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"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, 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 1,500 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 weren't 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". While initial fan reaction to the episode was mixed, it was more popular with the general public. Critical response to the episode was positive, and it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation which instead went to fellow ''Star Trek'' episode "The City on the Edge of Forever". It has since been included in several "best of" episode lists and features, including as part of the Best of DVD collection alongside three other episodes. It has also been released as part of the season two DVD box set. "The Trouble with Tribbles" was intended to have a third-season follow-up episode, but it was not completed. The follow-up episode was developed for ''Star Trek: The Animated Series'' as "More Tribbles, More Troubles". Gerrold explained that the episode was almost uncut from the original premise. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of ''Star Trek'' in 1996, the ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' episode "Trials and Tribble-ations" used digital techniques to insert the ''Deep Space Nine'' actors into the events of "The Trouble with Tribbles". Gerrold appeared on-screen as an extra, and the episode was nominated for three Emmy Awards and also for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. ==Plot== The ''Enterprise'' is called to Deep Space Station K7 by a distress call. It is near Sherman's Planet, a world whose ownership is under dispute between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. On arrival, Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) becomes furious when he finds out the reason for the distress call, which was made by Nilz Baris (William Schallert), the under-secretary of agriculture for the sector: Baris wants someone to guard the shipments of Quadrotriticale (related to triticale) grain bound for Sherman's Planet, since Quadrotriticale is the only Earth grain that would grow on Sherman's Planet and thus is required to resolve the ownership issue. Kirk assigns two crewmen to guard the grain, but afterwards he finds out the Starfleet Command share Baris' concerns. In addition, a Klingon ship commanded by Captain Koloth (William Campbell) arrives, who requests permission for his crew to board K7 for shore leave. Kirk agrees, but limits the number of Klingons at any one time and they must travel under Starfleet guard while on the station. Meanwhile, an independent trader, Cyrano Jones (Stanley Adams), arrives on the station with some tribbles. He gives one to Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), who brings it on board the ''Enterprise'', where it and its quickly produced offspring are treated as adorable pets. The animals purr a relaxing trill that the crew find soothing. Klingons, however, find tribbles annoying, and the feeling is mutual: tribbles hiss and shriek whenever they are near Klingons. Doctor Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) is concerned that the increasing numbers of tribbles threaten to consume all the onboard supplies. It is discovered that they are entering ship systems, interfering with their functions and consuming any edible contents present. Kirk realizes that if the tribbles are getting into the ship's stores, then they are a threat to the grain aboard the station. He examines the holds but learns that it is already too late: The tribbles have indeed eaten the quadrotriticale, and Kirk is literally buried in grain-gorged tribbles when he opens a grain hold with an overhead hatch. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and McCoy discover that about half the tribbles in the hold are dead and many of the rest are dying, alerting them that the grain has been poisoned. Baris stubbornly holds Kirk responsible for this apparent fiasco, and Koloth additionally demands an apology from Kirk after some of the ''Enterprise'' crew were provoked into a brawl with the Klingons in the station's bar. However, the tribbles incidentally give away the identity of a Klingon agent surgically altered to resemble a human: Arne Darvin (Charlie Brill), Baris's own assistant. He had infected the grain with a virus that becomes an inert material in an organism's bloodstream which eventually prevents the organism from taking in enough nourishment to survive. After Darvin's exposure and arrest, Cyrano Jones is ordered to remove the tribbles from the station (a task that Spock estimates will take 17.9 years) or he will be imprisoned for 20 years for transporting a dangerous life form off its native planet. Just before the Klingons depart, all the tribbles on the ''Enterprise'' are transported onto the Klingon vessel by Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) where, in his words, "they'll be no tribble at all." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Trouble with Tribbles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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