10 Essential Star Trek: The Animated Series Episodes You Must See

Out-and-out farces either work or they don't, and Star Trek makes no exception in the matter. The Trouble with Tribbles is one of the all-time best examples of the genre, and its successor on this list is a valiant effort. Compare that to the likes of Profit and Lace and, well, you get the point!

The Practical Joker works just fine as a comedy episode. We can now settle that eternal opposition of captains with a 'Kirk is a Jerk' t-shirt and plan our next pie-face pranks, at least. Above and beyond the 'computer gone haywire' plot, however, which has been a common Trek trope (funny or otherwise) over the years, this episode deserves a watch for one thing, and one thing alone: the 'Rec Room'.

A holodeck before there were holodecks, the Rec Room was capable of simulating a wide range of environments as Sulu, Bones, and Uhura found out to their cost when the aberrant computer trapped them inside a chilly, snow-filled landscape, releasing them into a giant maze only as the hypothermia kicked in. According to the book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, this holodeck-like room had been slated for inclusion in season three of The Original Series, but the costs involved were too high.

Ultimately, The Practical Joker gives canonic credence to the use of such technology in season one of Discovery and in general deserves a greater place in Star Trek's holographic history. Whether writers were inspired by, or simply forgot about, the Rec Room when they were coming up with the holodeck for The Next Generation is another matter.