The Trouble with Tribbles

Ask anyone my age about TOS and this episode will always be mentioned as a favorite.

I was 12 years old when it first aired. My brother and I had to leave the family room and its color TV to the rest of the family in order to watch TOS on an old b&w set in our bedroom.

When episodes like this were first aired there was no critical dissection by the the viewers. We watched it, were entertained or not, talked about it with our friends and didn't really know if we'd see it again. It was a different era.

This is by far the most memorable episode from the time of its original airing.

Star Trek has done comedy before, but probably not in such a concentrated dose. 'The Trouble with Tribbles' is mild farce, running Kirk ragged between testy administrators, hell-raising Klingons and furballs with rabbit-like libidos. I think the reason it (still) works so well is because Kirk is unquestionably the straight man and all sorts of laughs are being had by the crew at his expense.

The writing's good, Shatner takes the jokes like a pro and the comical tone feels right. It holds up.

7/10

The Enterprise respond with all speed to a priority 1 distress call on a space station but Kirk is far from impressed when he learns that the call was signalled by Undersecretary for Agriculture Baris to guard some storage compartments of a new wheat hybrid. Reluctantly, Kirk agrees but only assigns two guards, giving his other available staff shore leave on the station. The importance of the grain is brought home to him though when Starfleet command him into action and the Klingons turn up on the station for "shore leave". With all these pressures on him, peddler Cyrano Jones selling a strangely enchanting creature called a Tribble doesn't even show up on his radar.

I rarely review specific episodes of TV series but for Star Trek I thought I would locate this specific episode and watch it with a critical eye because this tends to be the one that most casual Trek viewers quote as their favourite. Watching it again I can understand why because it is a fine example of the gentle humour that makes the majority of casual viewers enjoy the series. So while we may not always like the clunking moral messages and so on, the humour is what makes it an enduring piece of entertainment. With "Tribbles" the whole story has been written with his humour running deep throughout it and everyone has their tongues in their cheeks throughout with a narrative that is wonderfully silly and fun.

The cast mostly react really well to this lack of action and drama. Shatner wears a great air of weary disbelief about everything and he has plenty of great lines – particularly when mocking Schallert's Baris. He is not a great actor but he shows a real comic touch here and I was rolling with laughter as he stands up to his chest in Tribbles being pelted from above by them while delivering his lines. Nimoy enjoys himself too with lots of "raised eyebrow" moments while Kelley, Nichols, Doohan and Koenig all get good material. Adams hams it up but within the context of this episode it works really well.

A fantastic episode then. It does depend on how you view Star Trek as a franchise because I'm sure many will see this silly episode as a low point but for me personally it is tremendous fun, had me regularly laughing out loud and left me feeling like I had been really entertained.

One of the most popular and deservedly so episodes of Star Trek prime is this one. I'm surprised that Tribbles did not make an appearance in TNG or any other subsequent Star Trek franchise shows.

A rather self important diplomat played by William Schallert sends the starship Enterprise on a mission to a space station commanded by Whit Bissell. He has a priority distress call sent because he has a grain shipment to deliver to a disputed planet. An itinerant trader played by Stanley Adams is also there and among the items for sale are a specifies of peaceful little furry creatures called Tribbles.

The one that Nichelle Nichols buys however starts to multiply, and MULTIPLY. Seems that Tribbles make rabbits behave like Trappist Monks. Pretty soon the Enterprise is overrun with them as well as the space station.

But curiously enough they prove to be invaluable at uncovering a dastardly Klingon plot. Seems as though they're allergic to Klingons and that raises them up somewhat in the eyes of James T. Kirk.

It's Jimmy Doohan who does find a solution to the Tribble problem. A just one all around I think.

While I certainly can't agree with "gary olszewski" who insists that this is the "worst episode", I do agree that it is a tad overrated. Yes, I do like it a lot, but I have talked to quite a few people who think it's the best episode. However, I might rank it in the top five--so I still liked it quite a bit because it was a good chance to do some self-parody. I really enjoy the few episodes where the show took a break from being deadly serious and just had fun--such as this one and I, MUDD and A PIECE OF THE ACTION. So, when I'm in a non-sophisticated mood, this episode is a good choice.

Kirk rushes to a star-base because the Enterprise received a message that it was a dire emergency. However, when they arrived, the base looked just fine--no evidence of an attack or an emergency. Incensed, Kirk beams down to find out what's happening. To his consternation, he finds that the "emergency" concerns a grain shipment that is intended for "Sherman's Planet" (who Sherman is, we don't know--maybe he's the one from the Mr. Peabody Show). Despite the abuse of the emergency call, Kirk is reluctantly forced to post guards and be responsible for the grain.

Since this is a star-base, the crew is given shore leave. However, Klingons are there as well for shore leave as a result of a recent treaty (the Organian one from a previous episode). And, naturally, due to the animosity between them, fights break out and the Klingons work on sabotaging the grain. At the same time, although it seems perfectly harmless, Uhura brings a cute pet back to the ship (a "tribble"). There, it multiplies like crazy and soon the ship is overwhelmed with a plague of tribbles--and so is the space station. But, this turns out to be a mixed blessing and leads to a creative solution to the plague--thanks to Scotty.

The episode is pure "tongue-in-cheek" and never takes itself seriously. The jokes and silliness come in rapid fire and you can't help but laugh at all the hooey. A must for fans of the series.