Lost In Christmas

"Baby it's cold outside... baby it's bad out there."

"God bless us, every one!"

"I must stop Christmas from coming... but how?"

"Happy Birthday."

Thanks so much for taking time to make Musings Of A Sci-Fi Fanatic one of your stops year round. May you all get a little something nice for Christmas and enjoy your families in whatever form they may be. The Robinsons are the perfect choice to visit for Christmas. Perhaps the fact Lost In Space was a family drama makes it a natural choice to doctor photos. Afterall, there's something very comforting and right at home about The Robinsons in that It's A Wonderful Life [1946] kind of way. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

June, Marta & Penny Triple Auto

This beautiful profile featuring the truly gorgeous ladies of Irwin Allen's Lost In Space inspired me to share something from the bowels of the dreaded Fancave... so, ... to the Fancave!

I happened upon this triple threat card, an official triple autograph card from Rittenhouse signed by the lovely June Lockhart, Marta Kristen and Angela Cartwright, on ebay. There are a number of other nifty autos from the set and the rare insertion of reprinted original 1966 cards. I don't have them all. It was very hard to pull off. They only came one 1966 card for every eight packs for a total of 110 cards in the set. Ouch! Burn my wallet now!

All of these lovely ladies are fortunately still with us and I prefer to keep it that way. I'm not exactly sure what the going value is on the card and/or how truly rare it is. There are certainly a finite number out there and it was the only triple autograph card released in the card series. I can't imagine there will be many other official card releases to see the union of these three beauties for a signing on one card.

I'm particularly fond of the use of bold colors on the card, the strong marker use on the signatures [I am a geek] and that wonderful image pose selected for the back of the card of Lockhart, Kristen and Cartwright as Maureen, Judy and Penny Robinson in silver space suits. Did I mention the best of life comes in threes?

Lost In Space S1 Ep9: The Oasis

The beautifully effective, foreign and lonely terrain surrounding the Jupiter II on Lost In Space. Science fiction today rarely look this genuine.

When we last left our dear family Robinson a boulder was befalling the heads of Norwegian beauty Marta Kristen as Judy Robinson and one Mark Goddard as Major Don West. Here we are with Lost In Space, Season One, Episode 9, The Oasis. There's nothing like waxing nostalgic with one of the many wonderful gems of this series. I couldn't help but have a bit of fun with this particular entry in the series.

Don's leg is caught wedged between some rocks and Professor John Robinson helps break him free. Dr. Zachary Smith, as could only be expected, is a late arrival. "Can I help?" he inquires. How Smith never got a laser shot between the eyes is a minor miracle.

Aboard the Jupiter II, John Robinson writes about their greatest issue, the conservation of water on this currently hot, arid planet. The temperatures run the gamut of extremes. Don and John comment about the lack of water. Don has the best line: "I wouldn't plan on putting a swimming pool in this season" or there's not enough water "to moisten a toothbrush." John calculates they have enough water for fourteen days. The tank is checked and it appears to be missing much more water than first indicated. There's actually enough water for just twenty four hours. Both men don't believe it could have evaporated that quickly. Where has the water gone? Could Smith be involved? No....

*

This guy is a beaut!

Sure enough, Dr. Smith is showering with The Robot's assistance. Good grief- he's such a team player. "I oughta kick you clear into orbit for taking a shower at a time like this." John and Don are rightfully pissed. Smith indicates he was losing precious bodily fluids. How this connects with the need for a shower remains a mystery. Their lives are hanging in the balance thanks to Smith misuse of resources.

Mrs. Maureen Robinson comes to Smith's defense indicating he may not have understood the gravity of their situation. "Thank you dear lady," appreciates Smith. The family will be looking for some water undergound.

Debbie's back! Where has that little alien monkey been? Will Robinson unintentionally gives Smith a few jabs about his age. Will's hysterical without trying to be hysterical. So Smith is too hot and tired to continue and abandons the family mission. The family stumbles upon a watering hole and big chunks of fruit float to the surface. Why exactly does the fruit float to the surface precisely when John Robinson touches the water? The family grabs a bunch for testing back at the ship. It would appear Debbie is disinterested in waiting and does a little sampling on the side as only a native, wild creature of the planet would do.

Great camera shot. The photography and camera work never fails.

Mrs. Robinson finds Dr. Smith outside of the ship eating all of the untested fruit. She tells Smith they could be poisonous. Smith is a true dimwit. He is a cowardly beast.

The family reckons all they can do is sit and wait for any symptoms that might appear on Smith. This would be, in my opinion, the episode that really launches Dr. Smith into full on coward mode. He is a blathering reject of a coward that is insulting to cowards.

It's interesting to see the shadow moving in the background in this shot. There are two moving.

The family looks for Smith. He is now missing. The family try to argue the situation and Judy acts as a devil's advocate of a sort. She wonders if she would have eaten the fruit. There is some good insight here into protocol and family training for their mission.

Judy Robinson is one fine, special Earth specimen.

Judy is really having trouble with her conscience. She feels guilty for not being kind to Smith. She's also looking rather perky in that tank top. Mrs. Robinson is the voice of reason. "I don't like to speak ill of him, but he wasn't always very likeable you know." It's kind of funny to see the family play into their guilt over Smith's absence. They speak of him like he's been gone for weeks. Everyone seems more than willing to make excuses and take the slimey, snake in the grass back. They all miss him. They are really pining away for him and miss his presence dearly. Crikey! He's just gone missing! I could see if it had been a few weeks maybe. For crying out loud he is the most untrusting dog too. It's written all over his face, but they seem willing to look the other way out of compassion. "Injustice collectors" is how Mrs. Robinson refers to Smith's personality type. Even Debbie misses the doublecrossing agent. All of this love for the guy and yet Smith is out and about plotting their demise. Oh the pain indeed. Go figure. Logic wasn't always a Lost In Space strongpoint of course.

The beautiful ladies of Lost In Space.

Anyway, Smith is busily recording his final words on a reel to reel. Future technology never looked so old or so good! UFO, Lost In Space and a host of others loved the reel to reel. It was certainly the operating mode of storage back in the day.

Don indicates one of the fuel cells is damaged in the water dispenser. Troubling times are ahead. The family needs to pray for rain if they are to survive.

Meanwhile Smith has passed out and night turns into bright, blistering day. As John, Don and Will look for Smith, it is Don who is the only sensible one of the bunch. Will indicates Smith may be dead at this point and Don replies [with the classic], "don't be surprised if I give over three loud cheers." That's cruel says Will. Don is the only one who knows Smith is not a team player and a treacherous fly in the ointment. John checks in with camp and asks Maureen to check the fruit culture. She reports there is "bacterial motion on the slide." There is clumping. This indicates the fruit is not safe to eat.

Debbie is transformed into another of Lost In Space's answers to the Japanese kaijin, a truly frightening man-in-suit beast.

Penny goes to the window and finds Debbie is growing as a result of the fruit. It turns out Debbie is growing hysterically into a man in a monkey suit. Terrible. So funny. I was dying. "At least she seems to be friendly," says Maureen. Really. Debbie looks kind of scary with that plastic mask. As always the cast plays it straight and delivers the drama. As a kid, this was truly bizarre, but horrifying stuff.

Our trio of male heroes happen upon Smith's reel to reel recording. Smith is very much alive. He is now a giant Smith. Lost In Space delivers its version of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Smith is so corrupt and nasty and evil toward the Robinson family that when the trio stumbles upon giant Smith the evil Doctor throws a tree at them. Can you believe Will actually missed this turkey? A laser gun might come in handy at this point. "He's as tall as three men and just as strong." Debbie is equally large, but playful according to Maureen. Have you ever heard of monkey's ripping people's hands and faces off? Yes, we have. I'll pass on the playfully friendly monkey thanks.

Anyway, welcome to the Land Of The Giants. Yes, another Irwin Allen classic in the making that scored with audiences from 1968-1970. Now, as if Smith has somehow transformed into a kind of raging animal beyond sheer height alone, Will rationalizes to his father he can reason with him. What kind of ferocious beast are we dealing with here? There's very little to suggest Smith has done anything more than grow into a very large whiner. Further, there's little evidence to suggest Will can reason with Smith. Professor Robinson has Smith in his laser sight. Hopefully Will can reason with their stowaway beast. I love when Will talks to Smith and Smith is simply looking straight ahead to talk with him. They didn't get the angles right for that scene. It's amusing as many juvenile moments in The Oasis are amusing.

Smith is truly pathetic and becomes increasingly so.

Will tells Smith the fruit he ate made him grow. Now, how exactly wouldn't Smith be aware that he grew to giant proportions? How can Smith not see that Will is as big as a Star Wars figure. I mean, he isn't even playing in the same reality for God's sake. Smith says the sun is toying with his vision. I think the fruit and the sun are toying with the man's mind. Smith grovels with tears further cementing my take on his transition to full, dastardly coward. He calls himself a freak and he's really got things right finally. He sneezes on the family and whips up a good wind. "What a fate," he cries. Smith is a pathetic victim, but he plays the part well.

Back at the Jupiter II, John reckons the pituitary gland is out of control for Smith. Maureen feels he is "a very lonely and frightened man right now." And that's different from the norm how? Maureen would like to see him.

Maureen approaches Smith and he sneezes some shmegma on her. At least when Bill Bixby turned into the Hulk his clothes tore off his body. The inexplicable fact of the matter is, Smith somehow retains his clothes in the growth process. How could the fruit affect non-living tissue? Now, we know the bacteria was growing and the fruit has an adverse affect on the body, but there is no explanation given how he could possibly retain his belt, boots, trousers and valore shirt without a single tear. All items have grown to massive proportions right along with him. The science just doesn't add up on Lost In Space and that's what makes it downright laughable, but deliciously good fun. So Maureen tells Smith he's the same as he always was. No different. She calls him a brave man. He laughs as we do at her attempts to placate him. He thinks only of himself and whines they'll be no bed big enough for him. He sneezes on her again and he figures he may have a cold. She tells him the sooner they get him back to the ship the better. Come again? How do you figure? The man is a disaster. Bringing him to the Jupiter II could be catastrophic, but okay.

Day turns to night and the man in the freaky-looking monkey suit and Smith are sneezing up a storm together. Beeezarre stuff indeed. So a rain storm arrives and our dear friends are shrunken back to normal size by the falling rain.

Debbie and Smith offer up sizable comic relief. He has made a full conversion to Lost In Space court jester with this particular entry.

*

At a glance it's not the most intimidating prop, but the accompanying sound effects would put the fear of God in you.

The epilogue finds Robot alerting Smith to the approach of a strange, alien object. It is strange indeed, but not strange enough to cower in fear and get the heck out of dodge. What is wrong with this pathetic man? The Oasis is certainly one of the campier moments from Lost In Space Season One. This is not one of writer Peter Packer's finer moments especially considering he handled chores on Lost In Space, Episode 6, Welcome Stranger. The Oasis looks pretty, but up close this is one of Season One's weaker retreats.

TO BE CONTINUED... Same Time, Same BLOG!

The Oasis: C-

Director: Sutton Roley

Writer: Peter Packer

Star Trek TOS S1 Ep6: Mudd's Women

It's the one, the only Star Trek: The Original Series.

"Even at this early stage of the game, there was no mistaking Bill's [Theiss] fondness for for flashing female flesh, as he almost immediately pulled the pants off our female crew members, and replaced them with (and I mean short) miniskirts.  Even within our first handful of episodes, Theiss had begun his series-long habit of keeping our guest actresses chilly ... and nearly naked.  One look at Mudd's women or at the 'dress' that Sherry Jackson's barely wearing in What Are Little Girls Made Of? proves this point quite nicely." -William Shatner with Chris Kreski, Memories [1993] [p.86] speaking of Theiss eye for the ladies as well as his skill at creating an Enterprise uniform-

It's clear to me now Star Trek: The Next Generation Season One fails to rival Star Trek: The Original Series on every level including the hot babe quotient. Are these women not some of the finest of the female population?! Sexist or not, ST:TOS got it right on every front [most of the time].

Robert J. Sawyer wrote in his introduction to the book Boarding The Enterprise: Transporters, Tribbles And The Vulcan Death Grip in Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, "Four decades on, and all over the planet, people still know and love Star Trek- indeed, they know it so well that they recognize individual episodes by their titles." This is a remarkable truth. We remember sets, we remember faces, we remember the women, we remember the ideas and concepts and dog gone it we remember the bloody episode titles. You certainly can't say that about most series. Some series have their moments and I know them by their name in some cases, but how many episode titles in Star Trek, in general, conjure the kind of vivid, colorful memories in the way ST:TOS did? This is why it is a classic. There are movements, gestures, words spoken by its cast and stories burned into our collective subconscious like no other series.

Well, the world of Gene Roddenberry is certainly, rightfully credited to THE man for its vivid, expansive and detailed mythology as it was slowly revealed and unfolded over the course of three amazing seasons. But, as Allen Steele accurately points out in his piece called All Our Tomorrows: The Shared Universe Of Star Trek in Boarding The Enterprise, the success of Star Trek wasn't achieved my one man alone. It took many creative minds to add elements to the gradually unfolding adventure and mythology. As Steele points out it took "many other writers to add bits and pieces here and there." As he states, "they collectively developed a universe unlike any that had ever been seen before." This layered, "bottom-up approach" as he calls it generated the detail and foundation needed for a lasting legacy. Season One of ST:TNG appears to lack that kind of definitive vision.

Take writer Stephen Kandel's treatment of a Gene Roddenberry concept [Roddenberry did love his women] and we have some interesting elements introduced in Mudd's Women to the lasting Star Trek universe, almost. There is a reference to lithium crystals, rather than dilithium, with regard to the power source of the Enterprise. They may not have gotten it exactly right, including a reference to Spock as "Vulcanian," but they were striving for something major, something very big here inside of each story.

Captain's Log Stardate 1329.8. Enterprise in pursuit of an unidentified vessel. Spock indicates it is a cargo vessel. Scotty warns the ship may overheat its engines if the pursuit continues. Kirk orders Spock and Scotty to standby in the transporter room.

Scotty, Spock & Bones: Twitterpated!

One of the things I always loved about Star Trek was the promise of women- lots and lots of beautiful women. I was young then. I don't think I fully appreciated the women until the latter syndication years. The other aspect of Star Trek I love more now is that ongoing potential for love with those women by my favorite characters. Perhaps the potential for loving would be more appropriate.

Bambi, Thumper & Flower: Twitterpated!

I digress a bit here, but watching the men of ST:TOS moved by the arrival of attractive women somehow reminded me of another trio of friends who learned that such attraction was perfectly natural. Of course the attraction on Star Trek wasn't wholly natural, but it certainly could have been. I had to laugh watching Scotty, Spock and Bones greet the ladies in a kind of mesmerized stupor. It was like watching the tail end of Walt Disney's Bambi [1942]. Do you remember the scene? I give you the Spock, Scotty and Bones of Bambi in Bambi, Thumper and Flower.

Fan service: Star Trek style.

Three. I've been considering the number three for some time lately. It's been a theory of mine I've been developing. They say bad things happen in threes. Movie franchises, some of the best, happen in trilogies [Mad Max, Star Wars]. Some of the finest television series often center on the chemistry between three key characters. Star Trek of course gave us Kirk, Spock and Bones. Six Million Dollar Man delivered some genuine magic through the Steve Austin, Jamie Sommers and Oscar Goldman played by Lee Majors, Lindsay Wagner and Richard Anderson respectively. Of course, comedies like Three's Company delivered too. Finally, the best science fiction series of all-time, Star Trek: The Original Series delivered three seasons. Could the magic of it all be the number three? I do wonder. The theory is hardly original I'm sure, but there's something about the number three.

We now boldly go now into Star Trek: The Original Series, Season One, Episode 6, Mudd's Women.

We open with some impressive new special effects of the Enterprise navigating an asteroid field in pursuit of the spacecraft. The Enterprise is experiencing some circuit and power issues throughout the old girl. Scotty beams aboard an intriguing character in the form of Irishman Leo Walsh. Have you seen characters as flamboyant and colorful as this personality in ST:TNG Season One? I think not. Walsh beams over three additional parties as their vessel is breaking apart. The three other crew members are brought aboard as the ship explodes. Bones is among the receiving party who essentially welcomes three mightily hot, sexy, curvy babes that rank off the charts. The three men are captivated by their beauty taking large gulps in awe of their presence [as noted earlier]. Kirk makes every effort to hail his man Scotty who finally snaps out of it and reports to Kirk that four individuals are now aboard. Bones is particularly lost in their beauty. Here is that noteworthy sequence.

Walsh's women are to die for with voluptuous curves in all the right places. The group really turns heads aboard the Enterprise. "Men will always be men no matter where they are... you'll never take that out of them." Spock keeps his emotions in check and the women at bay. The group is brought before a fairly perturbed Kirk who turns in stunned astonishment to what stands before him. Temptation and sex were certainly undercurrents throughout ST:TOS and sometimes these issues were unabashedly overt while others more nuanced. Sexuality was certainly one element of ST:TOS, politically correct or not, that I adored and still do. You'll find far less of this subtext in ST:TNG and no science fiction franchise pulled it off with as much sexual tension, feeling, emotion and overall delicious execution than ST:TOS. The series captures a sensual mood and atmosphere that walks a line of open and concealed better than any I've seen. Thankfully, Roddenberry and the creators fearlessly went down these roads. Kirk asks Walsh if this is his crew, but he corrects him indicating that "it's me cargo." Kirk notes the females have a "magnetic," almost hypnotic effect on his crew.

Kirk is convening a hearing on Walsh's evasive actions throughout the asteroid belt. "You can feel their eyes when they look at you like something grabbin' a hold of you," indicates one of the crewman to Sulu. Sulu agrees.

In the prison hold, Walsh is held with his three lovely lassies. One of the girls, desperately indicates to "Harry" they are going the wrong way. Leo tries to correct her on his name, but the truth about Harry is beginning to get out. He is essentially a certifiable space pimp. There's a touch of the manic about the jolly fellow.

"I'll go for the girl in green and you'll take the one in purple."- "Aye."

Scotty indicates to Kirk and Spock the "lithium" crystals are burned out thanks to that "jackass Walsh." Wow! Just hearing Scotty speak a mild insult seems rather odd even by today's standards and while some colorful language was certainly rare on Star Trek I'm sure it was a bit of an eyebrow raiser back in the day. Spock indicates Rigel XII has lithium crystals and Kirk requests the crew make haste to arrive there.

The visually powerful and forever classic Enterprise Briefing Room.

Much can be said about all of those scenes in the Star Trek Briefing Room. How often did we see a briefing room in any of the other Star Trek franchises? The Briefing Room was not only simple in design, but pure and powerful. Heads were cleared, people presented and decisions were made. It represented the place aboard the Enterprise where hopes and dreams for progress were born. It was a place where command decisions could be made. It was a place where character development flourished and allowed us to realize this was a ship run by real people with real ideas and creative solutions. It was a powerful visual moment in any Star Trek episode and it symbolized the Star Trek ideal.

Writer Eric Greene captured the feeling many of us experienced while the crew was in that Briefing Room in the essay The Prime Question from Boarding The Enterprise. "As a kid watching Star Trek in the '70s, the image from the show that most excited me- was the briefing room. That's right, the briefing room. Just a table and some chairs." He recalled vividly, as we all do, "Captain Kirk looking around at those gathered together of different races, species and specialties and saying to them, "I want options"." He concludes, the room was "where decisions were made, and destinies were shaped- where all that mattered was if you had the brains and imagination to sit with the best and the brightest, think through problems and create solutions. The position you earned counted." Amen. It was like your momma always told you. Nothing comes easy, you have to work for it. This was the crew of the Enterprise. There was no room for casual arrogance or elitism.

The hearing commences and Kirk indicates the name of the man in question is Leo Francis Walsh. The computer corrects the man's name as being "incorrect." Harcourt Fenton Mudd is the real name, a.k.a. Harry Mudd. He indicates falsely he is a businessman, but the computer [the voice of Majel Barrett] correctly identifies the man as a smuggler. The man, needless to say, is trouble. While Mudd stumbles about with his words in explaining away his troubles, his women go to work seducing the men around the table with their charms. Bones is particularly affected. Mudd indicates he recruits wives for settlers. Scotty too is also affected. The computer indicates abnormal perspiration and respiration patterns in the men. "Now that's fishy" says Kirk. I'm not sure I agree. I think I might be equally affected. Scotty wipes his lip, another his face. Things are not going well for the men aboard the Enterprise. The women are Ruth Bonaventure, Magda Korvacs and Eve McHuron. The conclusion from Kirk is that all will be handed off to the legal authorities at the earliest opportunity.

Sulu reports to Kirk that the Enterprise is operating on battery power exclusively. Harry believes Rigel XII will be perfect for the women. Kirk recaps the lithium is imperative as the ship operates on auxiliary power.

The girls weave their webs in the meantime. The ultra smokin' hot brunette pays a visit to Bones. Bones notes she is having an adverse affect on his sick bay equipment. He inquires if the girl is wearing some kind of "radioactive" perfume of a sort. She tells him, "no, I'm just me." Kirk is greeted by Evie in his quarters laying prostate in the hopes of some loving. She is seductive to be sure and the sweeping music complete with violin doesn't hurt either. She nearly plants a whopper of a kiss on Kirk when she breaks down indicating she can't go through with Harry's plan. Kirk's sheer sex appeal and charm wears down Evie and she flees unable to be Mudd's dishonest woman. She could have been a mere notch on Kirk's bedpost, but not today. The women are reporting back to Mudd one by one. They are a venomous bunch. Evie returns and tells Harry she does not like him. She is not feeling well and she tells Harry it must be nearly the time. That time of the month?

In a rare instance, this would be as close as Kirk gets to the lady of his choosing in this one.

Kirk tells Scotty they need to remain in orbit to get just six crystals. Kirk asks Bones if Ruth was examined, but he indicates she refused. The two men wonder what it is about these women. Bones wonders if it's because they "act beautiful?" He says to strike that thought. Yes, Bones, not your brightest assessment as the resident physician. "What are they Bones?" asks Kirk. Are they alien? Bones indicates his medical equipment was affected by the presence of Ruth. Yes, this might suggest the ladies were doing more than 'acting beautiful.'

The post-honeymoon [is over] look.

Spock reports their orbit can be maintained for three days, seven hours. Elsewhere, Ruth is changing. She is aging. All three beauties are getting older. Harry gives the ladies tic-tacs of some kind to stem the aging process. Some classic ST:TOS make-up and some dishoveled hair quickly apply a few years to the once lovely ladies.

Spock uses the analogy of Rigel XII's crystals as a parallel to Mudd's women. Rigel XII's mining chief arrives aboard the Enterprise. He wants a swap of the crystals for Mudd's women. He requests the charges dropped against Harry as well. The mining chief indicates Kirk has no choice. Think again mining chief. Never push Kirk. "No deal," Kirk declares pointing out the colony is in deep space and a long way from help of any kind. The women arrive and have their affect and way with the mining boys. Mudd is gleeful over the odds in his favor.

Kirk beams down to the surface with Mudd and a blue shirt. It is there that the women are making themselves right at home. There's nothing like a good wind on Star Trek to create the impression our heroes have arrived on another alien planetoid rather than a re-worked studio set. What is up with this Mudd character? Kirk informs the mining chief he wins and as the Captain needs the crystals, but he tells Kirk he'll get to it eventually, because he is punch drunk in love with the ladies. Spock indicates time is running out.

The man can deliver drama!

Kirk notes Evie is coughing. The miner men love the women. You would too if you lived alone on this forsaken Rigel XII. Unfortunately fights begin to breakout over their affections. Evie leaves the compound and Kirk goes in pursuit. She is clearly self-aware she is getting a little long in the tooth, but dang she is still beautiful no matter how you slice it. No matter what the make-up people do, Evie is still a beautiful woman. Those special camera lenses are always a sweet trick too. "EVE!" yells Kirk amidst the raging winds on the planet's surface. Kirk is good with one syllable yelling.

Back aboard the Enterprise Scotty indicates they need the crystals and Kirk is short with him, but Kirk does apologize.

The mining chief saves Evie. Kirk beams back down to the surface with Mudd. Evie is cooking in the Mining Chief's cave quarters. He's a crotchety fellow. The two argue like an old married couple. With her golden blond hair let down she plays cards. She is beginning to age, though it is the resulting lack of make-up and camera lens at this point. Kirk and Mudd arrive. Apparently Harry utilizes something called the "Venus Drug." Kirk points out Harry is using a drug to make the women something they are not. The One To Be Pitied jokes they aren't ugly even when they are suppose to be ugly. They are beautiful still! Evie seems to be the only one that gets the fact that the drugs are just that. They are not real or genuine, but a placebo. She despises the falsity of the drug and the affect it has on the men over them. Still, she eats more of them anyway.

Kirk begins to moralize as only William Shatner could. "There's only one kind of woman. You either believe in yourself or you don't." And that my friends is today's Kirkism. Kirk wins the crystals and the mining chief seems to like Evie as she is or was. Mudd would like to remain on the planet. Kirk tells him he will act as a character witness on his behalf at his trial.

"... a most annoying, emotional episode," as Spock sums it up best. True. Mudd's Women does have its problems and didn't quite pack the punch of most ST:TOS entries, but as one might expect, even the worst of ST:TOS is still pretty damn sharp. When you have three central characters that are drop dead gorgeous you can't go all wrong.

Even at Eve's worst without the Venus Drug she was smoking hot according to The One To Be Pitied. She isn't wrong. Magda and Ruth were equally amazing. This is a complete fanboy dream. Though, my Boy Wonder was expecting the women to turn into aliens, perhaps giant bugs, so he was a little disappointed. I'm glad Star Trek didn't resort to the alien transformation trick, which is never out of the realm of possibility with Star Trek. And of course the lesson, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and one should embrace the aging process naturally perhaps. Shoot, those women were hot! Maybe I liked this one more than I thought, or maybe not. I fear I may have been twitterpated and my judgment has been severely impaired.

Mudd's Women: C+/ A [for the choice of extremely hot women]

Writer: Stephen Kandel [based on a story by Gene Roddenberry]

Director: Harvey Hart

Dead Crewman: 0

Dead Crewman To Date: 8

Babe Alert: 3

Babe Alert Total To Date: 8

Writer Footnote: Stephen Kandel [?]: A writer who also penned I, Mudd for ST:TOS, Season Two and Star Trek: The Animated Series episodes Mudd's Passion and The Jihad. It's safe to say he owned the Mudd character. He also penned the final episode of The Six Million Dollar Man in Season Five. With his pulse on the ladies he also penned five episodes of Wonder Woman including the two-part Judgment From Outer Space, Season Two opener The Return Of Wonder Woman and the two part Mind Stealers From Outer Space.

Actor Footnote: Roger Carmel [Harcourt Harry Mudd] [1932-1986]: He also appeared on Batman, Hogan's Heroes, The Munsters, Hawaii Five-0 and other popular '70s classics. He also provided the voice of Smokey Bear in those forest fire commercials from the period.

Babe Alert: Karen Steele [Evie/ Eve McHuron] [1931-1988]: Her career was varied and included appearances on Dragnet, Bonanza, Get Smart, Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Flipper and Hogan's Heroes to name a few.

Babe Alert: Maggie Thrett [Ruth Bonaventure] [?].

Babe Alert: Susan Denberg [Magda Kovacs] [1944-present]: A German born Austrian beauty.