The Trouble with Tribbles (episode)

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This article is written
from the Real World
point of view
This article is written
from the Real World
point of view
"The Trouble with Tribbles"
TOS, Episode 2x13
Production number: 60342
First aired: 29 December 1967
Remastered version aired: 4 November 2006
← 43rd of 80 produced in TOS →
← 44th of 80 released in TOS →
← 9th of 80 released in TOS Remastered →
← 44th of 726 released in all →
Written By
David Gerrold

Directed By
Joseph Pevney
4523.3 (2268)
  Arc: Cyrano Jones and Tribbles (1 of 2) →
  Arc: Arne Darvin (1 of 2) →
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  Arc: {{{wsArc3Desc}}} ({{{nArc3PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc3PartCount}}})  
  Arc: {{{wsArc4Desc}}} ({{{nArc4PartNumber}}} of {{{nArc4PartCount}}})  
For the book about the production of this episode, please see The Trouble With Tribbles.

A dispute over control of a planet brings Enterprise to a space station, where they must deal with Klingons, edgy Starfleet Command officials, and a previously-unknown race of small, unbearably cute, voraciously hungry and rapidly-multiplying furry creatures.

Contents

[edit] Summary

The Enterprise is en route to Deep Space Station K-7 for assistance with an important assignment regarding a disputed planet. One parsec from the nearest Klingon outpost ("Close enough to smell them" as Chekov puts it), the post is near Sherman's Planet, which is claimed by both sides.

In a briefing with Kirk, Spock and Chekov, it is learned that under the terms of the Organian Peace Treaty, control of the planet will be granted to the party that can demonstrate it can develop the planet's resources most efficiently. In the midst of the briefing, however, an message comes in from the bridge; K-7 has issued a Code One alert, which signals that it is under attack. The Enterprise arrives at maximum warp, armed for a fight, only to find no battle. Beaming over, Kirk demands an explanation from Station Manager Lurry, but is told he was ordered to do so by Nilz Baris, a Federation official in charge of the Sherman's Planet development project.

Baris and his aide, Arne Darvin, explain they used the Priority One out of fear the Klingons might try to sabotage the Federation's best hope to win control of the planet – a high-yield grain known as quadrotriticale, which would be ideal for the planet. Tons of the grain are stored at the station, and Baris demands security and protection from Kirk. Kirk is outraged over what he believes to be a misuse of the Priority One channel, but is overruled by Starfleet Admiral Fitzpatrick. To add to his troubles, a Klingon battle cruiser arrives at K-7, commanded by Captain Koloth, demanding shore leave rights under the peace treaty. Kirk reluctantly agrees, but sets limits of twelve at a time, with one guard from the Enterprise for each Klingon soldier.

Meanwhile, shore leave is also granted to the Enterprise crew. On one such leave, Uhura meets a dealer named Cyrano Jones, who is trying to sell rare galactic items, among them, furry little creatures Jones calls tribbles. In hopes of more sales, Jones gives one to Uhura. The crew quickly learns that the creatures like Humans and Vulcans (but not Klingons), are constantly hungry, and "born pregnant," as McCoy puts it; 50% of their metabolism is geared for reproduction. If a tribble eats too much, a number of hungry little tribbles soon follow. This trait of the species soon becomes a problem, as they nearly overrun both the Enterprise and the station.

Later, Baris demands greater security in the face of Klingon soldiers at the station, and Koloth accuses Kirk of persecuting his men. Friction between the Klingons and Humans comes to a head in the form of a brawl in the station lounge, started by words between Scotty and Korax. Kirk then learns the tribbles have been circulating through the station ventilation ducts – which also lead to the grain storage areas. Opening them, Kirk finds not grain, but tribbles, gorged on the grain and cascading upon him from above. In the face of Baris' threats to convene a board of inquiry against Kirk, Spock and McCoy notice many of the tribbles in the pile are either dead or dying. McCoy begins an analysis of the tribbles and the grain, while Kirk questions Jones.

Baris, Darvin, Koloth and Korax soon join them. Darvin, however, sets off the same negative reaction in the tribbles as the Klingons, bringing McCoy with his tricorder. Darvin is revealed to be a Klingon who poisoned the grain with a virus that prevents anyone eating it from absorbing the nutrients, which is how the tribbles died. "In a storage compartment full of grain, they starve to death," Kirk summarizes. Darvin is arrested, the Klingons are ordered out of Federation territory and Kirk concludes he may get to like tribbles. Back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk finds the ship swept clean of tribbles, and asks Spock, McCoy and Scotty how they did it. All questions are deflected to Scotty, to his great discomfort. When Kirk demands an answer, Scotty replies that before the Klingons went into warp, he beamed all of them into their engine room, "where they'll be no tribble at all."

[edit] Log entries

  • "Captain’s log, stardate 4523.3. Deep Space Station K-7 has issued a Priority One call. More than an emergency, it signals near or total disaster. We can only assume the Klingons have attacked the station. We're going in armed for battle."
  • "Captain’s log, stardate 4524.2. A Klingon warship is hovering only 100 kilometers from Deep Space Station K-7 while its captain waits in the station manager's office. Their intentions are unknown."
  • "Captain’s log, stardate 4525.6. A small disturbance between the Klingon crew and members of the Enterprise crew has broken out aboard Space Station K-7. I am forced to cancel shore leave for both ships."

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"I was making a little joke, sir."
"Very little, ensign."

- Chekov and Spock


"Oh, quadrotriticale! I've read about this but I've never seen it before."
"Does everybody know about this wheat but me?"
"Not everyone, it was a Russian invention."

- Chekov and Kirk


"Another technical journal, Scotty?"
"Aye, sir."
"Don't you ever relax?"
"I am relaxin'!"

- Kirk and Scott


"They do, however, have one redeeming characteristic."
"Oh, and what's that?"
"They do not talk too much."

- Spock and McCoy, on the subject of tribbles


"Captain Kirk, I consider your security measures a disgrace! In my opinion, you have taken this entire very important project far too lightly."
"On the contrary, sir, I think of this project as very important... it is you I take lightly."

- Baris and Kirk


"Fifty percent of their metabolism is geared toward reproduction. Do you know what do you get if you feed a tribble to much?"
"A... fat tribble?"
"No, you get a whole lot of hungry little baby tribbles."
(turning to leave) "Bones, the only thing I can suggest... is that you open up a maternity ward."

- McCoy and Kirk


"When are y'gonna get off that milk diet, lad?"
"This is vodka!"
"Where I come from, that's soda pop. Now, this is a drink for a man!"
"Scotch?"
"Aye!"
 "It was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad!"

- Scotty and Chekov


"That sagging old rust bucket is designed like a garbage scow! Half the quadrant knows it; that's why they're learning to speak Klingonese!"
"Mr. Scott!!"
"Laddie... don't you think you should... rephrase that?"
"Yehhhr right, ah shooold. I didn't mean to say the Enterprise should be hauling garbage, I meant to say that it should be hauled away AS garbage!!!!"

- Korax, Chekov, and Scotty


"And after they said all this, (insults to Kirk) that's when you hit the Klingons."
"No, sir."
"No?"
"No... I dinnae. You told us to avoid trouble..."
"Oh yes..."
"And I dinnae see that it was worth fighting about. After all, we're big enough to take a few insults – aren't we?"
"What was it they said that started the fight?"
"They called the Enterprise a garbage scow – sir!"
"I see. And...that's when you hit the Klingon."
(proudly) "Aye, sir!"
"You hit the Klingons because they insulted the Enterprise, not because they..."
"Well, sir – this was a matter of pride!"
"I see... you're dismissed – oh, Scotty; (embarassed) you're... restricted to quarters until further notice."
"Yes, sir – (brightly) Thank you, sir! That'll give me a chance to catch up on my technical journals!"

- Kirk hearing Scott explain the fight in the station bar.


"Well the nearest thing that I can figure is that they're born pregnant – which appears to be quite a time-saver!"

- Dr. McCoy


"Surely you must have realized what would happen if you removed the tribbles from their predator-filled environment, into an environment where their natural multiplicative proclivities would have no restraining factors."
"Well, of cour– what did you say?"

- Spock and Cyrano Jones


"You're right, they don't like Klingons... but they do like Vulcans. Spock, I didn't know you had it in you."
"Obviously tribbles are very perceptive creatures, Captain."

- Kirk and Spock, on the tribbles and Vulcans


"There must be thousands of them."
"Hundreds of thousands."
"One million, seven hundred seventy-one thousand, five hundred sixty-one. That's assuming one tribble, multiplying with an average litter of ten, producing a new generation every twelve hours over a period of three days."
"And that's assuming that they got here three days ago."
"And allowing for the amount of grain consumed, and the volume of the storage compartment."

- Kirk, McCoy, and Spock


"Yes, until that board of inquiry, I'm still a captain. And as captain, I want two things done; first – find Cyrano Jones, and second... close that door."

- Kirk, as Tribbles continue to descend


"Captain, one little tribble isn't... harmful?" Captain Kirk – friend! Friend Kirk! Surely we can come to some mutual understanding? After all, my tribbles did put you wise to the poisoned grain? And they did reveal the Klingon agent; saved a lot of lives that way... hm?"
 "There is one thing you can do... pick up every tribble on this station; if you do that, I'll speak to Mister Lurry about returning your ship."
"Captain... that would take years...
"Seventeen point nine, to be exact."
"Seventeen point nine...years."
"Consider it job security."
"Captain, you're a hard man! (begins to be escorted away) All right, all right!"
 "You'll do it?"
"He'll do it."
(weakly) "I'll do it."

- Cyrano Jones, Kirk and Spock


"I gave them a very good home, sir."
"WHERE?!"
"I gave them to the Klingons, sir."
"You gave them to the Klingons?"
"Aye, sir. Before they went into warp, I transported the whole kit and kaboodle into their engine room... where they'll be no tribble at all."

- Scotty and Kirk, as Scotty explains the cleanup of the tribbles


"They don't like you, Mr. Darvin – I wonder why? Bones?"
(activating scanner)"...Heartbeat is all wrong... his body temperature is – Jim, this man is a Klingon!"

- Kirk and McCoy, on why a Tribble screeches at Arne Darvin.

[edit] Background Information

[edit] Story and Script

  • This script, one of Star Trek's most popular, was David Gerrold's first professional sale ever. His working title for the episode was "A Fuzzy Thing Happened to Me..."
  • The line in which Spock says that Kirk heard what Baris said, but could not believe his ears, was lifted directly from a Mad Magazine spoof of Star Trek (titled Star Blecch) that had just been published.
  • Spock estimates that it will take Cyrano Jones 17.9 years to clean up all the tribbles on K-7.
  • McCoy refers to the tribbles as "bisexual" which is incorrect. They are in fact reproducing hermaphroditically through a rare example of self-fertilization, similar to Earth banana slugs. Originally, Gerrold had used the term "asexual," but changed it when informed by the show's science advisors that asexual life forms reproduce by fission, most commonly seen amongst single-cell organisms.
  • Chekov quips that Scotch whiskey "was invented by a little old lady from Leningrad." That Russian city, originally St. Petersburg, had its name changed to honor Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Communist revolution in 1917. The name St. Petersburg was restored in 1991, after the breakup of the USSR. Chekov's scripted reference to Leningrad was apt for 1967, when the episode was made. It suggests that in the 23rd century, that the name has come back into use, or that the whiskey was invented during the time it was called Leningrad. The episode "I, Mudd" and movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home also refers to Leningrad.

[edit] Cast and Characters

  • George Takei (Hikaru Sulu) does not appear in this episode. For much of the second season, he was filming The Green Berets. Many scenes written for Takei were switched over to Walter Koenig.
  • Guy Raymond (the bartender) also played a bartender in beer commercials during the '60s, in which he commented on the strange occurrences in his bar.
  • Michael Pataki is another actor who guested in two series of Star Trek, appearing in TNG: "Too Short a Season".
  • Some of the extras in the bar are wearing turtleneck uniforms from "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before". The gentleman who seems to be enjoying watching the fight is wearing Finnegan's uniform from "Shore Leave", another one is wearing a uniform of the Antares worn by Ramart or Tom Nellis in "Charlie X".
  • Ed Reimers, who plays Admiral Fitzpatrick, was the TV spokesman for Allstate Insurance in the 1960s. In a funny sequence from the blooper reel, he catches a tribble and says, "Oh, and Captain: you're in good hands with tribbles" (a play on the Allstate motto, "You're in good hands with Allstate.")
  • William Schallert later guest starred as Varani in DS9: "Sanctuary".
  • James Doohan insisted on doing his own stunts in the barroom brawl. Jay Jones only doubled for him in a few brief fight sequences.
  • This is one of the few episodes in which Doohan's missing right middle finger (lost due to injuries sustained during the invasion of Normandy in World War Two) is apparent. It can also be noticed as he carries a large bundle of tribbles to Captain Kirk, complaining that they've infested Engineering.
  • This is one of the only times in the series that Scott and Chekov have a conversation with one another. (However, in "Friday's Child", when Scott remarks, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," Chekov quips that the saying was invented in Russia.)
  • Paul Baxley is credited as "Ensign Freeman," but is wearing lieutenant's stripes, as pointed out in DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations" when Miles O'Brien mistakes Freeman for Captain Kirk and Julian Bashir questions his rank insignia.

[edit] Production

  • During production of the "buried in tribbles" scene, it took up to eight takes (a considerable number) to get the avalanche of tribbles to fall just right. DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations" would later establish that the continuously falling tribbles hitting Kirk were in fact thrown by Benjamin Sisko and Jadzia Dax, frantically searching for the bomb placed by the future Darvin.
  • Wah Chang designed the original tribbles. Hundreds were sewn together during production, using pieces of extra-long rolls of carpet. Some of them had mechanical toys placed in them so they could walk around. The original tribbles became sought-after collector's items, and quickly disappeared from the prop department. According to Gerrold, 500 tribbles were constructed for the episode and the tribble-maker, Jacqueline Cumere, was paid US$350.

[edit] Effects

  • Sound effects editor Douglas Grindstaff combined altered dove coos, screech owl cries and emptying balloons to create the tribble sounds.
  • The Enterprise miniature seen out of Lurry's window doesn't move, but if it was orbiting at the same speed the station was rotating, this would make sense.
  • The miniature is actually one of the plastic model kits that AMT was selling at the time. In the 1970s, AMT produced a model of the K-7 space station itself, complete with a tiny Enterprise. SCTV blew up a Klingon ship with phaser blasts from some of these K-7 model kits in a low-budget effects spoof of The Empire Strikes Back in 1981.
  • Footage of K-7 was recycled in "The Ultimate Computer".
  • According to Michael and Denise Okuda's text commentary on this episode for the second season DVD set, the last fresh footage of the Enterprise was done for this episode. In every episode to follow, the shots of the ship were all stock footage.
  • When Kirk, Spock and McCoy leave the bridge, after Kirk orders "Get these tribbles off the bridge," the turbolift doors open with the harsh sound the doors really have, rather than the gentle "whoosh" normally heard on the series. This error remains in the "remastered" version as well.

[edit] Sets

  • The entire bar set, including the bartender's costume, is recycled from "Court Martial".

[edit] Reception

  • This episode was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1968 as "Best Dramatic Presentation".
  • Despite this episodes broad popularity with the fans, series Co-Producer Bob Justman wrote in his book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story that he never liked this episode, as he felt the characters parodied themselves, and that the episode's over-the-top humor lacked believability.
  • This was voted the best episode of the Star Trek: The Original Series by viewers of Sci-Fi Channel's Star Trek 40th Anniversary Celebrations.

[edit] Remastered Information

  • "The Trouble with Tribbles" was the ninth episode of the remastered version of The Original Series to air. It premiered in syndication on the weekend of 4 November 2006 and featured significantly enhanced shots of the K-7 space station, now including the orbiting D7-class, IKS Gr'oth. The Enterprise can now be seen more often from Lurry's office, moving toward the left side of the window as it orbits K-7. The remastered episode is marked by the introduction of a revised digital model of the Enterprise, allowing for more detailed and accurate shots of the ship to be created.
  • None of the special shots from the DS9 tribute episode were included in the remastered version.

The CGI version of K-7

The next remastered episode to air was "Mirror, Mirror".

[edit] Production Timeline

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Starring

[edit] Co-Starring

[edit] Featuring

And

[edit] Uncredited Cast

[edit] References

Antarean glow water; Board of inquiry; Burke, John; Canada; chicken sandwich; credit; Deep Space K-7; Denebian slime devil (Deneb system); Donatu V; Earth; Earther; ermine; Federation-Klingon Cold War; general quarters; Jones, Cyrano; Klingons; Klingon Empire; Klingonese; Klingon spy; Koloth's ship; milk; Organian Peace Treaty; parsec; quadrotriticale; Regulan bloodworm (Regulan system); Royal Academy; Russia; rye; Scotch whisky; Sherman's Planet; Spican flame gem; technical journal; tribbles; triticale; violin; vodka

[edit] External link


Previous episode produced:
"I, Mudd" 		Star Trek: The Original Series
Season 2 		Next episode produced:
"Bread and Circuses"
Previous episode aired:
"Wolf in the Fold" 		Next episode aired:
"The Gamesters of Triskelion"
Previous remastered episode aired:
"Catspaw" 		TOS Remastered Next remastered episode aired:
"Mirror, Mirror"
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