Tribbles at 45: Nimoy, Nichols & Koenig Celebrate

Certain things come to mind when you think of the original Star Trek series: Kirk and Spock, of course, and the Enterprise, as well as the Gorn, Klingons, Tricorder, the Vulcan nerve pinch, and, of course, Tribbles. Those cute, cuddly and iconic creatures – as our guest bloggers Jordan Hoffman and Larry Nemecek noted in their most recent columns; click HERE and HERE – are celebrating their 45th anniversary… today. That’s right: “The Trouble with Tribbles” aired on December 29th, 1967.

Nichols and Koenig had fun responding to three quick questions about their Tribbles experience.

Actors "act" opposite inanimate objects all the time, but how was it working with… Tribbles?Nichols: Tribbles are not inanimate. Koenig: I was concerned as to whether it felt that we were playing the scene moment to moment.Why do you think Tribbles became such a phenomenon? Nichols: There was never anything like them before or since. They were and are unique -- AND born pregnant!Koenig: I think the answer lies with Freud. There is obvious sexual symbolism in Tribbles.Be honest... did you steal a Tribble once the shoot wrapped?Nichols: I didn't wait until the end. I got mine the first day!Koenig: I didn't steal a Tribble. I did, however, have several of them burned in what can only be described as a heretical cult ceremony.

And now, here are the Tribble-centric comments from David Gerrold, which originally appeared in our two-part interview in January 2011.