script so much as the wardrobe, as designed, getting it past the censors. It was a very overtly sex-oriented piece."
Karen: That's probably the main reason I never cared for this episode as a kid, and even today, it isn't one of my favorites. I can appreciate some of the ideas but there's nothing about it that says "Star Trek" to me; with a few minor changes it seems like it could be a Western or a contemporary drama. It just goes out of its way to titillate without providing any really interesting plot. Although I will grant that Mudd himself is a well-drawn character, and I enjoyed him in his return, in the second season episode, "I, Mudd."
Karen: I think there is also something less than appealing about seeing the male crew turn into quivering adolescents when the women come aboard. Although looking at this clip below, I am again stunned that it got on TV in 1966. I guess you really could get away with almost anything if you called it science fiction!