UNCUT - Trials and Tribble-ations (DS9 S5E6) | Star Trek Journey 433

You have to admit, Ira is wearing a brilliant disguise for a lesbian.

This is one of the reasons why the fan reaction to the Voyager 30th Anniversary episode is underwhelming.

If Trimble-wipes (from the Behind the Scenes) are not available in the next PowerPoint update for my presentation at work in two weeks, what’s the point?!

My girlfriend is behind the current reactions here so she doesn't often watch the current reactions with me. But since she had randomly seen this T&T, she watched with me. "What's that fan club called? Women?" Girlfriend slaps her knee. "OK, I love these guys forever now!"

I always thought they should've teken the leap and incerted the DS9 crew into the backdrop of the actual TOS episode masters, with no explenations.

This episode was also the first hint that there was a new Enterprise after the D when one of the Temporal Investigations guys corrects the other and told him there were now six, not five, Enterprises.

A golden anniversary is 50, which for Star Trek happened 10 years ago in 2016!

I remember went nuts when the 1701 appears on the screen back then. Perfect 30th anniversary ST episode!

Some thousands of tribbles or more Were piling up there on the floor And Captain Kirk said As they fell on his head “Would somebody please close that door?”

I don't think anyone ever disrespected TOS. Even people who hated TOS still respected that it was the OG. TOS earned respect by default. At least back in the 90s. Whether or not you are a Star Trek fan who likes TOS or not has nothing to do with looking down on it or disrespecting it. It's just a matter of personal taste. For me personally, I could never get into TOS because since I grew up with 90s Trek defining Star Trek for me, ironically, TOS never felt like Star Trek. It felt like Bewitched, or other 60s Nick at Nite shows. Maybe I'll watch it in full someday, but not today.

They've mentioned before that the orbs have different properties all the way back in The Circle. The Orb in that episode was the Orb of Prophecy and Change.

It was probably my third rewatch before I got the time travel joke in the opening scene: “So you’re not contending that it was a predestination paradox? A time loop? That you were meant to go back into the past?” “Uh, no.” “Good. We hate those.” Because anyone they investigate can always claim that they were predestined to time travel and change whatever they changed. There’s no way to disprove that, so there’s no reason to have a Temporal Investigations Division. These guys have the most pointless jobs in the Federation.

As it's been a while since this was posted, I'm not sure if you'll see this, or if anyone else has mentioned it. The red carpet interviews from the Making Of featurette were taken at Star Trek: 30 Years & Beyond, an 80-minute, live televised charity benefit and tribute to the franchise as a whole produced by UPN for the anniversary. All 4 crews were heavily represented. It's available to watch on YouTube and safe to watch AFTER ST: First Contact (1 clip and some music are in the special).

Just want to say thank you for reading all the way down to engage with my comment, I appreciate it! Great responses too, I think I agree that an episode like this can be a more surface-level farce/comedy and still be an all-time great. Another reason why the choice of Trouble with Tribbles as the TOS vehicle for the story was perfect, since it is so lighthearted.

The suit disrespect scene you are searching for is from X-Men (2000) when Wolverine is given his leather outfit: WOLVERINE: You actually go outside in these things? CYCLOPS: What would you prefer, yellow spandex?

Yes, they thought the voyager episode was good. I love Star Trek six. Love you guys. It’s just one where I disagree with you. The Star Trek six is a loved movie. Fans were saying right after Star Trek six why don’t we get a sulu captain movie or show? Now what DS nine did here is so much better. But yes. I think the producers thought that the voyager flashback episode would be beloved. And it’s decent. For Voyager. Particularly season three. Totally cool that you guys hate Star Trek two and Star Trek six Nicholas Meyer is not your vibe. But they were two of the best trek movies for many of us and I also love Star Trek three which you guys love. Yes,ds9 is the cool kids club. I think season four and five is when that happened. I remember watching Voyager. Some good moments. But Ugh. And DS nine was blowing my mind.

I'm looking at the big picture here. I don't want to do a comparison against Flashback, because the Voyager crew did not want a time travel story for the anniversary episode. Maybe they already had Future's End in the works and felt too many time travel episodes makes issues for the plight of Voyager? And yes, they already have started Future's End as I write this.

The look of joy on the guys face when the chair flew in the bar fight was gold! We men are simple creatures after all.

I have been waiting to see your reaction to this episode since the first week I found Target Audience back in March. You both talk about TOS with so much love and this episode is such a fan service masterpiece I knew you would love it. The reaction still managed to exceed all my expectations. It really filled my heart with so much joy seeing how much you guys loved it.

2:13:45 Golden Anniversary typically refers to 50 years of marriage, so we're now 10 years past that for Star Trek :)

How about Ensign Gates, flying a shuttle to the new ship she is being transferred to after the destruction of the Enterprise D, get's caught in a time anomaly that traps her in the 23rd century. She becomes the main character of the TOS era show and eventually becomes a 23rd century captain. Then plot twist, there's ANOTHER hidden plot in the Tribble episode where she tries to get in contact with the Defiant, but just misses them as they return back to DS9. Aaaaand she ends up becoming her own great grandmother....

This episode needed more time in post for the VFX work, so "The Assignment" and "Trials and Tribble-ations" were flipped in order. Kris Krosskove was DoP for "Nor the Battle..." while Jonathan West did prep work to direct "Tribble-ations" next. West directed and Krosskove was DoP for "Tribble-ations". Then Jonathan West was back to DoP to film "The Assignment".

I was just setting my expectations so I didn't get bent out of shape if the guys didn't like it.

Reactions like this one are why I'm a proud subscriber.

The interview footage where everyone is outside and dressed up is when the cast members attended the 30th anniversary special filmed on the Paramount lot. The special has spoilers for Star Trek First Contact but once you watch that film you should check out that special, maybe between seasons.

I guess how you feel about Voyager and glimpses of the future stuff are similar to me. Even with our different tastes. So earlier than I'd thought I could - You've mentioned DS9 is treated like the Red-headed stepchild. If so, then Voyager got helicopter parented and did everything the parents told them to do. So DS9 was off and out there, running around and doing crazy things, while Voyager is all so very safe steady and managed.

If you want a show where a minor character gets sent back to TOS era, how did you not pick Ensign Gates??

With regards to TOS, a large portion of the audience's only interaction with TOS was the movies. TOS wasn't freely available on VHS tapes. It was harder to watch old shows back then. You could always rent the movies, but if the show wasn't being re-run somewhere, you couldn't see it. And it is also worth mentioning that Roddenberry specifically wanted to have as little reference to TOS as possible. He didn't even want Worf as a character. He wanted TNG to stand on its own two legs. It is why we don't see Tellerites or Andorians in TNG (other than the one holodeck Andorian mutant).

I've always wanted someone to do a re-edit of the original 'Trouble with Tribbles' episode to silently splice in the background DS9 elements, then sneak that episode into a full season on a pirate site to mind fuck a first time watcher when they get to DS9 and go back to see it was actually DS9 actors in the background doing mundane things they never noticed before. Also, I am rewatching this in an ai upscaled 4k and it looks amazing.

The 1990s staff treated being a fan as a qualification. The later shows often treated it as something to dilute. On Trials and Tribble-ations, the people making it said they had grown up with the show. Ronald D. Moore, who co-wrote the episode and appears in the making-of special, has put it plainly: “I grew up as a fan of the original Star Trek series.” Scenic art supervisor Michael Okuda, also interviewed for that production, said of the episode, “Every department knew it was special… I think you see that in what everyone has done.” One early idea for the anniversary show was even a planet of Star Trek fans, meant as a tribute rather than a joke. Newer Trek often hired the opposite way. J.J. Abrams, on the 2009 film and Into Darkness: “I never liked Star Trek when I was a kid… it always felt too philosophical to me… I was not really a fan, my producing partner never saw it… The goal was to make a movie for moviegoers, not just for Star Trek fans.” Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan staffed non-fans on purpose: “I wanted that feeling of brains that didn’t know Star Trek as well, but were just thinking about the characters and the comedy.” Alex Kurtzman, at San Diego Comic-Con 2024, said that when a writer he likes answers “I’m not really a Star Trek person,” he will “triple down, and try to bring them into the room,” because canon and technobabble are already covered and what he wants is “true humanistic writing.” Screenwriter Roger Avary has said that when he offered to write for scale, he came away believing Kurtzman “didn’t want anybody who had any kind of fondness for the original show.” That is Avary’s account of the meeting, not a Kurtzman quote.

Glad that you both loved this as much as i expected you to. I know in your thoughts on Flashback you mentioned how great it would have been if they'd basically done similar to what they did here. This is my favourite episode of DS9 that you've seen so far. The Trouble With Tribbles has always been my third favourite TOS (after Mirror Mirror, and The Naked Time), but i love this episode much more.

2h and 24m. reaction, The Episode did it's Job :)

Have to hard disagree. SNW'S bridge is freaking fire. So good

"there was a plague..." LMFAO

As someone who first watched this as a 10-year-old kid, I couldn't disagree more with Tom O'Malley's take. My dad had gotten me into Trek through TNG but failed to get me interested in TOS. I did like the TOS era movies but couldn't deal with the pacing and the production value of the show because it all seemed so goofy and lame compared to the 90s shows. This episode made me appreciate the old sets and props and costumes that I used to dislike for the first time because I saw my beloved characters from DS9 having fun with it and showing their appreciation. By now I love TOS and this episode is what started it.

That's how you do a 30th anniversary episode. W for DS9 and L for Voyager. ;-p

This was one of the episodes I was really looking forward to the reaction from you two. It's just fun and I loved watching you both get to experience it.

To me, this is where the streaks suddenly start to reverse, where voyager gets pretty decent for the rest of the season while DS9 goes back down to a shrug plateau

With the old-school Klingons... I've always thought that instead of having the characters notice that they look different, they should have just had Worf go without his makeup from the instant they went back in time and have no one mention a thing.

This isn't my favourite episode of DS9, but it may well be the most fun to watch, and a fantastic tribute to TOS for the 30th anniversary. Easy S tier. Were there any other episodes they could have used? Maybe. I think more space focused eps like Doomsday Machine or Balance of Terror could have had the Defiant involved discretely, but no real opportunity to interact. Tomorrow is Yesterday or City on the Edge being double time travel stories could get seriously confusing, and they already kind of did that briefly in Past Tense with Kira and O'Brien visiting the same time period City was set in. Since they discounted predestination paradoxes at the start, it's clear they didn't want a story where the DS9 crew was meant to go back and change history for the TOS ep to happen(just stop future Darvin's meddling), so them being involved in something like Space Seed wouldn't work. The only other episode I think COULD have worked is Mirror, Mirror. DS9 has of course touched on the Mirror Universe multiple times. Also would be fun to see Sisko rocking the sleeveless Terran uniform and Dax showing off the midriff, but moreover ACTING like Terrans. Would certainly address the Our Man Bashir criticism that it's not our characters playing the role. Probably much harder to get them to interact with the TOS characters using existing footage though. In the end, Tribbles was the right choice. Really enjoyed the making of documentary as well. Ira's shirt is hilarious. Great reaction and discussion to a legendary episode. Wonder how long it'll take to get the tribbles off DS9?

I think the reason that the Tribbles episode of TOS was the one that had to be used, was that it was the rare true ensemble episode. A lot of TOS episodes focus on the big three of Kirk/Spock/Bones but this one gives moments to Uhura, Scotty, and Chekov as well as the 3. It spreads out the story to highlight pretty much everyone.

I have been WAITING for this one. Every time you guys mentioned how you never thought TOS would come up or any character appearing here. I was just thinking about this episode and Im glad it went over as well for you guys as I thought it would. 100% was a DS9 love letter to a very fun episode of TOS.

I'm watching DS9 with fan upscaling and it looks great, even the effects in this one.

You know that feeling where you really enjoyed something you watched, and you'll be reminded of it somehow, and it makes you want to go back and rewatch the thing you enjoyed? I have this problem with Target Audience videos. They'll be talking in the review section about the episode, and they'll bring up something about a face they made or a gasp that came out of their mouths. And it'll make me go, "Yeah. That was cool. I want to go see that again." And so then I watch the reaction again. Immediately. Which means I never get to hear the end of the review part. I'm on like loop 6 and I still haven't made it up to the Making Of part.

The red carper interviews were for the 30th anniversary live celebration special of STAR TREK that aired in October of 1996. I watched it live on tv!

Compared to Nutrek 90’s Trek was a love slave to TOS. Plus tNG being the first sequel series wanted to stand on its own.For good or bad The 2nd ep of TNG was a sequel to naked time, and the. We had Sarek and unification. It most certainly respected TOS

Loved the reaction. The best part of this whole thing for me was Ronald Moore being interviewed in his older brother at a 90s house party drip.

"Excuse me Captain. Here's tomorrow's duty roster for your approval." "Aren't you Gabriel Bell?"

I just finished watching this reaction for the third time. Like Sisko said "too much fun!"

Emony Dax met McCoy when he was at Ole Miss. That was before he was in Starfleet.

I love the tribble sound effects on the episode selection for this episode on the DS9 box set.

I’m surprised no one commented on this. The scene where Bashir and O’Brien pick up a tribble in the hallway and then look and see more tribbles, the crewman in red (with the grey hair) picking up a tribble is David Gerrold, the writer of “The Trouble with Tribbles”.

I never got the impression that the Berman era of Star Trek disrespected TOS in any way. The movies were still going at the start and TNG was a development of Star Trek phase 2 which would have been a continuation of TOS.

Yes, they thought Flashback was good. It was obviously not received as well as this was, but you guys have to remember, your are outliers: Most Trek fans loved Star Trek 6! So seeing the Voyager crew interact in that story with those characters was a real treat. Admittedly it had many issues and was no where near as well done as Tribalations. But the creators of Flashback in no way didn't know anything about TOS.

Can you give examples of how 90's Trek didn't respect TOS? I have NEVER heard that before.

I've always liked this episode, never had a critical word about it, but also never dwelt much on it. Back in the day I thought it is a sweet idea, although a bit of a one-trick-pony with not much of a real story behind it. But I can't deny a newfound wave of nostalgia washing all over me. It probably only means that I am old now.

I'm a sucker for TOS, so this is one of my favorite episodes of the entire series. What a great episode and reaction. Just pure fan service done right.

I've never sat and watched TOS really, and only seen a few pieces of it when it happened to be on TV. I did watch DS9 when it came out though and this episode was a really big deal back then. I think it is one of the most enjoyable episodes of Star Trek. It is cool how they fully committed to making it excellent.

Great reaction! Been waiting for this one for four years! I think this may be the first DS9 episode I ever watched. I occasionally watched TOS with my dad as a kid and I absolutely loved the Tribbles so my dad then got me to watch this one next. I agree that watching this one straight after the TOS episode is not a great idea as I had no idea who any of these people were, but I was young enough to still just enjoy the cute tribbles.

I splurged the $5 because I didn't want to lose interest during the delay. First, everything is better in TOS: the costumes, the props, the music, the lighting, the actors, the stories, the everything. Second, look how the magic elevates this episode into being the best of the series. What's better? The Visitor is excellent, but nowhere near the charm and fun of this. Regarding some of the comments in the discussion, TNG fans have been dismissing and mocking TOS forever, sometimes even in this very channel where a stupid or mediocre TNG or VOY episode gets dismissed as "its a TOS type story".

They might have it in the patron takes, but those first shots of the cast stepping onto the set were the first time for them, so it would catch their genuine reactions. Pretty cool.

Now this was an anniversary love letter to trek.

Thanks guys, I really enjoyed this one! The documentary part was awesome, never seen that before. I totally agree with your later points about some of the actors being aloof about their own show, always find that weird. Although I have seen some interviews where some of the cast of each show are really into watching and having discussions.

Been waiting for this one! Great video guys!

So... how about a 'Star Trek Continues' limited reaction series (minus the two already seen) some time..? 😉

I remember reading those youtube comments and it was so cringe

What I don't understand is that if the bomb had gone off, then Darvin would have killed his past self...

One of the best memes the internet has ever produced was the one where Picard tells Sisko, "I shouldn't brag, but I've met Captain Kirk!" Sisko's deadpan response is "Me too... but I didn't get him killed." (This meme used footage from their meeting in the DS9 pilot.)

There definitely wasn’t a better contender for this episode though there were other options I am sure, but none better

I hadn’t seen Most of TOS. When I saw this it made me want to go back and watch the episode to see what they changed for DS9.

Yea it looks like the 60’s but it’s all very tongue in cheek. For our modern characters to literally inhabit a “cardboard” set in an earnest serious story would just be odd. A modern 2020 production that literally looks like 66 would just look kinda dumb. A bigger bone I have to pick with modern Trek is there was these TOS movie sets that got like reused in TNG and that aesthetic basically doesn’t exist anymore it’s sort of been retconned so if they wanted to redress a set to look like the TOS movies, like why? I actually think recreating OPS, would fit in the most with Nu Trek.

Ok, I had no idea I HAD to sync the episode up to watch this. I bought it to watch the guys and also to see the episode again. Ugh I don’t have access to the show!

I'm still here and still watching ❤️ 💙 💜

Spock and Dax would be Spax.

If I had to pick a different TOS episode to do this kind of premise, I'd have to go with Journey to Babel. It all takes place on the ship, it's got plenty of visiting aliens and political intrigue to use for whatever time travel plot you come up with, and although it's not overtly comedic like the Tribbles episode, it does lean more toward fun adventure rather than dark drama. Plus, you get to use old footage of Sarek.

One thing I'd like to bring up is my argument that the Department of Temporal Investigations is a Federation agency, not a part of Starfleet. Notice, they didn't wear comm badges or Starfleet uniforms.

"Brace yourselves...... First Contact is coming"

Loved the discussion afterward, particularly the point Josh made about new shows set in the TOS period, looking all sleek and modern. It’s one of many reasons I can’t watch the new stuff. It seems like they’re ashamed of classic trek. Also, in my opinion prequels in general are tough to deliver on and it shows how little imagination writers these days seem to have. Resurrecting legacy characters instead to having a fresh new future time period to play in.

My head canon is that Food Sybthesizers used transporters to beam food stuffs from the ship's stores and compile it into a dish based on the recipe card. So for a Turkey sandwich, there'd be a bunch of turkey meat in the hold, a lot of lettuce and bread and butter, and it'd beam each piece in the right order onto a plate, heating as necessary. If the stores were low, that's when you'd get food cubes. But there was also a galley for home cooked meals. Replicators just take raw matter, rearrange the molecules into foodstuffs and beam in onto the recepticle.

I bet you guys would enjoy Brent Spiner and Johnathan Frakes podcast though.

So during the strikes a few years back there were quite a few production people etc on podcasts, it was great! No good to you now of course but maybe bear it in mind for years down the line 😅

I believe Ron said most (if not all) the folks in the DS9 writers room were Trek fans. DS9 was a show written by trek fans, and I think it shows. Those producers in the credits were largely the writers (often doing uncredited rewrites on scripts submitted by others). Great reaction guys, I’m so glad you loved it.

With Mile’s experience it is easy for Bashir and others and the writers to forget he isn’t an officer

Best homage/love letter/realization of how good TOS was ever done, imho. Now it's meme time!

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this in the Patreon Takes or the comments here, but the guy who O'Brien thought was Kirk in the bar was William Shatner's stunt double, so O'Brien was half-right If anyone DID mention this already, it's a good enough piece of trivia to warrant repeating 😉

I liked Josh's reaction to "fish juice."

No mention of the meta nod of Dax finding Spock sexy and Terry Farrell going on to marry Adam Nimoy? So Terry found her future husband’s father to be sexy. Family dinners must’ve been awkward.

The documentary was released the same week as the episode. I remember seeing it when it first aired. The interviews of the past and future cast I think were taken at a special 30th anniversary celebration of Star Trek at Paramount.

I like how the DVD menu for this episode switches sounds from the computer noises to tribble cooing :)

Going back to The Naked Time episode might be fun: get to spend time on the Enterprise and feel really good while being there.

Except for Yesteryear in TAS, the Star Trek folks were never going to revisit the Guardian of Forever again. That was considered by writer Harlan Ellison to be proprietary stuff and he had his lawyer on speed dial to slap anyone with a lawsuit who used anything he created in his career.

Alex is 100%: with Star Trek, there is something for everyone. Don't like this week's episode? Fine. Next week's will likely be different and maybe that one will be more to your liking. That is one of the great appeals of the Star Trek franchise, why it is so popular and endured over the years.

The disrespectors of TOS (even though they liked the Berman-era Star Treks) existed back in the 90s, but they were not as prevalent as they are today.

So Voyager did a 30th anniversary episode but Deep Space 9 did the 30th anniversary episode Trials and tribulations was just you know a couple of mountains, taller, and higher in quality than flashback. I liked flashback but it was not on the same level as this.

They didn't have replicators, they had food synthesizers. It didn't make stuff out of raw matter, it took existing components and synthesized food out of them

If there is any such thing as a perfect anniversary episode this is it. A plot with stakes just high enough to keep the story going but low enough to let the actors and audience indulge in the nostalgia, the budget clearly spent on capturing the feel and wonder of the original series and the pure joy of seeing our favorite current series characters inserted wholesale into the world that started it all. It isn’t a sophisticated story, it isn’t a deep character piece, it isn’t a game changer. It’s a light hearted celebration of what put the franchise on the map and it accomplishes that goal perfectly. I would argue that DS9 is the most respectful of the original series and the basic premise of the franchise. We have this episode which is an obvious showcase of their love of TOS. We have Dax’s shared history with the OG Klingon villains from the classic series. For better or worse we have the annual return of the mirror universe. Beyond that the darker storylines respect the premise of the franchise (a hopeful future of humanity expanding their knowledge and refining their most noble and benevolent aspects) by putting it under pressure. From the episodes of O’Brien suffering to the paranoia and dread from the changelings and Dominion the series examines how durable the ideals of the Federation are when under fire. And for all that darkness the underlying message is that the better part of humanity can endure and prevail and find a way back even when we falter and fail.

S+. Nuff said.

They have a reading rainbow episode that goes behind the scenes with Lavar Burton on the TNG set no spoilers in it but a fun short watch

Enlisted men take two year courses at the academy instead of the four year so chief would have been there

Dax talking about McCoy lets you see why they might call him Bones.

I'm still glowing about you guys watching this episode. You've taken years to watch and learn about and understand Star Trek, and now you get to an episode that was really made specifically for people like you. The Star Trek journey will have more high points, but this is definitely one to savor.

Been here since those YT days, great going guys and still loving your reactions, keep up the great work

the guy they mistook as kirk was in fact kirk stunt double

Great Memories for me 1996 was a great year for me. I fell in love and got married.

Thanks for dropping this early. Can't wait to see your reactions to this one!!!

I love that Odo, hardcore detective, decides that the best way to save this Kirk guy is to sit in this cafe for hours drinking Tarkalean tea. How long did it take him to ask the waitress if they serve alcohol?

I think they do pop up in TNG. Like as a kid's pet. But maybe its like a stuffed animal or domesticated/engineered one and not a natural one.

That feeling you get when you see the run time.

There’s only one person who could have brought the tribble to ds9 and he was motivated. He needed to stop their extinction. Odo

You guys HAVE to do a road trip/pilgrimage to Ticonderoga NY and see the TOS set recreations. I promise you wont regret it!

I've given you guys a lot of shit on YT for certain reactions but your love for Trek and in particular TOS is so apparent in this episode. So much to unpack as to how it was done; the epsode cost $1m, the effects were first used in Forrest Gump, the cameras for the new TOS parts are the same as used in TOS and theres a ton of making of footage for this episode. The Klingon explanation? Keep watching......

3AM, guys! Sleep happened for me at 3AM this morning. I blame you...and the tribbles. Really looked forward to watching this wonderful episode with you. Happy Star Trek Anniversary Month. 😎😁🖖

Ron Moore’s original idea, was to revisit Sigma Iotia II, from the episode "A Piece of the Action". He thought it would be funny if the whole society had changed from mobsters to copy Starfleet after the TOS visit. Jonathan West used different film stock for the TOS era scenes to more closely match what was used in 1967. He also used different camera lenses and lighting to further match TOS. Many departments worked nights and weekends for "free" to make the episode happen and on time. Even so, "Trials and Tribble-ations" became the most expensive one-hour episode of Star Trek to date. Brannon Braga was the first to admit this episode was better than "Flashback".

Dax, indeed, got Boned

It was funny seeing Alex rapidly plummeting into frustration, then doing a hard 180.

I hope you will still give Strange New Worlds a chance.

Now THIS is podracing 🤣

I don't like Flashback either, but I think the idea was that you do the Sulu/Rand story there because neither are in this episode. So I think there was co-ordination there. (Edit: Re: your final comments, lots and lots of production type people on episodes with your friends at Inglourious Treksperts. A lot of them you have to be clear of Enterprise before listening.)

There were tribbles in the bar in Star Trek III

Arguably, the greatest DS9 episode, ever! :) I've been looking forward to seeing you guys watch this since you started DS9. It's such a good tribute to the original series for its 30th anniversary and the special effects have held up so well! Also, I hope any Scrubs fans here spotted Dr Wen? Now that I'm pushing 50 I certainly relate to Dax's nostalgia for a time past. I get all misty eyed seeing 80's/90's tech now. There's an extended fan cut which uses the original episode and this DS9 episode. Worth seeking out now you've seen this. (So sorry to hear some folks ruined this surprise for you, Josh).

I literally just got home at 1:30 a.m. after a two-and-a-half hour drive back from Seattle after seeing the B-52's and Devo in concert, only to come home and find this was posted. Screw sleep. Whip it good, fellas. Whip it good!

At this moment, when this episode aired.... I felt exactly like you guys. There was no need to focus on the TNG to VOYAGER years. A TOS time frame would have made long time fans RUN back to Trek, if they didn't like the 90s Trek. But I also was a Captain Sulu on the Excelsior fan .... and every time I hear the theme for ST III, I think it would have been a perfect STAR TREK EXCELSIOR opening theme. Of course, by the time the fansites popped up online, everyone had similar opinions. I have no clue why the powers that have been, decided to just do reimaginings of Kirk. Ugh. He's not the focus.... he's not James Bond.

Happy Anniversary Target Audience!

It's happening! Again! 👏

While I didn’t watch in release order, I probably saw this before the Tribble episode as an adult, but I do appreciate you holding to release order

Given the fact that I am a 57 year old, 240 pound, shaved-headed professional construction electrician who spends the better part of his work day in conditions dangerous enough to warrant daily safety plans due to the risk to life and limb, I say the following knowing full well how much it may damage my image among my colleagues at work, should they ever see it --- 😃😃😃SQUUUUUEEEEEEE!!!😃😃😃 IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE! THEY WATCHED TRIALS AND TRIBBLE-ATIONS!! LET'S GO! LET'S GO! LET'S GO!

Ironically, even though we get in the hook the hint we're going to get to watch "special guests," they weren't in the guest credits since it's all archive footage.

Flashback would have been made much earlier - Much like season 2 having some episodes that were originally intended for season 1; season 3 has some episodes that were actually filmed for season 2 and ended up being held back and used in Season 3 - Flashback was one of them, as was the Ferengi episode.

It's nice they had original Klingons, but in the modern era it's harder to get away with black face. And Rodenberry himself said the original look was them just not having the technology / budget to make them look like they originally wanted.

I LOVE TELEVISION!!! I LOVE TV I LOVE STAR TREK ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

This TOS episode was also a good choice because it's one of the most memorable for even the casual fans of the old show. And so cool they incorporated one of the original actors in present day!

The original Trouble with Tribbles is a beloved episode, even among modern fans, it's Alex who didn't like the original. I guess we just like TOS more than him, please stop shitting on TOS and show it the respect it deserves.

Watching this episode has always been like getting a giant hug from Star Trek. I’ve watched it dozens of times and watching you guys react was like watching again for the first time so thanks. Very nice touch including the documentary. Will you guys be recording reactions to the extras on the dvd’s for all the shows when it’s safe to do so?

I've been following you guys since just about the beginning and haven't spoiled a thing! 😊

Just an idea, would Hailey enjoy being a part of the tier listing? She's editing most episodes; I'd be curious too what she thinks of them each season. But if she's not comfortable on camera, no pressure.

This episode really was made possible by the advances that Forrest Gump had made in placing new shots of people into old film footage. Without Forrest Gump, this probably would never have been made. Incidentally, I am watching 1080p AI enhanced/upscaled versions of these episodes and it still looks just as convincing.

It's hilarious how much better this is than Voyager's contribution to the Anniversary.

I don't know whether or not you guys watched The Big Bang Theory. But I was worried that it may have been spoiled by a season two episode where Sheldon twice mentions it using the phrase- "the Deep Space Nine/Star Trek: The Original Series 'The Trouble with Tribbles' crossover episode."

Maybe the explanation of Voyager's effort being the lesser of the two is that I've read Braga never watched TOS, Berman wasn't into it either. I don't know about the other prominent writers. I'm not a big TOS fan and I think this is great. You can feel the love that went into it.

Interesting you bring up the actors vs production people and how they view the show, because right now Katee Sackoff (Starbuck) is doing a reaction series with her husband to Battlestar Galactica, which neither of them have seen, and Katee remembers so little of it. The thing she says is "Do you remember what you were doing at the job you had 20 years ago on Friday at 1:45." Now, stuff does come back to her as she watches, but so much of acting, especially on TV with 20 episodes a season, is memorizing lines, figuring out the emotions of the scene, getting those emotions to an acceptable for the scene level, then letting go of those emotions so they aren't carrying that with them the rest of the day, oh and BTW, here's the next script for you to memorize. I feel like production is a whole different beast. They have "projects" to do. Things to make and create that, at the end of the day they can sit back and tangibly look at and feel. Actors don't really have that. They spend the day psyching themselves up to cry just the right amount while delivering lines in the best way, another person tells them they did good work, and they leave, never really knowing for sure.

Ron Moore's Enterprise model shows up on screen once. Above Kirk's desk in Star Trek VI, of all places.

I also like Forrest Gump. Somehow that's my comment for this episode lol

Concerning "watch order".... Josh... you guys were robbed by people telling you to watch the mirror episode of ST CONTINUES. It really just looked like people being over the top angry when there was no established baseline for the actors as their known counterparts. And then the first episode was only good. The reason so many people consider it as Canon is because the rest of the series is A and S tier. You have unfortunately watched the 2 weakest episodes. After ENTERPRISE I hope you return to it.

I feel like whenever TOS is referenced in other movies, TV series, skit/standup routine people assume they are making fun of it but those behind the scene are actually fans and praising it, a lot of writers in 90s trek are actually fans of TOS.

Your comments about being glad/grateful you watched Trek in the order you did (and didn’t skip to this ep or Wrath of Khan after Space Seed) make it clear that you’d appreciate experiencing Doctor Who in release order starting with 1963… and not the 2005 revival, if you watch it someday.

This.

I mean....S+ and I didn't love TOS, but I do respect it and admit its comfy to watch at 1am. But yeah, this eppie did everything correct and I have nothing to say that hasn't been said.

Dropped everything to watch this. So glad y'all are finally here!

My last word on this amazing tribute to TOS…how I wish that digital compositing at this level had existed during TNG!! I would have given anything to see this romp happen with my favorite crew, Picard and company! 🤔

Josh looking at us through the camera like he's Jim at the start of this reaction, just to let us know he knows.

I am SO glad someone is keeping track of all the things you guys guess and speculate on

I don't know if you caught it, but the two investigators names are Dulmer and Luksly. Anagrams for Mulder and Skully. An intentional nod to X-Files.

You are going to love New Trek. I won't explain why specifically because of spoilers but I will say it's *more* respectful of TOS and leans *more* into the types of stories you like. I can't promise the newer series are exactly what you want but I will predict you will rank them above at least two of the older ones. So please don't spend the next couple of years dreading New Trek. You won't hate it.

By the way, im pretty sure the character that Obrien thinks is Kirk is played by William Shatner's stunt double so its an inside joke.

OUTSTANDING reaction, Josh and Alex!!! And you did me a solid by posting the documentary, as I’ve never seen it! And fyi, the tribbles showed up again in the bar scene with McCoy in your favorite ST movie “The Search For Spock”! Thank you both for dropping this early! It was awesome fun! 🖖

The "chance encounter" with the TOS actor was Ira and the other producers running into him in at a local pizza place. DO NOT look up trivia for this episode on IMDB, as there are spoilers.

Fun Fact: The temporal investigations agents give their names as Lucsly and Dulmur which are of course anagrams for Mulder and Sculy. Indeed, when meeting Sisko in his office Dulmur tells him he wants "the truth", while Lucsly is mostly skeptical about elements of Sisko's story.

No one's ever said anything good about you, Alex? Dude, don't listen to those people. Instead, simply pity them from above.

What's wrong with the link? I paid the money and it's not let me play it

DS9 / TOS sex scoreboard WELL!!! A combined crew so a full board today my friends. The sex score board Kirk 12 Jadzia 6 +1 new Spock 5 Bones 5 +1 new Chekov 4 Quark 4 Bashir 4 Sisko 3 Kira 3 Morn 3 Worf 3 Scottie 2 Jake 2 Uhura 1 Chief 1 Odo 1 Keiko 1 Details We have tons of scores from over many many years. Now for this episode. Let's start with the almost. We almost had a Dax - Spock purely logical The Vulcan Trill Drill. ...............But.....NO. Instead we do get a score. Outta no where we find out that in fact there has been a missed score the entire time. Bones and Dax. Who had that on their bingo card. So now we know that in fact, we found out that Dax found a Bone to Pick so Dax Gets Boned. The greatest thing about that is Kirk was the only one of the big three not to have a shot at the biggest scorer from DS9. Pure fun. ok ok technically we are breaking our rule of it must be in the episode, for the Dax and Bones. We decided to make an exception. just have fun

The Visitor is a 9.1 on imdb, BTW. So far, the second highest after this one.

this was great. Wish I watched TOS, but your enthusiasm is contagious.

Watching this immediately after finishing your Sacred Ground reaction...and I feel like I'm about to get whiplash...

re: Tribbles. Worf stated that the Klingon's eradicated the Tribbles home planet.

I've been waiting for this one for a while. This episode and the SULU episode on voyager were supposed to celebrate Star Trek 30th anniversary. I think DS9 did it better than voyager. The original episode ended by Kirk beaming all the Tribble to the Klingon Ship after catching their spy. That being said, Things that always bothered me... The Klingons did'nt recognize Worf as a "Normal" Klingon. Defiant did'nt get detected when the bad guy Transported Out at the start. The bomb did'nt get detected when it exploded. No lines to explain how the defiant wasn't detected. They were mostly cloaked, and the enterprise has gaps in it's scanning. They should've said something about the bad guy using the gap to transport out and that the gap is 1min or something. 3 seconds is too low for the first decloak. Spoiler Warning but not really... It's Funny that they make that THANOS comment about him snapping his finger and the Dominion Disappear!!!! .... it's funny how their comments can be very accurate. Also their comment about a show where we go back in time but 1 guy is from the future... Maybe his name will be Daniels.... where can we talk spoilers on here? I don't think i spoiled anything but i warned just incase...

The thing I have always loved most about this episode is that the plot really doesn’t matter at all. This is 100% a hangout episode. It’s just that, in this case, the DS9 crew gets to hang out in TOS for an hour.

Ya know... bold take here... I think... I think... as a 30th Anniversary epsiode... this was better than FLASHBACK on VOYAGER. Just my humble opinion.

2:24:29

Glad you guys liked this one. Since you started the season I have been looking forward to this reaction almost as much as First Contact.

This feels like Christmas

Oh Friday night just got good...

Kudos to Josh for somehow keeping the cursed knowledge of this episode from Alex for four years.

Damn, I needed this! I've been working two jobs seven days a week for the last month. Thankfully, today ended early so I got caught up with your "The Assignment" and "F. Emasculata" reactions. I'm headed into a rough weekend, so THANK YOU TA, for dropping this early!!!

In 1996, Deep Space Nine producers Ira Steven Behr, Ronald D. Moore, Hans Beimler, and Robert Hewitt Wolfe were eating lunch at a pizza restaurant in Beverly Hills. They were brainstorming how to pull off a 30th-anniversary tribute episode that would tie back into the iconic original Star Trek series episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles". They knew they couldn't afford or manage to bring back the core original cast, and many original guest stars had already passed away. During the meeting, Behr pitched a wild idea: what if they brought back the character Arne Darvin, the undercover Klingon spy who was exposed by the tribbles decades earlier? Behr mentioned actor Charlie Brill, noting that because his wife had recently written a pilot script involving Brill, he knew the actor was alive, active, and the perfect candidate to bridge the two shows. As the other writers nodded along, Behr happened to look over to his left toward the counter and saw Charlie Brill himself standing right there with his wife, ordering pizza.

What, already?!? Well, it’s got to be Saturday somewhere!

"I was getting worried they were going back to 1996" about that

Let's gooo!! Over 2 hours god damn lol

Fabulous episode, does it even need to be said?

But I'm in the middle of The Assignment. IN THE MIDDLE!

Entitled YouTube commenters spoiling yet again then get butthurt, and wondering why they get yelled at.

LFG!!!

Was waiting for this one since while iots raw fan service it's done to perfection. Especially since Josh mentioned how you could CGI TOS into DS9 and here they have used camera tricks to put DS9 into TOS....sure beats mind virus driven cups of tea for Sulu

Let's go, it's early!

Love you love you love so much.