TV Quote of the Day (‘The Big Bang Theory,’ As Spock Visits Sheldon Unexpectedly)

Mr. Spock [played by Leonard Nimoy, uncredited]: “Dr. Cooper! Dr. Cooper!”

Sheldon Cooper [played by Jim Parsons]:  “Is someone there?”

Spock: “Down here, on your desk.”

Sheldon: “Spock?”

Spock: “I need to speak with you.”

Sheldon: “Fascinating! The only logical explanation is that this is a dream.”

Spock: “It is not the only logical explanation. For example, you could be hallucinating after being hit on the head by, say, a coconut.”

Sheldon: “Was I hit on the head by a coconut?”

Spock: “I'm not going to dignify that with a response. Now, to the matter at hand, you need to play with the transporter toy.”

Sheldon: “Yes, but it's mint in box.”

Spock:  “Yes, and to open it would destroy its value. But remember like me, you also have a human-half.”

Sheldon: “Well I'm not going to dignify that with a response.”

Spock: “Consider this. What is the purpose of a toy?”

Sheldon: “To be played with.”

Spock: “Therefore, to not play with it would be...?”

Sheldon: “Illogical. Oh, damnit Spock, you’re right! I'll do it!”

Spock: “Sheldon, wait. You have to wake up first.”

Sheldon: “Oh, of course. Set phasers to dumb, right?”— The Big Bang Theory, Season 5, Episode 20, “The Transporter Malfunction,” original air date Mar. 29, 2012,  teleplay by Steven Molaro, Jim Reynolds and Steve Holland, directed by Mark Cendrowski

Eighty-five years ago today, actor Leonard Nimoy was born in Boston, Mass. Though in middle age he wrote a memoir whose title bluntly disclaimed any connection with his most famous character (I Am Not Spock), he had, within another decade, embraced the role several times on the big screen. By the time he came to this delightful episode of The Big Bang Theory, he had grown comfortable enough to send up his role in a way that assured what would have enormously surprised TV viewers when they first glimpsed the pointy-eared Vulcan 50 years ago on Star Trek: immortality for the character.

Though Mr. Spock is immortal, Nimoy, sadly, was not. His death a little more than a year ago surprised and saddened fans who—perhaps not as fanatically as Dr. Cooper—had taken him to heart.