The Ultimate Computer (Episode)

The Ultimate Computer

"The Ultimate Computer" (TOS 53)

Series	Star Trek
Season	2
Episode	24
Production Number	53
Previous	Patterns of Force (TOS 52)
Next	The Omega Glory (TOS 54)
Released	8 Mar 1968
Advertising	Amazon

Prime Timeline
(The root of all realities)

Stardate 4729.4: The Enterprise is used to test the new M-5 computer.

Doctor Richard Daystrom, who developed the breakthrough duotronic computer technology 25 years ago, fears he is now regarded as a prodigy who has lost his touch. Obsessed with proving himself, Daystrom uses his own mental patterns to program his new M-5 computer and convinces Starfleet Command that it should test the machine by installing it on the Enterprise. Although Captain Kirk expresses reservations about the machine's presence, the first tests appear successful. When Commodore Robert Wesley leads a squad of starships in practice maneuvers against the M-5-run Enterprise, the computer takes complete control of the starship and responds as though the attack is real, resulting in the death of the entire Excalibur crew. Kirk, treating the M-5 like an errant child, forces the machine to realize it has committed murder. The machine sentences itself to death by lowering the Enterprise's shields — just as the rest of the wargames fleet moves in to attack. Scotty and Spock "pull the plug" on M-5, restoring the Enterprise to Captain Kirk's control. Kirk then plays dead — and Wesley calls off the fleet.

Image Gallery

Alpha Carinae II
Starbase
Finagle's Folly
Dr. Richard Daystrom
Ens. Harper
Lexington Science Officer
Cdre. Robert Wesley
M-5 computer
M-5 controls
U.S.S. Excalibur NCC-1664
U.S.S. Lexington NCC-1709
U.S.S. Lexington NCC-1709
S.S. Woden

Related Data

Astrometrics	Alpha Carinae II; Earth; Orion; Vulcan
Chronology	Prime Timeline; 1902; 2219; 2243; 2268; Stardate 4729.4-4731.3
Culture	dunsel; God; Sea-Fever
Education	doctor; doctorate; physician; Starfleet Academy
Food	alcohol; chicken soup; Finagle's Folly
People	Carstairs; Pavel Chekov ; Richard Daystrom; Albert Einstein; Enwright; Hadley; Harper; Harris; Kazanga; James T. Kirk; Roger Lemli; Leslie; Lexington Science Officer; John Masefield; Leonard McCoy; Phillips; Rawlins; Montgomery Scott; Sitar; Spock; Hikaru Sulu; Nyota Uhura; Robert Wesley
Politics	murder; Starfleet; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Ranks (Midshipman, Crewman, Ensign, Lieutenant, Starfleet Lieutenant Commander, Commander, Captain, Commodore); United Federation of Planets
Science & Technology	antimatter; astrobiology; audio receiver; biology; brain; Class M planet; communications; communicator; companel; computer; duotronics; forcefield; geology; impulse drive; Jefferies tube; M-1 through M-4 computers; M-5 computer; microtapes; multitronics; nacelle; navigation; nerve pinch; nitrogen; orbit; oxygen; PADD; phasers (shipboard); photon torpedo; psychology; sedatives; sensors; shields; stars; subspace; time (hour, year); transporter; turbolift; warp drive; water
Ships & Vehicles	Antares type; Constitution class; U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701; U.S.S. Excalibur NCC-1664; U.S.S. Hood NCC-1703; U.S.S. Lexington NCC-1709; U.S.S. Potemkin NCC-1657; Watchtower class station; S.S. Woden
Xenology	dinosaurs; foxes; geese; Humans; hybrids; Vulcans
Miscellaneous	A-7 computer expert rating; bridge; chief medical officer; chief science officer; commanding officer; hunting; logs; main engineering; Nobel Prize; red alert; sickbay; Starfleet Uniforms (2266); transporter room; war games; wild goose chase; Zee-Magnees Prize

Credits

Created by
Gene Roddenberry

Starring
William Shatner

Also Starring
Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
and
DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy

Teleplay by
D.C. Fontana

Story by
Laurence N. Wolfe

Produced and Directed by
John Meredyth Lucas

Executive Producer
Gene Roddenberry

Associate Producer
Robert H. Justman

Guest Star
William Marshall as Daystrom

James Doohan … Scott
George Takei … Sulu
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura

Featuring
Walter Koenig … Chekov
Sean Morgan … Ensign Harper
and
Barry Russo … Wesley

Script Consultant
D.C. Fontana

Assistant to the Producer
Edward K. Milkis

Theme Music by
Alexander Courage

Additional Music by
Sol Kaplan
and
Fred Steiner

Director of Photography
Jerry Finnerman

Art Director
Walter M. Jefferies

Film Editor … John W. Hanley
Unit Production Manager … Gregg Peters
Assistant Director … Phil Rawlins
Set Decorator … John M. Dwyer
Costumes Created by … William Ware Theiss
Photographic Effects … Howard A. Anderson Co.
Sound Effects Editor … Douglas H. Grindstaff
Music Editor … Jim Henrikson
Re-Recording Mixer … Gordon L. Day, C.A.S.
Production Mixer … Carl W. Daniels
Script Supervisor … George A. Rutter
Casting … Joseph D'Agosta
Sound … Glen Glenn Sound Co.
Makeup Artist … Fred B. Phillips, S.M.A.
Hair Styles … Pat Westmore
Gaffer … George H. Merhoff
Head Grip … George Rader
Property Master … Irving A. Feinberg
Special Effects … Jim Rugg
Key Costumer … Ken Harvey

A Paramount Production
In Association With
Norway Corporation

Executive in Charge of Production
Herbert F. Solow