The Trouble with Tribbles // Star Trek: The Original Series Reaction // Season 2 

Please no spoilers! So that I can provide my best and most honest reaction, please do not mention the names of any future characters, events, or episode titles (this goes for future series as well). Please do not say which upcoming episodes are good or bad, otherwise I will have trouble forming my own opinion! Thank you, and enjoy!

23:20 Sherman's planet was a neutral planet that both the Federation and Klingons wanted to colonize. The quadrotriticale was important because it was the only Earth grain that would grow there. The Klingons poisoned the grain to try to sabotage their colonization effort so the Klingons would get the planet.

"The Trouble w Tribbles" is generally considered one of the best of Classic Trek episodes. One of the things that makes Classic Trek stand out among all the Trek series after all these years is one week could be an action adventure, the next week. Mystery, the next week, heavy drama, or the next week a comedy episode. Such a fantastic show and to think this was made 50 years ago when westerns were the most popular kind of show on TV, it still blows me away

The actor who played the admiral was the spokesman in the Allstate commercials at the time. There's an outtake in the bloopers of his scene where someone threw him a tribble and he said "remember, you're in good hands with tribbles."

Another fun fact: this is one of only a few Trek episodes in which James "Scotty" Doohan's middle finger is shown to be missing. In most other episode's they found creative ways to hide it, but it's clearly visible in the scene where he's carrying an armful of Tribbles. James Doohan served in the Canadian military and was on the beach on D-Day when he was shot six times by a nervous Canadian sentry. His middle finger had to be amputated, and the only thing that saved his life was a cigarette case in his shirt pocket that took the impact of a bullet that would otherwise have pierced his heart.

The genius behind this comedy episode is that all the character stayed in character--even Spock. They did not have to change the characters to make them funny.

Speaking of props, in the episode “The Man Trap” Gene Roddenberry told the prop designer to come up with some futuristic salt shakers for a scene. The designer came back with a few different designs for Gene. Gene looked at them and said they wouldn’t be recognizable as salt shakers unless the actor picked one up and said “This is a salt shaker.” But Gene did say they would be nifty medical instruments for Dr. McCoy. They ended up borrowing some salt shakers from the NBC commissary. So when McCoy is scanning you he is actually seasoning you, lol.

"The Trouble with Tribbles" and "City on the Edge of Forever" are my top two favorite episodes of Star Trek TOS.

David Gerrold also authored a book about writing this "Star Trek's most popular episode". Apparently, James Doohan came up with the parting line, "I transported the whole kit and caboodle into the Klingon engine room, where they'll be no tribble at all!".

Sulu was originally supposed to be the one who knew about Quadrotriticalie and since he's been shown previously to be a botanist it's logical he'd knows about it, but George Takei was off filming "The Green Berets", so his lines got split between Chekov and Spock.

6:02 "Is That Trelane?" Good catch. That was indeed William Campbell, whom had played Trelane in the episode "The Squire Of Gothos"

I remember way back in the 70s, watching with my dad. We both understood Scotties gratitude at being able to get back to his journals.

Here's a fun trivia bit for you. In the episode Spock tell Jones to pick up every tribble will take 17.9 years Fast forward to Star Trek:Wrath of Khan and this dialogue between Carol Marcus and Kirk: Carol Marcus: Please tell me what you're feeling. Kirk: There's a man out there I haven't seen in fifteen years who's trying to kill me. Which means while we're watching Khan and Kirk and the battle for Genesis, a lonely man wanders the halls of a space station picking up tribbles

During the Cold War, and I guess still today to a lesser extent, there was a stereotype that Russians claimed that they invented everything. Telephone? Invented by a Russian. Automobile? Invented by a Russian. The American Express card? Invented by a Russian. So a lot of those jokes were written into Chekov's character.

Fun Fact: Doohan (Scotty) heard how much the stunt men were getting for the fight. He asked if he would get extra pay for doing the fights himself. They said yes, so that's Doohan actually in the bar fight scene. All the more reason Scotty (Doohan) Rules.

TRIBBLES!!!!!!GREAT EPISODE! One of the Most beloved episodes ever! Funniest Too! The whole scene in the Bar with the klingons......EPIC....So is the scene where Kirk is questioning his men after! Korax and Scotty's Exchange is stuff of Legend!..So is the scene where scotty is talking about the Fight with Kirk!!!!!

Fun fact: The look of frustrated defeat on Kirk's face when the mass of tribbles rained down on his head was geniune. That the the EIGHTH time Shatner had to endure it, as there'd been a problem with every take they tried before it. 🤣

Terrible job by Trelane's parents to let him impersonate a Klingon commander. They made 1,771,561 Tribbles for this episode. Tribbles are dangerous only if fed after Stardate 3134.9.

TRIBBLES! We have Tribbles! Props designer Wah Chang had come up with some magnificent creations during his time working on "Star Trek." The post-pilot phaser, the tricorder, the Vulcan lute, even the basic designs of the salt vampire and the Gorn. I'm glad this was the episode Chang gets to go out on before his dismissal from the series. Wah Chang was one of the unsung heroes in early Hollywood props designs, having built the maquette used for live-action referencing for the title character of "Pinocchio," the headdress worn by Elizabeth Taylor in "Cleopatra," and the titular contraption itself in "The Time Machine." "Star Trek" producer Bob Justman sought him out after getting into an argument with the props union members over at Desilu because Chang came up with far better designs than they ever could (the initial phaser design from Matt and John Jeffries was flat-out rejected by Gene Roddenberry). Because Chang was nonunion, Justman had to get clever, and made it appear that he was buying "preexisting, off-the-shelf" items from Chang because hiring him outright to manufacture props would have been against union rules. The same union rules also meant that Chang could not be properly credited for his work on "Star Trek." On December 29, 1967 (the exact date "The Trouble with Tribbles" aired), Desilu Studios, which produced "Star Trek," was acquired by Gulf+Western from Lucille Ball (yes, THAT Lucille Ball) and incorporated into Paramount Pictures to serve as their television production arm. Looking through the numbers, G+W saw how much "Star Trek" was hemorrhaging money, and cuts needed to be made. Unfortunately, Wah Chang turned out to be an easy target by these cuts. The FIVE HUNDRED tribbles created for this episode cost quite a lot (including the hiring of an assistant "tribble-maker" Jacqueline Cumeré) and by this point, the props guild had started to catch on to Justman's ruse. Because of the situation between Justman and the props union, Wah Chang could not be credited for any of his work on "Star Trek." He was not even mentioned in the 1968 reference book "The Making of Star Trek," despite covering the very props he crafted. Fortunately, "Star Trek" has a large fan base. A fan base that corresponds frequently in the convention circuit. Through a lot of digging on the part of the fan base, Chang's contributions became more well-known. By 1996, Bob Justman and Herb Sollow published a tell-all memoir that told the story of their grievances with the propsmasters, the hiring of Chang, and which specific elements of the show were his contributions. And it's good that Chang gets the credit he deserves. Good creative minds like that should never be forgotten. Fans deserve to know who to thank when they hold a phaser or a tricorder, dress up as a Gorn...or pet a stuffed tribble (which thankfully doesn't multiply!).

Every Canadian youtube reactor swoons whenever Spock mentions the word "Canada."

The episode starts out very "heavily", but turns into, perhaps, the lightest episode of the entire series.

Saw a funny bumper sticker a few minutes ago. It said, "Have your tribble spayed or neutered."

When I was a kid, I didn’t get this. But I have enjoyed it more and more over the years. Kirk is especially hilarious. The writer was 19 years old at the time of submitting this script, and he lied about his age because he thought they wouldn’t consider him if they knew the truth.

After this was filmed, tribbles kept appearing all over the place on various sets. In drawers, under and inside cabinets, and, if legends are true, in Uhura's uniform with her.

All the actors seemed to be having fun in this episode. It's rumored that even the stage hands up in the grain silos were having a little too much fun pelting Shatner in the head with tribbles.

Guys, nobody spoil the thing. You know the thing I mean. She'll get there when she gets there.

William Schallert was a beloved character actor for many years. He played Patty Duke's dad in her (to me, classic) TV series. Patty was very close to him, and sort of regarded him as her real father, according to her memoirs.

Well wait till you watch ds9 when they go back in time to that space station and bring some back to quarks bar... lol

13:12 To be fair, last time Scotty was on shore leave several women were murdered.

One great joke you might have missed: Spock: "He just couldn't believe his ears." Kirk: a beat, a quick take, then back to the conversation. That was a riff on the recent MAD Magazine Star Trek parody, which had Spock say "I can't believe my ears," and Kirk reply, "Some days, *I* can't believe your ears!"

18:11 - The look on Kirk's face = "Don't f*ck with me, Bones!"

This was the scriptwriter's (David Gerrold) first professional job (script).

Beaming them into space is inhumane, but beaming them onto a ship of Klingons who presumably will is not

This is an episode assured of getting a huge number of comments as there are just so many wonderful angles in it. It is a "comic relief" episode, as was "I, Mudd". The theme of Kirk's disdain of bureaucrats shows up again with his sniping at Nilz Baris, played by the actor William Schallert, who was ubiquitous on TV for decades, almost always playing likable characters, but not here. And the line about too much of anything, even love, is not necessarily a good thing, is important to remember. Without predators, the tribbles became dangerous. The terms of the Organian Peace Treaty would award Sherman's planet to the side that developed it best. Since quadrotriticale was the *only* grain that would grow there, the Klingon sabotage of that grain would have resulted in giving the planet to them if the scheme had not been uncovered. A little exposition mixed in with all the comedy.

I look forward to your Star Trek reactions every week, Bunny!!! I'll keep saying it until you believe me! You are my favorite reactor!!! ✌️

Best Guy Moment On The Series? Kirk,"Here, let me try," to the guard. "I'll do exactly the same thing as you just did, but I'm Captain Kirk so I'll get a different result." Only thing missing? The guard saying "I loosened it for you."

Fun fact: days before this episode was scheduled to air, somebody noticed a STRONG similarity between the Tribbles and the "Martian Flat Cats" that are featured in Robert A. Heinlein's novel "The Rolling Stones" (including being born pregnant). Writer David Gerrold was gobsmacked: he admitted that while this wasn't intentional, he HAD read that novel years earlier and he may have inadvertently "borrowed" these elements. The network was prepared to pull the episode but a call was made to Mr. Heinlein, asking what he wanted to allow the episode to air. Mr. Heinlein, a very gracious gentleman, demanded only one thing: an autographed shooting script signed by David Gerrold. Gerrold and Heinlein remained friends until the latter's death in 1988.

6:00 Yes, William Campbell also played Trelane. But no, the other Klingon is not Lazarus from "The Alternative Factor." But hats off to you for not only remembering his name, but the episode title as well...as well as remembering the aforementioned Organian Peace Treaty. You are TRULY a TREKKIE. 🖖

"it's only human nature to love little furry animals." Thank you, says the tarantula.

Now you know the trouble with tribbles. This episode has always been a fan favorite, and that may be because it was written by a fan. (episode writer David Gerrold wrote a book about the creation of this episode that I read back in college- it was in the library) Indeed Kirk is especially snarky (but I've never seen a Federation commissioner that didn't deserve such treatment) and Scotty is his most Scotty to this point in the series. (don't worry, I won't spoil what is to come) The look Kirk (buried to his chest in tribbles) gives to McCoy when he orders him to find out what killed the tribbles and McCoy replies he hasn't figured out what keeps them alive yet- for my money, worth watching the whole episode for. The actions, gestures, and dialogue of everyone on the station and ship are also very enjoyable.

Bunny, as you continue your journey through the Star Trek franchise, this won't be the only time you get to smile and laugh. 🙂

Folks - Remember, NO SPOILERS. That includes mentioning future appearances or references to this in other series, or events in other series. I've just, sadly, had to delete a half-dozen posts specifically for mentioning events which take place far into the fictional future from this episode. Several of which I personally thought were funny and well written, but which unfortunately told her about things she, we all can hope, will be surprised to see for the first time someday! Remrmber, if someone watching this episode for the first time, when it first aired, would not have known something... you should not mention that thing to her. The whole point of this channel is for us to see her experience these things, fresh and unspoiled, the same way we did waaay back then. It's tough, when most of us have seen these episodes many times, and they form a complete whole inside our minds. A "history" of sorts. But for her, it's all new. Let's all try to keep it that way! 👍

Klingons don’t discuss their physical abilities or appearance during this time with outsiders.

Since the Federation and the Klingon Empire are competing for Sherman's Planet's alliance, the delivery of quadrotriticale would be a big win for the Federation. Sherman's Planet would benefit from such a strong wheat grain, which could feed millions. Delivering a load of dead grain would totally embarrass the Federation, and the Klingons are all for that!

Scotty was the forerunner to what we now call "Tech Geeks." People so fascinated by Technology to the exclusion of everything else.

Anybody ever notice that there are no obvious stunt men in the bar fight scene that are replacing Scotty, Chekov, etc.?

The Enterprise is a character in it's own right... and Scotty will not allow anyone talk crap about his baby!!! This is one of the best episodes for the comedic aspects of Star Trek! I am so glad that you're loving the show and we're loving watching you enjoy it as well! Thank you for sharing your journey with us. : )

That is indeed William Campbell/Trelane of Gothos, masquerading as Klingon Captain Koloth! 😆 Michael Pataki played the Klingon troublemaker Korax. He does look a lot like like Lazarus (played by Robert Brown).

Fun fact for this episode. The line where Checkov recognized the grain was actually intended for Sulu. An interest in horticulture was part of Sulu’s character. However,, George T. was filming a movie at the time, so he was released.

3:38 "She wants to shop and I thought I would help her," said _no_ man, _ever._

"It frustrates me just as much as it...Wooohaa butterfly wings!" LOL!

This is a good episode. It's funny how you picked up on what was going on when Kirk was standing under the grain compartment door full of tribbles. There was crew up there trying to throw the individual tribbles at him at just the wrong time and throw him off while Shatner was trying to say his lines.

'There be no tribble at all.' -Scotty Surprisingly.. I missed that jokes a dozen or more times.. lol

Kirk may be a swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood. Classic.

I have a Star Trek themed Christmas tree and have random 'tribbles' (pom pom fake fur puffs) tucked around in the branches.

Am I wrong, or do tribbles look like those things that girls used to put on their ice skates?

Mrs Bunny; I just want to point out how charming u are ❤🎉

Just fyi: The ancestral form of quadro-triticale that Spock mentions - triticale - is an actual grain and everything Spock says about *that* and its origins is completely factual. Also, I kind of wonder if tribbles inadvertently helped to inspire the critters in the movie *Gremlins.* Especially the dangers of feeding them at the wrong time; or in the case of tribbles *any* time. Edit: Oops. Posted this before i got to the point in your video where you make the same comparison. :)

I just met the gentleman who wrote this episode at a convention today, he signed a copy of the script for me!

So funny that you said "Tribbles are racist?" But no one could have said it more charming, Bunny. Fact is, tribbles are prey on their planet and dislike species that behave like predators.

A lot of us have been eagerly awaiting your reaction to this particular Trek episode.

Cyrano Jones was originally supposed to be Harry Mudd. But that actor wasn't available.

Very much enjoyed your reaction, young lady! You picked out Trelane! You know your stuff! Love your channel!

TWO BITS OF TRIVIA: - Allegedly NBC got some complaints from animal lovers who thought Tribbles were living creatures and had been mistreated during the filming of the episode (confined in the storage bin, baked under hot studio lights, etc.). - Originally, they wanted to have another appearance of Harry Mudd, but the actor was unavailable. That's too bad - it would have been even better with him involved.

6:08 Good guess! One out of two! You are watching too much 60s television LOL. William Cambell (Captain Koloth) was a prolific character actor in '50s and '60s film and televsion. Films were lower budget films of the time (think Roger Corman)

The 1970s series Quark, starring Richard Benjamin, was literally set aboard--a garbage ship, in space. It had to collect garbage in space.

9:00 "They don't like Klingons? Tribbles are *racist*?" In my head it isn't so much about racism as it is that the Tribbles don't like the Klingons from a political point of view, at least in this point in the timeline. We were always in church when Star Trek aired (in reruns) on WAVE-3 in Louisville, but the local library had this episode (and only this episode, out of the series) on 16mm motion picture film, so I got to see it in school (in motion picture film glory, just as you see it in its new digital transfer from the original 35mm here, minus the "special edition" spaceship CGI, of course). When I got home from school, aged 13 or whatever, I had a special day of playing "Trouble with Tribbles" with Arthur and Trillian, my two guinea pigs. To the reactor: I love how much you're now vested in these characters and the world(s) they inhabit enough to get all the little in-jokes. I imagine audiences laughed their asses off back in 1967 (I looked it up, the episode aired a year and one day before I was born). For me, Star Trek, apart from the basic premise of overcoming our differences and exploring space together, is all about the characters, and for all its minor shortcomings, Tribbles is an example of peak Star Trek in terms of characterization. That's what gives the show (and the franchise it launched) its staying power, 56 years on. When it is good, it is so very, very good. My favorite moment in the reaction is when the Klingons insult the Enterprise, and the reactor (sorry I don't know her name) realizes exactly what's coming. It's my favorite moment in the episode, along with the subsequent scene where Scotty parleys his confession to Kirk into getting confined to his quarters to read up on engineering, which is all Scotty ever wanted in the first place. Complete with repeating the Klingon insults to Kirk to his face. Hysterical.

Sounds like you were a little confused by the plot at the end: You caught the mention of the Organian Peace Treaty earlier, but I think catching that overrode the surrounding context. :) Sherman's Planet was in the Neutral Zone on the Federation/Klingon border. Per the Organian Peace Treaty, the world belongs to whoever demonstrates the ability to develop the planet most efficiently. So the Federation brought in the quadrotriticale, a high-yield grain, to give their colony the best chance of success. Arne Darvin and the Klingons came in to poison the grain to sabotage the Federation's attempts, so that the Klingons could gain control of the planet.

19:21 Notice the Enterprise moving by in the background! It was a nice detail!

Imagine if we had RU-vid back then? Would we be inundated with Tribble videos instead of Cat videos?

Definitely look forward to your weekly reactions. Can't wait for your fashion commentary on the next episode.

Klingons in TOS aren't portrayed as physically stronger than humans.

Hey bunny , we’ll another fun humorous episode. Refreshing after those last few , I think this was a fun change of direction.

Fun fact: That's the furriest chicken and coffee ever shown on American television. 📺 🖖🏻 💓

The Deep Space Nine episode Trials and Tribble-ations is just as good. Give it a watch!! :)

Great channel subscribed please do a reaction to .. Jaws (1975)

R.I.P James (Scotty) Doohan, D-Day veteran wounded in action.

I believe the episode's writer was inspired by the ecological disaster of rabbits (apologies to bunnytails) being introduced to Australia.

The episode's writer is David Gerrold author of my favorite sci-fi series: the War against the Chtorr.

"Who put the tribbles in the quadrotriticale?" must be the first line of a great song. Even better than "… Who put the bomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp Who put the ram in the rama lama ding dong?

No one telling Bunny about Shatner's stunt double sitting next to Scotty at the bar?

I have Fever and Laid in Bed all Day. Your Reaction brightened my Day a bit.

21:12 But where is he supposed to *put* the tribbles? Kirk orders him to pick them up. And do what? He can't take them back to their home planet because his ship is impounded.

I love Kirk's snarky insults against that Federation bureaucrat: "I have never questioned the orders or intelligence of Starfleet....until now." Or "I take this situation very seriously; it is YOU I take lightly" Or "Tribbles seem to like you, Mr. Barrus - but there's no accounting for taste."

Gene Roddenberry didn't like the episode, he thought comedy undermined the authority of what Starfleet represented as a military organization. He was on holiday when they made this episode. Shatner on the other hand was thoroughly enjoying himself, he loves playing comedy and was very happy to have the chance here.

Hey bunnytails baby your so cute and i love your Star Trek Reactions as an older sci fi Fan. This is a Classic !

Girls dont get Star Trek....they just watch and giggle...

This is a favorite episode for many fans. I'm not particularly fond of it. Stanley Adams (Cyrano Jones) wrote, or co-wrote, the later "Mark of Gideon".

This was one I was waiting for you to see. I don’t think Trek has ever been more funny. Shatner in particular was amazing. The look on his face when he stares down bones buried in Tribbles was priceless… …Oooh butterfly dress! LMAO That was definitely Trelayne. I hadn’t ever noticed that the Klingon 2nd in command was the alternative factor guy! AF is one of my least favourite episodes though which is probably why. The characters are all REALLY strong. You really get a sense from Kirk all the way to Uhura of what drives them. It’s a shame Sulu wasn’t in this one… The bar fight / Scotty / Kirk sequence is one of my favourite Scotty moments of all time. Not my favourite episode, but darn close to the top.

How many did the prop team make? 1,771, 561 plus/minus production budget...

I own one of the little white tribbles. Hasn't given me more but I like to pretend it was one of the ones that bopped Kirk on the head.

I think a lot of people put The Trouble with Tribbles in their top 5 favorite episodes of Star Trek TOS. Oddly enough, I think Gene Roddenberry thought the episode was too goofy. He always wanted Star Trek to be taken seriously.

I'm glad you finally got to this one. This is the most comical out of all of tos there is another coming up.

Probobly the most cute-sy of all from OG. There's a good second place contender you've yet to see. Thanks for this ons!

Yes, this was a fun episode and was the single most popular one of the entire series. However, it's not among my favorite, not even close. I do, however, have a tribble sitting in front of our downstairs TV. I make sure I don't feed it! Under the Organian Peace Treaty, both the Federation and the Klingon Empire were allowed to develop Sherman's Planet, but only one of them could own this planet depending on who could develop it better. This prompted the Klingons to sabotage the Federation's shipment of quadro-triticale by poisoning it. But the tribbles helped to uncover the Klingon plot and helped to exposed Darvin as the surgically altered Klingon agent. The word you were looking for was spesiesist, and speciesism is a real word and a form of human supremacy. But, in this case, the tribbles had a real grievance against the Klingons. In Star Wars, The Phantom Menace, there are some hints of human supremacist sentiments. The verses in The Bible about how Man (and Woman in some versions) shall inherit dominion of the Earth and over all living things has been criticized as being human supremacist. In Star Trek Enterprise, we see human supremacy rear its ugly head in Season 4. This episode was the first time that we ever saw a Klingon ship. We never saw any in Errand of Mercy or in Friday's Child. In real life, triticale was developed in the 19th century and Canada and Ukraine are two important places where this grain is grown, so Chekhov was right about the Russian connection. Yes, loved the barroom fight, 23rd century style. Yes, that was William Campbell who played Captain Koloth, who also played Trelane. But the man who played the other Klingon was a different actor than the one who played Lazarus. Robert Brown played Lazarus, and he was 6'2", while the man who was the other Klingon was nowhere near that tall. Robert Brown left us 2 years ago at the age of 95. Yes, I completely understood Kirk's frustration with Baris in this episode.

Bunny instantly spotted Trulane! This episode was voted by viewers very highly, back in about 1988 when Leonard Nimoy hosted a show on the top 10 episodes.

Although Shatner wasn't yet wearing a hairpiece during this era of the show, no doubt the extra prop Tribbles came in handy during the later Star Trek movies.

My favorite episode! It' s very different to the others. A lot of fun. Unique - not teally In two other series thee are eüisodes with Tribbles.

Yes this is a memorable episode, one of the most humorous of the series. Not really one of my top favorites, BUT I have to say that I love the bar room brawl and Scotty's confession to Kirk afterwards. High point of the episode to me. Second favorite moment is Spock explaining how the tribbles have no effect on him! Good, light hearted fun writing in this one.

Info about the tribbles, only one person made all of the 500 tribbles: "The episode’s author, David Gerrold, wanted to tell a story about the consequences of an ecological balance that is disrupted. He needed to invent a breed of small alien creatures that would be easy for the "Star Trek" artists to manufacture in large numbers. Using real living animals was out of the question. Gerrold’s girlfriend at the time, Holly Sherman, had a key chain that was a pink ball of fluff. Although pink was too garish a color to use, the fluffy ball of fur was the inspiration behind the creatures. Originally named "Fuzzies" in early drafts of the story, Gerrold played with a list of many other names he randomly created. After eliminating names such as "Shagbies," "Puffies" and "Goonies," he finally ended up with the name "Tribbles." The Tribbles were designed by special effects genius Wah Chang, who also designed the show’s most famous prop icons - the Tricorder, Phaser and Communicator. Irving Feinberg, Star Trek’s prop master, supervised construction of the creatures. They were sewn by Jacqueline Cumeré, who was reportedly paid $350 to make 500 of them. TribbleMost of the Tribbles were brown in color, some of which were touched up with lighter or darker accents for variation. A few were white. Some of the earliest created were made of a softer, fluffier fur while they were still experimenting with materials. "Star Trek" special effects man Jim Rugg made six Tribbles "walk" by using toy dogs. He cut off the toy's heads and fitted them with a Tribble skin. One of them can be seen in the episode walking across a railing on the bridge of the Enterprise for a moment before being scooped up by Captain Kirk (William Shatner). Rugg also made a few Tribbles "breathe" by placing a surgical balloon inside them, which was inflated using a plastic tube attached to a squeeze bulb.