What's the connection between Star Trek: The Original Series, Welcome Back, Kotter, and The Courtship of Eddie's Father? Aside from the fact that all three are classic and beloved television series, the answer is… James Komack.
Originally an actor, musician, and comedian, Komack made the leap to writing, producing, and directing in the early 1960s. He directed 11 episodes of Get Smart and, later, several episodes each of The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, Chico and the Man, and Welcome Back, Kotter, shows for which he also wrote and produced. He was credited with helping discover John Travolta and Freddie Prinze. In between, Komack was tapped to direct one episode of Star Trek: The Original Series: “A Piece of the Action.” The well-regarded hour -- which aired on January 12, 1968, during the show’s second season -- ranks as one of Star Trek’s most entertaining and funniest installments.
Looking back on the episode during an interview for the 1988 documentary, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, Komack noted that the script itself for “A Piece of the Action” wasn’t necessarily funny, but that placing the familiar Star Trek characters in a different milieu made it funny. He also credited William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy for being willing to “defer” to him when it came to accepting his decisions as to what would generate laughs. Ultimately, he said, “For what I did in the days that I did it, I guess it was a funny show.”
That was Komack’s one and only time behind the camera on Star Trek, but his name lived on… literally. A character named Admiral Komack was referenced in the TOS episode “This Side of Paradise” and the actor Byron Morrow portrayed the character in the flesh in “Amok Time.”
And even after Komack’s death at the age of 67 in 1997, the character lived on, for a time. An alternate timeline version of Admiral Komack gained a first name -- James -- in Star Trek (2009). Benjamin P. Binswanger, a friend of J.J. Abrams who also appeared briefly in Abrams’ television show Lost -- actually played Komack in both Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness, the latter of which killed off the character, who was named Starfleet Admiral in the credits.