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I'm trying to find a specific episode of an old sci-fi show I watched decades ago. It involved two planets that were originally at war with each other, but the wars became too costly, and both planets agreed to do simulated war, where imaginary missiles would detonate (in a simulator) over real towns.

The inhabitants of the town were then "registered", and then had a day to say their goodbyes and then go into a room that vaporized them, sending the kill count to the other planet to make sure both sides were honoring the rules of the "war". The protagonist "saves the day" by damaging the simulator, causing the two planets to think the other side reneged on the war pact, and actually resumes a real war with real weapons.

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    Re, "...actually resume a real war..." Or maybe not. After Our Hero™ destroys the computer, and the assembled government officials lament that he has condemned them to warfare by "barbaric" means, he says, "Maybe not! They might not want "barbaric" war either. You could try negotiating with them. Then he rides off into the sunset, The End™, and we are left with only our imagination to answer the question of what happened next.
    – Solomon Slow
    Oct 30, 2017 at 16:44
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    @jameslarge You are correct. I forgot some of the details when I posted the question.
    – Cloud
    Oct 30, 2017 at 17:00
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    Re close votes: There is no accepted answer on the target, cannot close as dupe. Also, wouldn't it make more sense to go the other way: make that a dupe of this?
    – Möoz
    Oct 31, 2017 at 2:57
  • There is an accepted answer. If I accept the "that solved my problem" link, will it destroy the score awarded to the person who answered my question?
    – Cloud
    Oct 31, 2017 at 9:27
  • @DevNull No. Using the accept functionality is a good thing. Your question is fine as it is.
    – Möoz
    Nov 1, 2017 at 2:23

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This is a Star Trek: Original Series episode:

A Taste of Armageddon

In the episode, the crew of the USS Enterprise visits a planet whose people fight a computer-simulated war against a neighboring planet. Although the war is fought via computer simulation, the citizens of each planet have to submit to real executions inside "disintegration booths" to meet the casualty counts of the simulated attacks. The crew of the Enterprise is caught in the middle and are told to submit themselves voluntarily for execution after being "killed" in an "enemy attack".

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5v2nwg

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