"The Practical Joker"
The third in the second season and nineteenth overall, this episode aired on September 21, 1974. It was written by Chuck Menville and Len Janson.
Summary: After the Enterprise passes through an unusual cloud to evade three attacking Romulan battlecruisers, the ship's computer begins to play practical jokes on the crew. Thinking that a crew member is responsible, McCoy, Uhura, and Sulu hope to escape the jokester in the ship's Rec Room (the precursor to the holodeck*), but a peaceful walk in the woods quickly becomes dangerous. The rest crew must rescue them, confront the Romulans, and deal with the mischievous Enterprise herself. Connection to Hamlet: While it is not a direct quote, Kirk appears to have modified Polonius' "Though this be madness, yet there is method in't" (Act II, Scene II) when he says, "There is a method to this madness." |
*See note about the holodeck here.