Trivia Challenge Answer: Mudd n' Gumm

Hey, check it out--two posts in a row!  I'm on a roll.  

Enjoy it while you can. God only knows how long its gonna last.

This is going to be just a quick post to clue you in on the answer to the trivia question posed in my previous post.  For those with short memories, or who are too bloody lazy to click on the link I've so helpfully provided in the last sentence, said query was: 

What does the two part episode of Batman which featured a guest appearance by the Green Hornet have in common with Star Trek?

The answer is two-fold.  First, the two parts of the episode we're talking about were entitled "A Piece of the Action" and "Batman's Satisfaction".  The former, the hard core Trekkers amongst you will immediately recognize, is also the title of a classic episode of the original Trek in which the Enterprise encounters a society modeled after a book on Chicago mobs of the 1920's left behind by previous visitors from Starfleet a century earlier.  Of course, that second season episode hadn't yet aired by the time those Batman installments ran.

The more obvious and important link, as one of my more astute and pop culture savvy readers rightly surmised, is the fact that the villain whom Batman and the Green Hornet encounter in this adventure, one Colonel Gumm, nefarious leader of a ring of stamp counterfeiters, is portrayed by Roger C. Carmel.  Carmel is best known for his portrayal of the charming rogue Harcourt Fenton (a.k.a. "Harry") Mudd in the first season episode "Mudd's Women" and the second season's "I, Mudd".  He also reprised the role for the animated episode "Mudd's Passion".

Mudd was a great character and I wish there were more episodes featuring the character.  However, in his DVD commentary for the animated episode "More Tribbles, More Troubles", David Gerrold, writer of that episode as well as the original "The Trouble with Tribbles", states that Fred Freiberger, who had taken over as producer for Trek's third year, nixed plans for a live action sequel to "Tribbles" by haughtily declaring that "Star Trek is not a comedy."  Given the light hearted tone of the episodes in which Mudd appeared, especially the outright comedy of "I, Mudd", it is likely that attitude on Freiberger's part that also doomed any chances of Mudd reappearing to further vex Kirk and his crew.