The very concept of Star Trek: The Original Series was a risk. Making a serious sci-fi production on a slim budget, set within an expansive fictional galaxy filled with culturally distinct races and planets that resemble California, was a Herculean endeavor for Gene Roddenberry and co.

Some episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series were riskier than others. “The Menagerie,” with its chopped-up footage from the pilot. The one where Jack the Ripper is an alien. The failed backdoor pilot for Gary Seven. Arguably the riskiest installment of Star Trek: The Original Series, however, came during its second season, and in addition to being a rousing success in 1967, the episode remains brilliant today.

Star Trek’s “The Trouble With Tribbles” Took A Huge Risk

Star Trek‘s ongoing mission was always to tell serious science fiction stories at a time when serious science fiction stories were not being told on television. Star Trek consistently showed flecks of comedy, particularly with the Spock/McCoy banter, and there was always that slight air of ’60s TV levity, usually at the end of an episode once the day had been saved.

But Star Trek was not inherently comedic. Indeed, a more humorous route would have surely killed the series before it had any chance to evolve into a fully-fledged, multi-decade franchise. “The Trouble with Tribbles” marked the first occasion Star Trek properly let its shields down, relaxing its earnest intentions and placing its tongue gently in the cheek.

With its plot based around small balls of fluff, most of which don’t seem to move, “The Trouble with Tribbles” could have easily descended into a gimmicky, silly disaster that made a mockery of the Enterprise and her crew. And if that had been the case, the severity of the Klingons would have been undermined by proxy, with Star Trek‘s threatening big bads oddly involved in the furball fun.

Fortunately, all risks taken by “The Trouble with Tribbles” paid off for Star Trek in a big way.

The Genius Of Star Trek’s “The Trouble With Tribbles”

There are two big factors behind “The Trouble with Tribbles” being a resounding joy to watch: David Gerrold’s genuinely hilarious script, and the equally game performances of Star Trek‘s main cast. You’ve got the big, laugh-out-loud visual gags, like Kirk being drowned in a hairy cascade, but an entire episode in that vein would quickly become tiresome. What really makes “The Trouble with Tribbles” sing is its smarter humor.

Captain Kirk’s ever-growing resentment toward Under-Secretary Baris is the kind of relatable workplace comedy rarely seen in Star Trek. Rightly or wrongly, William Shatner isn’t an actor with a reputation for subtlety, but he does an admirable job of keeping the larks relatively reined in here, providing an anchor that stops “The Trouble with Tribbles” descending into farce. Kirk is the ideal Sam Malone-style straight-man, letting the comedy bounce around him, then returning serve with the perfect quip or facial expression.

The slow-burn gag where Scotty lets the Klingons badmouth Kirk (“we’re big enough to take a few insults“) but starts a fist fight when one of them mocks the Enterprise is a brilliant example of a joke being funnier because the audience sees it coming. “The Trouble with Tribbles” is more than just “Star Trek with a sense of humor,” it’s a clever satire on the world of Star Trek, whether that be Starfleet politics or engineers being in love with their ships.

“The Trouble with Tribbles” wouldn’t function if the comedy slant wasn’t partnered with a compelling plot. But the audience sees Baris’ grain, and predicts something bad will inevitably happen to it. Trying to crack the case and figure out how the randy toupees spreading across the Enterprise will factor into the solution is all part of the fun, adding substance and purpose to the frivolity.

The entire escapade is capped off by one final joke that epitomizes the episode – Spock, McCoy, and Scotty dancing around the fact that they beamed millions of tribbles onto a Klingon ship as Kirk tries to coax the truth out of them with ever-diminishing patience. Like a Monty Python sketch, the scene stretches the joke to the very edge of breaking point before delivering the well-earned punchline, with Kirk’s expressions once again doing some heavy lifting.

The Enduring Legacy Of “The Trouble With Tribbles”

After becoming one of Star Trek: The Original Series‘ most memorable adventures, “The Trouble with Tribbles” spawned a number of follow-ups, most notably Deep Space Nine‘s “Trials and Tribble-ations.”

But the 1967 episode affected Star Trek on a more fundamental level too. Without “The Trouble with Tribbles,” shows like Star Trek: Lower Decks likely wouldn’t exist. It was the Enterprise’s brush with furry oblivion that highlighted the comedic value of Star Trek‘s world and showed how to capitalize in a way that felt loving rather than demeaning. Lower Decks quite brilliantly turned that premise into an entire show.

And the fun doesn’t stop there. Lower Decks star Tawny Newsome has written a live-action Star Trek comedy alongside Justin Simien, which is currently waiting for the green light, and the new Starfleet Academy series is packing more humor than your typical slice of Star Trek. And it all started with Uhura’s questionable decision to buy a pet from a man in a bar.

Release Date

1966 – 1969-00-00

Showrunner

Gene Roddenberry

Directors

Marc Daniels, Joseph Pevney, Ralph Senensky, Vincent McEveety, Herb Wallerstein, Jud Taylor, Marvin J. Chomsky, David Alexander, Gerd Oswald, Herschel Daugherty, James Goldstone, Robert Butler, Anton Leader, Gene Nelson, Harvey Hart, Herbert Kenwith, James Komack, John Erman, John Newland, Joseph Sargent, Lawrence Dobkin, Leo Penn, Michael O’Herlihy, Murray Golden

Writers

D.C. Fontana, Jerome Bixby, Arthur Heinemann, David Gerrold, Jerry Sohl, Oliver Crawford, Robert Bloch, David P. Harmon, Don Ingalls, Paul Schneider, Shimon Wincelberg, Steven W. Carabatsos, Theodore Sturgeon, Jean Lisette Aroeste, Art Wallace, Adrian Spies, Barry Trivers, Don Mankiewicz, Edward J. Lakso, Fredric Brown, George Clayton Johnson, George F. Slavin, Gilbert Ralston, Harlan Ellison