Trivia / Star Trek: Deep Space Nine S05 E06 "Trials and Tribble-ations"

• Approval of God: David Gerrold was initially not pleased with the idea of someone adapting his script for "The Trouble With Tribbles". Then he read it, loved it, and went on to describe it as one of the cleverest scripts he'd ever read. He even cameoed in the episode as an Enterprise security guard. Likewise, TOS producer Bob Justman was delighted with the crew's painstaking recreation of the original sets and Walter Koenig stopped by to show the DS9 cast how to operate the equipment.
• Creator Backlash: The one aspect of the episode that Ira Steven Behr and Ronald D. Moore weren't entirely happy about was the soundtrack. They had wanted to create an updated version of Jerry Fielding's soundtrack for "The Trouble With Tribbles", but executive producer Rick Berman interceded and ordered that the soundtrack was to be in the "sonic wallpaper" style that was standard for the franchise at this point in time, and was to be dramatic rather than comedic. Behr and Moore felt that this particularly hurt the bar brawl sequence.
• Enforced Method Acting: The actors had not seen the re-created Enterprise sets until they began filming their scenes, so any expression of wonder from them was totally genuine.
• Milestone Celebration: Served as one along with VOY's "Flashback."
• Role Reprise: Charlie Brill reprises his roll of Arne Darwin nearly 30 years after his first appearance.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: The decision to revisit "The Trouble with Tribbles" was finalized because of a truly ridiculous and lucky behind-the-scenes coincidence. Ron Moore, René Echevarria, and Ira Steven Behr were sitting in a pizza restaurant discussing how they could do a tribute episode. When discussing how hard it would be to get any of the original actors back, Behr commented that they'd probably only be able to get Charlie Brill, only to look to his left and realize that Brill was literally sitting at the restaurant's counter. Behr would later joke in the DVD Commentary that this proved God was a DS9 fan.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Although it is considered one of the best episodes of DS9, there were numerous other ideas that were bounced around. One of which involved the crew visiting the mobster planet from "A Piece of the Action", where they discover that the natives have gone on to emulate Starfleet as a commentary on Trek fandom. This plot was later used in a TNG comic and incorporated for a brief scene in The Autobiography of Jean-Luc Picard.
  • The creative staff originally wanted Michael Dorn in TOS-era Klingon makeup, to Hand Wave the difference in appearance.
  • Most male fans (and some female fans) bemoaned the fact that Nana Visitor's pregnancy precluded her from wearing the TOS era uniforms.

---