Image: Harry Mudd in Star Trek’s “I, Mudd” (CBS)

If anyone is going to do justice to Roger C. Carmel’s most glorious Star Trek character, it’s going to be Rainn Wilson.




According to TV Line, Wilson’s been cast to play a younger Harry Mudd in Star Trek: Discovery. If you don’t know who Mudd is, he’s a conman and smuggler who appeared in the original series episodes “Mudd’s Women” (not one of my favorites) and “I, Mudd” (absolutely one of my favorites), and the animated series episode “Mudd’s Passion.” “I, Mudd” contains one of my favorite line readings of all time, and it’s a robot wife yelling, “HARCOURT FENTON MUDD,” and it’s why I will always know Harry Mudd’s full name.

Mudd was sort of charming, mostly sleazy and bringing him back does a lot to get me excited about Star Trek: Discovery all over again. Wilson and James Frain (playing Sarek) have the toughest jobs in the cast, since they have some amazing performances to follow.


We also still don’t know exactly when we’ll see Wilson as Mudd, since the Star Trek: Discovery launch has been pushed twice—currently, the vague time of “late summer or early fall” is all we have. Star Trek: Discovery plays with my emotions, is what I’m saying.

[TV Line]