The Trouble with Tribbles

"The Trouble with Tribbles"
Star Trek: The Original Series episode
Captain Kirk, up to his chest in tribbles
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 15
Directed by	Joseph Pevney
Written by	David Gerrold
Featured music	Jerry Fielding
Cinematography by	Jerry Finnerman
Production code	042
Original air date	December 29, 1967 (1967-12-29)
Guest appearance(s)
William Schallert – Under-Secretary Nilz Baris William Campbell – Captain Koloth Stanley Adams – Cyrano Jones Whit Bissell – Station Manager Lurry Michael Pataki – Korax Ed Reimers – Admiral Fitzpatrick Charlie Brill – Arne Darvin Paul Baxley – Ensign Freeman David L. Ross – Guard Guy Raymond – Trader
Episode chronology
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Star Trek: The Original Series (season 2) List of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes

"The Trouble with Tribbles" is the 44th episode of the American science fiction television series, Star Trek, the 15th episode of the second season. It was first broadcast in the United States on December 29, 1967, on NBC. The episode was the first professional work of writer David Gerrold, and went through a variety of drafts before it reached the screen. Because of an error in the size of typeface, an approved version needed to be reduced by twenty pages before filming. Nichelle Nichols remarked that she had "never seen a script go through so many changes—and stay so much the same". "The Trouble with Tribbles" was directed by Joseph Pevney, who was one of the most prolific directors of the series.

In this episode, the starship Enterprise arrives at Deep Space Station K7 to guard a consignment of grain bound for Sherman's Planet. On arrival, a trader named Cyrano Jones (Stanley Adams) gives Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) a tribble, a small, furry alien lifeform, with dramatic consequences. Captain James T. Kirk and the crew also have to deal with the arrival of Captain Koloth (William Campbell) and his Klingon battlecruiser, but the tribbles unexpectedly reveal a plot to poison the grain.

Around 500 tribbles were created for the episode, with special tribbles created for certain purposes with beanbags or surgical balloons inserted in them. Three additional sets were created for the episode, although there were problems with finding enough matching chairs for the trading post area. The chairs had to be pulled out of showrooms around Los Angeles County, and Pevney was warned to make sure they were not damaged during the episode's brawl scene. William Campbell had previously appeared as Trelane in "The Squire of Gothos" and was intended to be a recurring villain as Koloth. Because of his other work commitments, these plans were not followed up on until he returned as Koloth in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Blood Oath" in 1994. William Schallert appeared as Nilz Baris, and later appeared as a Bajoran in the DS9 episode "Sanctuary".