First Time Watching ALL of Star Trek - Episode 98: The Practical Joker (TAS S2E3)

[@robabiera733]

Say hello to the Holodeck! Now say goodbye for awhile. You'll find out.

[@Maltiris]

Give it the "Big Goodbye"

[@rightofcenter1977]

​@Maltiris I see what you did there!

[@richardb6260]

I forgot they had a holodeck in this series before it appeared in later series. It also appears that Majel Barrett is the voice of the computer. Roddenberry definitely took some ideas from this episode for TNG.

[@MegaMagicdog]

Majel was always the voice of the Enterprise! Both in the 60s series, and in TNG.

[@Drawkcabi]

Also, remember in the episode "Tomorrow is Yesterday", the Enterprise's computer got a tune up and whoever did it thought it would be funny to give it more of a personality and it kept calling Kirk "Dear"? That was Majel Barrett and that part of the episode always reminded me of this one.

[@Drawkcabi]

​@@MegaMagicdogand in Star Trek Continues they got the most perfect person they possibly could have gotten to take over for Barett!

[@zoppie]

@@Drawkcabi Plus the Rec Room is seen in live action in the pilot ep.

[@Drawkcabi]

​@@zoppieyep. Another thing I love about Continues, it bridges TOS, TAS, the movies and TNG.

[@vincentsaia6545]

I saw this episode when it was first broadcast and I have never forgotten the "Kirk is a jerk," moment. I loved it then and I love it now

[@thinkbolt]

TAS introduced the Holodeck, as well as Kirk's middle name, and the original captain of the Enterprise (keep watching!) - and of course Arex and M'ress

[@eddiemidnite]

I've been quietly waiting for this one, the mix of intentional and unintentional humour works perfectly.

[@mikejankowski6321]

On an unrelated related note...there was an episode of The Addams Family where Gomez got hit on the head and the resulting amnesia made him "normal" and he forgot his family and was revolted by his prior lifestyle. Morticia found a passage in a book suggesting that such an effect could be reversed by another blow, so everyone proceeded to hit him again. But they did so separately and not telling the others, so he kept bouncing between personas.

[@GeraldWalls]

5:20 This is the first instance of the Holodeck in the Star Trek franchise. It is used quite often in the future series.

[@silkwesir1444]

*a predecessor to the holodeck

[@bobmathis-friedman6742]

I always enjoy episodes featuring M'Ress, and this one had Arex at the command chair!

[@TheNeonRabbit]

Lieutenant M'Ress: bringing Trekkies & Furries together since 1973

[@huskerchuck9212]

Some light-hearted humor. Perfect for TAS.

[@zqxzqxzqx1]

FYI, the Star Trek Shop has the "Kirk is a Jerk" shirt.

[@quatermasss]

My favorite moment of this commentary. ALEX: A little harmless ... cat. 12:52

[@frommymind4639]

Lt. M'Ress showing up in person. "Purrr-errrr"

[@GeraldWalls]

9:30 This looks like anoxia caused by Laughing Gas (nitrox oxide). Laughing Gas weakly affects the brain but also makes you giddy by displacing oxygen. Spock would be resistant to this because of the much lower partial pressure of oxygen in the Vulcan atmosphere. Since he's used to an atmosphere with less oxygen the lowered oxygen part doesn't affect him, at least as much.

[@Hhelms12]

In x-men the Rec room/holodeck thing is called the Danger Room

[@josecarrales2842]

Next time you guys wrestle as Kirk, the "Kirk is a Jerk" shirt would made you the perfect "heel!"

[@ghfantexas6848]

Man, I forgot that they don’t know about certain things in which they haven’t seen yet. Totally took me by surprise. So many things yet to come boys. 😎

[@zoppie]

As others have pointed out, the holographic recreation room carried over to TNG. But was this truly the first instance of the concept? Something similar was shown aboard the _Argo_ in an episode of _Star Blazers,_ an anime series that also aired in the '70s. Who did it first? One of the things I was sad that was never seen again was the life-support belts. You'd think that technology would have been perfected by the 24th century. I mean, I still wouldn't recommend it over an actual space suit, but in the event that a hole should get punched in your starship and you get blown out into the void, it would be nice if something like that would kick in and keep you alive long enough to be rescued, wouldn't it?

[@ericelander9936]

Totally agree. Life support belts should have been used in every subsequent show.

[@bobbuethe1477]

The earliest instance of the holographic rec room concept that I know of is Ray Bradbury's 1950 short story, "The Veldt."

[@mark-s]

This would have been a great live episode so funny m'ress saying McCoy sulu and uhura still in recreation room "stich" lol so funny

[@pauld6967]

My old Enterprise deck plans from the 70s have the holographic recreation room and we long time Trek fans knew they had always meant for it to be shown but it would've been a budget buster to do it right. Hence waiting until TAS. Similar to how the 400+ number is used for the crew so guest stars could appear in an episode and not be seen again without the audience being too concerned and without needing to include a stop at a planet or starbase be part of the story. They used it a little bit but nowhere near as much as Roddenberry planned.

[@silkwesir1444]

What do you mean, they used it "a little bit"? Pretty much every episode!

[@pauld6967]

@@silkwesir1444 In TOS you are correct that there was the mess hall / recreation room where off-duty crew could relax but TOS didn't show the "holodeck" style recreation room. For that we had to wait until The Animated Series for our introduction to it and later, The Next Generation gave us regular use of the holodeck. My "used it a little bit" was about the concept of the guest star of the week being a crew member that is seen in this episode but never again & no-one is concerned because you chalk it up as 'he is still aboard, just on duty somewhere else in the ship.' Instead, they normally made the first star an outsider.

[@BobSingerDaGunslinger]

First version of the Holodeck from The Next Generation????

[@sergioaccioly5219]

Congrats, this was the first time a holodeck mishap happened in the Starship Enterprise. It'll happen again and again and again in the TNG.

[@richardb6260]

Cat! There's a cat! That's good for at least a thousand more views on KZbin.

[@photonicus]

Romulans using Klingon ships 0:32. Just as a reminder, the Klingons and Romulans were sharing technology at this point. Klingons traded a portion of their battlecruisers in exchange for Romulan cloaking device tech. They were trying to form an alliance that definitely would NOT have been a joke. Real life reason: Can't remember. Some issue during TOS with the Romulan studio model or something. They simply made "in cannon" reasons for certain behind the scenes issues.

[@stephenkoehler4051]

In TOS by the time of "The Enterprise Incident" the original Bird of Prey designed by SFX great Wah Chang had been disposed of. (One Rumor has Wah Chang destroying it because he wasn't paid for his work). In any event, the original Bird of Prey wasn't available, but the new Klingon Battlecruiser model was. Ironically, the first appearance of the Klingon Battlecruiser was as a Romulan ship since the episodes were shown out of production order. The D-7 would appear in later episodes, including Elaan of Troyus which was the best battle sequence of the 3rd season.

[@photonicus]

@@stephenkoehler4051 Thnx! Didn't know the creator destroyed his own ship. A fairly simple design compared to Enterprise or a D-7 but I loved it!

[@silkwesir1444]

They were so proud of those Klingon battlecruiser designs (and rightly so, I'd add), that they wanted to show them off as often as possible (also get their money's worth out of making them).

[@stephenkoehler4051]

@@silkwesir1444 Plus, AMT had just released the model kit so they were hoping for sales too!

[@markallen2984]

I forgot all about this episode. I enjoyed it very much. As you both said it's tone fit the animated series better than that would have the live-action TOS. I had completely forgotten that "TAS" introduced the "holodeck" (though they didn't call it that). The holodeck features prominently in many of the Next Generation episodes. Frankly, I never liked it as a plot device but knowing that the concept was introduced during the "Kirk Era" has softened me on the idea a bit. This was one of the most enjoyable episodes of TAS.

[@silkwesir1444]

Well except it isn't quite the holodeck, is it? But it's clear that it's some kind of predecessor, at least in the way it is used, if not with regards to the tech behind hit.

[@anthonybernacchi2732]

This episode introduces a major new concept into the Star Trek universe. It would later come to be known by a name not used in this episode, and during the “TAS isn’t canon” period everyone politely pretended that TNG introduced the concept, but this episode was its real first appearance. You will undoubtedly be revisiting many of your comments and questions about the concept in this episode when it becomes a much more prominent part of the Star Trek format (a few months from now in Target Audience time). Of the 101 episodes of TOS and TAS combined, this is the fifth and last to feature one or more Romulan characters. Although the Romulans caught the imagination of Star Trek fandom and were prominently featured in many Star Trek novels in the franchise’s first few decades, their on-screen appearances in that era were surprisingly rare. Only later in the franchise would the Romulans become as prominent on screen as they were in the popular consciousness. Some fans have complained online that Kirk cannot have discovered the writing on the back of his shirt after putting it on, but perhaps he saw it before putting it on and was so angry that he decided to wear it anyway to show the bridge crew the message. It is unfortunate that this episode’s being animated means we do not get to see William Shatner’s facial expressions when Kirk pretends to be terrified of the energy field at the episode’s climax. This would have been an appropriate occasion for some tasty Shatner ham; indeed, even Shatner’s vocal performance and the animation do a reasonable job of providing this.

[@barreloffun10]

Maybe Kirk saw the writing in a mirror.

[@robabiera733]

David Gerrold introduced several ideas for addressing criticisms of "Star Trek: The Original Series" in his book, "The World of Star Trek" - such as having more than one way to get into and out of the bridge. Many of them were adopted in "The Animated Series" and later in "The Next Generation".

[@barreloffun10]

@@Daniel-Strain Before TNG came out, TAS was regarded as canon, and was included, for example, in the Star Trek Concordance. When TNG came along, Paramount (and maybe Roddenberry) declared TAS non-cannon. Once the TAS DVDs were released TAS was once again declared canon, or at least not definitely non-canon.

[@Vulcanerd]

That sweet, sweet honey baked Shatner ham...

[@zoppie]

@@Daniel-Strain When discussing canon, it is a good idea to specify _whose_ canon we are talking about. Clearly, the people involved with TAS stuck quite faithfully to TOS. The fact that several episodes are sequels to TOS episodes bears this out. But from the moment Rick Berman took the reigns his blatant disregard of everything prior to TNG just hangs out there for the whole world to see. Some say he even hated TOS. The current owners (who also happen to own the official Star Trek website) say it is ALL canon. Why? Business. You never shit on any property you own if you expect to make money from it. But there is also Roddenberry canon (TOS, TMP, & TNG). Berman canon: TNG, TNG films, DS9, VOY, & ENT. Bennet canon: TOS, ST2, ST3, ST4, & ST5. Meyer canon: ST2, ST4, ST6. JJ canon: ST, STB, STID. Kurtzman canon (you know the drill).

[@grife3000]

TREK WORLD youtube channel has been posting some cool bits lately (first commercial for TOS, blooper reels, Space Seed deleted scene). The bloopers were from conventions, so technically they come from before ST:TMP.

[@tsntana]

9:41 _"What a laugh"_ That's George Takei's real laugh.

[@zoppie]

AH! AH! AH! AH! They call me The Count because I love to count things!

[@silkwesir1444]

I thought it felt perfectly as a forced laugh, a laugh one does when you cannot stop laughing even though you don't actually feel it.

[@MrDeadstu]

In the deleted scenes, somebody hides M'Ress' litterbox. 😂

[@winkles2314]

Wait what? They did holodecks this early?

[@talynstarburst2l2l2l]

Another fun episode.. “Kirk is a jerk” 😂

[@ghfantexas6848]

I imagine George Takei already has one. 🤠

[@RLucas3000]

@@ghfantexas6848 I feel like he co-wrote this episode lol

[@zoppie]

Minor quibble: How would Kirk only notice that lettering _after_ putting the shirt on?

[@ghfantexas6848]

@@zoppie The mirror, mirror.

[@zoppie]

@@ghfantexas6848 Yes, but he would still have to crane his neck around to see it in the mirror, and what excuse would he have to do that?

[@tarascholfield5887]

glad you guys are enjoying TAS- Adorable Orange Kitty!!

[@Blazingstoke]

This episode first aired in September 1974; in Japan, the classic anime series _Space Battleship Yamato_ would begin in October. It's probably coincidence, but the _Yamato_ sports a recreation room much like the one on the _Enterprise_ here.

[@williamblakehall5566]

Always wondered what a "dunsel" was (as in "Captain Dunsel," the insult against Kirk in "The Ultimate Computer") and that thing leaving dark rings on Spock's eyes surely qualifies. I'm sensing that you guys can't get to the movies fast enough -- and I agree. Thanks, TA, steady as she goes, warp factor two.

[@MegaMagicdog]

I would think it's related to the word "dunce".

[@williamblakehall5566]

@@MegaMagicdog Very possibly, but Trek made sure to coin that specific term.

[@chake46]

Captain Dunsel was defined by Mr. Spock as a part that served no useful purpose.

[@bustedsim]

This episode presents two technologies that'll be treated as new and innovative later, and I think my headcannon is that they aren't exactly the same technologies. For example, the food synthesizers I don't think just _create_ food, but in my head they are more like an old automat, where it just beams food/ingredients from the ships storage via transporters, assembling ingredients into meals when necessary, rather than just building food out of any old matter. As for the Recreation room, I'm almost at a loss. Does the ship have beach, forest, icy tundra and maze material stored on board that it then beams into the recreation room? Is it just like one of those really gimmicky 4-D theatre experiences, but with transporters moving stock objects around as people move about? Either way, I think this was probably a prototype that got shelved. But I think the way this episode introduces technology that doesn't mesh with later lore is why TAS is treated as murky as far a canon goes.

[@RLucas3000]

McCoy: “I think we’ll do ‘Drunken Roman Orgy’ this time!”

[@Drawkcabi]

Rec room... more primitive holograms, more reliance on force fields, and temp control? Maybe that's why later versions in the future are seen more as "new tech" because they were designed to use more transporter/synthesizer tech along with better force fields, which made them feel much more real and much more of a new innovative thing? Don't want to get into other specific upgrades it got, maybe spoilers.

[@chrismais]

​@Drawkcabi Exactly right it is 23rd century technology so is more of a simulator than holodeck..the vivid perception and depth and feel of it is not the same as a holodeck which actually transforms matter like a replicator might and extends forcefields..

[@silkwesir1444]

Why though call them synthesizers if they don't synthesize anything? I'd rather say, the difference to later replicators is that what they create is not exactly like the food it is supposed to be, only a kind of facsimile. It might taste not as good, not have as good as a texture, stuff like that. Thinking this through, this must be mostly due to energy requirements. The technology (transporters) to create a full-fledged, TNG-style replicator would have been there, but I think the energy consumption was higher and/or the energy available lower.

[@bustedsim]

@@silkwesir1444 I figured it's because they synthesize meals out of basic raw ingredients or even chemicals. Take the episode with the ice cream. All the kids get cards to put in the machine, each card contains the recipie for a flavor of ice cream; milk, cream, vanilla, cocoa, strawberry, sugars etc. The synthesizer takes that information, beams the required constituent amounts of each ingredient from the ship stores and melds them to form the transporter pattern of an ice cream. Same with a chicken sandwich and coffee, only with Tribbles added into the mix. At least, that's what makes sense to me. And then, when the stores are low, the machines are only capable of taking basic protein, iron, potassium and other nutrient molecules and forming them into food cubes until the ship can resupply. Future technology wouldn't need to rely on stocked cargo bays of raw ingredients, able to be more fancy with basic nutrients than just food cubes, replicating actual meals instead. At least, that's my head canon.

[@hemmojito]

Holodeck before Holodeck?...

[@shallowgal462]

The cubes were necessary when people from multiple species and cultures were mixing to avoid offending food taboos and things toxic to some species but not others (just as birds can eat things that would kill us and we eat things that would poison dogs and cats). For a great maze sequence, see The Shining (1980). I haven't seen this since 1974, if ever. I found it interesting.

[@johnmackendrick5173]

As others have mentioned, you had better get used to this rec room. You'll be seeing plenty more of it, (They call it the holodeck, though.)

[@komradewirelesscaller6716]

Perhaps my favorite episode of the animated series!

[@Manitsas]

This episode always makes me think of a variation of a joke at my Summer Camp from 40 yeas ago, based on Johnny Carson as "Carnak" in which he wears a giant turban and holds a "hermetically sealed" envelope, provided by Ed McMahon, to his head, recites a list or phrase, and then opens the envelope to reveal the question: "William Shatner; Omar Sharif, and [name of your target]" -- -- -- "Name a Kirk , a Turk, and a Jerk."

[@sasamichan]

it is a strange episode to be shore but one that carried over ideas in fact a lot of ideas that start here carry over to future trek The other Animated Star Trek series, Lower Decks loves to get weird but its not unusual for Voyager or TNG or even the ever so serious DS9 to once in a while have a fun episode. That reminds me when two Star treks air at the same time how will you juggle episodes? Will you go back and forth between shows or will you fully finish one before the other?

[@HUNVilly]

First appearance of the holodeck, it will be featured in hundreds of episodes in the future

[@RLucas3000]

Honestly, this is of course a spoiler, but what can one do, every single person mentioned it. I’m glad Buffy fans aren’t as free with that show’s many spoilers!

[@GeraldWalls]

10:05 You can't cut through with the phaser? Do you have any C4 or Detcord on hand?

[@gregavedovech654]

Loved this one as a kid

[@MoonjumperReviews]

The weird thing is Kirk gets the shirt from the laundry-and yet still puts it on!

[@RLucas3000]

Because all the other shirts were worse! Kirk IS a Denebian slime devil!

[@pauld6967]

Not so difficult to believe. Haven't you just grabbed a shirt from the dresser drawer or out of the dryer and put it on without hesitation? I know I have hundreds of times. There is no reason to expect that anything has happened & that you need to inspect the shirt. Now, if you're saying he found out and still came to the bridge rather than grabbing an old top that he hadn't put into the laundry yet,....then I would say you make a valid point.

[@richierich398]

I always enjoyed this episode.

[@robertcringle4865]

Does this qualify as a Kirk versus the computer episode?

[@henrikharbin5521]

They could have used the Klingons, but then they would have had to find some tribbles to really make the last joke work.

[@paulkondon]

There is an interesting, if not overtly acknowledged, callback to "Tomorrow is Yesterday". After rescuing Capt. Christopher, the computer starts acting overly friendly/flirtatious, which Christopher observes. Spock notes a recent refit, and the technicians on the planet decided the computer needed a personality - female, like themselves - and that it now had an "unfortunate tendency to giggle." This episode's events could have triggered some of that old programming to reassert itself.

[@m.e.3862]

Alex you have to work the Kirk is a Jerk shirt into your wrestling act the next time you’re dressed as Kirk! Have your opponent wear it or slap the sign on your back; it’s too good not to use!😅

[@tnolddawg]

I don't blame Enterprise for messing with the crew Just think how often they get her banged around and holes punched through her 😆

[@Slate-writer]

nobody's mentioned the Romulan ships..... they weren't exactly 'Romulan'... !

[@zoppie]

Intelligence reported Romulans using Klingon design back in TOS.

[@SuStel]

Maybe the cubes are delicious.

[@RLucas3000]

I’m sure each cube is flavored: chicken n gravy, loaded baked potato, strawberry-rhubarb pie. You can probably tell what something is by color gradient, like jelly belly jelly beans.

[@SuStel]

@@RLucas3000 They probably taste like space food: targ steeped in tranya, and so forth.

[@belkyhernandez8281]

I recognize that computer voice!

[@shallowgal462]

KITTY! 💕

[@randallwong7196]

Kirk exploits a computer's logic again.

[@dupersuper1938]

As "computer possessed by an alien" Trek stories go, not the most dangerous...though funnily enough also not the least dangerous.

[@mirozen_]

Computer! Arch!!! 😊

[@SuStel]

You absolutely can get "Kirk is a jerk" on a t-shirt.

[@ghfantexas6848]

I imagine George Takei already has one. 🤠

[@RLucas3000]

@@ghfantexas6848 God I want to see him wearing one. Someone needs to send this episode to Howard Stern.

[@zoppie]

@@RLucas3000 Thing is, Takei has gone on record saying that Sulu respects Kirk. It's Takei who has a problem with Shatner.

[@silkwesir1444]

@@zoppie As far as I know this animosity has been largely exaggerated as well.

[@zoppie]

@@silkwesir1444 Again, please explain what you mean by "exaggerated."

[@carlosvergara4132]

Cat!

[@Analog_Mind47]

The Holo-deck enters Trek in this episode, but in cannon wouldn't appear on Starships for several more decades & wouldn't be "perfected" as a technology until 80years later in season1 of TNG. I think the Food cubes were just meant to look like "Futuristic" food yet this does present a difference between TOS's fabricators & TNG's Replicator. Withe the fabricator being more limited in what it can produce such as foodcubes & SS uniforms by converting existing materials (with tge real food being kept rationed in storage & colonies such as Sherman's Planet still being reliant on Grain shipments) while the Replicators can (using a similar technology to the Transporters) convert energy into more complex things such as real food or devices

[@shallowgal462]

TAS being canon, I disagree.

[@Analog_Mind47]

@shallowgal462 like 5 episodes, could be considered partially cannon, but this one definitely ain't. As I said, Holo-decks shouldn't be available for several more decades. & I think the 23rd century fabricators did things in this episode that 24th century replicators wouldn't be able to pull off

[@silkwesir1444]

Yes, as there are many different views about what future food would or should look like, the food cubes are not necessarily to be seen as something people put up with because they have nothing else but rather as something that may actually be desirable. (There is a portion of the population who would like it best if food were just something to be done with and not derive any special enjoyment or put any special significance on it. This approach, and examination of different approaches to this in general, is totally at the heart of what sci-fi is about.)

[@biffstrong1079]

dribble cups? Holodeck first in the animated series. Did not know that. bet the romulans end up with the practical jokes. Dum Dum Dahhh Don't throw me into that briar patch. Small stakes Star Trek is often the best. Frigging Discovery and Picard were always one apocalypse after another. End of the universe every week. yes this week its dribble glasses. Loved this one This has a Lower Decks feel to it. 40 years before Lower Decks.

[@alanr4447a]

Make up your monumental mind!!

[@vincentpuccio3689]

You’re impressed by the hollow deck here wait till you get to the next generation

[@Warped9]

I can’t stand this episode.