Boris Karloff ... On Star Trek?

He immediately sent some story ideas to Gene Roddenberry, and call it naivety or just plain overconfidence, Gerrold knew he would end up on the show's writing staff.

One of Gerrold's ideas that caught the eye of both Roddenberry and producer Gene L. Coon was one of a bunch of furry creatures causing problems for the Enterprise crew. Coon was especially fond of it, and decided it would be perfect for an episode.

That episode would become the famous "Trouble With Tribbles" episode that made purring furballs who like to eat and reproduce a true icon.

"I never doubted that I was going to sell it," Gerrold told Michael Hinman during a recent SyFy Radio broadcast. "The only other time I had that level of determination and confidence was when I adopted my son. That was a year-long qualification process, and I never doubted that I was going to end up with a terrific little boy as my son. I think it comes from having such determination and such clarity and vision that I know it's a possibility at some level.

"I'm not going to argue with someone who is committed."

"The Trouble With Tribbles" aired right after Christmas Day in 1967 during "Star Trek's" second season. It featured a return of the Klingons, who by then were becoming a recurring villain in the show. Stanley Adams played Cyrano Jones, the intergalactic trader who first offered the Tribbles on the space station that got out of control.

Adams, however, wasn't Gerrold's first choice.

I had wanted to suggest somebody for Cyrano Jones, but I was too shy," Gerrold said. "I wanted to suggest the actor that I really had in mind when I wrote the character: Boris Karloff. And I think if I had said that, they would've made an effort to get him.

"Stanley Adams did a wonderful job, and Stanley and I were good friends, and I certainly don't fault Stanley's interpretation of the character."

Gerrold's episode would later be used for the 30th anniversary of Star Trek in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode "Trials and Tribble-ations." The funny part was, Gerrold was never approached about it ahead of time.

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