The Ultimate Computer

"The Ultimate Computer" was the 53rd episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, the 24th episode of the show's second season, first aired on 8 March 1968. The episode was written by Laurence N. Wolf^MA and D.C. Fontana, directed by John Meredyth Lucas^MA and novelized in Star Trek 9 by James Blish.

References[]

Characters[]

other vessels: Woden (ship)

Locations[]

Alpha Carinae II • Starbase 6

Races and cultures[]

Human • Vulcan
Referenced only: Alpha Carinae II native

Science and classification[]

Technology and weapons[]

M-5 computer • starship • USS Defiant (NCC-1764) library computer • viewscreen

Materials and substances[]

atmosphere • blood • gas • oxygen

States and organizations[]

Federation • Starfleet
Referenced only: Merchant Marine

Ranks and titles[]

captain • commander • commanding officer • communications officer • Federation Starfleet ranks • Federation Starfleet ranks (2260s) • first officer • lieutenant commander • officer • scientist • science officer

Other references[]

anatomy • arm • boot • clothing • Federation members • finger • five-year mission • government • humanoid • language • lifeform • logic • matter • memory • nation-state • orbit • pants • quadrant • races and cultures • rank • space • star • stardate • Starfleet uniform • Starfleet uniform (2260s) • technology • title • tunic • uniform • universe • weapon • Finagle's Folly

Appendices[]

Background[]

In the remastered edition of this episode, Starbase 6 was depicted as a Watchtower-class space station — a design first seen in Pocket Books' Star Trek: Vanguard in 2005. Producer Michael Okuda explained, "We had originally planned to re-use the K-7 model... It was producer Dave Rossi^MA who came in with one of Doug Drexler's book covers, showing Masao's wonderful design. We immediately contacted John Van Citters^MA and Paula M. Block at CBS Consumer Products to ask for permission to use the design... They pretty much followed Doug's rendering of Masao's design, but I asked them to make a couple of tweaks. First, I asked them to reduce the overall scale of the station. In the original series, Gene was pretty clear that he wanted the Enterprise to be the biggest, most powerful ship in the fleet. Even though the station isn't a ship, I didn't want it to dwarf the Enterprise too much. The station just had to be big enough that you'd believe it could absorb the 400 members of the Enterprise crew. Also, I knew that we'd only see it briefly with the Lexington docked. I didn't want the Lexington to disappear in that quick shot, so I wanted to make the ship as large as possible [in relation] to the station. Finally, I asked them to tweak the station's arms so that the edge of the Lexington's saucer could dock directly with the station. Naturally, I was a little nervous about what Masao and Doug would think about what we'd done with their station, but fortunately, both said they liked it." (Star Trek Magazine Issue 162/US 35: "Vanguard's Small Screen Debut")

Adaptations[]

Images[]

Episode images[]

Connections[]

Timeline[]

published order
Previous episode: Patterns of Force	TOS episode produced	Next episode: The Omega Glory
Previous episode: The Omega Glory	TOS episode aired	Next episode: Bread and Circuses
Previous story: Return to Tomorrow	Star Trek 9	Next story: That Which Survives
chronological order
Previous Adventure: Uhura's Song	Pocket	Next Adventure: Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited
Previous Adventure: Uhura's Song	Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (2264 to 2270)	Next Adventure: Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited

Translations[]

1973: German : Der Supercomputer, translated by Iannis Kumbulis. (Williams)

1979: Italian : Pericolo elettronico, translated by Giuseppe Scarpa. (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore)

1980: Japanese : 究極コンピューター, translated by Hiroshi Saito. (Hayakawa Bunko)

External links[]

"The Ultimate Computer" article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
The Ultimate Computer article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

↑ The character of Clifford Brent was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing an officer's Starfleet uniform, was addressed as Brent in TOS episode: "The Naked Time". The same actor also played the character of Vinci.

[ref-brent-1] The character of Clifford Brent was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing an officer's Starfleet uniform, was addressed as Brent in TOS episode: "The Naked Time". The same actor also played the character of Vinci.

[1]