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Star Trek: The Animated Series Season 2 Episode 3

The Practical Joker

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8.1

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 9/21/74

After passing through an unusual cloud, the Enterprise computer develops a playful--and potentially lethal--personality.

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Fan Episode Reviews (2)

After passing through a strange space cloud, the Enterprise's computer gains an artificial intelligence that is relentlessly bent on making practical jokes on the crew.

5.0

By Celedorian, Feb 19, 2011

This childish episode has lots of slapstick humor, but overall it comes off as immature. (Though I'll give the writer points for coming up with the phrase "Kirk is a jerk," which ends up on the back of Kirk's shirt.

The episode is most memorable for introducing the "rec room" which Trek fans will immediately recognize as being the same as Star Trek: The Next Generations' holodeck. (In fact, this episode gives birth to the story idea of "the holodeck adventure gone wrong" which would be beaten to death in later incarnations of Trek.)

This is the sort of episode you'd fear from an animated series; one that's for the kiddies. But it could be worse.moreless
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Passing through a strange cloud causes the Enterprise to have a mind of it's own, and it isn't friendly

8.9

By GameraTrekkie, Jan 15, 2011

This is another really good episode of the animated series. There are jokes that the ship plays on the crew that is really funny to watch happen. What makes this episode possibably the most interesting episode of them all is the fact that we see the first holodeck ever in Trek history. Instead of it being called the holodeck, on this episode, it is called the Rec Room. Overall, this is a must see episode just for the fact of the holodeck. It is also really fun to watch all of the pranks on the crew of the Enterprise. Even Spock falls for some of the tricks!moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Leonard Nimoy	Mr. Spock
William Shatner	Capt. James Tiberius Kirk
DeForest Kelley	Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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James Doohan	Romulan Commander/Search Party Crewman	Guest Star
Majel Barrett	Enterprise Computer	Guest Star
Norm Prescott	Romulan Crewman	Guest Star
George Takei	Lt. Hikaru Sulu	Recurring Role
James Doohan	Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott / Lt. Arex	Recurring Role
Majel Barrett	Nurse Christine Chapel / Lt. M'Ress	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (4)
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- Just after release from the Holodeck rec room, Dr McCoy is standing on the bridge beside the captain. A black strap appears and disappears on his left shoulder.
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- During the second Romulan attack near the end, the stars are missing from the lower right 2/3 of the view. Only the top left 1/3 has even a sparse population of starfields.
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- In the overhead shot when Sulu is about to activate a Rec Room program, Nurse Chapel is seen in place of Lt. Uhura.
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- How could a hot air balloon fly in space and in a straight line. And if a balloon were hit by a Romulan plasma energy torpedo wouldn't it vaporize instead of just popping--what was it made out of? (editor's note: clearly the casual reference to the decoy as a "hot air balloon" is a simplification of a much more complex phenomena. The novelization by Allan Dean Foster sheds some light on this.)
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QUOTES (1)
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- Spock: Question; why are we unable to communicate with crew members McCoy, Sulu and Uhura?
  Computer Voice: Answer; that is for me to know and for you to find out.
  Kirk: Did I hear that right?
  Spock: Affirmative. The dysfunction is more severe than I thought. Question; are you deliberately holding our missing crew members prisoner?
  Computer Voice: I'll never tell.
  Kirk: This is Captain James T. Kirk speaking. You are programmed to obey any direct order I may give, correct?
  Computer Voice: Correct.
  Kirk: Very well, I order you to release McCoy, Sulu and Uhura immediately.
  Computer Voice: Say "please."
  Kirk: Well, I'll be...
  Spock: I suggest compliance, Captain.
  Kirk: (Through clenched teeth) Please!
  Computer Voice: Say "pretty please... with sugar on top."
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NOTES (2)
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- This episode along with "The Pirates of Orion" was released on The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek: Volume 10 for VHS.
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- Although the animated series is not considered canon, this constitutes in essence the first appearance of the holodeck, superseding the one in Star Trek: The Next Generation. In this episode, however, it's called the Rec Room.
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ALLUSIONS (0)
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