A Trouble with Tribbles sequel would have been dark

The Trouble with Tribbles is a popular episode of Star Trek: The Original Series

When you think about the popular Star Trek: The Original Series episode, “The Trouble with Tribbles,” you imagine cute, furry creatures that reproduced prodigiously, cooed when touched, and scared Klingons out of their boots. They were generally harmless, although they did manage to overrun the Enterprise quite easily. Perhaps that is why David Gerrold, the screenwriter who wrote the script, had the idea for a sequel that would have taken the Tribbles down a dark road.

In an interview with Startrek.com, Gerrold, who got the idea for the Tribbles from a fuzz-ball keychain owned by a college girlfriend of his, shared that the sequel would have included a predator from the Tribbles’ home world. Those predators would have helped to control the Tribble population. Somehow, (Gerrold didn’t explain it) the predators would have ended up on the Enterprise where crewmen would have started disappearing. Apparently, the predators wouldn’t have been too particular about who or what they consumed. So it would have been up to the crew to get rid of the monsters and protect the Enterprise like any other mission.

The Trouble with Tribbles would have been changed by a sequel

This would have presented the Tribbles in a different light, as more of a threat to every society even their own, which, in essence, they could be given their extraordinary ability to reproduce. But adding in predators from their home planet would have changed them from friendly, non-lethal creatures to furry beings whose population needed to be controlled by elimination. This is one sequel I’m glad didn’t get produced.  As much as they procreate, I’d still like to imagine the Tribbles as soothing little bundles of fur that aren’t being chased and eaten by predators. That way, I can watch The Trouble with Tribbles without dreading the follow-up episode.