Bread and Circuses (Star Trek: The Original Series) entertainment. In the episode, Captain Kirk and his companions are forced to fight in gladiatorial games on a planet resembling the Roman Empire, but possessing mid-20th century Earth technology. The Federation starship USS "Enterprise" is on routine patrol when it finds wreckage of the SS "Beagle". The "Beagle" was under the command of Captain R. M. Merik (William Smithers), whom Captain Kirk (William Shatner) knew during his academy days. First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) traces the path of debris back to a planet in the previously unexplored system 892. The "Enterprise" picks up a 20th-century-style television news broadcast, reporting in
The Survivor (Star Trek: The Animated Series) Critics felt that the episode was similar to those of "The Original Series", but it was considered one of the best episodes seen in "The Animated Series" by Chris Cummins of the website Topless Robot. "The Survivor" was adapted into a novelization by Alan Dean Foster and was released on several different home media formats. On stardate 5143.3, while patrolling near the Romulan Neutral Zone, the Federation starship "Enterprise" finds a small private ship manned by a Vendorian, an alien species that can transform its shape at will. The alien dupes the crew on board the "Enterprise" into thinking that