More Tribbles, More Troubles

"More Tribbles, More Troubles" is the fifth episode of the first season of the animated American science fiction television series Star Trek. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on October 6, 1973, and was written by David Gerrold as a sequel to his Original Series episode "The Trouble with Tribbles".[note 1] It features actor Stanley Adams reprising his role of trader Cyrano Jones.

"More Tribbles, More Troubles"
Star Trek: The Animated Series episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 5
Directed byHal Sutherland
Written byDavid Gerrold
Production code22001
Original air dateOctober 6, 1973 (1973-10-06)
Guest appearance(s)

In this episode, Kirk must figure out why the Klingons are trying to get a hold of Cyrano Jones while simultaneously protecting two automated grain carriers.

Plot

While the Federation starship USS Enterprise escorts two robot cargo ships carrying quintotriticale, a new seed grain, to famine-stricken Sherman's Planet, it encounters a Klingon battlecruiser, commanded by Captain Koloth, firing on a Federation scout ship. The Enterprise beams the pilot aboard. The Klingons use a new energy weapon which incapacitates the starship, and demand they hand over the pilot. First Officer Spock hypothesizes that such a powerful weapon must require all the Klingon ship's energy, and Lt. Uhura notices that the two cargo ships have not been disabled. Captain Kirk has the cargo ships set a course to ram into the Klingon ship. With their energy expended, the Klingon ship is forced to flee, but damages one of the cargo ships. Since the Enterprise cargo hold lacks sufficient space, the crew must dangerously load the ship's decks with the grain.

The pilot is Cyrano Jones, an intergalactic trader well known to Kirk and crew. He got out of his task of cleaning up the tribbles on Space Station K-7 using a glommer, which preys on tribbles. Jones is now selling "safe" tribbles genetically engineered to be sterile. The Klingons attack again, disabling the engines of the remaining cargo ship and bathing the Enterprise in a radiation which rapidly increases the growth of the tribbles aboard. Kirk still refuses to hand over Jones, ostensibly because he is a Federation citizen, but actually because he suspects the Klingons would not have violated Federation space unless Jones were of great value to them. The Klingons again use their new weapon. Kirk responds by having the tribbles beamed over to their ship.

Now at a disadvantage, Koloth admits that Klingon planets are being overrun by tribbles sold by Jones. The glommer, which was created by the Klingons via genetic engineering and stolen by Jones, is their only hope of controlling them. Kirk returns it, but the huge tribbles scare it away. Koloth orders his first officer to shoot the large tribble, only to inadvertently free smaller ones inside. Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, having discovered in advance that the large tribbles are actually tribble colonies, injects the remaining tribbles on the Enterprise with a serum to slow down their metabolic rate.

Writing

Originally pitched as a third season follow up to "The Trouble with Tribbles" for Star Trek: The Original Series, the idea was scrapped under the tenure of producer Fred Freiberger, who was not a fan of the original episode and did not want to produce comedy episodes.[1][2]

By 1973, Gerrold had become friends with D. C. Fontana from their time spent on the Star Trek convention circuit together. He had heard about Star Trek: The Animated Series, and offered to do an episode. Fontana responded that she wanted the tribble sequel episode.[1][2][3]

As with his other Animated Series episode "Bem", Gerrold later claimed that almost nothing was cut from the original pitches for The Original Series as animation played out quicker and so everything still fit into the episode despite the reduced running time.[4]

Both of Gerrold's Animated Series episodes were novelised by Alan Dean Foster, and Gerrold later said that he thought that he did "a fine job".[4]

Reception

In 2019, CBR rated "More Tribbles, More Troubles" the 9th funniest episode of the Star Trek franchise, commenting, "It’s a good balance of action and comedy as once more, the Tribbles are used as weapons."[5]

A 2018 Star Trek binge-watching guide by Den of Geek, recommended this episode as part of the "foundations of Star Trek" group.[6]

See also

Notes
  1. This story was expanded into a novelette by science-fiction author Alan Dean Foster as part of the collection, Star Trek Log Four (1975) (ISBN 0-345-24435-4).

References
  1. Myers, Eugene; Atkinson, Torie (April 12, 2010). "Tribbles Week: Star Trek Re-Watch: "The Trouble with Tribbles"". Tor.com. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  2. "David Gerrold Recalls "More Tribbles" and "Bem"". Star Trek.com. March 10, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  3. Green, Michelle Erica (March 31, 2006). "The Trouble with Tribbles". TrekNation. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  4. "The David Gerrold TAS Interview". StarTrekAnimated.com. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  5. "The 20 Funniest Star Trek Episodes". CBR. January 18, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
  6. "Star Trek: An Episode Roadmap for Beginners". Den of Geek. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
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