That star trek episode I referenced.

Here's the entry on Memory Alpha for the episode, The Gamesters of Treskilion.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/The_Gamesters_of_Triskelion

Here's the entry for those colored brains.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Provider

The creatures in the crit room reminded me of this:

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Horta

And McGowan mentioned these:

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Tribble