Writer: David Gerrold
Director: Joseph Pevney
Producer: Gene L. Coon
"The City on the Edge of Forever" may be popularly considered Trek's "best" episode, but it'd be hard to argue that "Trouble with Tribbles" isn't it's most popular. In terms of doing an out and out comedy on the series, this episode succeeds in every respect where it's predecessor, "I, Mudd" fell flat. Cyrano Jones is even a better version of the same archetype as Harry Mudd, to be frank.
For one thing, there's an actual plot with real stakes. If it wasn't for the jokes and the lighthearted atmosphere, this could be a straight story -- a Federation space station with a shipment of grain needed for a new colony, Klingons around possibly acting as saboteurs. But by introducing the small, fluffy, adorable, multiplicious tribbles into the mix, writer Gerrold creates a fantastic little comedy.
In some ways, the appeal is simple -- it's almost a "day off" episode for the show. The shenanigans are in seeing Kirk's frustrations dealing with Federation bureaucrats, in seeing Chekov and Uhura on shore leave on the station, in seeing Scotty and Chekov get into a fistfight with Klingons on the station. One of the joys of the episode is everyone gets a gag. Everyone gets a fun part to play in the hour, including Spock's exasperation with the very existence of tribbles, McCoy's amused scientific analysis of them, etc.
Dialogue is sharp and well delivered, with all the cast members, regular and guest, on their best comic timing. This episode proves Shatner should've been doing comedy from the get go. Almost all the jokes land perfectly, and it's impossible to get through the hour without a smile on your face. And unlike "I, Mudd", which suffers from being bound in one spot and situation for much of its running time, "Tribbles" keeps moving from scene to scene and setpiece to setpiece.
Course, the whole thing wouldn't work if the tribbles didn't, and somehow they do. Despite literally just being balls of hair -- no big cute eyes or even a face at all -- the cast (and the small motors in some of the hairballs) sell the idea that these are living, breathing, adorable little creatures. Big accolades are due to the sound department as well, given that the purring noises of the tribbles (altered from dove coos) contribute a lot to both the idea they are alive, and also how pleasant and loveable they are.
Finally, the other thing that makes "Tribbles" work is the characters stay in character. There's maybe a bit more comic juice to the Spock/McCoy scenes, but they wouldn't be utterly out of character elsewhere in the series, for example. The characters aren't goofing around trying to be silly, as in "Mudd", it's the situations and the dialogue that's funny.
It's a classic. What else can you say?
Rating: 4 out of 4
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