Problem with Tribbles

Star Date 4523.3: The Enterprise Starship, commanded by James Tiberius Kirk ( William Shetner ) arrives at K7 Station, sending a first degree alarm. However, approaching the station, the starship team does not notice anything suspicious. As it turned out, the Enterprise was called by Niels Barris ( William Scellert, Deputy Minister of Agriculture in the quadrant, to protect the grain of the quadric triticale - a highly productive four-share hybrid of wheat and rice . Culture is essential to the strategically important Sherman planet, and Barris fears Klingon sabotage. Kirk is outraged that his ship was called up for such a purpose, but after the order of Admiral Fitzpatrick, the captain was forced to agree.

While the ship is at the station, the team gets fired. At the bar, Lieutenant Uhura ( Nichelle Nichols ) meets space reseller Cyrano Jones, who gives her the alien fluffy tribal animal. The tribble gives offspring already on the ship and Uhura gives small fluffy animals to the team members.

A Klingon ship arrives at the station under the command of Captain Kolot ( William Campbell ), people let them in as required by the peace treaty, but Kirk puts guards on the Klingons. Tribbles quickly multiply at the station and behave nervously in the presence of Klingons. In the bar, after a verbal skirmish between Kolot, Chekhov ( Walter Koenig ), Scotty ( James Dukhan ) and other crew members of both ships, a fight breaks out. Barris fears Klingon interference in grain supplies, suspecting the dealers Jones of spying on the Klingon Empire.

Dr. Leonard McCoy ( Deforest Kelly ) and Mr. Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) are worried about the active breeding of tribbles that can eat all the food reserves on board the starship. Tribbles are even in the technical premises of the ship, penetrating through the air ducts. Realizing this, Kirk immediately sent to the station to the warehouse with a quadrotriticale, and after opening the warehouse hatch, he was littered with tribbles. Spock and McCoy notice that some of the tribles from the warehouse are dead, and the other is close to death. The grain was probably poisoned.

Barris blames Kirk for the incident, and the Klingon captain Kolot demands an apology from Kirk for his improper attitude to his team. At this point, Arne Darwin ( Charlie Brill ), Barris's assistant, enters the room. When he appears, the tribbles begin to behave uneasily and those present guess that Darwin is the Klingon spy who poisoned the grain in the warehouse. He is being taken into custody, and the rest of the Klingons in an ultimatum form are asked to leave the sector.

In punishment for transporting dangerous life forms, Cyrano Jones will be forced to clear them of the station, which will take more than 17 years according to Spock's calculations. Before the Klingon ship gained enough speed, engineer Scotty sent all the tribbles to their engine room using a transporter. The series ends with an approving laugh of the team on the captain’s bridge.

Script

The writer David Gerrold has been fond of science fiction since childhood ^[1] . At the first screening of Star Trek, Herrold was worried that the series might turn into something similar to , which he called “one color hour of trash reaching millions of homes” ^[2] . Herrold’s first draft was sent to Star Trek after his agent suggested that the creators of the television series could opt for a better script than the ones already written for the episodes ^[3] . The story under the heading “Tomorrow is Yesterday” spoke about the meeting of the Enterprise with the ship of generations in which the class system appeared ^[3] . His agent received a letter of rejection from producer Gene L. Kuhn on October 3, 1966. The letter stated that “the draft cannot be called improper. In fact, it is very adequate ” ^[4] . He further wrote that for the realization of the idea in the series will require a budget that is inaccessible to television, but corresponding to a full-length film. Kuhn invited Herrold to meet and explain what they were looking for, because then they did not buy the scripts ^[4] .

Kuhn suggested that Herrold wait until next February in the hope that Star Trek would be extended for a second season. They also discussed several ideas for the script, including the story of small furry creatures that breed too fast. Kuhn found this idea cute, but too expensive because of the cost of making props ^[5] . In preparation for the second season by January, Herrold wrote five stories ^[6] . The author had high hopes for two of them: Bandy and The Protracted Man ^[7] , but decided to submit his fifth story, despite the fact that Kun had previously rejected this idea. ^[7] . It was called The Fuzzies ^[8] . The idea was based on the importation of rabbits into Australia in 1859, which began to breed at high speed ^[9] .

In the original version of the script, the plot was set on a space station in order to avoid environmental damage that creatures could cause to the planet. However, Herrold’s agent doubted that the budget of the hypothetical episode would allow creating a miniature model of the station and the production would be very expensive for one episode ^[10] . Due to the arguments of the agent, Herrold had to change the scene, transferring him to a colony on the planet ^[11] . This option included a conspiracy, poisoning of the granary, in that version the Klingons managed to escape with impunity, and Cyrano Jones was called Cyrano Smith ^{[12] [13]} . All five scenarios were presented by Herrold's agent in February 1967, and a response was received in June. By that time, the series had already acquired enough scripts for the second season, however, the editor D.K. Fontana received an offer to buy a script for the series, since it looked more advantageous than some other ready-made scripts ^[14] .

Gene Kun and assistant producer Robert Justman after reading the script about furry creatures, they gave feedback and pointed out several gaps, such as the need for the team to use the plot to expose the spy ^[15] . In the next scenario, Darwin exposes Cyrano Jones, which, according to Kuhn, was "not sharp enough" ^[16] . After that, Gerrold edited the script, adding tribblam allergy to Klingons. Herrold agreed with Kuhn that such a move was rather beaten, but Kuhn considered that they were going in the right direction ^[16] . Writing a new version of the script took another week ^[17] .

During a visit to the set, Gerrold was invited to Coon's office, where they had a conversation. It was about how to name the pussies ( English fuzzies ), since the legal department was concerned about the similarity of the name with the character of the 1962 novel “ Little Puffy »American science fiction writer G. Beam Piper ^[18] . Herrold came up with many alternative names for furry creatures. The method of exclusion left the name “tribble” ^[19] . Kuhn did not like the name, but after looking at alternative options, he agreed to the “tribles” ^[20] . On July 17, the script with edits was called “You Think You've Got Tribbles ...?” ( Rus. “Do you think you have a tribble ...?” ). Despite the fact that Kun did not like the name of the furry animals, the script was purchased ^{[20] [21]} . Herrold’s script corresponded to the standard volume for the episode of the series, but after printing it turned out to have 80 pages instead of 60 for distribution on the rotator . This happened because Gerrold did not use a typewriter with a step of 12 points , an accepted standard in the film and television industry ^[22] . For this reason, the script needed to be reduced by about 20 pages ^[22] .

Among the scenes cut from the plot was the Enterprise's pursuit of Johns' ship ^[23] , which led to a scene in a granary with tribbles falling from a bunker onto Kirk. According to the author of the script, this forced editing process strengthened the story and created the best series of gegs ^[23] . Nichelle Nichols admitted to Herrold that she had never seen the script change so much, remaining the same ^[24] .

I had to refuse the proposed name “Do you think that you have a tribble ...?” After the discovery of Shulman’s story with a similar title “Do you think you have problems?” ( Eng. “You Think You've Got Troubles ? ” ) (On which the episode“ Dig, Dig, Dig ”of the third season of the television series“ The Success of Dobie Gillis ”) Was based. There was a possibility of violating intellectual property rights . The episode got its final name, “ The Trouble with Tribbles” ^[25] . Kuhn’s participation in creating the script from the point of view of proposals and amendments was such that Herrold considered it necessary to acknowledge co-authorship with Kuhn ^[26] .

The producers liked the final script so much that Gerrold was later asked to rewrite the script for the episode “ I, Mudd ” ^[27] by Stephen Kendell. Herrold agreed, but declined to be mentioned in the credits, losing to Kendell, the creator of the antagonist Harry Mudd ^[19] . Herrold worked on the script “I, Madd,” even before the filming of “Problems with Tribbles.” One morning, he received a copy of his signature tribal script for Robert Heinlein . The consultants warned Herrold ^[28] that the tribble resembles Martian flat cats in Heinlein’s novel The Space Family of Stone , published in 1952, and offered to acquire the rights to the novel. Herrold was worried that he might inadvertently plagiarize a novel read 15 years ago ^[29] . Gene Kun called Heinlein, who, according to Herrold, only asked for a signed copy of the script. After showing the episode on NBC, Heinlein sent a note to Herrold thanks for the script ^[30] .

Heinlein's memories diverge from this version. His official biography says that Gene Kun asked the writer to give up claims that the tribbles are similar to his flat cats, because he had just gone through one plagiarism case and did not want to drag himself into another. After reading the script, Heinlein had concerns, but he agreed, although he later regretted it, seeing the popularity of the tribbles ^[31] .

Casting

Actor William Campbell previously played the role of Squire Trilane in the episode " Gothic Squire " of the first season ^[32] . In The Tribble Problem, he got the role of the Klingon captain Kolot. Although Kolot returned to the animated series , Campbell did not voice the character. In 1994, the actor returned in the role of Kolota in the episode " Blood Oath "Television series" Star Trek: Deep Space 9 " ^{[32] [33]} .

By casting William Scellert just finished shooting in the ABC sitcom “ The Patty Duke Show ” ". Not being a fan of science fiction, the actor perceived the role of Niels Barris as the role of “a rather stuffy bureaucrat” and not the most attractive character ^[34] . Later, the actor got the role of the Bajoran musician Varani in the episode “ Shelter "Television series" Star Trek: Deep Space 9 " ^[34] .

Whit Bissell , who played station manager Lurry ^[35] , was better known for his lead role as Lieutenant General Haywood Kirk in the ABC science fiction television series The Time Tunnel " ^[36] . Michael Pataki, who played the Klingon Koraks, played the role of Karnas in the episode "Too Short a Season" of the first season of " The Next Generation " ^[37] . Klingon agent Arne Darwin was played by Charlie Brill ^[35] .

Filming

The use of animals on set as tribles was initially ruled out. According to Herrold, he was inspired by the shape of the tribble thanks to the furry keyring Holly Sherman ^[9] , after whom he later named the planet ( Eng. Sherman's Planet ), appearing in the script ^[38] . The tribal design was developed by Chang, Wa Min ^[39] and they were stitched by Jacqueline Coumer. She received $ 350 for the manufacture of five hundred tribol stuffed with foam rubber from synthetic fur ^{[9] [40]} . Six movable tribbles were made using the mechanisms of walking toy dogs, due to the loud noises of which the dialogs had to be re-voiced ^[41] . Other tribbles were made by Jim Rugg from bean bags for scenes when the tribble needed to sit on a person or object, and the “breathing” models were made using medical balls ^{[9] [41]} . In 1992, some of the tribbles were exhibited at the Smithsonian National Aeronautics and Astronautics Museum in Washington , DC ^[42] . In 2006, the tribbles were part of a lot sold at Christie's auction ^[43] . Due to the quality of the synthetic fur of the 1960s, relatively few tribbles have survived, in which the fur did not fall out ^[44] . In 2003, the original tribble was sold at auction for $ 1,000 ^[45] .

In 1968, the episode was nominated for the prestigious science fiction award " Hugo " in the nomination for best production ^[46] . It is noteworthy that in that year all the nominees in this nomination were episodes of Star Trek. The laureate of the prize was the episode “ City on the Edge of Eternity ”, and “The Problem with Tribbles” took the second place by the number of votes ^{[46] [47]} . In addition to them, the episodes “ Time of Rage ”, “ Mirror, Mirror ” and “ Doomsday Machine ” were nominated for the prize ^[46] .

Remastering

Tribbles have repeatedly appeared in episodes of television series and feature films on the Star Trek universe. Among other things, tribalism is given sufficient attention in Star Trek 3: Finding Spock and JJ Abrams ’s Star Trek and Star Trek: Retribution ^{[48] [49]} . During a visit to the movie set by Herrold, Abrams told him that they “planted a tribble”, delighting Herrold ^[50] . In the 2009 film, the tribble sits in a cage with Scott in a scene when he is found by Kirk and Spock ^[51] . In addition, the tribble appears in the series 4 of the first season in the series Star Trek: Discovery in the office of Captain Lorca.

Uncontrolled breeding of tribbles is in some versions of the computer game Elite . Tribbles are parodied in the Space Quest V: The Next Mutation quest.

The episode includes the heroes of the episode “ The Tribble Test ” "From the series" Star Trek: Deep Space 9 ".

• Gerrold, David. The Trouble with Tribbles: The Birth, Sale and Final Production of one Episode. — BenBalla Books, 2004.
• Block, Paula M.; Erdmann, Terry J. Star Trek: The Original Series. — New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2010. — 380 p. — ISBN 9780810991729 .
• Gross, Edward; Altman, Mark A. Captain's Logs: The Complete Trek Voyages . — London: Boxtree, 1993. — 269 p. — ISBN 978-1-85283-899-7 .
• Nemecek, Larry. The Star Trek, the next generation companion . — New York: Pocket Books, 2003. — 372 p. — ISBN 0-7434-5798-6 .

• «Проблема с трибблами» (англ.) на сайте StarTrek.com
• «Проблема с трибблами» (англ.) в энциклопедии Memory Alpha
• «Проблема с трибблами» (англ.) на сайте Internet Movie Database
• «Проблема с трибблами» (англ.) на сайте TV.com
• «Проблема с трибблами» (англ.) . Покадровое сравнение оригинальной и ремастеринговой версий