The Trouble with Tribbles: The Story Behind Star Trek's Most Popular Episode

by David Gerrold

David Gerrold, the creator of "Tribbles," recalls how this popular episode of Star Trek was made, from conceptualizing the first draft to the final script, shooting on set, and explaining the techniques and disciplines of TV writing. Plus, receive 32 pages of photos, original illustrations by Tim Kirk, and much more!

Genres: Star Trek, Science Fiction, Fiction, Pop Culture, Tv, Writing, Science Fiction Fantasy

363 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Louie the Mustache Matos · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Trouble with Tribbles by David Gerrold is an autobiographical account of how he became a writer. The title comes from the Star Trek, fan favorite episode of the same title. Gerrold begins with his initial desires as a kid and how he endeavored to make his dreams a reality.

He communicates the step-by-step process of writing a story concept, to getting approval to proceed to the script phase, and more. For wannabe writers, it is a valuable tool (albeit dated) on writing for TV. For Star Trek fans it is an excellent how-to, but further for science fiction fans it is a moving vision into the industry -- both its pitfalls, and its disparate rewards.

I found the book not just fascinating; I had read the book before, but realistic in the sense of passionate drive or the franchise and the industry. In the interim, I somehow had forgotten a personal story that Gerrold movingly shared about a fan and the impact that Tribbles had on her life. For anyone that writes, the personal story is a testimony to the power of imagination and the words that flow from such nascent creativity. I loved this book.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an autobiographical book that gives an inside look at the world of television production in general and Star Trek in particular. The episode was produced in 1967, so it's only of historical interest now, but it's still a fascinating account of the process and of Gerrold's life up through that time. His interactions with the actors and people involved with the show are fascinating and sometimes very amusing. It's a fast, fun read.

[Richard Derus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real Rating: 3.5* of five, rounded down for slightness

The Publisher Says: David Gerrold, the creator of "Tribbles," recalls how this popular episode of Star Trek was made, from conceptualizing the first draft to the final script, shooting on set, and explaining the techniques and disciplines of TV writing. Plus, receive 32 pages of photos, original illustrations by Tim Kirk, and much more!

My Review: Start with this excellent advice:

Taking something seriously means immersing yourself in it and treating it with respect and making it part of yourself.
–and–
Once you make a decision to do something or to be something, start preparing for it immediately.

The mix of advice and anecdote, of trivia and trivialities that absolutely make a fanboy's day, make this a perfect package of fan service with a redeeming dose of wisdom. It's a terrific gift for a young Trek fan, or someone seeking a blow-by-blow of television's peculiar ways with words.

[W · Rating 3 out of 5]

An entire book on writing a single episode for Star Trek,the original series.It was a fun episode,furry little creatures multiplying rapidly and leaving no room whatsoever on the Enterprise.

Then,there is a good deal about how to write for TV.But I was reminded of the original series used to improvise their scripts very hastily as shooting deadlines loomed.

That did result in some shoddy scripts.

[Trin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love "The Trouble with Tribbles" -- who doesn't? -- yet I had to grit my teeth through much of this book about the writing of the script and filming of the episode, by its writer. Unfortunately, as with the other times I've tried to read books by Gerrold, I find him extremely annoying and oddly disingenuous on the page. I know that he was still closeted when he wrote this -- for which I don't blame him at all -- but there's something in the fakey way he talks about his attraction to Uhura that feels present in other aspects of his writing too. He always seems on the verge of a humblebrag. I don't believe him -- not about the humble half, certainly.

Still, there are some interesting details about 1960s TV production and an intriguing glimpse or two into how the sausage (or the tribbles) get made.

[Yaaresse · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounding up. If you're a super die-hard ST-TOS fan, your mileage will vary.

I always liked the Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles," but I always thought it was an odd episode compared to the others. It stood out as having a more physical comedy element to it compared to the rest of the series.

The first part of this book is an excerpt from Gerrold's Blood and Fire, which was mildly interesting; however, am introduction or explanation about what I was reading on the front end would have been appreciated. It took several pages for me to realize it as a sample of a completely different work and not an early seed story for the Tribbles script.

After this inexplicable sample, Gerrold goes into his personal history about being a sci-fi nerd in mid-century American when that sort of thing made one a bully magnet. Finally, we get to the history of how the Tribbles story came about and Gerrold's experience as a newbie writer trying to sell a script to the hottest new show on TV. He admits his success there can be attributed to being n the right place at the right time and plain dumb luck. He explains the way a story pitch becomes a TV show (or at least how it worked in 1968) and divulges his version of the behind-the-scenes activity. He also provides information about what can and can't be done with a story on a low-budget show. It's interesting to see the changes the story went through and why they were required. In short, television in that time didn't care one whit about quality; it cared only about formulas, format, and ratings.

And, yes, he indulges in some hero-worship of the show actors, mostly sugar-coating his experiences with them. Why anyone would hero-worship any actor, but especially William-frickin-Shatner is beyond me, but to each his own.

One unintentionally amusing part in this book is the author explaining fandoms. Anyone under the age of 40 should note the book's original copyright date of 1973 rather than thinking Gerrold is explaining the obvious. Pre-internet, people kept their obsessions a lot lower key rather than broadcasting them. I only half-joke when I say the internet has ruined damn near everything.

Speaking of fandom and, by extension, the hyper-excitable and uber-invested people of which they are comprised, apparently there are some rabid vintage sci-fi folks out there who are outraged -- OUTRAGED! I tell you -- on behalf of Robert A. Heinlein based on their opinion that tribbles bear a strong resemblance to the flat cats in the RH's book The Rolling Stones. Yep. Sure do. And the parties involved worked it out, even if their versions of exactly what "worked out" means are slightly different. But, come on peeps, this was over 50 years ago! Frothing at the mouth bout it in 2020 just makes some people look like they need to adjust their meds. Let it go already.

Gerrold does now say by what criteria he claims TTwT is the most popular ST-TOS episode, so we can only assume that part is author subjectivity. He admits his ego is huge, and TTwT is his baby. For my part, I'd go with "City on the Edge of Forever", "Amok Time", or maybe "Mirror, Mirror."

[blake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, written in the early '70s, will probably be pretty old news to any Star Trek fan, but David's breezy style and self-effacing nature makes it a fun read even now. It is his first-hand account of how this often-regarded-as-best episode of "Star Trek" came to be.

It's also—well, I don't want to call it a "whitewash", because that's not fair, but it's from a time where fandom was a lot more "fan" and a lot less "stalker". Everyone is presented in a fairly positive light and Gerrold is not yet sick of talking about the show.

Mostly, though, 45 years later, it's kind of quaint. Speaking of "fandom", the author must explain what "fandom" means. Because if you weren't part of it (in 1972), you probably wouldn't understand that people could get to be this fanatical about a TV show. We even get an explanation of what the "Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society" is. (It was nearly 40 years old at the time, the creation of Forrest Ackerman, I believe, but again, this was weird for the time.)

I found the various iterations of the script interesting. TV is a collaborative medium, and many good things were added to the original idea, though the main ideas are there up front. It's amusing that DG rewrote a ST script right after TTWT and of that, he said, only a single line remained in the final episode. Perspective.

Speaking of perspective, there's a story at the end of a girl whose life was saved by a tribble. (Or by a nurse who figured out a tribble might have some restorative value, if you like.) It's an interesting reminder that beyond the sort of casual obsession that is in vogue today, even a kind of silly episode of a kind of silly show—one utterly dominated by commercial concerns in the most commercial of media, no less—can have enough art to inspire hope and life.

If you'll forgive me: Fascinating.

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressive autobiography of a year’s span in an early-20-something man’s life. An SF reader from the cradle, he desperately wants to write a script for Star Trek-The Original Series. Three credits shy of a degree from Cal. State Northridge, he describes the improbable series of events leading to his first professional sale (of a story outline), then the assignment to write the script itself (which he got because he was quick, bright, and made only minimum equity wages), and then sitting on ladders watching his words come to life

That script was “The Trouble With Tribbles”—no lower than fourth on anyone’s list of ST-TOS top episodes (third on mine), and certainly the funniest. To top it off, Gerrold got a Hugo nomination—the first time a writer’s first professional sale ever had been nominated. He lost, by six votes, to the best ST-TOS episode ever (“The City on the Edge of Forever”).

I read this book when published in 1973, and it holds up brilliantly. He turned in the script drafts, with Assistant Producer Gene L. Coon’s mark-ups, for his last three credits, and college degree. Then, to write the book, he had to send a “spy” back to the college to steal the paper from the files next to the Ark of the Covenant.

This was the “Moneyball” of its day.

[Scott Bordelon · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Science fiction is primarily a literature of ideas."

I don’t make my lazy kids do much. They have to clean up Dog Country in the backyard. They have to empty the dishwasher and do some occasional house cleaning to earn my love. Sometimes I make them absorb some culture from a bygone era, and they usually comply without complaint, even though they’re clearly worried. They draw the line at Star Trek though. They won’t even consider the thought of watching it, no matter how many times I threaten them; however, one time I asked, “What about ‘The Trouble with Tribbles’?”, and that’s all it took. After the mere mention of tribbles, they were totally on-board. That’s the power of tribbles. They’re irresistible entertainment.

But before there was a Star Trek episode featuring tribbles, it had to start with a guy with imagination and a lust for science fiction who sat down and wrote the script. David Gerrold is now an accomplished, Hugo-winning, Nebula-winning, science fiction writer & screenwriter, but this novel details step-by-step how he successfully sold his first script, “The Trouble with Tribbles”, to Star Trek when he was fresh out of college. It gives you a peek into the process for submitting a story to a 60s mainstream TV-series and the journey it takes before it gets aired on TV, which I’ve wondered about ever since Elaine Benes got caught writing a Murphy Brown. The whole creative process, coupled with tribbles, the lore of Star Trek, and Gerrold’s sense of humor, made this novel a very fun read. Some of Gerrold's observations and anecdotes were laugh-out-loud funny.

This book not only contains the annotated draft “Tribbles” script plus rewrites, it also contains the story premises for “The Fuzzies” and three other far out episodes that were destined to be iconic had they not been so costly to produce. 

I honestly wasn't expecting much, but this exceeded my expectations. The whole thing was well-written and kept me absorbed. In fact, now I'm interested in reading some of Gerrold’s other works, like Ganny Knits a Spaceship or Uncle Daddy Will Not be Invited. Sure, it’s just a quirky Star Trek episode, but behind that episode was a hard-working, creative and tenacious first-time writer, obsessed with ensuring its success. He would humbly take advice wherever he could get it and was constantly eager to learn. The result was the only Star Trek episode I really remember from my childhood, and now my kids can proudly tell people they’ve seen an episode of "Star Track".

I highly recommend it to Trekkies or anyone interested in the screenwriting creative process (from the 60s).

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If people remember one episode of the original television series "Star Trek," it is "The Trouble with Tribbles" (29 December 1967). Maybe it is because we were all off of work between Christmas and New Year's or maybe because the episode written by David Gerrold is really that good. It was nominated for a Hugo Award which had never happened before to a first-time television screenwriter. What could have been an immense exercise of ego is, instead, both readable and enjoyable. There is a curious and satisfying mix of elements in Gerrold's book. It affords an insiders look at the production of Star Trek: the actors, the creators, the producers, the directors and the craft people. It is a realistic portrait of the difficult, challenging, fascinating work of a screenwriter, from conception to screening. And it is the story of how tribbles came to be. Especially interesting was a complete reproduction of the final shooting script for the programme. Tribbles are an enduring creation. Amazon.com lists nine of them for sale, three of which include self-contained audio. Lionel offers a glass-enclosed "Tribble Transport Car'' for model-train aficionados for only $79. And the socially-responsible can buy a bumper sticker from CafePress which reads "Have your tribble spayed or neutered." The OG Star Trek is cool. Tribbles are cool. And I'm pleased to have read this book.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book as a teenager and it was a revelation. It was the first time I really thought about how the practical constraints of making television drove the stories they were telling. It also left me with a great deal of affection for David Gerrold, even though his books weren't really my thing. Too Heinlein-esque.

It was also bracing to realize, years later, that this book that was so mind blowing was written by a gay man in the 1970s and if there was a hint of that in the text, it sailed right past me. How could I be oblivious to something so fundamental?

I recognize in retrospect he was likely writing a highly curated text to avoid burning any bridges.

Probably worth digging out a copy and reading it again.

[Elliot Kravitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating (once again, please pardon the pun) inside look at the making of the iconic episode. For Star Trek fans and aspiring writers alike.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was turned onto this book through a Boing Boing post about it and thought it'd be a fun read. It mostly is, and is a perfectly fine example of the type of thing that it is, but ultimately that is not a type of thing that I care about all that much. It's sort of like analog DVD extras, and 98% of DVD extras I'm exposed to go unwatched. I was interested in the discussions about the craft of TV writing, so I liked seeing how a great episode of a show evolved through countless rewrites and discussions. Gerrold includes lots of good bits about TV production, too. (As a fan it's easy to forget that TV production is business first and art second. If there's a decision to be made and one option is cheaper, that one pretty much always wins.) That said, a large chunk of the book is various drafts of the scripts, which are nice ephemera, but I skipped them. I also wasn't interested in the celebrity-gazing stories about the Trek actors. But if you want to read trivia about Walter Koenig's haircut, this is probably a book for you.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

A "making of" book about one of the most popular Star Trek episodes of all-time, this book was probably instrumental in making me the science fiction geek I am today. I read it as a kid, long before the internet and modern fandom, and it was my introduction to the world behind the cameras, at a time when that world wasn't so easily accessible. It sparked an early interest in writing, screenwriting in particular, and filmmaking. I'll always remember it fondly, and I've followed David Gerrold's writing career ever since.

[Mark Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I've never watched Star Trek. My mother-in-law realized I didn't know what a tribble was, so she let me read her copy. Overall, I enjoyed the story, seeing the creation, the editing, the adaptation to the screen was quite fascinating. I found the author to be somewhat cocky in the beginning, but he wrote a story for Star Trek, so who wouldn't be? There was a good balance of humor as well, making it an easy read.

[Lou Sytsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the paperback of this when it first came out and just recently picked up the ebook edition.

It's still a fascinating read into the original Star Trek's favorite episodes. Always intrigues me to see how a story idea evolves from the first pitch to the final product.

Gerrold's writing style makes it both a fun and educational read.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

i found this teleplay in an old book of Space and Sci Fi plays for young people. We did the classic Star Trek episode, The Trouble with Tribbles, for a class project. The students really enjoyed the show and also enjoyed making all the tribbles. (I let them keep one after the show) It's a fun time for the kids.

[Marsha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Producer Gene Coon – Gene Roddenberry was executive producer - liked the story but his biggest worry was cost. The Enterprise was the only set on Star Trek that was standard. Other sets would have to be built. By the second season, each show was budgeted to spend no more than $185,000 per episode. Bearing this in mind, Gerrold went ahead and wrote a script outline, trying to make it so that the story would also hold down costs.

Gerrold had the opportunity to hang around the set, to talk with the actors and to watch the dailies to get a better feel for the TV series. After Gerrold’s story premises/script outline was bought, he worked on a full script using his outline, hoping his script would be bought too. He didn’t particularly wish to leave it to another writer. He wrote a draft and discussed it with Coon. Coon wanted Gerrold to change the name of the creatures. Because of a 1962 Hugo awarded science fiction novel entitled Little Fuzzy by H. Bean Piper, Coon stated that although Gerrold’s aliens were quite different, as a precaution, the legal department wanted the name of the creatures changed to protect the show from any liability.

So Gerrold went home and thought of a list of made-up nonsense words and in reviewing them, decided that he liked the name “Tribbles” best. He passed on his suggestion to Coon, who agreed that he liked the name too. Coon then paid $2,000 for Gerrold’s first draft script. However, the script would go through a transformation of changes by Gerrold with discussions also with Coon to make it closer to the feel and spirit of Star Trek.

Since Star Trek was a TV series, the script had to fit into that series, so rewrites made it necessary to help with the consistency of the TV show. There was also some self-censorship on the script so as to meet the Broadcast Standards and Practices to be sure not to offend. Gerrold cut his script to fit the length of episode, and the plot around the little creatures revolved and tightened. The episode, “The Trouble With Tribbles” initially aired on December 29, 1967, and has since become one of the most popular episodes of Star Trek.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Gerrold’s inside story of the production of “The Trouble with Tribbles,” a second-season episode of Star Trek, reveals how messy writing for a weekly television show can be. Gerrold has the sole writing credit, but he is unsure how many of his words made it to the screen. Show creator and executive producer Gene Roddenberry, producer Gene L. Coon, and associate producer Bob Justman suggested some changes and vetoed others. The script went through many drafts, at least one because Gerrold’s typewriter had an elite font that led him to produce a script that was twenty pages too long when converted to the standard pica font used for show scripts. Unlike many television writers, Gerrold hung out on the set. Once, as he was making cuts with a black marker, actors stopped by to encourage him not to cut their lines.

The whole episode had a close call because the tribbles might have been too similar to the cuddly Martian critters in Heinlein’s The Rolling Stones. Gerrold swears he did not have Heinlein in mind when he wrote his script, and show lawyers cleared the story with Heinlein.

Gerrold respects the professionalism of the show’s actors and producers. He says it was a happy set, but one can only imagine how much more difficult it would be to write for a series in which folks did not get along.

The book contains a shooting script for the episode. If you are at all nostalgic about the original Star Trek series, you will find reading “The Trouble with Tribbles” no trouble at all.

[Andy Stjohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trouble with Tribbles by David Gerrold

This book was fine. It was interesting how to see one of the best episodes of TOS came together. I appreciate hearing Gerrold and his perspective on what is like to write an episode as an outsider and how hard it is. Also the tidbits he provided on several behind the scenes bits on certain classic episodes was fun and that was the best part of the book. A large part of the book was the shooting script which I wasn’t really interested in. I did also like the proposed stories he offered even if they retreaded certain ground. But beyond this, the book was a little dry and I wasn’t really interested in rereading a script to an episode I was very familiar with greatly. Anyway, if you’re interested in the process of script writing and want some brief behind the scenes stuff from TOS, this book is for you.

6.5/10

PS I desperately need to see the bloopers from all the Star Trek series as the way Gerrold describes in the book it sounds like the funniest thing in the world.

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this fascinating reading. I didn't always enjoy the stuff Gerrold chose to include, but I did find it fascinating to learn how he came to write a Star Trek script (for one of the best-known episodes) and what it takes to put an episode together. I always find it interesting to learn the behind-the-scenes stuff from TV and movies, especially those that go back to the decades when special effects weren't done by a computer. I never saw Star Trek growing up, but I did enjoy reading science fiction, and as an adult enjoyed the original Star Trek as well as TNG.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most beloved episodes of the original Star Trek series "The Trouble with Tribbles" is an episode that has stood the test of time to the point that it was even revisited by Star Trek: Deep Space Nice with "Trials and Tribble-ations". This book by David Gerrold is the story of the creation of that episode and the pitch that came with it. Gerrold's story published in May 1973 is a fascinating story & one that is fill of emotions both good and bad throughout. This fascinating look is a book that fans of Star Trek will treasure & is a must read for anyone.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this for years but thought it was the novelization of The Trouble with Tribbles when it is actually Gerrold's story of his journey to becoming a writer and about writing The Trouble with Tribbles. I enjoyed it and the illustrations by Tim Kirk. I learned things I didn't know. It is very much an artifact from 1973. (And it was reprinted at least seven times!)

"How to be a Star Trek writer
Can a young college student find fortune and everlasting fame as a Star Trek writer?"

[Kirby Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was fun to revisit this book, which I first read back in the 1970s to learn how Gerrold, as a beginning writer, succeeded at selling and writing this famous script for the original Star Trek series. I'm sure many issues and procedures he described have changed over the last four decades, but the writing lessons shared remain valuable.

[Bryan Mcquirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tribble Time

A nice read about the history of one of the most famous Star Trek episodes ever. I remember watching this episode as a child, and it has always stuck with me. It is nice to learn the history of its inception and the final product.
I also did not realize that it bears similarities to Heinlein's story.

[Samantha Forgosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an incredible adventure for Trekkies who want to know just what the production process of the original series was like. Gerrold tells the tale of his first sale, but also of the first time Nimoy ever spoke to him. I didn’t exactly like Gerrold’ stone, he does tend to brag, but I do love the true story he tells.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my favorite Star Trek episode, so I knew that I needed to read this, but there is enough ST inside info, and writing info that can be gleamed from original idea to finished script. I found it to be well worth reading, unless the early 70's casual sexism surrounding SF, about wardrobe malfunctions and boobs triggers you.

[Michael Brooks]

Read this as a 10 year old and read it again this week. Fun and quick read for the OS fan. Interesting also for the insight of television production in the 1960's. My main takeaway as a kid was that Gerrold is quite pleased with himself and thinks he's pretty great. That hasn't changed.

[Steph Granillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up thinking that it would be ridiculous. It was definitely ridiculous but also a surprisingly good look into how television series are made

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book.