'Star Trek: Discovery' Gets a 'Rick and Morty' Writer for New Harry Mudd 'Short Treks' Episode

It's not quite a Star Trek and Rick and Morty crossover, but a new collaboration between Star Trek: Discovery and R&M writer/producer Mike McMahan may be the closest we'll get.

As part of the lead-up to the premiere of Discovery Season 2, expected early in 2019, CBS All Access will premiere four Short Treks, each of which is expected to focus on a single character in the Star Trek galaxy.

Actor Rainn Wilson, who plays a rebooted version of Star Trek: The Original Series character Harry Mudd, a galactic grifter and womanizing scoundrel, posted a photo of his return to the Discovery set, presumably for the filming of a Short Treks episode:

Retweeting Wilson's post, McMahan added a photo from set, indicating his involvement with the new episode:

The plot for the new Mudd short episode is unknown, but Wilson has previously described it as "funny and weird."

"You see some alien situations you have never seen before in the Star Trek canon, and I am thrilled," Wilson told TrekMovie, who first drew the connection between the Mudd Short Treks and McMahan.

McMahan, who is a credited writer on Rick and Morty episodes like "Total Rickall" and the Season 3 premiere "The Rickshank Rickdemption," is known in the series' writers room as something of a science fiction authority. McMahan is also a long-established Trekker, whose Twitter account TNG Season 8 was later turned into a book.

Other announced Short Treks, described by TrekMovie, include an episode written by novelist Michael Chabon about the only survivor (Aldis Hodge) aboard a deserted ship; an episode exploring the back story of Discovery character Saru (Doug Jones), the first Kelpien in Starfleet; and an episode centered on Ensign Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman).

While Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 is expected early in 2019, Rick and Morty Season 4 does not yet have a premiere window.