Beyer, of the Texas Tech University School of Law, cited a video recording introduced in this episode, which Captain Kirk, Captain of the starship Enterprise, had left for his two most senior officers to play in the event of his death, urging them to overcome their personal animosity. Beyer described this fictional recording as one of the first recorded instances of what he called a "video-will". Political scientists have compared the metaphor of the entrapment in this episode with the deep challenges politicians and administrators feel when confronted with competing factions and lobby groups. Home video "The Tholian Web" was released in 1988 on LaserDisc in the United States. It was published by Paramount Home Video, and was released as a pair with "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky". Star Trek titles were popular on the growing home video market in the 1980s, and the Star Trek II film had helped establish the home video market. This episode was released in Japan on December 21, 1993 as part of the complete season 3 LaserDisc set, Star Trek: Original Series log.3. A trailer for this and the other episodes was also included on an additional disc, and the episode had English and Japanese audio tracks. The cover script was スター・トレック TVサードシーズン for the set. References External links "The Tholian Web" Remastered FX reel at TrekMovie.com Star Trek: The Original Series (season 3) episodes 1968 American television episodes Mirror Universe (Star Trek) episodes Television episodes directed by Herb Wallerstein