Screenplay: More Tribbles, More Troubles

Overview
"More Tribbles, More Troubles" is David Gerrold's return to the affable menace of the tribble, adapted for Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973. The screenplay revisits the comic premise that made "The Trouble with Tribbles" a fan favorite, translating its physical gags and social satire into an animated palette that broadens scale and imagination. The story keeps the lighthearted clash between the Enterprise crew and Klingon antagonists at its center while using animation to amplify the visual chaos and speculative conceits Gerrold originally sketched.

Plot
Captain Kirk and the Enterprise encounter the familiar problem of tribbles: small, furry creatures whose rapid reproduction turns them from novelty into nuisance and then into a genuine operational crisis. What begins as a sequence of charming, comedic moments, tribbles multiplying in cargo bays, infiltrating quarters, and undermining plans, quickly escalates as the creatures become entwined with a larger dispute involving Klingon sabotage and interstellar commerce. The tribbles' presence complicates tense negotiations and sparks ill-timed confrontations, forcing Kirk and his officers to juggle diplomacy, shipboard logistics, and the ever-growing population of cuddly invaders.
Gerrold uses the animated format to expand both the scope and the inventiveness of the trouble. Set pieces that would have been costly or impractical on live-action television are staged with visual flair: tribbles appear in unexpected places, environments change rapidly to reflect infestation, and the physical comedy leans into surreal exaggeration. Despite the heightened cartoon energy, the narrative maintains stakes; the infestation has real consequences for trade and security, and Klingon interference raises the possibility that the tribbles are being exploited as a biological or tactical threat. The crew's efforts to solve the problem blend scientific ingenuity with comedic improvisation, producing a resolution that balances cleverness and light satire.

Characters and Tone
Gerrold preserves the personalities that anchored the original story, Kirk's frustrated leadership, Spock's dry logic, McCoy's exasperated humanity, while letting animation emphasize their reactions in broader, more expressive ways. The Klingons return as antagonists whose scheming is tempered by the episode's comedic bent, turning confrontations into opportunities for misunderstandings and slapstick. The tribbles themselves are virtually characters, their cuteness masking an ecological force of nature that both endears and alarms the crew. The tone mixes affectionate parody of bureaucratic and military foibles with genuine affection for the characters and the absurdity at the heart of the premise.

Themes and Legacy
Beneath the laughs, the screenplay touches on themes of unintended consequences, ecological imbalance, and the absurdities of political brinkmanship. The tribbles function as a compact metaphor for how small, neglected problems can metastasize when layered onto larger human conflicts. Gerrold's animated sequel also demonstrates how comedic science fiction can satirize policy and personality without losing warmth, using humor to probe responsibility and ingenuity. As an animated revisitation, "More Tribbles, More Troubles" expanded the original concept with visual invention and a slightly broader imaginative scope, cementing the tribbles' place as one of the franchise's most enduring and versatile comic elements.