"The Corbomite Maneuver" is the tenth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Jerry Sohl and directed by Joseph Sargent, it first aired on November 10, 1966. In the episode, the Enterprise encounters a massive and powerful alien starship and its unusual commander. The episode has been well-received and frequently appears on lists of the best episodes in the series. Casting The episode features a then 7-year-old Clint Howard – brother of actor and director Ron Howard – who plays the alien at the end (with an overdubbed voice provided by Walker Edmiston). This was the first regular episode produced after the two pilots and the first to include DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy, Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Uhura (in a yellow uniform rather than red) and Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Rand. Because episodes were not aired in production order (a trait throughout the entire run of the original series), audiences had already been introduced to these three nine weeks earlier, in the series' debut episode, "The Man Trap". Plot The USS Enterprise, commanded by Captain James T. Kirk, finishes a third day of star mapping when novice navigator Lt. Dave Bailey spots a large spinning multi-colored cube floating in space. He advocates attacking it with phasers. Kirk instead orders the ship to back away from the object. The cube pursues them, emitting harmful radiation, and Kirk reluctantly destroys it. As Kirk is having lunch in his quarters, a gigantic glowing sphere approaches the Enterprise, filling the bridge viewscreen even at low magnification. Commander Balok identifies his ship as the Fesarius, the flagship of the "First Federation", explaining that the destroyed cube was a border marker. Balok ignores Kirk's greetings and announces that he will destroy the Enterprise for trespassing into First Federation territory and destroying the marker buoy. He gives the crew ten minutes to pray to their deities. First Officer Spock obtains a visual of Balok, a blue-skinned humanoid with constantly shifting facial features. Bailey succumbs to hysteria, and Kirk orders him off the bridge. Dr. McCoy rebukes Kirk, arguing that Bailey's outburst was a result of Kirk putting too much pressure on him, and pointing out that he warned Kirk of Bailey's condition ahead of time. The argument inspires Kirk to try bluffing Balok. He tells Balok that the Enterprise contains "corbomite", a substance that automatically